Expert consulted: 
If you’re like me, you’re always looking for a way to speed up cleaning in the kitchen. While I love the speed and simplicity of air-frying (I’ve tested 10 of the 69 air fryers we’ve tested in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab since 2017), I hate cleaning the basket after cooking. So naturally, the idea of liners that reduce (or maybe even eliminate) cleanup intrigued me. But before I could endorse air fryer liners, I had to test them myself.
I cooked three similarly sized salmon fillets three ways in my Ninja Air Fryer XL: without a liner, with a parchment air fryer liner directly on the rack, and with a liner under the rack. I cooked each piece of salmon at 400°F for eight minutes.
Here’s how it went.
No liner
First, I went with my usual method and skipped the liner. I coated the salmon in oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I cooked it directly on the rack in the air fryer basket.
Results: As expected, the fish came out evenly cooked with crisp skin and a flaky texture. It didn’t stick to the rack, but as expected, the basket was splattered with oil.
Liner on the rack
Next, I cleaned and cooled my air fryer basket, then cooked a second fillet (also coated with oil and seasoned) on a perforated liner on the air fryer rack. The liner is made of parchment paper and is dotted with holes to allow for airflow and crisping. You can also find non-perforated liners, which will cover more surface area in the basket but don’t allow for as much airflow.
Results: When I opened the basket after eight minutes, I found my poor salmon fillet entangled in a snare of parchment paper. The fan had blown the liner around during cooking, and it ended up crumpled and stuck to my fillet. As a result, the basket was just as covered in oil, and my fillet was less crisp than it would have been without a liner, since the paper had trapped moisture and created steam.
Liner under the rack
Finally, I followed the same recipe but placed the air fryer liner directly on the bottom of the cooking basket, with the rack on top and the salmon on the rack. This method is meant to keep the bottom of the air fryer basket clean. The rack also holds the paper in place, so it stays safely away from the fan and heating element.
Results: This time, the liner stayed in place, and my salmon was well cooked with crisp skin. However, the sides of the basket were just as oil-speckled, and the rack had to be cleaned as well.
Bottom line
Ultimately, the air fryer liner did not improve my salmon or keep the basket clean. If you feel strongly about using a liner, I don’t recommend placing it on top of the rack, since the fan will blow it around, and it can actually make your food less crispy without decreasing the mess. And more important, never use a liner in an empty (or preheating) air fryer. It needs to be weighed down, or the paper can pose a fire risk. In short, this is one kitchen accessory you can skip.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Lizzy Briskin is a contributing analyst in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Lab. She’s tested many air fryers in the Lab, uses one at home multiple times a week, and has covered everything from how to use the Bake feature on an air fryer to whether a glass basket model is worth it.
Nicole Papantoniou is the senior director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab. She’s been testing air fryers and kitchen gear for over a decade and refuses to cook her salmon in any other appliance.
Nicole (she/her) is the senior director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab. She oversees all content and testing related to kitchen products, food, and recipes. She has worked at GH since 2019, and is a trained cook, published recipe developer, and seasoned product tester with nearly 15 years of experience. She has worked in test kitchens for national magazines and kitchen appliances brands, where she also helped develop products for the home cook. She earned a degree in journalism from SUNY New Paltz, graduated with a Grand Diplome in Classic Culinary Arts from the French Culinary Institute, and studied culinary nutrition at the Natural Gourmet Institute (both now part of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.)
