Pork tenderloin in an air fryer
Fresh — the short answer
190°C (374°F) for 20–27 min
- For
- 350–500g per piece, 2 pieces
- In
- Dual-basket air fryer
- Published for
- Ninja Foodi Dual Zone AF300UK
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Part way
- shake the basket at about 10 min
- Check
- Faintly pink at the very centre and pale elsewhere
- Safety
- Pork must be cooked all the way through, whatever the cut. Full rule below.
Fresh tenderloins of 350–500g get twenty to twenty-seven minutes at 190°C in one manufacturer's charts for two machines; its chart for a third names no state.
Manufacturer figures with no state given — 2 from named machines, listed further down this page.
Questions people ask about pork tenderloin — 2 answered further down this page.
Fresh
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
190°C (374°F) for 20–27 min
Published range for two pork tenderloins of 350–500g each.
- Assuming
- 350–500g per piece, 2 pieces
- In
- Dual-basket air fryer
- Published for
- Ninja Foodi Dual Zone AF300UK
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Result
- Just cooked
Preparation
Brushed with oil, as the row prints. It prints no amount of oil and no other preparation.
While it cooks
At about 10–14 minutes: Shake the basket
The chart tells the owner to shake or toss the food often, and recommends shaking at least twice during the cooking cycle. It prints that beside the whole chart, not against this row, and gives no moments for it.
How to tell it is done
- Faintly pink at the very centre and pale elsewhere
- Springs back slowly under a finger
Other figures for this state
Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone AF400UK — dual-basket air fryer: 190°C for 22–27 min
Published range for two pork tenderloins of 350–500g each.
Where these figures came from — fresh
- Applies to
- Specific to this model
- Why this rating
- A published row from the manufacturer's own Quick Start Guide for this machine, under a block whose heading names the state. It is held as the chart prints it: its amount, its preparation and its oil where it gives them, and nothing where it does not.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-10
What this does not cover
- Published by the manufacturer for this model. It is evidence about this appliance and is not general advice.
- This machine has two drawers. The chart prints one amount for the row and does not say which drawer it is for, or whether it is for one drawer or both.
- The chart heads this block Fresh Pork, and the row is held as fresh on that heading. The word is the block's and not the row's own.
Sources (1)
Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer AF300UK — Quick Start Guide and cooking charts
SharkNinja Operating LLC — Manufacturer cooking chart (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The state, amount, temperature and time for pork tenderloin.
States this directly
Passage read and verified
Retrieved 2026-10-10 from euronics.a.bigcontent.io
Retrieved from a retailer's document store, Euronics, which mirrors the manufacturer's booklet. Argos's manual library holds an earlier revision of the same guide, 200515_Mv1, which differs in a few printed amounts; the later revision is the one held here.
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)
Pork must be cooked all the way through, whatever the cut.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part.
Stated in full earlier on this page, with how to tell without a thermometer and what to do if it has not got there.
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
160°C (320°F) for 5–9 min
Whether it is whole or sliced. Sliced is roughly half the time.
- Assuming
- 350–500g per piece, 1 piece, 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
Sliced into medallions wherever possible, spread out in one layer.
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
- Steaming hot right through the middle, not just at the edges
- The slices are still moist at the cut face
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
- Low in 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
Chilled
Cooked as fresh: use the fresh figures above. Raw food sold chilled is the fresh state under another name, and the charts those figures come from start from fridge-cold.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Pork must be cooked all the way through, whatever the cut.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part.
Stated in full earlier on this page, with how to tell without a thermometer and what to do if it has not got there.
Defrosted
Cooked as fresh: use the fresh figures above. Once it is defrosted all the way through it is at fridge temperature and cooks as fresh does; no chart read for this catalogue tells the two apart.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Pork must be cooked all the way through, whatever the cut.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part.
Stated in full earlier on this page, with how to tell without a thermometer and what to do if it has not got there.
Marinated
No time or temperature for this, and not by accident
Marinated is a real question for pork tenderloin. AirfryerHQ holds no published figure for it: not one of the manufacturer manuals read for this catalogue gives a chart row for this food in this state.
We are not going to produce one by adjusting the fresh figure above. A time arrived at that way would appear on this page looking exactly like a time somebody measured, and you would have no way to tell the difference.
What still governs, figure or no figure
These rules come from national food-safety authorities and apply whether or not anybody has published a cooking time. They are the part of this question we can answer.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Pork must be cooked all the way through, whatever the cut.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part.
Stated in full earlier on this page, with how to tell without a thermometer and what to do if it has not got there.
What we do hold for pork tenderloin: fresh, leftover (reheating). Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.
Manufacturer figures with no state given
Each of these is a published figure for one named machine. The manufacturer does not say whether this is fresh or frozen. So they are kept apart from the figures above, and not used as the answer for any of them.
Whichever it is, this comes first: Pork must be cooked all the way through, whatever the cut.
Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK: 190°C for 18–22 min
Published range for two whole pork fillets of 350–500g each.
Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK: 250°C for 15–20 min
Published range for two pork fillet tenderloins of 350–500g each.
Questions people ask about pork tenderloin
- Why is the thin end of my pork tenderloin dry?
- A tenderloin tapers, so the tail is overcooked by the time the thick end is safe. Fold the thin end back under itself and tie it, so the whole piece is one thickness. That does more than any change to the time.A general cooking principle, not a measurement.
- Does a pork tenderloin need turning?
- The cooking rows on this page all ask for it: the drawer machines say to shake, which for a single piece means turning it over, and the grill row says to turn. A tenderloin lies on the plate along its whole length, and the underside colours only when it is given a turn.From the figures on this page.
What usually goes wrong
A thin end like leather and a thick end that is only just there. Folding the tail under and tying it is the standard fix and it does more than any adjustment to the time.
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.
Pork in fast-moving hot air
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. 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.
- 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.