Can you use Frylight in an Air fryer? [COOKING SPRAY VS AIRFRYER]

Welcome back to Air Fryer Bro. Today we are going to answer a very important question in the air fryer world. A lot of people use air fryers and a lot of people use convenient cooking sprays such as Frylight….. but the million dollar question is, do they go together? Can you use Frylight in an air fryer? Lets go over this together 🙂

What is Frylight?

Just in case you have been living under a rock for a while, when I talk about Frylight I am talking about a light oil spray that claims to be only 1 calorie per spray. It comes in an aerosol can and a popular use for it is to spray it into your frying pan instead of oil.

What goes into Frylight?

A typical example of Frylight has the following ingredients in it:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (51%)

Water

Alcohol

Emulsifier [Sunflower Lecithin, Natural Flavouring]

Thickener [Xanthan Gum]

They also have a coconut oil and sunflower oil version that replaces the olive oil with those oils instead.

Can I Use Frylight in an Air Fryer?

No, I would never use Frylight or any other aerosol spray cooking oil in an air fryer. Firstly, the cooking sprays burn at a lower temperature than regular oil and will damage the non-stick coating of your air fryer as a result. Also, when using such aerosol oil sprays, often an invisible layer will build up un-noticed by the user. This will actually lead to food sticking more and the required scrubbing will also damage your air fryer’s non-stick coating.

If you think I am just being melodramatic here, it’s not only me saying this. Circulon (a massive brand of kitchen pans) says the exact same thing on their official website!

Frylight must have picked up on this anti-aerosol spray movement that treasures its non-stick coating more than saving calories. As they now offer a pump action bottle of Frylight rather than the traditional aerosol driven variety seen above. So if you really must get your Frylight fix, the pump action version would be slightly better.

Can I Use Other Aerosol Oil Sprays in my Air Fryer?

No. Popular aerosol spray can oil (such as PAM) will not work well with an air fryer. The lower temperature burn characteristics and the fact they will often build up an invisible layer upon repeated use in an air fryer will both lead to damage to the non-stick coating.

What Can I Use Instead of Frylight in my Air Fryer?

Why use an oil mixture when you can just go for something pure, which is a much simpler and healthier alternative. You may be technically only putting one calorie into your body with Frylight, but you are putting other things in with it that you have no need to! I opt for a simple, pure, extra virgin olive oil spritzer or sprayer myself.

The oil mister below is one that I would recommend at the time of writing. Simply click the image to view it over at Amazon for yourself. Then just fill it with your favorite brand of olive oil you probably already have in your kitchen. Simple!!

If you need help to decide the best oil to use for your air fryer, I have an article about that too 🙂