Why is your air fryer food too dry? and What you can do?

We all love the crispier foods that we see in commercials.

But when you or I air fry foods, it gets dry and makes it hard to bite.

When I started air frying, my food also got dry. In this article, I’ll show you how to make air fryer food crispier without drying them.

Why is your air fryer food too dry?

Boneless meats get dried out due to the air fryer’s high temperature. It can happen if you’ve left the food on the air fryer for a longer time, or you’ve forgotten to marinade it properly. Marinating helps to retain moisture easily by making the food dry.

Why does Air Fryer make foods dry?

Air fryers don’t fry food. Air fryers work by simply blowing hot air into the food. When you fry, you’re using oil to convey heat to food. Since air doesn’t transfer heat as well as oil, the outsides don’t get as crispy and the food dries out a little.

How do you keep food moist in an air fryer?

Here’s what you can do:

1. Use tin foil to wrap foods that need to retain moisture.
2. Marinate the food for longer times.
3. Use an oil mister before cooking.

Use tin foil to wrap foods that need to retain moisture

You can use tin foil to keep the moisture that foods like cakes, muffins, brownies, corn on the cob, squash, cucumber, clams, and prawns are needed.

Simply use tin foil to wrap the food inside it. Make one or two small holes on the top to remove some extra moisture.

It works for most of the part because the hot air first heats the foil and then the food inside it. Thus not heating the food directly, food stays moisture in nature.

Warning: Make sure to not block the airflow of the air fryer by providing a gap of 3-5 mm on each side. This method isn’t helpful for meats and fries.

Marinate the food for longer times

When it comes to meats, especially boneless meat, you can marinate it for longer times with some oils and spice for the test. It’ll retain its moisture and taste crispier.

To marinate it you can leave the meat overnight with meat powder and some olive or avocado oil. Mix it properly and marinate it for more than 1 hour. If you’re short on time you can marinate it for at least 30 mins.

Tip: This method is best for meats, and fish, especially Chicken breast and wings. However, you’ve to use the third method for french fries.

Use Oil Sprinter or Mister for fries

Oil mister is best for crispier french fries and chicken wings if you don’t want to marinate them.

You can put a little bit of olive or avocado oil on the fries or chicken wings to make them crispier. Oil transfers heat quickly and give those golden look, you get from deep fryers.

Don’t worry just a little bit of oil will not increase your calorie intake. And if you are worried about oil the last bonus method will do the trick for you.

Don’t overcook your foods

I’ve seen so many people, air fry foods for longer times, and as a result, the food becomes drier.

For those people, read the package label properly. Some frozen foods come with temperature and time settings. This can help cook your food correctly and not burn or dry them unintentionally.

Do you preheat an air fryer with the basket in or out?

You should preheat your air fryer with the basket inside of the air fryer. When the preheating of the air fryer is complete, take the air fryer basket out of the air fryer and place the food in the basket.

How to keep Meat moist in an air fryer?

To keep the meat moist in your air fryer, you only need 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of oil each time you use your air fryer to help bring that flavor and moisture back.

Here’s a full guide on how to cook meat in an air fryer.