Many people’s kitchens now include air fryers as a standard item. The distinctive selling feature of the modern gadget is that it uses hot air to cook food instead of oil. In terms of reheating fast food particularly, how to reheat food in an air fryer stack up against other methods?
You may reheat fast food in an air fryer in about 5-10 minutes. This involves preheating the device to 320 degrees Fahrenheit before adding your burger, pizza, fries, or whatever else you’d want! To ensure a uniform reheat, it’s recommended to turn or stir your meal every few minutes. With that, your fast food will taste as though it were freshly prepared when you’re done!
In this article, you’ll learn how to reheat any fast food in your air fryer. First, we’ll cover all you need to know in this section. After this article, you’ll learn how to reheat various fast food items in your air fryer, and you’ll realize why this method is superior to microwaves. Let us now begin!
Why Use An Air Fryer To Reheat Food?
Air fryers retain the texture and flavor of food better than microwaves, in case you’re wondering why you’d ever want to reheat food that way instead of using one.
There are several advantages to using microwaves for cooking and heating food, but some items, such as pizza, might turn out soggy. However, when cooked in an air fryer, things come out crispier or in their natural form.
Using an air fryer keeps food crispy because of the air and oil circulating within. However, meals cooked in the microwave are more likely to get soupy and soggy than those that have not. This is because microwaves don’t remove the water from food as well as conventional ovens do.
However, other dishes, such as soups, stews, and pasta, are better suited to warming in a microwave.
How Can Reheat Food In Air Fryer
We all know how much time and money we can save in the kitchen when we cook in bulk and reheat leftovers. However, in many circumstances, the warming procedure can be just as time-consuming as the initial dinner and be nowhere near as good as the original meal.
One benefit of air fryer cooking is that it may be used to reheat food that was not initially cooked in one.
Food may be quickly reheated in an air fryer without sacrificing the flavor or texture of a range of beautiful dishes, and I’ve found that to be true. Try the microwave to avoid soggily or lost flavor and texture while reheating in a microwave or traditional oven.
Instead of becoming mushy, the dish will likely keep its flavor and texture while also being crispy.
The heat penetrates the food from the outside, causing it to cook, instead of using heat for cooking the food from the outside as a conventional oven or microwave does.
How to Reheat Food In an Airfryer
Having learned how an air fryer performs, it’s time to reheat your leftovers.
If you’re skeptical that an air fryer can bring back the flavor of your Chinese takeout from the night before, we challenge you to read the steps below, put them into practice, and be amazed at the results!
- There is no one-size-fits-all air fryer instruction manual since every meal is unique. Depending on what you’re cooking, you’ll have to modify the time or temperature settings on your air fryer accordingly! Fortunately, the following directions should work with any leftovers you’d like to reheat!
- The first step in preparing frozen food is to defrost it. So, put it in the fridge overnight or let it defrost naturally on the counter for a few hours.
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 ° for five minutes after you’ve finished prepping and are ready to begin. Allow your meal to cook for a few minutes in the air fryer.
- After inserting the basket, set the air fryer temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for three minutes. Allow the food to cook for a specified time, and then carefully remove the basket.
- Make sure your meal is hot and crispy before you eat it. As a last resort, you may return it to the air fryer and cook it for a few more minutes if necessary. Check your meal every 1-2 minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn.
- Air fryer baskets are easy to remove if you’re confident that your meal has reached the proper temperature. When you’ve finished cooking, remove the basket from the air fryer and turn the appliance off.
In addition, don’t quickly clean your air fryer since you might injure yourself by touching it. Wait till it has cooled before cleaning it! Just enjoy your warmed food to the fullest till then!
How Long to Reheat Food In the Air Fryer
Cooking in an air fryer reduces cooking by three or four minutes. Using this method, your dinner should be ready in little more than five minutes. How long it takes to cook depends on the food’s texture and consistency. To melt something, you’ll need some time.
However, if the dish is just to be fried, it will reduce the cooking time. As a result, you can reheat meals using an air fryer in just five minutes.
Which Type of Food You Can Reheat in an Air fryer
Any dish that has been fried, roasted, or grilled can be reheated Reheating meals with sauce and water is not an option. Cooking in an air fryer is a convenient way to reheat food that is too wet to do so quickly.
Fried chicken wings
An air fryer is the most acceptable way to reheat chicken wings. If you do this, they’ll come out of the frying with a perfectly crispy exterior.
A short oil spray is an excellent idea to help crisp up the wings. You may also use your favorite sauce to dress up your wings.
Cooking a Roasted Chicken
An air fryer is a terrific way to reheat roasted or grilled chicken. Microwaving chicken will make it rubbery and go chilly halfway through eating, even if it appears hot at first.
Leftover Vegetables
If you have any leftover vegetables, air fry them! In the event that you reheat them in the microwave, they’ll be mushy, wilted, and lose their heat quickly. To keep the veggies crispy and hot after being reheated in an air fryer, reheat them in the appliance.
Hamburger
You may be shocked that you can use an air fryer to reheat hamburgers. The whole thing may be put in, and it will be warmed from the inside out. The bread and meat will be crisp and excellent as well.
Chinese Food
The first time anything is created in China, it is generally always fried and then mixed with a delicious sauce.
Reheating Chinese cuisine in an air fryer is the best option, therefore. Re-crisp the Chinese cuisine to get it back to its original texture.
Baked Potato
To begin, most baked potatoes are cooked in a conventional oven. However, when it comes time to consume your leftover potato, a microwave just isn’t cut. It will cause the potato to cook unevenly, resulting in mush.
You may obtain the most acceptable results by reheating a cooked potato using an air fryer.
Quiche
The quiche that has been refrigerated or frozen is difficult to rewarm. It’s too delicate to be cooked in a microwave. You’ll wind up with rubbery and mushy eggs if you do this. An oven can be used. However, it takes a long time to heat up and reheat food.
The ideal compromise is to reheat quiche in an air fryer. Although it’s been reheated, the quiche’s edges will still be crunchy and fresh-baked.
Egg Muffins
Making egg cups or muffins ahead of time is a terrific way to have a high-protein breakfast on hand. The main drawback is that warming in the microwave might result in a rubbery or chewy flavor.
Deep-fried Fish
Soggy fried fish is what you’ll get if you cook it in the microwave. Flaky and crispy on the outside, the battered fish will be served.. The fried fish will cook rapidly, so keep an eye on it.
Steak
Reheating steak in the microwave tends to become rough and chewy. Slices may be warmed on the stovetop, but the meat will become dry.
The steak is luscious and juicy when reheated in the air fryer. Before reheating, add a dollop of butter to the top of the steak for an added touch of luxury.
Chips Tortilla
Leftover tortilla chips are never as good as the original because they grow mushy when exposed to air.
Using an air fryer, you can return them to their original crunch in only a few minutes. This is a fantastic after-school treat that rivals anything you’d get from a restaurant in terms of quality.
Rubbed Pork Chops
When cooked correctly, ribs can be a real treat. Before reheating them, brush them with a little more barbeque sauce.
The sauce will caramelize on the outside while remaining moist and flavorful, thanks to the air fryer.
Nuggets of chicken
Anything breaded, like chicken tenders or nuggets, reheats well in the air fryer.
Generally, as they cool, they get mushy, but by reheating them in this manner, the outside will remain as crispy as it was when they were first cooked.
At 320 degrees Fahrenheit, they will take around 3 to 4 minutes to cook.
Fries reheated in the microwave have never turned out well. It doesn’t matter what you do at this point. They’ll decay and crumble to dust in no time at all. You’ll never go back after you’ve tried reheating them in an air fryer.
Fries crisp up to their natural golden color on the exterior but stay soft and fluffy on the inside.
Pizza
In my opinion, this is the most acceptable method for reheating leftover pizza. This method will give you a nice, crisp crust and bottom. No need to worry about overcooking the cheese on top since it will all melt nicely! 320-degree heat should complete the process in 3 to 4 minutes.
Which Type of Food You Can’t Reheat in the Air fryer
The air fryer may be used to cook a wide variety of foods. You can even include frozen items. However, you should not cook certain things in an air fryer.
It’s impossible to properly reheat or cook anything in the air fryer that contains sauce or water. Foods that cannot be cooked in an air fryer include the following: cake, sauces, pasta with too much oil, wet vegetable, etc.
Tips to Reheat Food In an Air Fryer
Here we mention some helpful tips that help you reheat the food in the air fryer. So, to reheat your food, make sure to follow these steps.
Make sure your air fryer is preheated.
It just takes a few minutes to get your air fryer ready, but the results you get will be much better for it. When food is put into an air fryer that is already hot, the outside layer will be even more crispy. This tip comes in handy when reheating any poultry or beef.
Don’t overcrowd it
Overcrowding your air fryer is a common blunder. Hot air circulates the food in air fryers. The atmosphere can’t spread if there’s too much food in the room.
If you need to reheat a large quantity of food, one alternative is to shake and stir the food in the air fryer basket frequently.
Apply an oil mist
You don’t want to cook anything too greasy in your air fryer. It’s possible that the food won’t heal properly due to this buildup.
As a result, a few spritzes of oil will give your dish a lovely crunch and a pleasant flavor. This is a great way to reheat chicken or dry vegetables like broccoli.
Using a sheet of foil or parchment paper
The major drawback to using an air fryer is that it might be dirty. However, cleaning up a few more things is not difficult. Using foil to line the bottom of your air fryer pan can significantly minimize the amount of cleanup necessary. Instead of foil, you may use parchment paper in the air fryer if you don’t have any on hand.
Test your food all the time
It’s a good idea to check your food frequently while it’s being reheated in an air fryer. Reheating time varies according to the type of food being reheated.
You don’t want to waste your treasured leftovers by burning them. When it’s done, keep an eye on it every 2-3 minutes.
Frequently Asked Question
What Are the Best Foods to Reheat in Air Fryer?
The air fryer is an excellent cooking appliance l that will provide you with low-fat food in less time. And with this fantastic kitchen tool, you can reheat food (leftover or Frozen). However, the some best food you can reheat successfully like pizza, Fried Chicken, French fries, muffin, burgers, etc.
How Long to Reheat Leftovers in Air Fryer?
Food quantity, size, and temperature all factor into how long it takes to reheat leftovers in an air fryer. This method may also be used to rehydrate frozen foods.
If you want to know how to reheat food using an air fryer, check out the gallery above for tips on how to do so.
Conclusion
The art of adequately reheating leftovers is an essential skill for dieters and those who meal prep regularly.
We strongly advocate using an air fryer to reheat meals! Even though it requires a little more effort to clean up, this method yields the most outstanding results in terms of food quality.
For optimal results, set the air fryer to 400 ° and cook for 2-3 minutes, then 1-2 minutes at a time.