The other day I was scrolling on TikTok (as one does on a rainy day) and saw one recipe that really got my attention. In the video, the creator made a sort of breakfast burrito bowl using a tortilla "bowl" and filled it with a mix of eggs, cheese, and veggies.
Here's the catch—to form the tortilla into a bowl shape and hold in all the yummy fillings, the creator used a real bowl. She stuck the entire thing—bowl and all—into the air fryer. Naturally, it raised some questions in the comments. "Why have I never thought about putting a bowl in the air fryer," reads one. "Did you put the bowl in the air fryer?" writes another commenter.
So can you safely put a bowl in the air fryer? What about a plate or any other dish for that matter? The short answer is yes, but with some very important caveats and stipulations. Here's what you need to know about putting dishes in your air fryer.
Can You Put Dishes in An Air Fryer?
If you think of an air fryer like a small convection oven (though they have their differences!), the answer gets a lot simpler. Before you even consider putting any dish, plate, or bowl in your air fryer, verify the dish is oven-safe. This will either be marked on the bottom of the dish or on the original packaging for the dishes.
Plastic and certain types of glass should never be placed in an air fryer. The high temperatures can cause those materials to warp, melt, or shatter, resulting in a seriously annoying and potentially dangerous cleanup.
There are four main types of oven-safe dishware: glass, metal, cast iron, and ceramic, though not all glass is necessarily oven-safe (as we learned with Pyrex recently). Since air fryers are again, essentially mini convection ovens, any oven-safe dish should be safe in an air fryer. However, there are a few caveats.
Firstly, since air fryers are smaller than ovens, the heat source is much closer to food than in an oven. The upside of that is that they pre-heat quickly and cook food faster (making them ideal for weeknight cooking). The downside is it can cook too quickly if not attended to. That can escalate when you cook the food in containers that conduct heat.
All oven-safe materials have varying levels of heat conductivity, meaning they create and hold heat. Putting your breakfast in a ceramic bowl that conducts heat means it's going to cook faster than without a container, and potentially burn. If you put food in a heat-conductive bowl or plate, take care to potentially adjust the cooking time, or check it earlier. And have those oven mitts ready!
Additionally, it means that you should be sure your dishware is labeled safe up to a temperature higher than the temperature you're cooking at. Since they are significantly closer to the heat source than in an oven, it's almost akin to putting a dish under a broiler. If ceramic and glass dishes heat too quickly or above their designated safety zone, they can crack and even shatter.
That's why containers labeled and sold specifically for the air fryer are your best bet. Silicone is a popular material choice because it can withstand high heat but has low thermal conductivity. Baking dishes like ceramic ramekins are a great secondary option, as they're also specifically designed to withstand high temperatures, even close to a broiler.
So go on and get creative, but always air on the side of caution when placing dishes in your air fryer. Happy cooking!
