How to cook a Toastie in an air fryer
Air fryers cook bread items very well but with a toastie you will be cooking a thick sandwich until the bread appears like toast with the ingredients cooked fully.
Air fry a toastie at a gentle mid range temperature of approximately 375°F / 190°C, between 8-9 minutes. You need to use the whole cooking time to fully heat through the ingredients, while at the same time not toasting the bread until its burned. Always cook a toastie on top of parchment paper.
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Cooking a toasting in an air fryer you recently brought home to oven cook can quickly and easily be air fried with no real issues.
You will have to make adjustment to how you cook a toastie in an air fryer - as oppose to an oven - because an air fryer whatever temperature you set it to, will cook a little faster as the heating elements is so close to the toastie.
To do that you can air fry both sides of a toastie which will help to slow down the cooking process.
Only air frying the top side - which normally has cheese on top - won't give you enough time to cook the toastie fully, before it cooks into oblivion.
Benefit to air frying a toastie would at least provide you a way to make it nice and toasted underneath, rather than just on top.
Air fryers can be used as a toaster oven so will make easy work of a toastie.
With that you can also think about making your own toastie in the air fryer which I would recommend, to always cook on top of parchment paper.
One tip I can provide you having air fried many toasties myself, is to open up the toastie with the filling exposed, and facing up, for a minute or two to give the toastie middle a head start - and again potentially delay burning the bread.
For the record, I demonstrated how to air fry a toastie in an air fryer with an M&S Ham & Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese Toastie, weighing 209g. Its dimensions are 150mm in length; with a 100mm width; and has a combined 35mm thickness.
I think air frying any size toastie using only adjusted oven cooking instructions would be wise; when it would be best to set the time and temperature closer to the instructions on your toastie packaging.
On this occasion, I've cooked my toastie from chilled (with it stored in the refrigerator) but there is an option to air fry from frozen, but only if 'cook from frozen' cooking instructions are provided on the toastie packaging.
Prepare toastie
You wouldn't think much goes into cooking a toastie in an air fryer but in fact it does help to make some preparation. With the toastie out of the fridge - and out of the packaging - we can ensure there's no chill in the toastie by sitting it at room temperature. One tip I have for you is, to remember to return any spilled ingredients back into the toastie.
- STEP 1: Remove out of packaging - Of course you will need to remove the toastie out of the packaging while its out of the refrigerator, before condensation builds up in what is probably plastic packaging
- STEP 2: Rest at room temperature - Sit the toastie at room temperature for a minimum of 15 minutes, as we don't want to fight the chill inside the toastie which can have an effect on the cooking time.
- STEP 3: Tidy up fillings if required - Don't rush ahead to put the toastie in the air fryer until you've made a few adjustments to any spilled ingredients in the packaging, which will need to be put back in between the bread slices; all while making sure to tuck fillings like ham back into the toastie if its a little too far out
- STEP 4: Preheat air fryer for 5 minutes - With what should be all of the toastie preparation out of the way; set the time to 5 minutes with a temperature of 375°F / 190°C, to properly preheat the air fryer
Air fry any standard size toastie
What exactly is a standard size toastie and why does is matter? As I'm demonstrating how to cook a toastie in an air fryer; we all need to be on the same page by cooking what is essentially a sandwich. It doesn't matter if the size varies a little between length, width and thickness - as you can make slight adjustments if needed.
- STEP 1: Set temp. to 375°F / 190°C; set time to 8 min. - In my particular case, the oven cooking instructions recommended a temperature of 375°F / 190°C; which I stuck to but I did air fry this toastie for 8 minutes in total
- STEP 2: Add a toastie-size sheet of parchment paper in basket - Don't use a too large cut-to-size sheet of parchment paper, as you don't want the paper to flap around in the intense air flow, while covering the toastie which can prevent toasting
- STEP 3: centre toastie on parchment paper - With the air fryer already preheated, be careful when placing the parchment paper/toastie in the hot air fryer basket
- STEP 4: keep pre-cut toastie pressed together - Usefully the food producer will pre-cut the toastie for you in two halves. You will want to make sure both sides are firmly pressed together, to ensure the toastie cooks slow and even
- STEP 5: Air fry cheese-side down, 5 minutes - Benefit to using parchment paper is it will be used to catch spilled cheese, while making it less sticky as you'll be first air frying the toastie. cheese-side down
- STEP 6: Flip toastie over 5 minutes in - You will need to carefully turn the toastie over with your bare hands, or with use of suitable tongs, of which you will cook the top side for the remaining 3 minutes
Expect toastie Cheese to spill
So what can you expect during the air frying process when cooking your toastie of any kind. Well I believe its only the cheese that can cause you any problems going forward.
You should hopefully line the air fryer basket in parchment paper for two crucial reasons.
Most importantly, you will cook the toastie for most of the time upside down, which means what would be the top side - which is normally with melted cheese on top - would be what is placed face down onto the parchment paper.
Why that is because we want to ensure the cooking is evenly distributed between the top and bottom of the toastie. And the only way to do that is to make it a little difficult for ourselves; by melting the cheese while its pressed underneath the toastie.
When you flip the toastie back on its top side with the cheese side facing up, bear in mind you may have to scoop any melted cheese back onto the toastie as it will now be grilled properly in the air fryer.
Because we used parchment paper, there is no chance of the cheese sticking to the air fryer basket, and it will be possible to scoop off the paper and back on to the toastie.
I will also add cheese does like to fuse to foil if that is what you have to line the air fryer basket, so attend the toastie regularly to ensure the cheese isn't sticking to foil.
Delay cooking by wrapping in foil
Unfortunately not all of us will be on the same page for many reasons, among them the air fryer might be cooking the toastie a little too fast.
Which isn't a problem I can assure you because we can first reduce the temperature as low as possible - and cook the toastie the rest of the way as normal - without burning the bread, and drying out the ingredients.
Admittedly, you won't know how long to cook a toastie at a low temperature so you can carry on cooking at a speedy time, with one condition.
Why not loosely wrap the toastie in a sheet of foil to allow it to air fry as you have been, while preventing the air fryer from toasting the toastie any more than it is.
Don't wrap the toastie in foil at the beginning because it will badly stick.
Only after the toastie and therefore its ingredients which are exposed or spilling out of the toastie have been given time to cook a little, should you wrap the toastie which should prevent sticking.
Summary
Initially I figured 10 minutes would be enough to fully cook a toastie through rather than the full 12 minutes as suggested for the oven cooking.
By experience the 12 minutes was always going to be too long when cooking in an air fryer, while I felt the 10 minutes might be pushing it... and I was right so I reduced the timer for the final time, to 8 minutes.
What should of been a 12 minute cooking time for the oven actually turned out to be just 8 minutes when cooked in the air fryer.
With the oven cooking time suggesting 12 minutes on my air fryer, I air fried for only 8 minutes in total. Take that as a way to reduce the timing for your particular toastie; as not all toasties will air fry the same, due to thickness and weight.
In this 8 minutes of air frying time I first laid my toastie in the bottom of my air fryer basket on top of parchment paper, and cooked it upside down for 5 minutes.
When 5 minutes elapsed, to spun my toastie the right way up so the cheese top was now facing up, and I continued to air fry for the remaining 3 minutes.
It may seem short of time but believe me the toastie began to really crisp up by then and getting a little charred in the corners.
With the 3 remaining minutes, it was more than enough time to melt the outer cheese which was added on top of my toastie.
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