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AirfryerHQ

Liners

Silicone basket insert

The most-sold air fryer accessory and the commonest way to make an air fryer cook worse. It works; it costs you the thing you bought the machine for.

AirfryerHQ’s verdict

Works, but costs you results

It works, and it costs you crisping or evenness. Know the trade before you make it.

This is not a safety verdict — silicone rated for the temperature is safe, and the material page covers that. It is a performance verdict. An air fryer crisps by moving fast air over every surface of the food, and the crisper plate exists so air reaches the underside. A solid-walled insert defeats both: the underside sits on silicone rather than in airflow, and the walls shelter the sides. Food cooked in one comes out paler and softer, and the fix people reach for — more time — dries it out instead.

What a solid liner does to the air underneath the foodOne air fryer chamber shown in two halves, with a heating element and fan in the roof of both. On the left the food sits on the perforated crisper plate: arrows show hot air coming down from the fan, passing around the food and continuing through the holes in the plate, so air reaches the underside of every piece and fat drains away. This side is labelled crisp all over. On the right the same food sits inside a solid-walled silicone insert: the arrows come down from the fan and stop at the rim and floor of the insert, because there are no holes for air to pass through. The undersides and the sides of the food are sheltered, moisture collects in the bottom of the insert, and this side is labelled pale underneath. The difference is not safety, it is that the underside of the food never meets moving air.fanOn the crisper plateAir reaches underneath— crisp all overIn a solid linerNo air gets under it— pale and softSame food, same setting. The difference is what is beneath it.
The crisper plate is perforated for a reason: it lets air reach the underside of the food, which is where crisping is won or lost. A solid liner puts a wall there instead. The food still cooks — it browns on top and stays pale and soft underneath, and the usual fix of adding time dries it out rather than crisping it.

What it actually does

Holds the food in a solid container inside the basket, so fat and moisture stay in the container instead of draining into the drawer, and the basket stays clean.

A solid silicone bowl, usually with high walls and handles, that sits inside the basket. It is sold as making cleaning easier and as stopping small items falling through the crisper plate, and it does both. It also puts a solid, insulating wall between the food and the moving air on every side except the top.

When it helps and when it does not

When it helps

  • Wet or saucy dishes that would otherwise run through the crisper plate into the drawer
  • Small items — peas, capers, chopped herbs — that fall through the perforations
  • Anything where the point is heating rather than crisping, such as a small casserole or a portion of eggs
  • Baking in a machine where you would otherwise need a tin, since the insert is the tin

When it gets in the way

  • Chips, wedges and roast potatoes, which need air under them and come out visibly paler
  • Chicken wings, thighs and anything skin-on, where the rendered fat pools around the food instead of draining away
  • Anything breaded, where the underside stays soft
  • Any time the reason you reached for the air fryer was crispness

What it does to the airflow

Stops air reaching the underside of the food

It stops air reaching the underside of the food entirely, and shelters the sides. Expect a paler, softer result than the same food on the crisper plate, and expect the difference to be largest on exactly the foods air fryers are best at. Perforated inserts reduce the effect and do not remove it.

What to use instead

For cleaning: line the drawer beneath the crisper plate rather than the basket above it — several manufacturers permit exactly that, and it catches the drips without coming between the food and the air. For small items: a rack or a perforated liner. For wet dishes: an oven-safe dish you already own, which has the same airflow cost and did not need buying.

Using it safely

  • It must be rated for the temperature you are cooking at, and it must be food-grade silicone rather than something that looks like it.
  • It must not be so tall that it approaches the heating element, and it must not block the air outlet.
  • Your own manual governs. Some manufacturers restrict what may be placed in the basket at all.

Temperature limit: about 200°C. Manufacturers of silicone bakeware commonly rate it in this region, but the rating belongs to the product you bought rather than to silicone as a material. Read the one in your hand; AirfryerHQ has not tested any.

Evidence and confidence

Moderate confidenceWell supported, but from a narrower base of sources than we would like.
Applies to
Applies generally
Why this rating
The performance verdict follows directly from the mechanism the whole appliance depends on, and it is corroborated by a manufacturer forbidding a different obstruction for exactly this reason. The alternative offered is not invented: it is what a manufacturer's own cleaning guidance recommends.
Last reviewed
2026-08-30

What this does not cover

  • No measured comparison between a lined and an unlined basket has been carried out. The direction of the effect is not in doubt; its size is not established.
  • Perforated silicone inserts are held to reduce the effect rather than remove it, which is reasoning from the geometry and not a measurement.
  • AirfryerHQ has not bought, fitted or used any accessory. Every judgement here is reasoned from what the accessory does physically and from what manufacturers publish about it.
Sources (3)

  • Bosch built-in oven HBG934B.1 — Instruction manual (PDF)

    BSH Hausgeräte GmbH (Bosch) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom and European Union)

    Relied on for: A manufacturer prohibiting greaseproof paper in air-fry mode with the stated reason that the air must be able to circulate in the cooking compartment — the same mechanism, stated by a manufacturer about a different obstruction.

    States this directly

    Passage read and verified

    Retrieved 2026-08-13 from media3.bosch-home.com

  • Cosori Dual Blaze TwinFry 10L Air Fryer CAF-TF101S-AES — User Manual (PDF)

    Arovast Corporation (Cosori) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)

    Relied on for: That lining the basket but NOT the crisper plate is what a manufacturer suggests for easier cleaning, which is the distinction this page turns into advice.

    States this directly

    Passage read and verified

    Retrieved 2026-08-13 from argos-support.co.uk

    Retrieved from Argos's manual library for Argos product 818/0764. The document covers several languages in one file; every figure recorded here comes from the English section.

  • AirfryerHQ assessment of airflow, element proximity and material behaviour

    AirfryerHQ — Calculated or inferred by AirfryerHQ (Not jurisdictional)

    Relied on for: The mechanism this is read against: forced convection, boundary-layer disruption and a small chamber.

    AirfryerHQ's interpretation of what it says

    Citation checked — the document exists and is described correctly

AirfryerHQ sells nothing and earns nothing here. There are no affiliate links, no sponsored placements and no brand recommendations anywhere in this section. The verdict above is what we think, arrived at before anybody asked whether it would sell anything.

Can it go in? The material questions

  • Silicone liners and moulds — Heavy enough not to be lifted, and rated above the temperatures these appliances reach. The airflow question is the one that remains.
  • Baking parchment — Two manufacturers now prohibit it outright and one gives the mechanism. Sprint 2 recorded every manufacturer as silent; that is no longer true, and the verdict has hardened.
  • Aluminium foil — One manufacturer prohibits it and says why. Another puts it in its own recipe. Your manual decides, and this page explains what each of them means.

If this is why you are here

  • Food is not crisping — Almost always moisture that cannot get out, and almost always because there is too much in the basket. One manufacturer says so directly.
  • Chips and fries come out soggy — Almost always the basket being too full. The steam has nowhere to go and condenses back onto the food.

Cooking pages this affects

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