Is an Air fryer Easy to Clean? Is it Dishwasher Safe?

Welcome back to Air Fryer Bro, and our continued mission to offer the most (and best) advice for air fryer users! Another question that I hear a lot from potential and current air fryer users is “Aren’t air fryers hard to clean?” “Can I just put it in my dishwasher?” “How to clean an air fryer?” For some reason, a lot of people’s first thought is that they might be a chore to clean! And they are not always sure whether it will get destroyed if they put their air fryer in the dishwasher! Well, here’s the answer!

To clean an air fryer, simply wipe it out with a wet cloth. If you have some more stubborn grease and baked on food, you should soak your air fryer’s cooking compartment with dish soap and boiling water. Leave it for 15-20 minutes and wipe off the dirt and oil with a wet cloth. Try not to use anything abrasive or harsh, as this will likely destroy your air fryer’s often delicate non stick coating. Most air fryer baskets and accessories are dishwasher safe these days. Check your air fryer’s manual or contact the manufacturer to be 100% sure about your particular model.

Now let’s go into this answer in greater depth, and find out all the nitty gritty details!!

Why should you clean your air fryer?

Some people might be wondering why they need to clean their air fryer. After all, a lot of people don’t clean a traditional oven often!

When we air fry we often include such delights as onion rings, fried chicken, french fries and rotisserie chicken. These are fried foods that could cause a lot of grease to get dumped into your air fryer. If left unchecked, this grease could start causing you a major headache!

You see, any buildup of excess oil or grease could get to its smoking point and smoke out your kitchen. Food from a previous batch may have gotten stuck to the air fryer’s heating element as well, which could start to burn and smoke if not cleaned. For me, these are safety hazards that shouldn’t be ignored!

Another key reason is to protect the nonstick coating on your air fryer. If you allow oil and burnt food to build up and almost encrust your air fryer, it would be harder to clean. This would probably lead to you trying to scrub your air fryer with abrasive cleaning products. This would most certainly start to degrade and break this non-stick surface.

What is the best way to clean your air fryer?

Speaking generally, I would say treat your air fryer like you would a non-stick frying pan. It has a nonstick coating that is often even easier to damage than that on a non-stick frying pan.

Make sure that you clean your air fryer as soon as you can after you have used it (once it has cooled down, of course!). Often, this means that most dirt and grime will just wipe out easily.

If you find that your air fryer’s cooking compartment has a lot of oil in the bottom after cooking, be sure to pour it out while it is still hot. If you leave it to solidify, you will find it much harder to clean. And don’t just pour this oil down the sink, as you could end up with a nasty blockage over time. You could pour this oil into an old tin can and throw away when it is full.

If you find that your air fryer is particularly dirty, you can pour in a mixture of dish soap and boiling water. Leave it for 15-20 minutes, and then use a cloth to clean it out. Whatever you do, don’t let this soapy water become too cool. Otherwise, it will be too hard to clean off the build up dirt and grime.

Another option would be to soak your air fryer’s basket in a vinegar based solution before washing it. Vinegar usually does great at gently getting off cooked on grime!

Also, make sure to regularly use a damp cloth to wipe any debris off of the heating element on your air fryer. Any build up of oil or grime on there could smoke or even decrease your air fryer’s performance.

What should you avoid?

The basic rule of thumb is do not use anything harsh or abrasive on your air fryer. Trust me, if you do, you will end up with a peeling and flaking nonstick coating on your air fryer. For more details on buying an air fryer with a good coating (or preventing a flaking coating) you can check out our full article HERE.

So, no scrubbing pads or abrasive washing solutions needed here! The most you might be able to get away with is a scrubbing brush (as long as it is a plastic design, such as nylon).

I hope one day that the quality of air fryers will be such that we no longer have to worry about these issues. Unfortunately, that day is not here yet! Your air fryer’s nonstick coating needs to be treated with ‘kid gloves’ in most cases!

Is an air fryer dishwasher safe?

These days most air fryer brands say that their products are dishwasher safe. Of course, we are only talking about the cooking compartment and its related accessories being the dishwasher safe parts 🙂 Don’t put the whole unit in the dishwasher! Just want to put that out there before someone blames me for ruining their air fryer! Even for the newer air fryer oven, the racks, baking tray, crumb trays and removable accessories (sometimes even the removable door) are often dishwasher safe.

I would, however, recommend not using a dishwasher unless you are really sure your air fryer will be OK. Sometimes, even if the air fryer is detailed as being dishwasher safe, using a dishwasher can present some problems. If your air fryer has a particularly low quality nonstick coating, you may find that it starts to peel off. Air fryer baskets sometimes also have rubber seals on them too, which might get washed away in a dishwasher. All things you should consider when using a dishwasher.

In my opinion, if you really want to use a dishwasher an air fryer oven is better. The racks, cooking tray and baking sheets you would need to clean are much cheaper and easier to replace than an air fryer basket if the nonstick coating does start going south 🙂

We can do a quick audit of the main air fryer brands, to see if they claim their air fryers as dishwasher safe. Of course these are general comments made by brand, we still recommend checking for your exact model of air fryer. And, if your brand is not mentioned, simply contact the manufacturer and ask them directly.

Is a NINJA air fryer dishwasher safe?

On their current standalone air fryer model, Ninja do mention that their basket, crisper plate, and multi-layer rack are all dishwasher safe. They even show a picture of this in their promotional material.

I also checked one of their hybrid air fryer/ pressure cooker models, and found an informative video that shows that the cooking pot and main accessories are dishwasher safe.

Is a COSORI air fryer dishwasher safe?

This is another popular brand in the world of air fryers right now. They say that the inner cooking basket of their air fryer is dishwasher safe. On the cheesy promotional video below they state that “both the baskets are dishwasher safe”.

Is a GO-WISE air fryer dishwasher safe?

GoWise USA are an interesting case in point. I saw that they mentioned in a product description on Amazon that the air fryer basket is dishwasher safe. However, I also found an article on their own website contradicting this! They said ‘some people say the basket is dishwasher safe. We think it is better to hand wash’ or words to that effect! Err…those people include you! So which is it? Make your mind up! To be on the safe side, I wouldn’t put this brand through the dishwasher.

Is a DASH air fryer dishwasher safe?

Dash state in the product listing of their 6 quart air fryer, that all non-electric parts are dishwasher safe. Although, on their compact air fryer only the basket is dishwasher safe (according to them). Sorry, no more cheesy promotional videos to show here!!

Is an OMORC air fryer dishwasher safe?

Omorc is a fairly unheard of brand for air fryers, but they are starting to get popular so I thought I would include them here! They state that any removable parts are dishwasher safe. They are clearly marketing this aspect, so must be confident!

Is a POWER FRYER XL air fryer dishwasher safe?

On their product listings, they usually state that all Power Fryer XL accessories are dishwasher safe. I also found a video below, although they only mention that the air fryer basket is dishwasher safe at the very end of the video. Most of the video focuses on washing by hand with non abrasives! Interesting!

Is a PHILIPS air fryer dishwasher safe??

Usually, Philips will state that the air fryer’s drawer and basket are both dishwasher safe.  They have a little promotional icon and message directly about this, so it’s definitely not a typo! Although interestingly enough in the video below from Philips, there is no mention of any parts of their air fryer being dishwasher safe.

So, is it hard to clean an air fryer?

Thank you for reading our article on cleaning an air fryer. Hopefully, you have a better idea about the best way to do this, and whether your air fryer is dishwasher safe!

I have owned air fryers for many years now, and I have never found clean up an issue. As long as you look after the nonstick coating of your air fryer, you should find most grime just wipes off. Over the years, I definitely feel that my air fryer is among the easier kitchen appliances to clean!

From my own personal point of view, I would never recommend putting any air fryer parts into a dishwasher. I just don’t trust the quality enough of ANY brand. Maybe I am being too cautious, but these air fryers are quite expensive and not exactly disposable! I would put the longevity of my air fryer over the convenience of putting it in the dishwasher. But that is just me!

If you already own an air fryer, we would love to hear all about your experiences below. Have you put your air fryer basket in the dishwasher? Did it work out OK? How do you find the cleanup of your air fryer?