If you are using your air fryer for the first time and you are wondering if you can put parchment paper in the air fryer then this post is going to help you out.
I will answer everything you need to know about using parchment papers inside the air fryer along with some best parchment paper for air fryer recommendations.
If you do not choose to use parchment paper inside your air fryer then I would list out some substitutes for parchment paper in air fryers as well.
Using parchment paper with the air fryer is a live safer. It reduces clean time and sometimes, I clean the fryer after two to three cooks.
I have been using parchment papers since day 1 of buying my Philips air fryer and if you haven’t been using it till now, then it is never too late.
I feel it also kind of protects the bottom coating of the air frying basket which tends to come out in many cheap air fryers.
I haven’t heard this complaint with the Philips air fryer but just to be on the safer side I use parchment paper to increase the durability and longevity of my air fryer.
So, let’s look into how to use parchment paper in an air fryer-
What are Perforated Parchment Sheets?
Perforated Parchment sheets or air fryer parchment sheets have holes in the bottom of the parchment sheets. This causes air to flow through the bottom cooking surface of the air fryer resulting in even cooking.
Initially, I did not use perforated parchment sheets and the result was that food seemed uncooked at the bottom.
So, for even cooking it’s best to use air fryer parchment sheets or perforated parchment sheets.
There is nothing wrong with using regular parchment sheets, you can poke holes in them so that they mimic the functioning of the perforated parchment sheets.
There are two colours on the parchment paper (brown and white), in my opinion, they are the same from a cooking point of view. So get anyone and you would be good to go.
There are different shapes of the parchment papers as well, I recommend you get the shape similar to that of your air fryer basket.
My air fryer basket has a rectangular shape so I always get the rectangular one.
Where do you put Parchment Paper in Air Fryer
You put the parchment paper at the cooking surface of the air fryer and then place the food item that you need to cook on top of the parchment paper.
Make sure that you line your air fryer basket with parchment paper and heat up the air fryer, when you do this the air fryer moves inside the air fryer and it can just stuck to the air fryer heating element.
Also, the food weighs down the parchment paper else the parchment paper would move around in the cooking chamber and burn if it gets in contact with the heating element.
Never use parchment paper alone while preheating the air fryer. The paper would just cook inside the air fryer and ball up and mine even got stuck on the heating element once.
How to use Perforated Parchment Paper in Air fryer?
I place the parchment paper inside the air fryer basket first.
Then, I brush some olive oil on my parchment paper once I place it on the cooking surface, the oil weighs the paper down and it never moves around.
You can do this trick as well since it also helps to easily remove the food item without anything sticking onto the paper.
This trick works well every time and I highly recommend brushing some oil on your parchment paper so that it helps cook the food easily inside the air fryer.
Substitute for Air Fryer Parchment Paper
1. Aluminium Foil
If you are wondering if you can use aluminium foil instead of parchment paper in the air fryer then the answer is YES, you can!
Aluminium foil is a good replacement for parchment paper but it isn’t great because it reacts with acidic food. If you are cooking something that is acidic then you should NOT use aluminium foil.
The aluminium foil reacts with acidic food and you get some metallic taste in your food.
So if I had to choose between aluminium foil and parchment paper, I would choose parchment paper.
2. Wax paper
You can even use wax paper as a substitute for air fryer parchment paper. They can be used interchangeably and you have to follow the same procedure to use wax paper as parchment paper.
I would still prefer parchment paper because it is much better at being heat resistant than wax paper.
Best Perforated Parchment Paper For Air Fryer
If you want my top 5 best-perforated parchment paper for air fryer recommendations then here they are-
1. Perforated Parchment Paper for Air Fryer
This is a simple unbleached perforated parchment paper and you get about 200 pieces for just 6 bucks. If you ask me this is value for money.
Make sure you always check the dimensions of your cooking basket and see if it matches the dimensions of the air fryer parchment paper.
You also get a brush so you can use this to brush oil on your parchment paper.
2. GoWISE USA Perforated Parchment Paper
These perforated parchment paper from the GoWISE USA are pretty huge and if you are interested in getting larger sheets, you can get them and cut them according to the size of your air fryer.
Sometimes, when I do not get the right size for my cooking basket I get these and cut them according to the shape of my cooking basket.
3. KIPPLE Air Fryer Liners
These are silicone-based air fryer liners and they are reusable. They are good if you can find them in your air fryer cooking basket size or even smaller.
The fact that they are reusable is the best part of it. I would get it if I use my air fryer every day. They are going to save you a lot of money in the long run.
Can you use an Air Fryer without Parchment Paper?
Yes, you definitely can. The whole point of using parchment paper is so that the food does not stick to the frying basket.
If you are okay with cleaning your cooking basket then you can directly cook food on it. You can brush some oil in the frying basket just like you would if you cooked on a frying pan.
This way you can avoid the food from sticking to the frying basket.
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