The side by side air fryer test that changed my mind on parchment liners

I finally tried parchment liners in my air fryer last week after avoiding them for like 2 years because I thought they'd block airflow. The difference was honestly wild. Without liners my sweet potato fries were stuck to the basket and took 20 minutes to clean after. With the liners everything came out just as crispy and I just tossed the paper in the trash when done. I did test it both ways using the exact same batch of fries from Trader Joe's. Has anyone else noticed a bigger difference than they expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery2901mo ago

You're talking about "just as crispy" but my experience was the complete opposite with liners. They trapped steam and made my chicken wings soggy on the bottom while the top was fine. I'd rather spend the 2 minutes scrubbing the basket than eat food that's half crispy half rubbery.

cole_flores441mo agoTop Commenter

Man you're 100% right @emery290... I had the exact same problem with liners. The bottoms of my wings came out steamed and sad while the tops were fine. I tried poking holes in the liner too thinking that would help but it didn't do anything. Scrubbing the basket for a couple minutes is way better than eating half soggy food... plus the cleanup isn't even that bad if you soak it right away. Been liner free for a year now and never looked back.

beth2761mo ago

Preheating the basket for a full 5 minutes before adding anything made a huge difference for me, stopped the soggy bottoms completely. Also patting the wings dry with paper towels first helped a ton.