Keep Your Air Fryer Sparkling Clean With Silicone Liners
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Air fryers make delicious and crispy food in minutes and can cook virtually anything. However, they can be a pain to clean, especially if something was burned. To prevent a mess, they can be lined with parchment paper or tin foil, but these can tear and/or fly around the cooking chamber because of the fan unless they are weighed down. The best liner to use is silicone, and a pack of two can be purchased for less than $20 on Amazon.
Silicone liners come in different sizes, depending on the size of your air fryer basket. They're heat resistant up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, nonstick, and they are dishwasher safe. The best thing about these liners is that they catch the mess, so the air fryer doesn't need to be scrubbed. Simply remove them from the air fryer and toss them in the dishwasher or gently clean the silicone mats by hand.
In addition to being nonstick, silicone liners are versatile and can be used in microwaves, skillets, and in the oven. They're also heavier than parchment paper and tin foil, so they can be placed in an air fryer while it preheats without creating a whirlwind. Most silicone liners are designed to fit in both round and square air fryer baskets and can also be used in a toaster oven-style air fryer.
What kind of silicone liner is best for you?
Traditional silicone liners have large, perforated holes to allow proper air circulation around the food. Some of the liners come without the perforated holes, but the air is still able to circulate, which is necessary for the signature crispiness that air fryers are known for. The pot-style liners have raised edges, which makes them easy to remove from the air fryer.
The liners with ridges on the bottom work well when air frying meat. The grooves lift the food and allow the hot air to flow underneath it. This produces crispiness, especially with breaded food. These are also the best option to use when air frying sauced foods, because the liner will catch the drippings, which saves a huge mess to clean up. Typically, you want to avoid cooking sauced foods in an air fryer because the circulating air will blow the sauce around, which is difficult to clean and can be a fire hazard. However, sauced food can go in a silicone liner because it prevents the sauce from dripping into the bottom of the air fryer. If the sauce gets cooked onto the silicone liner, just soak it in soapy water before cleaning the liner.
But regardless of what you want to cook, if you want to keep your air fryer looking brand new and save yourself a ton of cleaning time, silicone liners are the key.