Are air fryer liners worth it? Our Kitchen Appliances Editor gives her verdict

Are air fryer liners worth it? It's a question you might be asking if you're tired of washing up the basket of your most-used appliance, or noticing that repeated dishwasher cycles are wearing away at the non-stick coating on your air fryer plate.

If you invested in one of the best air fryers to save time and money while cooking, problems like these can become annoying. One solution is air fryer liners, which promise to halve the time it takes to clean your air fryer and keep it unblemished between meals for longer.

So that you can establish if air fryer liners are a must-have air fryer accessory or a gimmick, we've done a deep dive into their uses, after trying them out at home. Here's my verdict as Ideal Home's Kitchen Appliances Editor as to whether you should invest in liners or not.

What are air fryer liners?

Air fryer liners do exactly what they say on the tin, and sit on your air fryer's crisper tray to act as an extra layer between your appliance and the food you're cooking.

If you're not familiar with the design of an air fryer yet, then that explanation might be lacking. So, let's relate it to a conventional built-in oven, where an air fryer liner acts like laying foil over a tray before grilling something. It's a short-term solution that can save you on washing up.

In this scenario you'd then throw the foil away, which is where air fryer liners are slightly different. Instead, they come in the form of both paper and silicone liners, with the latter an accessory that you can reuse over and over again.

So, now you know what they are, what's the benefit? 'People choose to buy air fryer liners for a variety of reasons but mostly for the time saved on cleaning up,' explains Dennis Digwa, appliance expert at RGBDirect. 'By preventing food from sticking directly to the basket, liners can contribute to keeping the air fryer in better condition over time.'

Paper vs silicone air fryer liners

Paper air fryer liners are single-use, meaning that once you've used it once you throw it away, and enjoy your clean, untouched air fryer. While convenient, this kind of single-use buy is terrible environmentally, and means you'll be unnecessarily contributing to landfill.

Plus, if you bought an air fryer because of its lower cost to run than your oven, opting for paper liners will be counterproductive to your money-saving mission, as the cost of repurchasing is going to add up.

That's why my preferred type of air fryer liner is silicone, though there are still some drawbacks to using these, as I'll get onto later. If you're going for a silicone liner, make sure it's a high quality one, so that you can use it when cooking dishes like lasagne or pasta bakes. Flimsier liners will lack the structural integrity you need for any tougher cooking jobs.

What are the drawbacks of air fryer liners?

The reason that an air fryer is faster than a conventional oven is due to internal fans which rapidly circulate air inside the appliance. That's why there are holes in your air fryer basket and on the crisper tray too, so that the airflow can get a 360 angle on food to fry it without the need for excessive oil.

It's for that very reason that using an air fryer liner can actually obstruct airflow, and leave you with longer cooking times than you've previously enjoyed from your air fryer.

As Ideal Home's Kitchen Appliances Editor, I've always been very wary of air fryer liners due to their obstructive nature. I have however tried one at length after my mum grew tired of cleaning her air fryer basket several times a day, and found another drawback: the collection of grease and oil within the liner itself.

When going without a liner, excess oil will seep through the holes in an air fryer tray, leaving you with a less greasy cooking result. If you're cooking something like bacon in your air fryer liner however, you can expect a not-so-pleasant pool of grease to build up. That's another thing to bear in mind if you're currently on the fence about an air fryer liner.

So I can see both sides of the coin with this one. My mum swears by her air fryer liners, and doesn't mind waiting a few more minutes for whatever she's cooking if means she can save on some washing up. If you're in the same boat, you can find a few of our suggested air fryer liners below.

Shop air fryer liners

If you are going to opt for an air fryer liner, always remember to follow any instructions set out in the included instruction booklet with your appliance as to safety protocols, and don't let anything get too close to the heating element inside.