Potato gratin in an air fryer
Chilled — the short answer
200°C (392°F) for 15–18 min
- For
- 400g in total, From the fridge
- In
- Basket air fryer, single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Check
- The top is browned and bubbling at the edges
- Safety
- Plug an air fryer directly into a wall socket. Do not run one from an extension lead. Full rule below.
Fifteen to eighteen minutes at 200°C for a 400g portion — and it must be in a dish, not loose.
Chilled
The quick answer
200°C (392°F) for 15–18 min
A published 400g portion. Depth in the dish is what moves the answer.
- Assuming
- 400g in total, From the fridge
- In
- Basket air fryer
- Loaded
- Single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Result
- Heated through
Preparation
In an oven-safe dish that fits with clearance around it. No oil is added — the dish carries its own cream and fat.
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.
How to tell it is done
- The top is browned and bubbling at the edges
- A skewer meets no resistance through the layers
Where these figures came from — chilled
- Applies to
- Specific to this model
- Why this rating
- A published row with a stated quantity band in grams, from the manufacturer's own manual for this model. The band is narrower than the same manufacturer's 4-litre machine, which is consistent with the smaller pot and is why the two are recorded separately rather than merged.
- 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.
- This model is subject to an active fire-risk recall. The figure is recorded because it is evidence about published guidance; the appliance should not be used.
- This one needs a dish, and what may go in the chamber is a separate question. See the materials section before choosing one.
Sources (1)
Tower T17023 2.2 Litre Air Fryer — Safety and Instruction Manual (PDF)
RKW Ltd (Tower Housewares) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The temperature, time and quantity for potato gratin.
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.
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
160°C (320°F) for 8–14 min
Depth in the dish, and it dominates everything else. A shallow portion is through in eight minutes and a deep one takes nearly twice that.
- Assuming
- 400g in total, From the fridge
- In
- Basket air fryer
- Loaded
- Single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Result
- Heated through
Preparation
In an oven-safe dish that fits with clearance around it, loosely covered until the last few minutes.
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 top has browned and the edges are bubbling
- A skewer pushed to the bottom comes out hot to the touch
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 and long on time, because a dense layered dish heats slowly and its surface browns fast. The time is AirfryerHQ's estimate.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- THE TIME ON THIS RECORD IS NOT SOURCED. Four manufacturers publish a reheating temperature and not one of them names a food, a quantity or a time for a named dish. The temperature here is theirs; 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.
- This one needs a dish, and what may go in the chamber is a separate question. See the materials section before choosing one.
Sources (4)
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's published reheating instruction is 150°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 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's published reheating instruction is 180°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 148/6623.
Cosori Dual Blaze 6.4L Smart Air Fryer CAF-P583S-KUK — User Manual (PDF)
Arovast Corporation (Cosori) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: That this manufacturer's Reheat function defaults to 175°C for five minutes.
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 818/0159.
AirfryerHQ Sprint 4 analysis of published cooking guidance across fifteen manuals
AirfryerHQ — Calculated or inferred by AirfryerHQ (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The reading that no manufacturer publishes a reheat time for a named food, and that the time on this record is therefore AirfryerHQ's own estimate.
AirfryerHQ's interpretation of what it says
Citation checked — the document exists and is described correctly
From frozen
No time or temperature for this, and not by accident
Potato gratin is sold and cooked from frozen, so the question is a real one. 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 chilled 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)
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.
What we do hold for potato gratin: chilled, leftover (reheating). Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.
Fresh
No time or temperature for this, and not by accident
Potato gratin is sold and cooked fresh, so the question is a real one. 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.
Same reason as above: a figure adjusted from one we do hold would be indistinguishable from one somebody measured.
What we do hold for potato gratin: chilled, leftover (reheating). Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.
What usually goes wrong
A browned top over cold, still-firm layers underneath. Direct hot air works on the surface and the cream-and-potato mass below conducts heat slowly, so the visual cue arrives long before the dish is ready.
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 potato behaves this way
A potato is mostly water held in a starch matrix. Heat gelatinises the starch and drives water out of the surface layer; when that dehydrated layer is thin, dry and hot enough it becomes crisp. The whole game is getting water away from the surface faster than it arrives from inside, which is why crowding a basket produces soggy chips — the escaping steam has nowhere to go and condenses back onto the food. Sugar content decides browning speed, which is why some potatoes darken far faster than others at the same setting.
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 potato gratin.
- 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
- Jacket potato — A different cooking problem with a different answer.