Air fryers have become everyone’s best friend in the kitchen, whipping up healthier versions of your favourite meals in no time.
However not all food should be cooked in the must-have appliance, with health and safety experts warning people to avoid using it for some of the most common foods in your kitchen.
The experts over at CPD Online College explained pasta should not be cooked in the air fryer instead of being boiled in water.
Cooking pasta should be avoided because it requires liquid to cook from its raw state.
It’s also not advisable to cook pasta along with any sauces, either.
This is because when the hot air circulates throughout the air fryer basket, liquids and sauces cause a spit and splatter, which can be dangerous.
Unnecessary liquids can also make your air fryer messy and give you more work to do when cleaning them.
CPD Online College wrote: “It is not recommended to cook pasta in an air fryer due to the liquids and sauces used during the cooking process, as when the hot air circulates it can cause a splatter which can be dangerous, and it can also be messy.”
BBC Good Food explained that it is possible to cook pasta in an air fryer, such as pasta bakes, which only require the baking part of the cooking process.
Good Food’s Ailsa Burt said: “Pasta bakes that just need the baking part should be fine. But I wouldn’t use an air fryer to cook pasta dishes with lots of sauce.”
If you’re looking to make some pasta chips, which don’t require boiling, that is also safe to do in the air fryer.
Go To Know said: “You could also try making pasta chips in your air fryer. Cook any shape of pasta you like on the stove as usual, then toss in olive oil and your favourite spices before popping it in your air fryer to crisp up, leaving you with a delicious crunchy snack.”
The same thing goes for rice. Much like pasta, raw rice grains need to be boiled in water to cook properly.
The food experts at BBC Good Food explained that while adding a few drops of water into the air fryer basket is “fine”, it shouldn’t be done too often.
This is because the appliance isn’t built for boiling foods, so adding water could damage the heating element, and in turn, the air fryer.
If you want to reheat rice or crisp it up, you can do that in the air fryer.
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