As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
If you own an air fryer, then you know that there are a slew of air frying accessories on the market claiming to make your life easier. Air fryer basket liners are no exception. But are they worth it, or are they just another gimmick? In the following article, we at airfrying.net will report our experience with air fryer basket liners and let you know the pros and cons of these liners.
Air Fryer Basket Liners: What’s the Point?
The appeal of basket liners is a no-brainer.
These liners, typically made of parchment paper, fit nicely into the bottom of your air fryer and are marketed to prevent food from sticking to the bottom of the basket. In addition, the parchment or silicon liners should also prevent burning. The function is a lot like using them in the oven so you don’t scorch the bottoms of your cookies! Finally, most companies also claim that liners make clean-up easier.
But Do They Work?
Overall, I would say yes.
Personally, I love to use the basket liners, especially when I’m air frying “baked” goods or meats. I had never used them before, but we were lucky enough to receive a free pack, and I will definitely buy them again when I am out.
The reasoning behind this is two-fold.
First, I have found that parchment basket liners do prevent food from sticking to the bottom of the basket. This is especially true when cooking meats. For example, when air frying chicken wings, I have found that the meat sticks to the bottom. The result is a messy air fryer basket with chicken crusted down in the ventilation holes of the basket. In addition, if you use marinades or sticky sauces when cooking, the parchment helps reduce sticking.
Second, basket liners prevent burning. Baked goods like cookies and pastries can still brown on the bottoms, and the liners are an easier and healthier alternative than greasing the basket with shortening.
Finally, air fryer basket liners do make clean-up easier, depending upon what food you’re cooking. There will still be clean-up involved with air frying foods like meats. However, the basket liners prevent food from sticking to the basket, which does reduce scrubbing time. For some foods, like cookies or baked potatoes, the liner keeps the basket clean throughout the cooking process, requiring only a rinse after use.
Where Do I Find Them?
I’m a shameless amazon prime junkie, and we purchase the majority of our accessories online. Luckily, there are several different options for basket liners that come in various shapes, sizes, and materials. The most popular are parchment, unbleached paper, bamboo, and silicon. Basically, whatever your needs, whatever model of air fryer you own, there are liners for it!
Here are a few we recommend:
- GoWise Perforated Parchment
- Infraovens Rectangular Unbleached
- Besego Bamboo Liners
- Infraovens Silicone Cooking Mat Set
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates.
It’s so cool that they make specific liners for air fryers. I wonder if cutting your own parchment paper would work just as well?
Air fryer liners are perforated to allow the hot air to circulate. If you cut your own, punch quite a few holes.
Check out Airware reusable air fryer liners, they’re awesome. I bought them on Amazon after reading an article on Food and Wine. They’re made of silicone so food doesn’t stick and you can throw them right in your dishwasher after you’re done. Brought my worn out air fryer basket back to life. Great product
Sam
Sam, thanks for the tip – we will check them out!
I’ve seen reviews saying the air fryer liners catch on fire. I actually had this happen with regular parchment paper but it had gotten sucked up to the top of the fryer. The photos in the reviews show that it happened while on the bottom of the fryer. Do you have any info about this or how to prevent it?
Brenda, we haven’t had any issues with air fryer parchment liners when using them properly underneath the food. Liners that aren’t sufficiently weighed down by the food can indeed be pulled up into the hot coils above the basket. There are some silicone liners that would be much weightier and wouldn’t move around. We haven’t tried those but let us know if you do!
Is a silicone liner set on top of the gourmia crisper tray? Or should the crisper tray be removed first?
Thank you.
I just place it on top of the crisper tray.
Cheers
Okay, so I got an Air Fryer and I purchased parchment liners. This may be a dumb question but how do I use them? Do I place them on-top of the crisper tray or under the crisper tray?
Hello Terry. What I typically do is preheat the air fryer, THEN place the liner in, then put your food on top. It helps keep the bottom of the pan a bit cleaner and may help you not have to clean the air fryer after every use. Whatever you do, do NOT preheat with a liner in…the liner will fly up to the heating element and start a fire. I as well as many other air fryer owners have found this out.
But as Terry asked, WHERE do you put the liner? We have a 10 qt. NuWave with crisper basket. Put the liner there OR in the base tray?
I put the air liners in the bottom of the basket, but only AFTER it preheats…otherwise the air fryer fan will swirl around and maybe catch fire. Because of this, I don’t use the liners any more, I use foil.
Cheers