A woman's struggle to clean a tricky part of her air fryer led to a disturbing discovery, which she shared in a video on social media. The video, highlighting the dirty space in the air fryer, raised concerns among other users and was reported by Pensionist.dk.
Air fryers have become a hugely popular kitchen appliance. They function essentially as a portable oven, using fan technology to quickly circulate hot air over the food in its tray.
Advocates for the air fryer believe it to be healthier due to using less oil, cheaper to operate than conventional cooking devices, and faster at cooking food than a traditional oven.
However, every rose has its thorn, and a shocked woman took to TikTok to candidly share the state of her air fryer, seeking help on how to clean it.
She asked,
"How do you clean the top of an air fryer?" The video shows her appliance without the tray, focusing on the area above where the heating element is located. The outer edges of the air fryer around the element were covered in brown dirt. She attempted to clean between the element and the edges of the main part with a piece of kitchen paper sprayed with a cleaning agent, but little of the surface dirt came off.
"Mine caught fire"
The woman's post received a variety of responses from other users, ranging from helpful to humorous and even quite concerning. One user suggested,
"Fill the basket ½ with hot water and lemon juice. Run it until it's steaming, and everything just wipes off and smells good." Another shared their experience of disassembling and cleaning their air fryer during a late-night breakdown.
Some users preferred the 'ignore' approach, with one commenting, "Clean what? I don't know what you're talking about, I can't see anything," and another stating, "The underside of my air fryer is not my problem."
However, the downside of leaving the surface covered in oil and food residues was highlighted by a user who wrote, "mine caught fire and 'cleaned' itself that way."
Watch the video of the dirty air fryer below.
