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AirfryerHQ

Grilling and skewers

Skewer rack

Genuinely good at the one job it does, and that job is narrower than the packaging suggests.

AirfryerHQ’s verdict

Useful for a specific job

Right for one particular job. If you do not do that job, it will sit in a drawer.

This is the rare accessory that improves airflow rather than obstructing it: suspended food has no shaded underside and needs no turning. It earns its place if you cook kebabs, satay or halloumi skewers with any regularity, and it is a drawer ornament if you do not. That is a statement about your cooking rather than about the rack.

What it actually does

Suspends food on skewers in the airflow, so every face is exposed and nothing rests on a hot surface.

A frame that holds several skewers horizontally above the basket floor, so the food is suspended in moving air on every side rather than resting on a surface.

When it helps and when it does not

When it helps

  • Kebabs and satay, where even browning on all faces is the whole point
  • Small pieces that would otherwise need shaking, since suspended food does not need turning
  • Halloumi, prawns and vegetables that stick to a crisper plate

When it gets in the way

  • Anything not on a skewer, which is most cooking
  • Very fatty food, where the fat drips through the frame onto the drawer rather than draining tidily
  • Machines with little headroom, where a loaded skewer sits close to the element

What it does to the airflow

Exposes more of the food to moving air

One of the few accessories that helps rather than costs: suspended food is exposed on every side, so it browns more evenly than the same pieces lying on a plate.

What to use instead

Lay the skewers directly on the crisper plate and turn them once. The result is very slightly less even and it costs nothing — and short wooden skewers, soaked, do the same job as metal ones for a fraction of the price.

Using it safely

  • The frame and skewers must be metal rated for oven use, and the loaded rack must sit stably.
  • Loaded skewers must not reach the element — check the height with the rack loaded rather than empty.
  • Wooden skewers must be soaked before use and are covered on their own material page; several manufacturers restrict loose light material in the chamber.

Which machines it suits

Makes sense in: Basket air fryer, Dual-basket air fryer, Oven-style air fryer, Countertop oven with air fry.

Looking after it

Marinade bakes onto a skewer frame quickly. Soak it while the appliance is still warm and it comes off; leave it and it becomes the burnt-on residue the cleaning pages are about.

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 airflow benefit follows from the geometry and is the same argument the crisper plate itself rests on: food elevated into moving air cooks on every face. The narrowness of the verdict is the honest part — the rack is good and most people do not cook enough kebabs to need one.
Last reviewed
2026-08-30

What this does not cover

  • No comparison between skewered and plated cooking has been measured.
  • 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 (2)

  • Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK — Inspiration Guide and cooking charts (PDF)

    SharkNinja Europe Limited — Manufacturer cooking chart (United Kingdom)

    Relied on for: That a manufacturer's own chart cooks vegetables and small pieces on an elevated grill plate with per-food preparation stated, establishing elevated cooking surfaces as normal practice in this appliance class.

    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 735/0124, published alongside the instruction booklet as a second document.

  • 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

  • Metal tins, trays and cookware — Explicitly permitted by one manufacturer for baking, and recommended by three others whenever a batter is involved.
  • Wooden and bamboo skewers — A manufacturer recommends wooden cocktail sticks for holding light food down, which is about as clear a permission as this section gets.

If this is why you are here

  • Food sticks to the basket — Cold surface, no oil, or a coating that has begun to wear — and one of those three is worth acting on quickly.
  • Food cooks unevenly — Airflow is not reaching every surface equally, and where it does not, food does not cook.

Worth reading

Others in this category

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    Grill plate

    Ridges give contact marks and a different surface. If your machine came with one, use it; buying one separately is a narrower call.