If just the thought of deep-fried chicken wings or crispy cheese-loaded French fries makes you drool, Air Fryer must have already made its way into your kitchen. Air fryers are perfect for health-conscious eaters who crave tasty fried food but want to avoid oil or deep-frying! After all, air fryer-cooked foods have only 20% calories compared to their deep-fried counterparts! However, we know that every time you think of using the air fryer, you have a big doubt circling your mind, “Can you use glass baking dish in an air fryer?”
So, we thought, why not walk you through whether putting glass bowl in air fryer is a good idea or not. The short answer is yes, you can use glass dishes in an air fryer, but it’s not the complete answer.
You must know all the tiny details before you begin Air Frying, not only to avoid damaging your shiny new gadget but also to avoid any kitchen mishaps or accidents.
Why Do People Prefer Using Glass Baking Dish in an Air Fryer?
First things first, why does the question "Can you use glass baking dish in air fryer?" pop up so often in cooking circles?
The top reason is that all of us are migrating from the traditional oven and microwave era to the Air Fryer era. We already have a shelf full of top-notch glass baking dishes collected and revered over generations. So, now that we have the latest upgrade to our kitchen, we are all super excited to use our favorite bakeware in the air fryer.
Another common reason is that glass bakeware doubles as storage in our refrigerators primarily because glass dishes are non-toxic even when repeatedly reheated. So, your food is always safe and chemical-free every time you reheat it. This also prevents additional dishes from getting piled up in the sink every time you want to have a sliver of the leftovers.
Such ease of use and non-toxicity has made glass the go-to choice for bakeware. However, now with the air fryer coming into the picture, glass bakeware has come under a large cloud of doubt.
What Precautions to Take While Using an Air Fryer?
While it might sound quite non-dubious, putting glass bowl in air fryer is not free from caveats. There are several things to consider when you are picking the appropriate bakeware for an air fryer. You can also think of this as a “What can you not put in an air fryer” guide, but nevertheless, the below considerations are of paramount importance for air fryer cooking:
1.Avoid High Temperatures or Sudden Temperature Changes
Air fryers are a nifty improvement over traditional ovens simply because they cut short the cooking time to minutes and allow you to have home-cooked meals almost every day! But, what seems like their biggest advantage, can also become their biggest disadvantage, and thus "Can you use glass baking dish in air fryer?” has become a popular conversation among early air fryer adopters.
To reduce cooking time, air fryers are built to raise the temperature too high too fast. This can cause an ordinary glass bowl to shatter or explode. To prevent such accidents, TableMatters has come up with high-quality bakeware that can withstand very high temperatures.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t use glass baking dish in an air fryer. You can use high-quality ones made of borosilicate glass instead of the soda-lime glass pyrex dishes.
Also, never put a glass baking dish in an air fryer that has come right out of the refrigerator. Cold baking dishes are more susceptible to thermal shocks than room temperature ones. So, take them out of the refrigerator, let them come to normal temperature, and then put them in the air fryer.
2.Use Tempered or Oven-Safe Glass Bakeware
The best way to identify an oven-safe glass dish is to read the manufacturer's stamp or label. You can even check out their website or ask on their social media accounts if the stamps have faded with use.
Typically, oven-safe glass dishes can withstand a maximum temperature of 350°F to 450°F. But you can verify this by putting an empty dish in the air fryer several times.
As oven-safe bakeware was primarily designed for traditional ovens, you should always be cautious using it in an air fryer.
3. Check the Structural Weakness of the Glass Bakeware
If you can't find the label or stamp on your bakeware and can't contact the manufacturer, you can check the bakeware's structural weakness yourself. You can look at the box the dish came in to find out what kind of glass has been used to make the dish. As mentioned earlier, soda-lime pyrex dishes are a big no for air fryer cooking.
Also, even though borosilicate or tempered glass dishes are very sturdy, they could have experienced some wear and tear over the years of use. Therefore, before using glass bakeware in an air fryer, hold it against light and check for small cracks, scratches, uneven surfaces, or color changes. If you find any such weaknesses, don’t use the dish in the air fryer or the traditional oven.
4.Don't block the airflow
Finally, the most important thing to consider while answering the “Can you use glass baking dish in an air fryer?" question is, does the dish block the airflow inside the air fryer?
If your bakeware meets all the necessary conditions mentioned above but is too big or fits too tightly inside the air fryer, then don't use that dish, glass, or otherwise. Generally, the appropriate bakeware for the air fryer contains holes to circulate the air inside the air fryer's cooking basket. However, most glass bakeware doesn’t have holes.
So, if the airflow is completely blocked, your food might take much longer to cook, be unevenly cooked, or not cook at all. Therefore, you should ensure minimizing airflow blocking by choosing the bakeware that doesn’t take up the whole space inside an air fryer. Check out TableMatters’s gorgeous-looking bakeware that comes in a wide range of sizes to fit your air fryer without blocking the airflow.
Wrapping Up Whether to Use Glass Baking Dish in Air Fryer
These universal tips apply every time you need answers on what containers can you use in an air fryer. Although the best alternative is a metal wire rack because it provides maximum airflow, a glass baking dish is perfectly fine if it meets the aforementioned conditions.Now that you can confidently use glass baking dishes in the air fryer but it brings the concern of cleaning grease from glass baking dishes afterward. Go over our guide to easily clean grease off glass baking dishes.
1. Can You Put Glass Pyrex in An Air Fryer?
Depending upon the sturdiness of the glass dish, you can decide whether Glass Pyrex can be used in an air fryer. If the dish is oven-safe, made of borosilicate or tempered glass, it can work in an air fryer. However, if the dish is made of soda-lime glass, it can't withstand high temperatures in an air fryer. Always check labels and structural weaknesses, and try putting in an empty dish to test it out.
2. What Dishes Can You Use in An Air Fryer?
You can use oven-safe dishes made from various materials in an air fryer if they meet the below conditions:
- Use a ceramic bowl in the air fryer if it is plain, high-quality ceramic without glazing or glossy finish. Ensure it is oven safe.
- Use aluminum pans in air fryer if you are cooking non-acidic foods
- Use a steel bowl in the air fryer ONLY if marked oven-safe. Stainless steel cookware can be more dangerous than glass cookware because of potential chemical leaching
- Use glassware as explained in the post
3. Can You Put a Cake Pan in An Air Fryer?
Yes, you can put a cake pan in the air fryer if it doesn't completely block the airflow. Unlink other foods, cakes require a hard-bottomed dish because the batter is semi-liquid at the start. So, you can't use holed cookware, but ensure that the dish is not too big to block the airflow.
4. Can You Put a Mug in An Air Fryer?
Again, the utensil material matters more than the shape of the utensil. Mugs made of appropriate materials can be used in an air fryer if they don't block the airflow.
5. Can I Put Parchment Paper in An Air Fryer?
Parchment paper or paper towels are usually not recommended in an air fryer. They can easily catch fire or cause uneven cooking. However, parchment paper is still a better option than paper towels. You can use it in some recipes but take the below precautions:
- Avoid very high temperatures
- Avoid utensils that get overheated, such as steel or aluminum
- Do not put the paper on the brim of the utensil
- Allow ample airflow
