There's An Easy Way To Prevent Your Air Fryer From Smoking Up The Room, But There's A Catch

The air fryer is one of the most beloved kitchen tools of the 21st century. Ideal for cooking mouth-watering, crispy food super fast, the countertop appliance is a compact, efficient alternative to standard convection ovens and deep fryers. Whether you want to satisfy a parmesan chicken craving, heat up leftovers, or make your favorite breakfast foods even better, an air fryer can make it happen — just not always without issue. After all, every kitchen appliance has a learning curve. 

If your air fryer has ever set off the smoke alarm, you're not alone. Besides burning a meal to an inedible crisp, there's nothing worse than the smoke alarm starting to blare while you're cooking dinner. You might simply be air-frying a side of broccoli or Brussels sprouts to go with a grilled ribeye when the appliance starts to smoke, usually followed by ear-piercing beeping. Fortunately, it's easy to avoid this haze-induced headache.

While your first step might be to clean your air fryer, which is essential if it's greasy inside, that might not fix the problem once and for all. Turns out, white smoke is often caused by the cooking oil burning. While the appliance is fondly regarded for requiring less oil, most non-frozen food still needs some. The secret to smoke-free air frying is to use an oil with a high smoke point. There are also a couple of other solutions to prevent greasy air-fried food from smoking up the kitchen, but they might require compromising a little on crispiness.

Although any smoke might mean your air fryer is overdue for a deep cleaning, white smoke signals that fat is burning. This often happens when grease from food drips down onto the heating element. The good news is that it's easy to prevent the appliance from smoking with one simple choice: Oil type.

Whether on the stovetop or in the air fryer, an essential rule of any cooking is to use the right oil. While this is sometimes due to flavor, the reason for awarding attention to the specific cooking fat for frying is because each one handles heat differently. Just as some people react poorly to steaming hot showers, some oils can't handle high temperatures, breaking down and smoking up the room. Burnt oil can also result in bitter-tasting food and even pose a health risk.

As a rule of thumb, refined oils typically have higher smoke points than unrefined ones, which is partly why extra-virgin olive oil isn't suitable for frying. When choosing a cooking fat to use in the air fryer, consider using avocado oil or refined light olive oil. Both options have high smoke points of 520 degrees Fahrenheit and 465 degrees Fahrenheit respectively, and have fairly neutral flavors. Peanut oil and vegetable oil, both commonly used in deep frying, can also work, as they hold up at temperatures as high as 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Regardless of which oil you choose, always avoid using cooking spray in an air fryer to protect your appliance from damage.

Besides choosing the optimal oil for cooking food in an air fryer, there are two other things you can do to stop the appliance from smoking. And if you haven't had the chance to run to the store for avocado or peanut oil, these convenient methods come in handy in a pinch as they use things you likely already have at home: Water and bread.

While it might seem counterintuitive to add water to an air fryer, pouring a couple of tablespoonfuls into the basket before or during cooking can be a saving grace. (Just be mindful not to put in more than a few to avoid creating a fire hazard.) The water serves as a barrier between cooking fat and the fryer's heating element, catching any drops of grease as they fall so the oil can't burn at the bottom. The only downside is that the resulting steam could dampen how crispy food gets, which is why Dutch inventor Fred van der Wejj began developing the appliance in 2005 in the first place (his goal was crisp french fries specifically). Still, better that than a smoke-filled kitchen.

However, there's another way to block oil from burning that can save you the inconvenience of soggier food at only a little extra expense. Instead of water, put a thin slice of bread in the air fryer basket. Not only can this trick save you some scrubbing, but it also helps prevent any unwanted smokiness.