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AirfryerHQ

Can you put kitchen paper and paper plates in an air fryer?

Best avoided

The available guidance advises against this.

Why loose parchment paper is a fire risk in an air fryerTwo cross-sections of an air fryer chamber with a heating element at the top and a fan below it. On the left, a sheet of parchment paper lies on the crisper plate with food sitting on top of it, holding it flat; the paper stays put and this is safe. On the right, the same sheet is in an empty basket with nothing on top of it; the fan has lifted it up into the heating element, where it can scorch and catch fire. The rule is that parchment goes in only under food that weighs it down, never into an empty basket and never during a preheat.Food on top of itelementpaper held flat by the foodStays where you put itSafe, within the manufacturer’s limitsEmpty basket or preheatelementnothing holding it downLifts into the elementScorches, and can catch fireCheck your own manual: some manufacturers forbid paper liners outright.
Kitchen paper fails the same way parchment does, and more easily — it is lighter. The fan will lift an unweighted sheet into the element. Most manufacturers forbid it outright; check your own manual before considering it at all.

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.

  • Russell Hobbs: Prohibits it

    The manual's safety section states: "Do not place any of the following materials in the oven: paper, cardboard, plastic, or anything similar." It names no exception and no temperature at which it would become acceptable.

    Russell Hobbs Express Air Fry Mini Oven 26680-56 — instructions (manufacturer copy) — read for a countertop oven with air fry

  • Ninja: Says nothing about it

    No mention of paper of any kind in the manual.

    Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer AF400UK — Instructions

What can go wrong

This is a separate record from baking parchment because the answer is different and the difference matters. Parchment is a heat-rated product designed to sit under food; kitchen roll is absorbent, unrated, extremely light and usually put in for a reason — soaking up fat — that guarantees nothing is holding it down.

  • Can be lifted by the fan

    There is no adequate mitigation, which is why the verdict is to avoid rather than to use carefully. Kitchen paper is light enough that even food on top of it is not reliable.

  • Can scorch or ignite when not covered by food

    Do not put it in. Drain fried food on kitchen paper on a plate afterwards, outside the appliance.

  • Not intended for food contact

    Kitchen roll and paper plates are not manufactured for sustained contact with hot food and carry no heat rating. Use a heat-rated liner if you need one.

Your manual governs

No manufacturer manual read for this catalogue addresses kitchen paper, and Electrical Safety First's general position — that paper should not be used unless the manufacturer explicitly permits it — therefore applies with nothing to lift it.

Food contact

Kitchen roll is not a heat-rated food-contact material. Some brands include wet-strength resins that are not intended to be heated against food.

Evidence and confidence

Moderate confidenceWell supported, but from a narrower base of sources than we would like.
Applies to
Applies generally
Why this rating
The safety body's statement applies directly and nothing lifts it: no manufacturer permits kitchen paper. `avoid` rather than `unsafe` because AirfryerHQ has found no incident data or regulator finding specific to kitchen paper in air fryers, and `unsafe` is reserved for established harm.
Last reviewed
2026-08-13

What this does not cover

  • No published incident data specific to kitchen paper in air fryers was found. The verdict rests on a general prohibition plus the mechanism.
Sources (2)

  • Electrical safety advice for air fryers

    Electrical Safety First — Electrical-safety authority or body (United Kingdom)

    Relied on for: That paper should not be used in an air fryer unless the manufacturer's instructions explicitly permit it.

    States this directly

    Passage read and verified

    Retrieved 2026-08-13 from electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk

  • Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer AF400UK — Instructions (PDF)

    SharkNinja Europe Limited — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)

    Relied on for: That the fan lifts lightweight items into the airflow.

    AirfryerHQ's interpretation of what it says

    Passage read and verified

    Retrieved 2026-08-13 from argos-support.co.uk

    Retrieved from Argos's manual library, which mirrors the manufacturer's booklet for Argos product 952/3997. Not retrieved from ninjakitchen.co.uk, whose support portal redirected to an authentication gate.

Use this instead

  • Baking parchment — Two manufacturers now prohibit it outright and one gives the mechanism. Sprint 2 recorded every manufacturer as silent; that is no longer true, and the verdict has hardened.
  • 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.

Looking for something not listed here? See everything we have assessed — and note that we do not reason by analogy. A plastic that resembles silicone is not silicone.