Anyone with an air fryer urged to avoid cooking one food - Bristol Live

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From whipping up cakes to perfecting roast potatoes for your Sunday lunch, it's tempting to think the air fryer is a kitchen miracle worker.

This gadget has soared in popularity, providing those with conventional ovens a swifter and more energy-saving cooking method.

For fried food, you can just toss your ingredients into the air fryer basket and leave it be, rather than standing over a hot pan. The latest models even let you coordinate cooking in multiple baskets.

However, it seems there are certain items that should steer clear of the air fryer, including a beloved breakfast item.

Isabella Forgoine, the small appliance guru at AO, has revealed why bacon and air fryers don't mix, highlighting the potential hazards involved, reports the Express.

"Bacon is one of the few foods that isn't easier to cook in an air fryer because without added oil and its high fat content, cooking bacon can be more trouble than it's worth," she cautioned.

"As the fat cooks, it drips into the bottom of the air fryer, which can create a greasy residue that is difficult to clean and may affect the appliance's performance over time."

Forgoine recommends other methods, saying: "Grilling or traditional pan-frying are more reliable cooking methods that avoid the build-up in the appliance."

Air fryers operate by blasting hot air around your grub, crisping it up with minimal need for additional oil or fat. However, due to the high fat content in bacon, cooking it in an air fryer will cause the fat to render out of your rashers without providing an escape route.

If you're still keen on using your air fryer, BBC Good Food suggests placing no more than three back bacon rashers or six pieces of streaky bacon in a single layer in your air fryer and cooking it at 200C.

"Cook streaky bacon rashers for six to 10 mins just-cooked bacon will take six mins, but crispier bacon will take nine to 10 mins," they advised. Back bacon will require between four and eight minutes to cook.