Breaded scampi in an air fryer
From frozen — the short answer
200°C (392°F) for 9 min
- For
- 340g in total, From frozen
- In
- Dual-basket air fryer
- Published for
- Cookworks 9L Dual Air Fryer
- Preheat
- Yes, before the food goes in
- Check
- Crumb golden and firm
- Safety
- Food cooked from frozen must reach the same core temperature as the same food cooked fresh — the frozen centre is the last thing to get there. Full rule below.
Nine to fifteen minutes from frozen, and the two published figures disagree by a lot.
Questions people ask about breaded scampi — 2 answered further down this page.
From frozen
Before anything else
From national food-safety authorities, not from us. These take precedence over any cooking time below.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Food cooked from frozen must reach the same core temperature as the same food cooked fresh — the frozen centre is the last thing to get there.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part.
How to tell, without a thermometer
- No ice or cold spot at the centre when the thickest piece is cut open
- Steaming hot throughout, tested in the middle rather than the edge
If it has not got there: Reduce the temperature by 10–20°C and give it longer. A lower set point lets the centre catch up before the surface passes the point of no return, and it is the single most useful adjustment for cooking from frozen.
Important: If the packaging says the product must be thawed before cooking, follow it. That instruction exists because the manufacturer has tested cooking it from frozen and it did not reach temperature reliably.
The quick answer
200°C (392°F) for 9 min
A single published figure for a stated 340g.
- Assuming
- 340g in total, From frozen
- In
- Dual-basket air fryer
- Published for
- Cookworks 9L Dual Air Fryer
- Preheat
- Yes, before the food goes in
- Result
- Crisp outside, moist inside
Preparation
Breaded scampi, under the guide's frozen foods heading. Nothing about oil is printed.
How to tell it is done
- Crumb golden and firm
- Hot right through when one is broken open
Other figures for this state
Russell Hobbs SatisFry Air Fryer & Grill Multi Cooker 5.5L — multicooker with air fry: 180°C for 15 min
A single published figure from frozen. No quantity is printed.
Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK — multicooker with air fry: 200°C for 8–9 min
Published range for 440g of scampi in breadcrumbs, from the chart's frozen block.
AirfryerHQ's own range for a basket air fryer, drawn from the manufacturers' published figures and not printed by any of them: 200°C for 8–9 min
Piece size. The two published windows behind this figure are eight to nine minutes and a flat nine, which is as close to agreement as AirfryerHQ gets.
Where these figures came from — from frozen
- Applies to
- Specific to this model
- Why this rating
- Recorded alongside another manufacturer's 15 minutes at 180°C for the same product. Both figures are published and the difference is substantial.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- Published by the manufacturer for this model. It is evidence about this appliance and is not general advice.
- Another manufacturer publishes 15 minutes at 180°C for scampi. The two are not reconciled here.
Sources (1)
Cookworks 9L Dual Air Fryer KDF-5577DTW — Instruction Manual (PDF)
Argos Limited (Cookworks) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: Breaded scampi, 340g, 9 minutes at 200°C.
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 148/6630. Cookworks is Argos's own brand; the manual names the manufacturer only by model number KDF-5577DTW.
Leftover (reheating)
Before anything else
From national food-safety authorities, not from us. These take precedence over any cooking time below.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Cool cooked food and get it into the fridge within one to two hours, keep the fridge between 0 and 5°C, and eat leftovers within 48 hours.
How to tell, without a thermometer
- There is no sensory test for this rule, and that is the point: food held too long at the wrong temperature does not necessarily look, smell or taste different
If it has not got there: Throw it away. This is the one rule in this catalogue where the remedy is not 'cook it longer', because cooking does not reverse it.
Important: Cooked rice is the sharpest case: Bacillus cereus toxins form at room temperature and survive reheating. Rice left out for more than an hour goes in the bin.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Reheat leftovers until steaming hot all the way through, and only reheat them once.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part, or an equivalent from the table below.
How to tell, without a thermometer
- Steam rising from the centre, not just the edges
- The middle is hot to the touch, tested after removing it from the appliance
If it has not got there: Keep going, and break dense food up or spread it out so the heat can reach the middle. If it will not heat through evenly, a microwave to get the centre hot followed by the air fryer to crisp the surface is a better tool for the job than the air fryer alone.
Important: Cooked rice and pasta left at room temperature can develop Bacillus cereus toxins that reheating does not destroy. If cooked rice has been out of the fridge for more than an hour, discard it rather than reheating it.
| Temperature | Held for | Measured at |
|---|---|---|
| 70°C | 2 min | the centre of the food |
| 75°C | 30 sec | the centre of the food |
The quick answer
180°C (356°F) for 3–5 min
Quantity and piece size.
- Assuming
- 200g in total, From the fridge
- In
- Basket air fryer
- Whose figure
- AirfryerHQ's own, not one manufacturer's chart
- Loaded
- Single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Result
- Heated through
Preparation
Spread out in one layer so the crumb can dry on every side.
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.
How to tell it is done
- The coating or surface is dry and crisp again rather than soft
- The scampi inside is hot rather than warm
Change the result
Each of these moves the outcome in a known direction, and most cost you something. The trade is stated so you can decide whether you want it.
- To be sure it is safe rather than just warm
- Go by the food and not the clock. It has to be steaming hot the whole way through, and the middle of a dense portion lags a long way behind its surface in an air fryer.
Where these figures came from — leftover (reheating)
- Applies to
- Specific to this type of appliance
- Why this rating
- Top of the published band. The time is AirfryerHQ's estimate.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- THE TIME GIVEN HERE IS NOT SOURCED. Five manufacturers publish a reheating temperature and not one names a food, a quantity or a time for a named dish. The temperature sits inside their band; the time is AirfryerHQ's estimate and has not been measured.
- Reheating is governed by the food-safety rule above rather than by this figure. Steaming hot throughout is the requirement; the time is a guide to getting there.
Sources (4)
Tefal Easy Fry Max EY245B40 5L Air Fryer — Instruction Manual (PDF)
Groupe SEB (Tefal) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: That this manufacturer's published reheating instruction is 160°C for up to ten minutes, with no food named.
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 328/8568.
Tower T17023 2.2 Litre Air Fryer — Safety and Instruction Manual (PDF)
RKW Ltd (Tower Housewares) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: That this manufacturer publishes 150°C for up to ten minutes for reheating.
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 745/2194.
Cookworks 5L Digital Air Fryer KDF-596D — Care & Instruction Manual (PDF)
Argos Limited (Cookworks) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: That this manufacturer publishes 180°C for up to ten minutes for reheating.
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 148/6623.
AirfryerHQ analysis of published manufacturer cooking and reheating guidance
AirfryerHQ — Calculated or inferred by AirfryerHQ (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The reading that six published reheating positions across five manufacturers span 150-180°C, that three cap the time at ten minutes, and that none names a food — so the time given here is AirfryerHQ's estimate.
AirfryerHQ's interpretation of what it says
Citation checked — the document exists and is described correctly
Questions people ask about breaded scampi
- Why does the coating burst and leave the scampi shrunk inside?
- The crumb sets early and the tail inside it contracts as it cooks, so a hollow shell is left that collapses when it is picked up. Heat is what pulls them apart: the hotter the cook, the faster the tail shrinks away from a coating that has already hardened. If yours burst, use the cooler of the published rows and take them out when the crumb is golden.A general cooking principle, not a measurement.
- Why do the charts for scampi disagree?
- Three manufacturers print a figure for frozen breaded scampi. Two sit close together at the higher temperature, and the third gives a noticeably longer time at a lower one. They are two ways to the same result, and the cooler one is kinder to the coating. Take the lower end of whichever you follow as the first moment to look.From the figures on this page.
What usually goes wrong
Burst coating with the scampi shrunk away inside it. The crumb sets early and the langoustine tail contracts as it cooks, leaving a hollow crust that collapses when picked up. Cooking cooler for longer keeps the two together; cooking hot separates them.
Running the appliance safely
The rules for the machine are the same whatever is in it: plug it straight into a wall socket, leave clear space round it, do not overfill it, do not leave it running unattended, and unplug it at black smoke or an electrical smell. They are set out once, each with its source and what to do if it has already happened, and not repeated on every food. Every rule for running an air fryer safely.
One of them is about this food and not the machine: Aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter on starchy foods such as chips and roast potatoes, rather than a darker brown.
Breaded fish products in fast-moving hot air
The breadcrumb layer is dry and porous and already contains oil from the factory par-fry, so it crisps in moving air with nothing added — which is exactly what an air fryer is good at and exactly what a domestic oven is not. The fish inside is already cooked or part-cooked and is only being brought up to temperature, so the whole exercise is about the crumb. Overcrowding is the failure: the crumb needs air on all sides and a heaped basket steams it.
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. A probe measures yours, which is what the safety rule on this page asks for.
- 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.
- Cooking from frozenUsually cooler and longer than the same food fresh, and never worked out from the fresh figure.
- Reheating leftoversA different question governed by a different rule — steaming hot throughout, and only once.
- Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.
Easily confused with
- Fish fingers — A different cooking problem with a different answer.