The air fryer has become a must-have for a kitchen where people prefer to eat crispy and delicious food quickly.
Air fryers cook food with lesser fats and cut down calories by 70% to 80%, which are harmful to health. So, you can cook anything the way you want in an air fryer as it is much healthier than frying food in oil.
Where all people are certain that they cannot cook food like raw grains, cheese, and fresh greens in the air fryer, but they are not certain what to put in an air fryer as they are confused about whether they can put plastic in the air fryer or not.
The short answer is: No; you cannot put plastic in the air fryer because plastic would melt, which wouldn’t be good for the air fryer and the food you are cooking.
As we all know air fryer works on hot air, which is circulated by a high-speed fan in which a takeaway container wouldn’t survive because of its internal temperature, which can reach up to 400° degrees Fahrenheit.
What happens when you put a plastic bowl in an air fryer?
It is important to be aware of the fact that an air fryer doesn’t work the same way as a microwave does.
The air fryer cooks food at a high temperature, followed by a heating element that circulates hot air around the food.
The intensity of its high temperature can be noticed by the fact that even microwave-safe plastic containers cannot survive in an air fryer.
So, when you put a plastic bowl in the air fryer, the things that might happen are.
- Chances are your plastic bowl could melt because every plastic material starts to melt at 180° degrees Fahrenheit temperature, and the air fryer temperature can reach up to 400° degrees Fahrenheit by the food.
- The melted plastic can damage your air fryer, making it unsafe to use, and melted plastic cannot be clean easily.
- The food inside the plastic container also goes to waste because who would eat food with melted plastic on it. You wouldn’t have any other option but to discard it.
- Chemicals get into food when plastic is melted, which makes that food contagious for health.
Melted plastic also produces some harmful compounds which are bad for health. Check out the following chart to know chemical compounds and their side effects.
| Chemical Compound | Side Effects |
| BPA – Bisphenol A | It affects brain and prostate glands of fetuses and infants |
| PFOA– Perfluorooctanoic | Hypertension and thyroid disease |
| PVC- Polyvinyl chloride | It emits harmful toxins. |
I believe the above-mentioned points are enough to avoid putting plastic in the air fryers.
The Operation of an Air Fryer
An air fryer, like a traditional oven, has a fan and a heat source as the two main frying elements that fry the food. The device’s design allows super-heated air to easily warm the food.
The air fryer’s heat source and fan are located at the top. The air from the source blows around the food in the basket. The basket’s purpose is to allow the blowing air to reach the food without being obstructed by the cookie sheet or pan.
When what you cook comes into contact with the device’s walls, it burns on both sides before the cooking process is completed.
What Containers Can I Utilize in an Air Fryer?
This is an intriguing question, and it is critical that we respond to it succinctly and clearly.
Before we get into the best air fryer containers, let’s take a look at how the device works. An understanding of how the device works will assist us in determining the type of container to use.
Can you put Microwaveable containers in an air fryer?
No, you cannot put a Microwaveable container in an air fryer because that too would melt. So, it’s better not to use such things.
Melted plastic can do severe damage to your air fryer.
I know now you must be thinking why plastic survives in microwaves but not an air fryer? The reason is:
Microwavable plastic is transparent to the microwave’s temperature as it only deals with the food’s temperature, not the microwave’s temperature. This is because microwaves use electromagnetic radiation to heat the food up, and the plastic is transparent in a sense to that radiation.
But air fryers work differently as it has a heating element and high-speed fan which circulates hot air around the appliance.
So, plastic wouldn’t survive in such high temperatures.
Can you put a paper bowl/plate in an air fryer?
No, you shouldn’t put paper bowls/plates in air fryers because it ends up soaking all the juices of the food. After all, paper structural integrity begins to fail at high temperatures in the air fryer.
The chances of a paper bowl catching fire in the air fryer are high because its edges start to burn because of the hot air circulating through it.
Paper bowl or plates does not have the weight which is required to hold the food in the heating process. Thus, they cannot hold heat and would often result in catching flame.
Paper bowls or plates are usually very thin. They are not more than 1/2 mm thick as they are made to be used only once, and that’s why they are very flimsy.
Do you notice when you put a lot of food on a paper plate/bowl, you have to hold it from both edges so that it doesn’t bend from either side? Exposing a paper plate to air fryers results in losing its structural integrity.
Paper is made up of cellulose which absorbs water, and that’s why paper towels are made to dry out your hands.
Paper bowls/plates also have a thin wax coating on top to absorb water which is not enough to keep water away at the high temperature of the air fryer, and hence it results in soaking up more water.
Should you place a glass bowl in an air fryer?
Yes, you can put a glass bowl in an air fryer if it is oven safe. But, you have to make sure it is not cold before putting it in the air fryer as it may fracture due to sudden temperature changes.
It is important to know that an air fryer’s temperature changes more quickly than a regular microwave oven. Hence, the chances of the glass bowl getting a fracture are more in an air fryer.
For the safe side, you have to make sure that your glass bowl is oven safe so it wouldn’t get a crack in an air fryer.
To make sure, place an empty glass bowl in the air fryer and set it to maximum temperature to check if it gets fractured or not.
If it can withstand the temperature of the air fryer, then you can surely put food in it.
Which containers can you place in an air fryer?
The following containers can be used in an air fryer as an alternative to plastic.
- Parchment paper: This material prevents chemicals from getting into your food when put in the air fryer.
- Stainless steel: Steel bowls can also be used in the air fryer, but you have to make sure they are oven safe.
- Iron Skillet: Iron skillet is a good heat conductor; therefore, it is suitable for the air fryer and helps to cook food evenly.
- Toothpicks: Toothpicks are used to hold food together in the air fryer so that food doesn’t fly around in the basket due to a high-speed fan in the air fryer.
You can also check out the following video to learn which paper liners are suitable for air fryers.
Conclusion
The important points to be concluded are as follows:
- You cannot put plastic in the air fryer as it would melt and damage your air fryer.
- The internal temperature of the air fryer reaches up to 400° Fahrenheit which a plastic container cannot survive.
- The food also becomes harmful when exposed to chemicals resulting from melted plastic.
- Microwavable plastic is also not recommended to use in an air fryer because an air fryer changes its temperature more quickly than a microwave.
- Paper bowls shouldn’t be used in an air fryer because their structural integrity is not designed to hold food at high temperatures.
- You can put a glass bowl in an air fryer if it is oven safe.