Air fryers/nonstick and oil sprays
August 30, 2022 6:04 AM Subscribe
I've read that it's not good to use typical nonstick cooking sprays with nonstick cookware, including air fryer baskets or food going into them, because the additives (lecithin and propellants) lead to buildup and can destroy the surface or at least make it not nonstick. I just got an air fryer so I'm looking for recommendations for misters *that work well* to make my own oil spray and/or experiences using pre-packaged sprays (like this) that say they don't have additives with an air fryer basket/food that will go into one.
I don't think we've ever needed to use any kind of lubricant spray with our air fryer. Just toss stuff in dry - that's pretty much the whole point of using an air fryer in the first place.
Unlike stovetop cookware, almost all the heat that cooks the food in an air fryer is applied to the food by the hot air circulating past it, not primarily via conduction from hot surfaces. This makes a big difference to how hard stuff sticks to those surfaces because the parts of the food in contact with them are not inherently the hot spots so they don't have an increasing concentration of everything drawn toward them as the cooking progresses.
Our air fryer has never needed anything more than a gentle wipe over with a soft cloth and a bit of dish soap to get residues off its insides and in fact most of those residues have always been oils that have spattered out of the food being cooked, not the caramel plus protein plus polymerized oil glues that form in our stovetop pans.
posted by flabdablet at 6:38 AM on August 30, 2022
Unlike stovetop cookware, almost all the heat that cooks the food in an air fryer is applied to the food by the hot air circulating past it, not primarily via conduction from hot surfaces. This makes a big difference to how hard stuff sticks to those surfaces because the parts of the food in contact with them are not inherently the hot spots so they don't have an increasing concentration of everything drawn toward them as the cooking progresses.
Our air fryer has never needed anything more than a gentle wipe over with a soft cloth and a bit of dish soap to get residues off its insides and in fact most of those residues have always been oils that have spattered out of the food being cooked, not the caramel plus protein plus polymerized oil glues that form in our stovetop pans.
posted by flabdablet at 6:38 AM on August 30, 2022
Response by poster: I don't really need to spray the basket itself, but I do sometimes want to spray food that's either going into it or is in it (to add more oil mid-cooking.) For things like roasted cauliflower or chickpeas, I use regular oil from a bottle before putting them into the air fryer, but for some other foods (like things coated in breadcrumbs) I'd like to be able to spray them to add some oil when they're in the air fryer.
Some sources also say that dimethyl silicone (an anti-foaming agent), and propane or butane (propellants) build up as well, so I'm cautious of that.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:44 AM on August 30, 2022
Some sources also say that dimethyl silicone (an anti-foaming agent), and propane or butane (propellants) build up as well, so I'm cautious of that.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:44 AM on August 30, 2022
After the coating on the basket of my air fryer started to peel a bit, I started using parchment air fryer liners. These are the ones I use, but they come in a lot of different sizes. Even if you want to use oil anyway, this would reduce the buildup on the basket.
posted by FencingGal at 6:47 AM on August 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by FencingGal at 6:47 AM on August 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
On the mister-recommendation aspect of it, I use the creatively-named “Misto” oil mister, and it works just fine. Pour some oil of choice in, pump it to build air pressure in, and you get good misting spray out of it.
I’ve likewise never had to use anything non-stick with my fryer beyond what’s already part of the construction.
posted by Drastic at 7:00 AM on August 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
I’ve likewise never had to use anything non-stick with my fryer beyond what’s already part of the construction.
posted by Drastic at 7:00 AM on August 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Silicone defoamers might persist in whatever builds up on cooking surfaces, but they're only used in very low concentrations in cooking sprays so they wouldn't build up in and of themselves. And you need have no fear that propane or butane could ever build up on a cooking surface - it just wouldn't happen.
The entire point of putting propane or butane in a spray container is that they have very low boiling points at atmospheric pressure, so when they boil off inside the sealed container they pressurize the hell out of it and that's what forces the spray out when you press the valve. Any propane or butane that does manage to escape in liquid form, perhaps dissolved in the liquid droplets that make up the spray, is going to boil off almost instantly when it hits a hot surface. No way is it ever going to stick around long for enough to polymerize and build up.
posted by flabdablet at 7:03 AM on August 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
The entire point of putting propane or butane in a spray container is that they have very low boiling points at atmospheric pressure, so when they boil off inside the sealed container they pressurize the hell out of it and that's what forces the spray out when you press the valve. Any propane or butane that does manage to escape in liquid form, perhaps dissolved in the liquid droplets that make up the spray, is going to boil off almost instantly when it hits a hot surface. No way is it ever going to stick around long for enough to polymerize and build up.
posted by flabdablet at 7:03 AM on August 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Just a note that a light spray of oil on the food is recommended not to avoid sticking, but to promote browning.
Doing This Simple Step Will Make Your Air Fryer Food Golden Brown
Can An Air Fryer Turn Food Golden Brown? (Ways To Brown It)
posted by Lexica at 9:45 AM on August 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Doing This Simple Step Will Make Your Air Fryer Food Golden Brown
Can An Air Fryer Turn Food Golden Brown? (Ways To Brown It)
posted by Lexica at 9:45 AM on August 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
I hate hate hate the Misto pressure sprayers - hard to clean, hard to tell if they're clean, fiddly spray head. I adore my EVO sprayers and have one each for olive and avocado oil.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:15 AM on August 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Lyn Never at 10:15 AM on August 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
I bought this one about six months ago and it works great. I keep it filled with olive oil for misting frozen goodies and it works great. Haven't had to clean it yet but no spill and easy to use.
posted by Twicketface at 2:50 PM on August 30, 2022
posted by Twicketface at 2:50 PM on August 30, 2022
I bought a Misto and I haaaaaaaaate it too. A friend had told me I would hate it but I just had to try. She also advised I just brush on the oil of my choice with a silicone pastry brush, which is what I do now, and it works great.
Btw your oil needs are different depending on what AF you bought. I got the AF top and insert for an Instant Pot and although the packing lit says it was nonstick, it wasn’t. It sucked to clean. Then I got a used ninja foodi grill 5 and it was actually nonstick Fr Fr so now I have almost no use for oil.
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:12 PM on August 30, 2022
Btw your oil needs are different depending on what AF you bought. I got the AF top and insert for an Instant Pot and although the packing lit says it was nonstick, it wasn’t. It sucked to clean. Then I got a used ninja foodi grill 5 and it was actually nonstick Fr Fr so now I have almost no use for oil.
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:12 PM on August 30, 2022
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https://www.pamcookingspray.com/products/grilling
posted by alchemist at 6:16 AM on August 30, 2022