Most People Forget To Clean This Part Of An Air Fryer

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Air fryers are one of the most popular home kitchen appliances — and for good reason. You can cook so many different things in them, from snack food favorites like crunchy air-fryer french fries and crispy air fryer chicken nuggets to air fryer desserts. However, all of your creative effort will be in vain if you neglect to properly clean your air fryer in between uses.

In an exclusive interview with Tasting Table about maintenance tips to keep your air fryer in top condition, Becky Abbott and Jen West — air frying experts and authors of the popular blog Air Frying Foodie and the cookbook "Air Fryer All Day" — said that the air fryer vent is one of the most important, and often neglected, parts of an air fryer.

"Having gunked-up food on your heating element can cause it to smoke and have unpleasant smells. So keeping it clean is obviously really important to do," said West. Many people stick to cleaning out just the basket, where the food sits, but cleaning the other parts of the machine is critical to ensure that it stays in good working order.

Air frying expert Jen West offered her suggestion for how to best clean this part of the appliance. "Making sure that it's unplugged, flip the air fryer upside down and take a toothbrush and some soap and warm water to help clean the heating element," said West. Both she and Becky Abbott cautioned against getting water into the machine, presumably because it can risk breaking it. A soapy, wrung-out sponge or cloth should do just the trick. 

It's important to also note that time is of the essence here. If you wait too long, the grease will harden and become more difficult to remove. "Before the grease and things cool off, harden, and become an issue, I would make sure to wipe it down after cooking," Jen West said. Of course, make sure the appliance is cool enough to clean before you get to work deep cleaning your air fryer and removing all that stubborn, built-on gunk from the heating vent.