Bacon chops in an air fryer
Cured — the short answer
250°C (482°F) for 7–8 min
- For
- 125g per piece, about 15mm at the thickest point, 4 pieces, From the fridge
- In
- Multicooker with air fry, single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Yes, before the food goes in
- Part way
- turn the pieces over at about 4 min
- Check
- Dark bar marks and rendered fat at the edge
- Safety
- Pork must be cooked all the way through, whatever the cut. Full rule below.
Seven to eight minutes — a cured chop, which browns faster than an uncured one.
Cured
Before anything else
From national food-safety authorities, not from us. These take precedence over any cooking time below.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Pork must be cooked all the way through, whatever the cut.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part, or an equivalent from the table below.
How to tell, without a thermometer
- No pink meat, including next to the bone on a bone-in chop
- Juices run clear when the thickest part is pierced
- Steaming hot through to the middle
If it has not got there: Give it two or three more minutes and check again in the thickest part, keeping the probe clear of the bone — bone conducts heat differently and will read higher than the meat beside it.
| Temperature | Held for | Measured at |
|---|---|---|
| 70°C | 2 min | the thickest part, away from the bone |
| 75°C | 30 sec | the thickest part, away from the bone |
The quick answer
250°C (482°F) for 7–8 min
Chop thickness, for four published 125g bacon loin chops.
- Assuming
- 125g per piece, about 15mm at the thickest point, 4 pieces, From the fridge
- In
- Multicooker with air fry
- Loaded
- Single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Yes, before the food goes in
- Result
- Just cooked
Preparation
Laid flat on a hot plate. No oil is added — a cured chop renders enough of its own.
No oil needed.
How to load the basket
Single layer, pieces not touching. The reference condition. Air reaches every surface, and times are the shortest the food will achieve.
While it cooks
At about 4–4 minutes: Turn the pieces over
The crust forms only against the plate.
How to tell it is done
- Dark bar marks and rendered fat at the edge
- Juices run clear
Where these figures came from — cured
- Applies to
- Specific to this model
- Why this rating
- A published row from the manufacturer's grill chart, with the named temperature level converted to degrees using the table in the same manufacturer's instruction booklet. Both documents were read; neither figure is inferred.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- Published by the manufacturer for this appliance. It is evidence about this machine and is not general advice.
- This is a contact grill plate rather than a perforated basket. Heat reaches the food by conduction from the plate as well as by airflow, which is a different mechanism from air frying and transfers poorly to a basket machine.
Sources (1)
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: The temperature, time and quantity for bacon loin chops.
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.
What usually goes wrong
Salty and dry. Curing has already removed water and added salt, so a bacon chop passes the point of pleasant seasoning quickly and the surface browns well before the same chop uncured would.
Running the appliance safely
These apply to every food and every air fryer, so they are here once rather than repeated under each state above. They come from Electrical Safety First, from UK product-safety notices and from the manufacturers’ own manuals.
- Plug an air fryer directly into a wall socket. Do not run one from an extension lead.
- An unusual smell, an unusual noise, or scorch marks on the plug mean stop using it and contact the manufacturer.
- Do not overfill. Food touching the heating element is a fire risk, not a cooking problem.
- White smoke from fatty food is usually normal. Black smoke means unplug it immediately.
- Do not leave an air fryer running unattended.
- Leave clear space above and around the appliance, and never cover the air intake or the outlet.
- Aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter on starchy foods such as chips and roast potatoes, rather than a darker brown.
- Buy from a reputable retailer rather than a third-party marketplace seller.
- Clean the drawer, the plate and the element after use. Accumulated grease is what smokes, and then what burns.
- Register the appliance with its manufacturer. It is how a recall reaches you.
- Do not rely on the appliance's own thermal protection. A UK recall was issued because it did not operate.
Each links to its own page, with what it means in practice, what to do if it has already happened, and the source it comes from. Every safety rule AirfryerHQ holds.
Why pork behaves this way
Rendering fat is the defining behaviour. It liquefies, drains, and in a basket machine lands on a hot surface below the food where it can smoke — which is the single commonest cause of an air fryer filling a kitchen with smoke. Rendered fat also self-bastes the surface, which is why bacon crisps evenly with no added oil. Sausage skins tighten and set early, trapping steam inside and splitting if the temperature is too high.
Where to go from here
The pages that answer the questions this one tends to raise.
- Using a thermometer, and where to put itThe times above are for a piece that is not the one you are holding. This measures yours — and it is the single change that fixes most dry bacon chops.
- How food actually gets crispyWhy patting it dry, spacing it out and a little oil are all the same instruction — so you can apply it when a page runs out.
- Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.