Cooking oil is not off-limits when cooking air fryer recipes, but certain kinds of oil can damage your air fryer, so choosing the right oil for air fryer cooking is essential.
Several oil sprays, like Pam oil and other brands, pack convenience in a bottle, but are they the best choice out there?
There was a point when I would have picked up the Pam oil bottle because it is easy to do so and affordable. What can go wrong? But guess what! It isn’t the best thing to put on your food.
If you ask me now, I would say-
No, you should not use Pam oil in the air fryer. Not only are the ingredients listed in it more chemicals than oil, but it can also cause your air fryer basket to peel off!
Yes, you read that right; using pam oil continuously can cause your air fryer teflon coating to peel off in a few months!
If you want to avoid this from happening and your air fryer to work as good as new, even a year or two from now, then make sure you read the post till the end and do not skip anything.
So, Why is Pam oil the villain in your air fryer story?
Pam oil sprays do not contain 100 percent oil as they should. They have Oil, lecithin, anti-foaming agents, and propellants to disperse the spray.
This is far more ingredients than just oil. These chemicals are not great for your health, but if that hasn’t put you off yet, then the Lecithin in the oil sprays can react with Teflon (the non-stick coating on the air fryer).
Upon reaction, they produce a sticky substance instead of a slippery surface for cooking. This sticky substance(Teflon) can come off the basket and enter your food.
Almost every air fryer has a Teflon coating, the non-stick coating on the basket, so the food doesn’t stick to the surface.
What is an Aerosol?
An Aerosol is a colloidal solution of solid or liquid particles in gas.
But how do you know a can of product is an aerosol?
To break it down into simpler terms, usually, when you see a can containing propellents, they are primarily aerosols.
Most deodorants and hair sprays are Aerosols, and they are classified by having extremely fine mist and are more air and less of the actual product.
I do not see any reason to use an aerosol, and it would be best if you stay away from anything with propellants.
Aerosols vs. oil in a spray bottle
Aerosols usually consist of very little oil, lecithin, anti-foaming agents, and propellents(at least these are the products listed, you never know what else could be in it).
However, a spray bottle of 100% oil is a different game. This is a much better alternative and an ideal way to use oil in an air fryer.
Aerosols can be fun to use, don’t get me wrong, but I do not support them. I will always recommend buying a bottle with a fine mist spray nozzle and filling it up with the oil of your choice.
There are some good oil sprays in the market as well that offer 100% oil. You have to make sure to read the ingredients list before you make a purchase.
For example- This is avocado oil from 365 By Whole Foods Market, and as you can see, the ingredients list is pretty clean in this case.
Another example is this one by La Tourangelle; the ingredients list has only 100% olive oil and nothing else.
Best oil to use in an air fryer
There are many different cooking oil options, but the best oil to use in an air fryer should have a high smoking point.
Usually, cooking oil or canola oil will do the trick. You can cook with any oil, depending on the recipe, but I highly recommend sunflower, canola, peanut, or avocado oil.
Anything with a high smoke point is great. If you cook a recipe at a high temperature for a long time, these oils will work best.
However, if you cook something at lower temperatures, you can use oils with lower smoke points. It depends on the recipe.
You cannot go wrong with the oils mentioned above, so consider them your safety net.
HOW TO USE OIL IN THE AIR FRYER
I recommend not using Pam and other oil sprays but, instead, get a spray bottle and add some cooking oil.
This way, you have total control over the ingredients of the oil spray, and you save some money and avoid a lot of waste by repeatedly buying spray bottles.
This is good for the environment in many ways, and it is something I recommend and does all the time.
If you do not want a spray bottle, brush some oil into your air fryer basket, so the food doesn’t stick.
This means you must clean the brush every time you use the air fryer, but this method also works if you are okay with it.
Now how do you use oil in an air fryer?
1. Coat the air fryer basket with oil either with a brush or spray oil from the oil spray bottle.
2. Place the food you want to cook. If you want to spray oil(or brush some oil) over the food, you can do so too.
Yes, it is as simple as that. An oil spray will help you use the oil efficiently as it sprays evenly, whereas using a brush can cause some wastage.
This is something you might want to consider as well.
What kind of oils not to use in the air fryer
Any oil with a low smoke point is not ideal for use inside an air fryer. Some examples are olive oil, butter and animal fats.
These oils would burn inside the air fryer, so there is no point using them. You can mix olive oil with cooking oil or add it towards the end of your cooking if you want the flavor.
The same goes with butter; adding it to the end of the cooking for a minute could be better than just cooking the entire dish.
So do you use Pam oil in an air fryer?
NO, NO, and No. Do not use Pam oil in the air fryer as it harms your health and removes the Teflon coating from the basket.
If you want an oil spray, get a spray bottle and put your regular oil in it; that works best.
Using oil helps with cooking in the air fryer as the food doesn’t get stuck to the air fryer basket, which can cause some difficulty while cleaning.
So, spraying oil on the air fryer basket before you cook anything on it is a great way to have an easy cleanup.
New to Air frying?
If you are new to air frying, I know the process can be overwhelming, and you can get a little confused about what to use and not to use inside an air fryer.
Check out some of these FREE resources on the blog to help you understand your air fryer well and get you started on the right foot.
Can you use aluminum pans in an air fryer?- It is SHOCKING!
How Do I Get the Plastic smell Out of My Air Fryer?
Can you put a paper towel in an air fryer?
Can You Put Metal in an Air Fryer?
Do Air Fryers Use Oil?- YES AND NO! (Read this before…)
Can you put Parchment Paper in Air Fryer-Is it RECOMMENDED?
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below!
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