If you’re looking for air fryer accessories, you’re probably already obsessed with your air fryer. And who can blame you? It’s easy to be enamored with how quickly this little countertop oven can cook your weeknight salmon and revive leftover french fries, and how easy it is to use. But, in the post Instant Pot era, every countertop appliance has to be versatile, too. Enter a whole market of accessories and add-ons for your air fryer that claim to make this marvel of crispiness even better. Whether you’re an air-fry aficionado who bakes full on mini cakes in the little egg-shaped appliance, or only as advanced as crisping frozen french fries and nuggets, there are a few inexpensive air fryer accessories that can make the appliance even more convenient, with faster clean-up, better cooking, and even an expanded recipe repertoire. We’ve sorted through the many air fryer add-on options that are out there—read on to find out the accessories that we truly believe are worthwhile.
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The best tool for easy cleanup: basket liners
While a classic air fryer is meant to look something like a deep fryer with its handle and roomy basket, in truth, it’s just a countertop convection oven, with the food arranged in a single layer in the bottom of the basket inside. So just as baking mats or parchment paper make cleanup easier when you’re cooking in the oven, an air fryer basket liner can help minimize the mess, and even eliminate the need to clean the basket and drawer each time you use it. Air fryer liners come in both disposable paper versions as well as reusable silicone ones. Just be sure to choose the right shape (round, square, or rectangular) and size for your machine. And remember that it’s windy in there when the appliance is on; food needs to weigh down the liner so that it doesn’t whirl around inside and make contact with the heating element up top.
Paper liners:
Silicone liners:
The best tool for enhancing your food’s crispiness: oil mister
It’s unfortunately not true that hot air alone will give your air-fried food the golden-crispy crunch that you’re craving when you make fries. For that, you will indeed need some oil. But you won’t need a whole jug full, and if the aim is to reduce the amount of oil you use in your air frying, an oil mister can come in handy for applying just a light coating. Refillable oil misters have many benefits over the store-bought cans of spray oil, including that you can use whatever type and quality of oil you like best, and also avoid the environmental hazards of aerosol.
The best tools if you want to make more than fries and nuggets
Since it’s been established that an air fryer is just a convection oven, why not lean into using it for some of your baking? There are sprawling kits of air-fryer baking tools out there with every size and type of pan you can imagine, but the truth is that anything that fits (laying flat in the cooking basket) and is oven safe can go right into your air fryer. And have you Check the measurements on yours before making any purchases, but the items below are some of my favorites.
For nonstick longevity: gentle utensils and cleaning tools
Anything that has a nonstick lining, whether a sauté pan or an air-fryer and whether it’s a ceramic nonstick or a traditional Teflon one, should be handled and cleaned with care. This is because over time, the nonstick lining will inevitably lose its effectiveness, and every scrape, scrub, and scratch speeds up the decline. We recommend nonstick-safe tools when reaching into your air fryer to turn or retrieve foods, and the comfortable, well made tools by GIR are some of our favorites for all-around cooking.
And along those lines, you’ll want to use a non-abrasive sponge or cloth when cleaning it. Our trusty Scrub Daddy softens when wet, so it’s safe to use. And for deeper cleaning, a washable, endlessly reusable microfiber towel is super helpful for regular wipe-downs of the inner chamber, as well as for getting into the crevices of the heating element, which can get kind of grubby (only clean it it’s fully cool, of course).
For precision cooking: an instant-read probe thermometer
With its even, high heat, the air fryer excels at cooking all types of proteins. To easily check the internal temperatures of meats, a good quality instant-read thermometer will always earn its value in no time. The Thermoworks Thermo Pen One, a longstanding favorite in our test kitchens, is handy for all your cooking needs, with a long enough probe that it’s easy to reach into the air-frying basket without risk of burning your wrist.