TikTok is full of hacks for how to clean an air fryer. The most popular recommends air frying soapy water for a few minutes, then giving the whole thing a good rinse. But like most cleaning hacks, this one doesn’t work for everyone every time—and water damage is a great way to void your warranty.
In this story:
Also on Bon Appétit:
Air fryers are seemingly magical countertop cookers that produce perfectly crispy food, often on par with what you’d get from a deep fryer—and without the grease stench that comes with deep-frying.
But much of what you put into an air fryer is still packed or coated with butter, oil, or shortening. This is especially true when you’re air-frying traditionally fried foods like chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, and onion rings.
Unlike standard toaster ovens, both air fryer ovens and basket-style air fryers rely on a combination of high heat and convection (moving hot air around with a fan) to crisp up your food. So no matter what you’re cooking, you can expect some combination of grease, grime, and tiny food particles to land all over the inside of your appliance. That food residue and buildup accumulates with every use, and in addition to being unhealthy, it smells bad. Too much crud on the vents can also affect the performance of your air fryer.
So whether you have a brand-new air fryer you want to keep squeaky clean, or your well-loved go-to kitchen appliance is overdue for a deep clean, keep reading for air fryer cleaning tips, plus suggestions for food-safe cleaning products.
Air fryer cleaning products
Exactly how you clean your appliance will depend on whether you have a basket-style air fryer or an air fryer oven, but for both, I recommend opting for cleaning solutions with vinegar and to avoid abrasive tools. The acids in vinegar can help to break down grease and grime, and gentle cloths won’t damage any nonstick coating your air fryer parts might have.
Unless your air fryer’s removable parts are dishwasher-safe, you’ll need to hand-wash them. For greasy jobs like this, I prefer dish soap with vinegar, which I found to be a more effective degreaser than regular dish soap. And if you can’t get to the dishes right after dinner, consider a liquid dish spray with vinegar, which starts to do on its own what regular dish soap needs water and friction to accomplish.
Whether you’re cleaning air fryer oven racks or the perforated tray that sits in an air fryer basket, you will regularly need to dislodge bits of freshly cooked-on food. Instead of reaching for harsh steel wool, use a soft-bristled brush meant for dishes. It won’t damage any nonstick coatings, and it will work a lot better than an old toothbrush.
It might be tempting to tackle the inside of a really grimy air fryer with a harsh degreaser. And while it can be effective, it’s not necessarily something you want ending up in the nooks and crannies of a cooker that’s blowing hot air all around your dinner. But sometimes you do need to pretreat cooked-on grime before you can wipe it away, and for that I recommend a food-safe cleaning vinegar—which is slightly more acidic than distilled white vinegar, so it’s even more effective. (Editor’s note: Though it’s a food-safe cleaning solution, it should not be consumed!)
Air fryers can (obviously) withstand super-high temperatures but many have nonstick interior coatings and the heating elements are very delicate too. To avoid damaging your countertop cooker, stick to a soft cloth like microfiber or a nonabrasive sponge when giving the inside a wipe down.
Keeping your air fryer clean
The best way to have a clean air fryer is to keep your air fryer clean. And the easiest way to keep your air fryer clean is to hand-wash any removable parts after every use (let it cool down first, of course), then wipe down the interior to clear splatters and stuck-on food. Brownie points for wiping down the exterior too.
Basket-style air fryers are fairly easy to keep clean because you can wash the entire air fryer basket in the sink or dishwasher after every use. Before you reassemble your air fryer, dampen a microfiber cloth or soft sponge with warm water and gently wipe the interior to remove any bits of food or grease splatters that might have ended up inside the device. Use a clean microfiber cloth and a vinegar-based cleaning spray to wipe down the exterior.
Cleaning an air-fryer oven after every use is a little more annoying, but keeping up with it means less work later. After you remove and hand-wash the racks or baskets and crumb tray, use a damp cloth to wipe out any food particles that may have ended up on the walls and door.
Because crumbs tend to stick to microfiber in a really annoying way, you might want to do a first pass with a damp paper towel, then wipe away any newly spattered grease and gunk with a damp microfiber cloth or soft sponge. You can use a fresh microfiber cloth and vinegar to wipe down a stainless-steel exterior too—it’s just as effective as anything marketed specifically for cleaning stainless steel.
Deep-cleaning your air fryer
If you keep up with maintenance cleans, your air fryer shouldn’t require much in the way of a deep clean, especially if you have a basket-style air fryer. But like a full-size oven, an air fryer oven does require deep-cleaning from time to time.
While manufacturers generally recommend waiting for an air fryer to cool down completely before cleaning any inside parts, if yours is due for a deep clean, you’ll have an easier time if it’s still warm (but not hot!).
Depending on how grimy your air fryer oven walls are, a soft cloth dipped in a mixture of water and vinegar might be enough to effectively degrease. But you may need to pretreat cooked-on grime with a vinegar-based spray before you can wipe it away. You may also need to repeat this process.
Finally, even if you wash your air fryer racks or baskets regularly, they can still accumulate a nice layer of cooked-on grime, similar to your favorite sheet pan. Before you try to scrub it all away, soak the parts in soapy water (start with hot water and dish soap, then add baking soda if they’re really bad). If your racks are bigger than your sink, you can use a collapsible cleaning caddy.