Air fryer owners across the UK are being urged to reconsider their cooking habits after experts issued a stark warning about one popular type of meat. While the versatile appliance has revolutionised home cooking for its speed and efficiency, it has significant limitations when it comes to certain dishes.
The Problem With Bone-In Meat
According to specialists cited in recent reports, substantial cuts of meat that still contain bones should be avoided in an air fryer. This includes favourites like a whole roast chicken or large bone-in steaks. The core issue lies in the appliance's design and cooking mechanism.
An air fryer works by using a heating element to produce heat and a powerful fan to circulate that hot air rapidly around a compact cooking compartment. This method is excellent for ensuring all sides of smaller food items are cooked evenly and quickly. However, this system struggles with larger, dense, and irregularly shaped items.
Why Your Roast Chicken Belongs in the Oven
Despite the growing trend of preparing a Sunday roast chicken in the air fryer, experts from publications like Southern Living and Better Homes & Gardens strongly advise against it. The consensus is clear: large bone-in meats are far better suited to traditional oven roasting.
The primary concern is uneven cooking. Better Homes & Gardens explains that the air fryer's concentrated, rapid airflow cannot penetrate a large, bone-in cut uniformly. The result can be a deceptive exterior that appears perfectly done, while the meat near the bone remains undercooked or, conversely, other portions become dry and overcooked.
Furthermore, most air fryer baskets simply aren't large enough to accommodate a whole chicken or a big T-bone steak comfortably, which impedes air circulation even further. There's also a temperature constraint, as noted by All Recipes: most standard air fryers max out at around 230 degrees Celsius, which is often too low for achieving the perfect sear on a steak.
What You Can Safely Cook in Your Air Fryer
This warning doesn't mean your appliance is off-limits for meat altogether. The guidance specifically applies to large, bone-in portions. Many smaller or boneless meats are perfectly suited to air frying and can yield excellent results.
Experts confirm that items like chicken wings, chicken drumsticks, bacon, and boneless steaks or chops are all appropriate for the air fryer. These items are smaller, allowing the hot air to circulate effectively and cook them through evenly and crisply.
The key takeaway for home cooks is to understand the tool's purpose. The air fryer is a fantastic device for quick, efficient cooking of suitably sized foods, but it is not a direct replacement for a conventional oven when it comes to certain traditional centrepiece dishes. For the best—and safest—results, that classic roast chicken should be returned to the oven where it can cook slowly and evenly throughout.
