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Comment by spapas82 | Hacker News Reader

I was thinking if buying an air fryer however cleaning seems like a nightmare. Can you please share some insights on how easy (or hard) it is?

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They're all a little different, but this works for me. When it beeps to say it's done, in a single arm motion I pull out the tray, dump the cooked food onto a platter, and then rinse the tray in the sink. The key is to get the tap water on there while the oils are still hot.

But temper your expectations. If you need your cooking implements to be squeaky clean, an air fryer will be a lot of work. If you're satisfied with your regular oven having a few bits of carbonized food bits here and there, then you'll also be satisfied with a "camp clean" level of air fryer cleanliness.

Exactly this. It is kind of always a little bit greasy, a little bit crispy burnt crumbs inside. Really fatty foods like sausages, you dump the waste oil after taking the food out, and rinse it a bit. It’s hard to describe without sounding gross, but strangely seems not that gross when you have one.

Buy a small one. Smallest you can for your situation.

That might seem like a weird suggestion but remember the entire advantage of an air fryer is that it's a smaller form of an oven so it has less to heat and is thus faster for less power. Buying a big one makes it all pointless, just use the oven.

The small ones fit in a sink. Not much different than cleaning pots&pans.

I recommend a basket type and getting the biggest in area and power you can find. The surface area is important. More even and better you can spread the food better the result.

It works by forcing air from the top to the food, not slowly from the back like regular oven. So you get better result if food isn't piled up over itself.

The tray is usually two piece that separate. They're not hard to clean. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P_nUcqzNi00

Airfryer doesn't get hot enough like pan over direct flame so food doesn't seem to get burned / stuck.

I put aluminum foil in between the grate and the tray. Makes cleaning much easier since you only need to clean the grate, which is dishwasher-safe.

Some think it affects the air fryer cooking but I haven't noticed a difference.

I just empty the tray and rinse with hot water. Since it doesn’t touch the food I figure it doesn’t have to be too sterile.

I have a Ninja Air Fryer and the baskets are dishwasher safe. They are also very easy to wash clean clean with a soft brush, warm water and soap. Easy cleaning is one of the major benefits of an air fryer versus deep/shallow frying via a dedicated or appliance or the stovetop.

Easiest thing ever. Just rinse the basket with hot water and a little dish soap, then rinse it again and dry. Nothing sticks to the non-stick coating once dish soap hits it. I don't even scrub, just rinse. So fast, that I don't even use the dishwasher for it.

I have one: all I do is take the basket out and clean it. Both parts of it are non-stick.

Cleaning mine is extremely easy. It's just a basket with a detachable grate.

Have a power xl and cleaning is just tossing away the parchment paper after

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