3 Christmas foods you should never cook in an air fryer
Just because you can cook Christmas lunch in an air fryer, doesn’t mean you should…
by Bethan Morgan · T3Share by:
Share this article
0
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
If you’re cooking Christmas lunch tomorrow, you may want to reconsider what you’re using to cook it with. Everyone’s favourite appliance, the not-so humble air fryer has become a firm favourite for cooking, well, just about anything, but there are some foods you should never put in the air fryer.
While cooking with an oven has become old news, it’s encouraged to utilise it for your Christmas lunch as much as possible. The main reason for this is it's bigger, so you can fill it up with extra racks and layers of food. But while an oven isn’t as energy-efficient as an air fryer, using one is actually much easier when cooking larger quantities of food.
One thing that people don’t consider when using an air fryer to cook lots of food is how often you have to empty and clean the baskets, and reset it with a different function, time and temperature to cook the next batch. This can be quite time-consuming if you’re using it for your turkey, sides, desserts, and more.
As an air fryer expert, I’d encourage you to use yours to cook your Christmas sides, but there are some festive foods you should never cook in your air fryer – here’s why.
1. A whole turkey
Before I start getting angry emails, yes – it is possible to cook a turkey in an air fryer. But if you’re cooking a whole turkey, there’s a strong chance that it won’t fit inside your air fryer – unless you have something like the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer which has a huge single basket that can fit something like an entire leg of lamb.
Aside from fitting it into the air fryer, a whole turkey can easily catch in different places, particularly on the heating elements. This is why if you’re going to cook a turkey in your air fryer, it’s best to break it up so you cook the crown and drumsticks separately – or you can just use your oven as normal.
2. Yorkshire puddings
In general, wet batter should steer clear from an air fryer for a number of reasons. Of course, if you’re not making your own Yorkshire puddings from scratch, you can definitely cook frozen ones or reheat pre-cooked ones in an air fryer, but if you’re making your own batter, you won’t get the best results with an air fryer.
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
The main reason for this is you need to use a considerable amount of oil to cook the batter. Air fryers famously use very little oil so wet batter in an air fryer means your Yorkshire puddings won’t crisp up properly. Not only that, but the liquid can spill everywhere and burn into the basket, making it harder to clean up.
3. Gravy
Similar to wet batter, any kind of sauce like gravy is best kept out of the air fryer. The way an air fryer works is by circulating hot air around the compartment, so putting wet, liquid gravy in one will cause it to splatter and fly around the basket, causing mess and even potentially burning you. Instead, stick to using the hob which can also help you get more depth of flavour.