TL;DR
Get kitchen gear delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
CNET’s air fryer guidance, drawing on recipe tester Cathy Yoder, identifies nine common habits that can lead to soggy, burnt or uneven food. The advice focuses on airflow, using oil carefully, checking food during cooking and following the appliance maker’s care instructions.
CNET has outlined nine common air fryer mistakes that can leave food soggy, burnt or uneven, drawing on advice from recipe tester Cathy Yoder of Empowered Cooks. The guidance centers on how air circulation, temperature, oil and cleaning affect cooking, offering practical fixes for people using the appliances at home.
The problems include crowding the basket, forgetting to shake or flip food, using too much or too little oil, choosing an oil that may not suit high heat, and relying on aerosol nonstick sprays. The source also flags wet batters, skipped or unnecessary preheating, and failing to clean the appliance between uses. Each can affect the texture or flavor of a batch, though results vary with the recipe and appliance.
Yoder describes air fryers as small convection ovens: hot air moves around the food, so pieces need room for air to reach their surfaces. For many foods, that means arranging them in a single layer and cooking in batches rather than filling the basket. Shaking or turning pieces during cooking can help them brown more evenly.
Oil advice depends on the food. Yoder says many meats release enough fat on their own, while a small amount of oil can help seasonings stick or keep a breading from drying out. She cautions that some cooking-spray propellants may damage a basket’s nonstick coating, and recommends a refillable spray pump for applying oil. She also favors avocado oil for its higher smoke point compared with olive oil, particularly for longer cooking at high temperatures.
How Airflow Shapes the Results
The advice matters because air circulation is central to air frying. When food is piled up, the hot air cannot reach every surface equally, making crispness and even cooking harder to achieve. Adding excess oil or moisture can also undermine the texture people expect from the appliance.
These are practical adjustments rather than a claim that one method works for every recipe. Cooking time and temperature can differ by food, portion size and model. A little attention to spacing, turning and doneness can help users avoid blaming the appliance for results caused by technique.
Products Worth Considering
Cuisinart 8-in-1 Air Fryer Toaster Oven with Grill, 1800W, Stainless Steel
Cuisinart Pro Custom 11-Cup Food Processor, Brushed Chrome (DLC-8SBCYP1)
Instant Pot Duo 6-Quart 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
The Tester’s Practical Advice
CNET’s guidance is based on Yoder’s recipe-testing experience at Empowered Cooks. The source says she compared recipes cooked in the same air fryer with and without preheating and found no significant difference in results; preheating changed total cooking time by about two minutes in those tests. That finding reflects her tests and is not presented as a rule for every model or recipe.
The source also notes that many frozen foods already contain fat, so adding oil may be unnecessary. Other foods, including some vegetables or breaded preparations, may benefit from a light coating. For care and cleaning, the article warns against allowing residue to build up but does not provide a detailed cleaning procedure or model-specific instructions.
““Air fryers are essentially just a mini convection oven.””
— Cathy Yoder, Empowered Cooks recipe tester, as quoted by CNET
Advice Varies by Recipe and Model
The source does not provide a complete, model-by-model set of instructions, cooking temperatures or times for all nine mistakes. Its excerpt begins to discuss shaking or flipping food but cuts off before explaining the full list, so it does not detail every recommendation. The specific risks of aerosol sprays may also depend on the spray’s ingredients and the air fryer’s coating; Yoder phrases the coating concern as something that “could” happen.
It is also unclear which models were used in the preheating tests, how many recipes were compared or whether results were independently reviewed. The advice should be read as general cooking guidance, not a guarantee of results or a replacement for the manufacturer’s safety and cleaning instructions.
Check Your Recipe and Appliance
Before cooking, users can check the recipe and appliance manual for temperature, timing, basket limits and cleaning directions. Leave space around food when crisping is the goal, shake or turn it when the recipe calls for it, and check doneness rather than assuming every air fryer cooks at the same rate.
For specific results, the next step is to follow guidance tested for the particular food and model. CNET’s source does not announce a new product, policy or upcoming test; it presents practical advice for home cooks and leaves model-specific performance questions open.
Key Questions
Why does food come out soggy in an air fryer?
A crowded basket can block airflow, leaving food less crisp or unevenly cooked. Arrange pieces with space between them and cook in batches when needed.
Do I need to preheat an air fryer?
Not necessarily for every recipe. Yoder’s tests, as reported by CNET, found no significant difference in results in the recipes she compared, with about a two-minute difference in total cooking time. Follow the recipe and your appliance’s instructions.
Should I use cooking spray in an air fryer?
Yoder warns that propellants in some aerosol sprays could damage a nonstick coating. She suggests a refillable spray pump for applying oil; check the appliance maker’s care guidance.
How much oil should I use?
It depends on the food. Many meats and frozen products may already contain fat, while a small amount can help seasonings or breading stick or keep food from drying out.
Should I shake or flip food while it cooks?
For foods that need browning on multiple sides, shaking or turning can help them cook more evenly. Use the recipe’s directions and check food as it cooks, since times vary across foods and models.
Source: CNET
