Air fryers cook food by sending out bursts of hot convection heat. It’s a cooking style that makes for juicy, crispy foods. You can whip up tasty meals from meats like chicken thighs or even a filet of salmon. But if you attempt to cook lean meats or fragile veggies in your air fryer, you’ll be left with pulverized, flavorless slop thanks to the constant assault by high temperatures on foods that can’t withstand them.
There are loads of foods that the air fryer nails every time including wings, frozen snacks and even the occasional dog or burger, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have weak spots. So which foods should you never cook in the air fryer? Here’s a list of seven things I’ll never make in the air fryer again.
1. Boneless pork chops
Boneless pork chops dry out too easily for an air fryer.
A perfectly cooked pork chop is a thing of beauty but these lean cuts of meat can dry out in a hurry. Bacon, bone-in pork chops and fattier cuts of swine can handle the air fryer but lean, boneless pork chops tend to dry out when subjected to the blast of high heat. If you’re going to use the air fryer to cook pork chops, do so at a lower temperature and use some fat to keep things moist.
2. Spinach and leafy greens
Steak cooked in an air fryer may end up tough and rubbery.
Steak reheats well in the air fryer, but it’s not a good place for it the first time. Air fryer baskets get hot but not hot enough to give the outside of your steak a proper sear. I’ve tried cooking steaks in the air fryer before. Even fatty, forgiving steaks don’t come out as well compared to when they’re cooking on a hot plancha, cast-iron skillet or grill.
4. Unbreaded chicken breasts
Pot roast typically needs low and slow methods of cooking.
Large cuts of beef, pork and lamb typically do best when cooked with a low and slow method such as braising or smoking. Avoid the air fryer with its hot blast of convection air when cooking large cuts of meat and opt for the Dutch oven, slow cooker or pellet smoker.
6. Uncovered broccoli
Clams and mussels are better for a pot instead of an air fryer.
Shellfish such as clams and mussels need liquid to cook without drying out. They are also easily overcooked, which can lead to a chewy rubbery morsel that you don’t want anywhere near your plate. Avoid the air fryer when cooking most shellfish.
If you’re looking for a great air fryer, here are CNET’s top-rated models for 2024. For more, these are the best air-frying toaster ovens for 2024.
Watch this: Best Air Fryers: Cheap vs. Expensive
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