How do I convert oven recipes for an air fryer?

An air fryer is a compact fan oven with strong airflow. Converting a recipe is mostly arithmetic, with one practical constraint that catches people out.

Safety

Step by step

1. Apply the standard adjustment.About 20°C lower than the oven temperature and roughly 20% less time. If a recipe says 200°C for 30 minutes, start at 180°C for 24 and check.
2. Adjust again if the recipe is already fan.Fan oven recipes are already 20°C below conventional. Do not subtract twice — take the fan figure and reduce by around 10°C at most.
3. Check early, always.The first time you make anything, check at about two-thirds of the adjusted time. Air fryers vary enormously between models and the conversion is a starting point.
4. Respect the single layer.The whole mechanism is air moving over every surface. Crowding the basket blocks that and gives soggy, unevenly cooked food. Two batches beat one crowded one.
5. Shake or turn halfway.Even in a single layer, the food nearest the element cooks faster. A shake at the midpoint is what produces even results.
6. Preheat for anything that should crisp.Three to five minutes. Chips, chicken, anything breaded. Putting food into a cold basket lets it dry out before it starts browning.
7. Use less oil, but use some.A teaspoon or a light spray rather than the tablespoons a recipe might call for. Completely dry food does not brown well, so a little is doing real work.
8. Know what converts well.Chips and roast potatoes, chicken pieces, sausages, bacon, breaded food, roasted vegetables, reheating anything that should be crisp. All of these are better than in an oven.
9. Know what does not.Large joints that will not fit, anything with a wet batter, cheese on its own, delicate leafy items that blow around, and most cakes with a loose mixture.
10. Secure light food.Loose greaseproof paper or a light item can lift into the element. Weigh paper down with the food and do not preheat with empty paper in the basket.
11. Reduce liquid in adapted recipes.Air fryers concentrate rather than trap moisture. A dish that would braise in an oven needs less liquid and often a covered container.
12. Use it for reheating.It is the best thing most air fryers do — pizza, chips, pastry and roast potatoes reheat crisp rather than soggy, which a microwave cannot manage.
13. Clean the basket properly.After each use. Fat accumulates, smokes and eventually becomes a fire risk, and it also makes everything taste of the last thing you cooked.
14. Write down what worked.Your model's actual times for the things you cook often. After a handful of dishes you stop converting and start knowing.

Tips

• 20°C down, 20% less time, check early. That covers almost every conversion.
• Single layer, always. Crowding defeats the entire mechanism and is the usual cause of disappointment.
• It is the best reheater in the kitchen. Anything that should be crisp comes back crisp.

Common mistakes

• Filling the basket to get it done in one go — Air fryers cook by moving air over surfaces. Crowded food blocks the airflow and steams instead of crisping.
• Subtracting 20°C from a fan oven temperature — Fan recipes are already reduced. Taking another 20°C off undercooks it, so reduce by 10°C at most from a fan figure.

If it doesn't work