Food Experts Say This Common Air Fryer Mistake Could Ruin Your Dinner

We love air fryers in the Good Housekeeping Kitchen & Cooking Lab. And we know a thing or two about the countertop heroes after testing over 70 models and cooking with them daily in the Lab and at home. Mine has earned a permanent place on my counter to revive leftovers, crisp potatoes, and make a mean salmon fillet.

While it’s tempting to toss your ingredients in the basket, walk away, and expect golden perfection, you might be falling into the most common trap: When it comes to air fryers, more is not merrier.

Despite the name, air fryers don’t technically “fry” food. Instead, they function like powerful, compact convection ovens, typically with a heating element above the food and a powerful fan that blows hot air around the small cooking cavity so it crisps and colors with little to no added oil. (That said, there is a difference between a convection oven and an air fryer.)

Most air fryers have a small capacity (our top-tested model, the Ninja Pro XL, has a 6.5-quart basket), so it’s easy to overfill the basket, which can prevent air circulation. The result? A sad, steamed, soggy mess. The number one enemy of crispy, evenly cooked air-fried food is overcrowding.

If you’re after maximum crispiness, the key is not to pack food tightly into the air fryer basket. Ensure your food, whether it’s fries, chicken wings, or salmon fillets, has some breathing room for hot air to circulate evenly.

How much you can fit depends on the size of your appliance. The average air fryer is 6 quarts, which we’ve found is enough to cook for four people at a time.

Smaller air fryers have a 2- to 4-quart capacity and are great for feeding one to two people. Based on testing in the Lab, small air fryers can typically fit two to three chicken thighs, a pound of chicken wings (about 10 medium wings), or 8 to 16 ounces of fries (though 8 ounces is better for more consistent results).

Choose a 6- to 10-quart air fryer to cook in bulk or feed a larger crowd. And keep in mind that shape matters too: For similarly sized air fryers, square baskets often provide more usable cooking surface than round ones.

To ensure your air fryer delivers the crispiness you crave, follow these expert tips:

• Keep it even: It can be tempting to pile a whole bag of frozen fries in your air fryer, but if the hot air can’t reach all surfaces, they won’t be crispy. Arrange food in a single layer.
• Space it out: Food with enough space for airflow on all sides will cook properly.
• Leave the tray in place: The removable tray that sits inside the basket lifts food off the bottom, allowing hot air to circulate underneath it. Don’t use the tray like a shelf to create a second tightly packed layer of food. That can restrict airflow and trap steam between the layers, leaving your food soggy instead of crisp.
• Batch cook: If a recipe seems too big for your appliance, split it into two (or more!) batches. It may take longer, but you’ll get better results.
• Shake it: Shaking the basket halfway through cooking can help distribute the food more evenly. Just don’t shake too often—every time you remove the basket, it loses heat.
• Flip it: For individual pieces like chicken thighs or fillets, turn your food halfway through for even browning.
• Use the oven: And if you’re dedicated to cooking a big batch as quickly as possible, your oven is probably a better bet than the air fryer.

Lizzy Briskin is a contributing analyst in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab, where she’s conducted the most recent round of air fryer testing. She’s cooked at least a dozen pounds of French fries and chicken wings while testing air fryers in the Lab.

Drew Anne Salvatore is the senior food editor in the Hearst Lifestyle Group, where she writes for Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Women’s Health, and Prevention. She wrote an earlier version of this article.