Can you do baking in an air fryer?

You need some minor adjustments to your recipes but an Air Fryer gives you the option to make some amazingly sweet and savory baking recipes.

So, are you ready to learn how to bake in an Air Fryer? Join the bistro kitchen!

Table of Contents

• Can You Bake In An Air Fryer?
• How To Bake In An Air Fryer
• Do I Need To Preheat The Air Fryer For Baking?
• Do My Bakes Need Space In My Air Fryer?
• Do I Need To Brush My Spring Forms With Oil Or Butter?
• What Can I Use To Bake?
• Do I Need To Clean My Air Fryer After Baking?
• What To Bake In The Air Fryer

Can You Bake In An Air Fryer?

Yes, you can definitely bake in an Air Fryer in fact an Air Fryer is like a small convection oven with a grill element.

A convection oven is fan-forced that distributes hot air in your oven. An Air Fryer also has a fan with hot air that circulates inside the basket.

Which is perfect for rapidly warming the small basket area inside an Air Fryer.

So, all foods that come into contact with the food give the food a crunchy exterior.

Don’t be misled by the fryer in Air Fryer because this heating element is great at crisping up classic fried foods like:

• Fries
• Croquettes
• Egg rolls
• Potato wedges

The Air Fryer is also great to bake:

• Cake
• Pie
• Bread
• Rolls
• Hand pies
• Turnovers
• Donuts
• Cookies
• Pizza

Take a look at these easy Air Fryer conversions to show you what you can convert to baking in an Air Fryer.

How To Bake In An Air Fryer

Baking in an Air Fryer is really similar to baking in an oven or a toaster oven.

You can bake anything from bread, cakes, pie, and cookies but also a tasty pizza as the Air Fryer heats the basket and all of your bakes inside.

When you want to bake in an Air Fryer there are some things to consider:

• Size – the size of your Air Fryer as this determines what you can bake and how big your bakes can be. As an Air Fryer is smaller your bakes are usually smaller as well
  Temperature – you may need to adjust the temperature compared to a regular recipe because your Air Fryer is smaller than your oven
• Baking time – your recipes will be baked faster as you are baking in a smaller appliance so you need to adjust you cooking time accordingly
• Check, check – as you cook you have to look and check to see how your bakes are coming along. Do this regularly so you can adjust temperature and or baking time

Air Fryer Size

There are several types of Air Fryers some resemble a toaster oven while most commonly used Air Fryers have a basket.

Air Fryers come in different sizes from small to XXL. Some of the smaller baskets have wire bottom while the bigger ones have a non-stick basket.

The size of the basket determines the size of what you can bake. Well not exactly.

If you have an Air Fryer that fits a grill pan like I, do you can fit bigger baking forms in it.

A grill pan is lower than a basket so if you have a 2 to 2,5-inch springform you can fit it inside a small Air Fryer.

Take a look at this Air Fryer apple pie that is baked in a springform in an Air Fryer

Air Fryer Temperature

Compared to a convection oven you need to reduce the temperature of any regular recipe.

This has everything to do with the small space you have to bake your recipes compared to a regular oven.

So, reduce your recipes by 25℉-30℉ and you’ll get a perfect result.

Air Fryer Baking Time

As you are baking in a small basket it reaches your bakes faster compared to a regular oven.

It takes a fraction of the time to preheat your oven and it also takes a fraction to bake your recipes.

So, when you are baking you can reduce the baking time by approximately 20%.

Check Continuously

You might think it strange to open your Air Fryer regularly to take a peek to see if your recipe is done.

Well, that is just what you need to do whether you are frying, grilling, or baking.

When you are baking a cake check it twice so you can alter the temperature if needed.

Baking with an Air Fryer is a lot of testing to see what works for your Air Fryer.

They all have their own temperature and cooking times. By checking regularly, you can determine what the cooking times are.

I check on my recipes all east twice during the bake and adjust the temperature if needed

When you increase the temperature, you see an immediate result. The same applies to lowering the temperature.

You can take the basket out during baking this is no problem. My Air Fryers keep on baking even if I open the basket.

Do I Need To Preheat The Air Fryer For Baking?

Yes, that is one of the key elements when using an Air Fryer for baking. Always preheat the basket.

As the Air Fryer is very small it doesn’t take a lot of time to heat. When I bake or cook in my Air Fryer, I preheat for only 3 minutes and the Air Fryer is warm.

Preheating your Air Fryer has a positive effect on your bake. Your Air Fryer works best when heated.

You get perfectly baked cakes, pie and bread as the baking powder or yeast in your bakes are activated straight away.

Do My Bakes Need Space In My Air Fryer?

Yes, you need to give your bakes a little bit of space especially when you know your bakes will increase in size.

So, when you are baking bread, cake or buns give them space and do not overcrowd your basket so your bakes can puff up.

Do I Need To Brush My Spring Forms With Oil Or Butter?

Just like you would brush a little bit of butter in your spring forms you need to do this when you bake in an Air Fryer.

I like to add parchment paper on the bottom of my cakes or pies. That way I know for certain the cake or pie will not stick to the bottom.

What Can I Use To Bake?

You can use your Air Fryer basket to hold your baking spring forms. You can use the following to bake:

• Small spring forms
• Muffin cups
• Small loaf cake pan
• Cake bucket or cake pan
• Small pizza pan

Like I mentioned you can use a grill pan to hold your spring forms especially if you have a small Air Fryer.

As the grill pan is lower compared to a basket you can put a springform on top.

I have a springform that doesn’t fit in my Air Fryer basket but does fit on top of the grill pan.

That way you can still open the Air Fryer and lift your bakes out of the Air Fryer.

Do I Need To Clean My Air Fryer After Baking?

Yes, I recommend you clean your Air Fryer after every bake. We have a whole guide on how to clean your Air Fryer.

As you can disassemble your Air Fryer and put some parts in the dishwasher cleaning your Air Fryer might be easier than you think.

Just like with your oven you will have bits and pieces that are on the bottom of your Air Fryer.

Use aluminum foil on the bottom of your Air Fryer bucket if any crumbs, bits, and pieces fall through the cracks you can easily remove them.

Take a look if your heating element is still clean else wipe them down with a damp cloth.

This will prevent unpleasant smells next time you use it.

What To Bake In The Air Fryer

As you can see here on Fast Food Bistro you have a lot of recipes you can bake in your Air Fryer, like:

• Lemon cake
• Bagels
• Brownies
• Empanadas
• Dinner rolls
• Cheesecake
• Pizza
• Turnovers
• Bread
• Pita chips
• Apple pie
• Butter cake
• Donuts
• Butter cookies
• Churros
• Berry hand pies
• Quiche
• Peanut butter cookies

You can indeed bake in your Air Fryer just like you would in an oven. There are some limitations as a result of the size of your Air Fryer,

Adjust the baking time as described as well as the temperature.

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