The Coffee Filter Trick For Avoiding A Greasy Mess In Your Air Fryer

Even though air fryers don't really "fry" anything with air, according to Alton Brown, they do get food super crispy, super fast, and that's good enough for us. While you can cook up dried fruit in the air fryer without making too much of a mess, other foods, especially frozen fried items and raw meat, often create a greasy, juicy mess. If you haven't gotten in the habit of buying air fryer liners yet, don't worry — you can just use a disposable coffee filter, flattened or mostly flattened, to line your round or square air fryer basket.

Yes, those coffee filters, of which you might have hundreds in your pantry, are an inexpensive way to soak up grease. They also act as barrier, preventing foods from sticking. What's more, they're surprisingly sturdy. Think about it, after the coffee is done brewing, the filter is soggy all the way through, but still completely intact. Though they be small and thin, they are mighty. (Coffee filters are even robust enough to filter a bottle of wine.) When you're done cooking, just lift the used filter out with tongs or your fingers (provided the basket has cooled enough) and toss it in the garbage. 

There are a few things you need to consider before using coffee filters as air fryer liners, though, starting off with the size of your basket. It's not so much the area you need to consider, but the depth. If your basket is on the shallow side, you will want to make sure the filters lie flatter so they don't come into contact with the heating element and catch fire. If the basket is deeper, this is not so much of a concern.

There is also the volume of food to consider. If you're just cooking something small — say, a slice of apple — you must make sure that the food item isn't so light that the filter could slip out from under it and fly around inside the basket. This, again, is a fire hazard.

Finally, it is worth remembering that coffee filters can also inhibit the Maillard reaction, where food gets deliciously browned during cooking. This is because the paper acts as a barrier between the hot surface and the food. So, if you're making something where you want a good, solid crust on bottom, you might be better off just letting it come into contact with the basket directly.