The Best Thermometer You'll Want On Hand For Your Air Fryer

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There are certain items you can cook in an air fryer that just need to be hot and crispy, like french fries or a slice of leftover pizza, but there are other foods that absolutely need to be heated to a certain temperature to ensure food safety, like chicken or fish. Alton Brown says that there are two thermometers that every kitchen needs, but there is only one type of thermometer that's perfect for using with an air fryer. We spoke with Clare Andrews, author of "The Ultimate Air Fryer Cookbook," about the ideal type of thermometer to use in conjunction with your air fryer. 

When it comes to using an air fryer, they are fairly simple, but even the simplest gadgets can take some finessing to get the best out of them. When using an air fryer, Andrews recommends a fast, digital instant-read thermometer. "Air fryers cook quickly and at high convection speeds," explains Andrews, "so you want something that gives you an accurate reading in seconds without prolonged heat loss." While you may be tempted to use a probe-style leave-in thermometer as it's extremely convenient, Andrews dissuades us from using a probe thermometer, explaining that they are not ideal "because the circulating fan can affect placement and airflow." An instant-read thermometer, however, is ideal, as it "lets you briefly pause cooking, check internal temperature accurately, and resume without significantly affecting results," notes Andrews. 

While air fryer hacks can definitely make cooking easier and quicker, there are certain aspects of their construction that make getting an accurate read on the cooking temperature difficult. To heat quickly and achieve those golden, crispy results that they're known for, "air fryers rely on rapid air circulation in a small chamber," Clare Andrews explains. Similar to a traditional oven, once you open the basket of the air fryer (like opening an oven door), the heat rapidly escapes the chamber. But the heat loss is even more dramatic in an air fryer, as Andrews explains that "opening the basket causes an immediate drop in temperature because there's no large thermal mass retaining heat like in a conventional oven."

Due to this heat loss, Andrews says "that's why quick, minimal-interruption temperature checks work best." When using an instant-read thermometer, it can be helpful to keep the air fryer basket as closed as possible, sticking the metal probe into your food closest to the opening. Not fully opening the basket all the way can help to trap some of that heat that escapes so quickly when the basket is opened. Instant-read thermometers are not only ideal for air fryers and cooking roasts and steaks, but they are also the secret to perfectly tempering chocolate. Once you make a small investment in an instant-read digital thermometer, you'll likely finding yourself using it frequently in your kitchen.