Do air fryers smell

With any new kitchen appliance I am sure we're all familiar with the odour they can emit early on, which is quickly forgotten about as the issue can sort itself out.

Air fryers can smell due to a special substance on the heating element, which must burn off for the first time, after which any odour will subside. In addition, brand new air fryers can smell like plastic with the first one or two uses, thus I recommend you air fry at a medium to air heat, food-free, for 10-20 minutes.

Its my understanding the smell oozing off an air fryer could be one of two things, none of which are toxic or a danger to human health.

Brand new air fryers are much like any new kitchen appliance, which give off a smell akin to burning plastic or other materials like paper or metal. What this can be attributed to is a special coating on the heating element - where it burns off for the first time using an air fryer.

Plastic and metal inside the air fryer interior will need 10 minutes worth of air frying time, to help get rid of the smell on its first cooking session.

Unfortunately, this smell can bleach into your air fried food with the first or second session, thus its worth eradicating the air fryer of bad smells before you begin to thick about using the appliance.

First get rid of any unnatural smell by simply setting your air fryer to its highest temperature - which is approximately 400°F/200°C - then run the air fryer for 15-20 minutes to finally rid it of this strange odour.

Smell coming off an air fryer is almost a guarantee when bought new, so if this smell persists, its vitally important to contact the manufacturer for advice. In the meantime, it would be wise to stop using the appliance.

Strength of smell emitting from an air fryer should be mild at best, but its unlikely to stink up the house which would be a concern.

After every air fryer cooking session its important to clean your air fryer the best way you know how, to avoid an accumulation of smelly, burned food building up in the container.

Brand new air fryers can smell

To root out the smell of what will probably be a brand new air fryer, you can think about first giving your air fryer 10 minutes of cooking time, with no food included.

What the manufacturer of my first air fryer suggested in their manual, was to cook several slices of lemon in the basket - preferably with lemon slices sat on foil or parchment paper - then blast the heat at 300°F/150°C for approximately 10 minutes.

I have personally experienced a very mild smell emitting from both my new air fryers in the past, but this odour quickly vanished after a little use.

Food can go directly in an air fryer for the very first time while allowing the unnatural air fryer smell to subside, over the course of your first air frying session.

Mild cooking smells will enhance odour

What I have found with an air fryer and an conventional oven in particular, is if you allow either appliance to cook for too long, the smell of the oven or air fryer interior can begin to fill up the air.

Its a mild odour but it reminds me of a hot car or the smell of hot power tool batteries after several minutes of use.

Again this isn't anything to be concerned about but something that can be avoided when air frying food only 20 minutes or less. Baking a baked potato in an air fryer for what will be an hour at least, can result in the air fryer interior/exterior giving off a mild odour.

Air fryers can still emit a mild odour when cooking food that doesn't really give off enough pleasant aroma, when instead the food air frying in progress can be overwhelmed, if again just mildly, by your air fryer in operation.

Remember to clean air fryer interior

One thing we all must remember is to clean our air fryer as often as we can to avoid a build up of old food residue, and any additional odour this old stuck on food can emit every time you come back to operate the air fryer.

Air fryers must really be cleaned as soon as you've done cooking, as any additional oil added can produce an unpleasant grease smell; and so can oil/grease that naturally oozes out of food - like fries to chicken nuggets, to breaded fish and vegetables.

Focus of your regular cleaning session will concentrate on the detachable basket, where food juices will spill onto the bottom or sides of the basket.

What else we often forget to clean up is indeed the container that holds the basket.

All food crumbs, drips and grease will drop into the container through the air flow holes in basket, where it will sit until cleaned up. I do clean this outer container the same time as my basket - although but I do understand many of you will avoid it.

Every time you come back to your air fryer to cook your next meal or snack, this accumulated grease/fat and food crumbs will heat up again, giving off an unpleasant smell. Of which can be avoided by not being lazy when it comes to cleaning after every use, and that is to soak the basket/container in boiling hot water in a grease-cutting dish soap in the sink.

Summary

Likely culprit to any bad air fryer smell could be a layer of coating on the heating element. Once this coating is burned off after 10 minutes or so, this should be the last time you smell anything funky.

An air fryer, like any heated kitchen appliance, can smell like plastic or metal when cooking for an extended period of time, which is completely normal.

To eradicate the 'brand new air fryer smell' you can add slices of lemon - as suggested by manufacturers - while air frying for up to 10 minutes at a medium to high heat.

Food being air fried which emits a very mild smell while cooking can be overwhelmed by the air fryer interior/exterior odour, but that shouldn't be an issue.

What you must focus on is being sure to clean your air fryer after every use; or else you can avoid cleaning the air fryer when lining the basket with parchment paper or foil.

Its easy to allow the filthy basket to accumulate in food residue rather then cleaning it a few times a week. Unfortunately this will not only be the downfall of your once brand spanking clean basket; you will find leftover food crumbs, grease and fat can burn whenever the air fryer is used again.

Share this article: