Can you put ceramic and stoneware in an air fryer?

Only if all of these are true

• Your manual must permit it. Check your manual specifically. At least one manufacturer prohibits ceramic-coated and stoneware pots for air frying in its appliances.
• Must be rated for the purpose. Where it is permitted, use oven-rated ceramic. Decorative and glazed serving pieces are not oven-rated and can craze or shatter.
• A temperature limit applies. Avoid sudden temperature changes in either direction. Ceramic's thermal mass makes it slower to equalise than glass and it cracks the same way.
• Must fit with space around it. Ceramic is thick and heavy and takes up more of the chamber than its capacity suggests. Leave real air space around it.

What the manufacturers actually say

The manufacturers do not always agree, and silence is not permission. Each row below is what one company’s own manual says — or, where it says nothing, the fact that it says nothing.

• Tefal: Permits it

  The manual directs the cook to "Place an oven dish in the appliance's bowl if you want to bake a cake or quiche or if you want to fry fragile ingredients or filled ingredients", and states: "You can use an oven dish in silicon, stainless steel, aluminium, terracotta."

  Tefal Easy Fry Oven & Grill FW5018 — instruction manual (manufacturer copy) — read for a countertop oven with air fry

• Instant: Prohibits it

  The manual states that a ceramic-coated or stoneware pot must not be used for air frying. No reason is given.

  Instant Vortex Plus Dual Air Fryer 7.6L — User Manual — read for a dual-basket air fryer

• Tower: Permits it

  The manual instructs the reader to place a baking tin or oven dish in the drawer for baking or fragile food, without excluding ceramic.

  Tower T17067 4L Digital Air Fryer — Safety and Instruction Manual

• Ninja: Says nothing about it

  No mention of ceramic. The manual restricts accessories generally to those the manufacturer recommends or sells.

  Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer AF400UK — Instructions

What can go wrong

Ceramic and stoneware were a straightforward yes in Sprint 1, on the reasoning that oven-safe ceramic tolerates these temperatures easily. Reading the manuals produced a surprise: one manufacturer states plainly that a ceramic-coated or stoneware pot must not be used for air frying, and gives no reason. Nobody else mentions it either way.

• Can crack from sudden temperature change

  Start from room temperature and cool on a rack. Do not add cold liquid to a hot ceramic dish.

• Can block airflow

  Use the smallest dish that will do, and accept that the food underneath and beside it will not crisp.

It depends on your appliance

The answer is not the same in every machine. Where the element sits relative to the food, and how hard the fan blows, change what this material does.

• Dual-basket air fryer — Best avoided

  The manufacturer of one dual-basket machine in this catalogue prohibits ceramic-coated and stoneware pots for air frying. If you own that appliance, this is a prohibition rather than a caution.

• Oven-style air fryer — Safe only in specific conditions

  No manufacturer of this architecture read this sprint restricts ceramic, and a larger cavity heats more gently, which suits a high-thermal-mass material better.

Your manual governs

Evidence and confidence

Use this instead

• Oven-safe glass — Explicitly permitted by one manufacturer for baking. Thermal shock, not heat, is the thing to manage.
• Metal tins, trays and cookware — Explicitly permitted by one manufacturer for baking, and recommended by three others whenever a batter is involved.
• Silicone liners and moulds — Heavy enough not to be lifted, and rated above the temperatures these appliances reach. The airflow question is the one that remains.