7 things you should cook in an air fryer and 7 things you shouldn't

The air fryer is a great appliance to use for reheating or cooking food that has been frozen, according to Stephanie Pixley, deputy food editor of America's Test Kitchen.

The air fryer does a great job of making food crispy because of the convection function, Pixley said. This feature allows hot air to surround the food, cooking it more evenly and quickly.

Brussel sprouts also do well in an air fryer, according to Pixley. The air fryer helps the sprouts get crispy and you don't have to deal with the mess and greasiness of oil.

According to Pixley, cookies can thrive in an air fryer, plus they are quick to prepare.

"I like keeping cookie-dough balls on hand in my freezer so that I can have one (or a few) without having to make up an entire batch. And now, I'm always going to make them in my air fryer," Pixley told Insider.

Since you don't have to preheat the air fryer, you can have fresh, homemade cookies in 10 minutes flat, she added.

Since air fryers can serve as miniature ovens, they can also be used to cook steak, Pixley told Insider.

With a little bit of practice you can get a beautifully cooked steak in the air fryer, allowing you to skip the smoke and flames from the grill, according to Yankel Polak, head chef at ButcherBox.

Plus, it frees up the stovetop and doesn't leave the mess that searing a steak typically produces, Pixley added.

It may sound odd, but zoodles are actually an ideal air-fryer food, according to Jess Dang, founder of Cook Smarts.

"Zucchini releases a ton of moisture during cooking, so you can quickly wind up with a soggy mess in a pan," Dang told Insider. "In the air fryer, however, all that excess moisture just drips out of the basket, leaving you with perfectly al dente zucchini noodles."

The air fryer yields a much juicier chicken breast than either the oven or stovetop, according to Dang.

"Due to the compact design of an air fryer, there's not as much room for the juices to evaporate like they sometimes do in other methods," Dang said.

Glazed chicken also cooks nicely in an air fryer, according to Pixley.

"With the high heat and constant airflow of the air fryer, the glaze caramelizes on the chicken, which just takes roast chicken to another level entirely," Pixley told Insider.

Just be careful not to put too much glaze on your chicken, as the excess may drip and spread around your air-fryer chamber.

Dang said her favorite way to cook bacon is actually by using the air fryer.

"Fat drips out of the basket to keep it a bit leaner, and it's so much less messy and requires less supervision than other cooking methods," Dang told Insider.

Pixley said that although brussels sprouts are air-fryer friendly, broccoli is not.

"After our experience with brussels sprouts, we had high hopes that broccoli florets would get super crispy and delicious. Unfortunately, they just got very dry and dusty and the experience was like chewing on sandpaper," Pixley told Insider, recalling her kitchen experiences with the vegetables.

"Beyond the obvious question of whether they'll fit in the air fryer basket, larger roasts and whole chickens just won't cook evenly in the air fryer," Pixley said.

The portion closest to the heat source, according to Pixley, will burn and dry out well before the portion furthest away from the heat source is safe to eat.

You also want to avoid putting food that has a wet batter, like corndogs or tempura shrimp, in air fryers.

Wet batter goes everywhere and, without a proper oil bath, the batter won't set, which means it won't be the crispy, fried item you hoped it would be, according to Polak.

"Not only will the batter drip off the food during cooking and probably burn and stick to the bottom of your air fryer, [but also] it ends up chewy and not at all crispy," Pixley said.

You also want to avoid putting cheese in an air fryer, according to Polak.

"An air fryer is not actually a fryer, so there isn't the instant outer crust you would get from actually deep-frying cheese for say something like a mozzarella stick," Polak told Insider. "Instead you'll get a cheesy mess in your fryer."

"Air frying a burger to perfect medium-rare just isn't going to happen without a lot of compromise," Pixley told Insider.

Reaching medium-rare doneness doesn't take long in the air fryer, and the exterior of the burger just won't have time to brown, according to Pixley.

You can, however, easily use an air fryer to create a well-done burger, she explained.

Fresh greens, like spinach or kale, are also something you want to avoid putting in an air fryer, according to Polak.

"These greens will literally fly all over the place and cook unevenly. Stick to the normal oven if you're looking for kale chips," Polak said.

Over-seasoning your meats and veggies prior to placing them in the air fryer is another big mistake.

In general, when you have a food that has a dry surface with seasonings, these seasonings can get blown off by the airflow in an air fryer or will fall through the basket, Polak said.

Read More:

• 10 things you didn't know you could make in an air fryer
• 9 mistakes you're making when using your air fryer
• 10 of the best air fryer recipes you should know