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How to clean an air fryer depends on the basket coating and on whether the machine is a basket unit or a countertop oven. How to clean air fryer oven and how to clean an air fryer oven follow the manual for that door and that tray. Ninja, Breville, and other brands print their own dishwasher notes. Use those notes when the basket does not match a generic drawing. This page does not merge them.
Basket and tray
Unplug the unit. Let it cool until you can touch the basket. Lift out the basket and the tray the manual shows. Wash them with dish soap and a soft sponge. A dishwasher is allowed only if the manual says those parts are dishwasher-safe. Do not use steel wool on a nonstick coating. How to clean baked on grease from air fryer oven trays is a soak in hot soapy water, then the soft sponge. If the coating is already peeling, stop scrubbing and follow the manual's replacement note. Do not keep cooking on a coating that is flaking into food.
How to clean air fryer heating element
How to clean air fryer heating element work is the last step, and it stays outside the element. With the unit unplugged and cool, wipe grease you can see with a damp cloth. Do not scrape the element, do not wrap it in foil, and do not spray cleaner into the electrical housing. If grease is baked onto the element and a cloth will not lift it, stop. That is not a knife job. The base does not go in the sink.
A full-size range oven is how to clean an oven. Do not run an air-fryer self-clean story on a range, and do not put an air fryer basket in a self-clean cycle.
Unplug and cool
The basket should be comfortable to hold. Do not wash a hot nonstick tray in cold water if the manual warns against thermal shock.
Wash the basket and tray
Soap and a soft sponge, or the dishwasher only when the manual allows those parts.
Wipe the element you can see
Cool and unplugged. No scraper. No soak of the base.
Stop if the coating is peeling or the unit will not run
A dead unit is not another wash. Do not open the housing.
Questions readers ask
Can the basket go in the dishwasher?
Only if the manual for that model says the basket and the tray are dishwasher-safe. Coatings differ. When the manual is silent, wash them by hand with a soft sponge.
How do I clean grease on the heating element?
Unplug the unit, let it cool, and wipe what a damp cloth can lift. Do not scrape the element or take the housing apart.
Is an air fryer oven cleaned like a range oven?
No. Do not use oven cleaner or a self-clean cycle on a countertop air fryer. Use the basket steps in that model's manual.
The nonstick layer is coming off. Can I keep using it?
Stop cooking on a coating that is flaking. The manual is the source for a replacement basket. Scrubbing will not put the coating back.
