Something went wrong
Each page works the same way: what is happening, a couple of questions that narrow it down, the causes with the boring common one first, and the fixes. It is almost always the boring one.
If it smells of burning plastic or electrics, if a breaker has tripped, or if the plug or cable is warm or discoloured: switch off at the socket, unplug it, do not use it again, and contact the manufacturer. Do not open the housing. AirfryerHQ gives no repair advice for electrical faults and will not.
The food came out wrong
Chips and fries come out soggy
Almost always the basket being too full. The steam has nowhere to go and condenses back onto the food.
The food came out wrong
Burnt outside, raw inside
The temperature is too high for the thickness. Heat is finishing the surface before it can reach the middle.
The food came out wrong
Food cooks unevenly
Airflow is not reaching every surface equally, and where it does not, food does not cook.
Smoke, smell or noise
The air fryer is smoking
Usually rendered fat on a hot surface below the basket. Distinguishing that from an electrical smell is the first thing to do.
Electrical or fire risk
The air fryer runs but does not heat
There are three things worth checking, all of them external. Beyond those, this is a fault for the manufacturer.
The food came out wrong
Food sticks to the basket
Cold surface, no oil, or a coating that has begun to wear — and one of those three is worth acting on quickly.
Smoke, smell or noise
A burning smell from the air fryer
The question is not what is burning but what KIND of burning. Food and fat smell one way; insulation smells another, and only one of those is a cooking problem.
Smoke, smell or noise
A new air fryer smells of plastic
Normal on a new machine, and one manufacturer says so in as many words. It is also the symptom most easily confused with one that is not normal.
Smoke, smell or noise
The fan is loud, or something is rattling
Air fryers are loud by design — the noise IS the cooking method. A rattle or a scraping sound is a different matter.
The food came out wrong
Food is not crisping
Almost always moisture that cannot get out, and almost always because there is too much in the basket. One manufacturer says so directly.
The food came out wrong
The breading or coating falls off
Usually the fan, and usually because the coating was never dry enough to set before the airflow got to it.
The food came out wrong
Food comes out dry
The appliance works by removing surface water, so drying food out is its failure mode rather than an accident.
The appliance is behaving oddly
Steam pouring out of the air fryer
Water leaving food, which is what the appliance is for. It only matters because steam and smoke look similar and mean very different things.
The appliance is behaving oddly
Condensation, or water in the drawer
Water that came out of the food and had nowhere to go. Not a leak, and not a fault.
The appliance is behaving oddly
Light food is being blown around inside
A cooking nuisance and a fire risk in the same symptom, because what the fan lifts it lifts into the element.
The appliance is behaving oddly
The drawer will not close, or will not stay closed
Nearly always something in the way or something not seated. It matters because most drawer machines will not run at all until it is right.
The appliance is behaving oddly
The buttons or touchscreen do not respond
Check for a lock and a drawer interlock before concluding anything. Both make a working appliance look dead.
The appliance is behaving oddly
An error code or message on the display
Look it up for YOUR manufacturer and nobody else's. A code means whatever that company's firmware author decided it means.
Electrical or fire risk
The air fryer switches itself off part-way through
A thermal cut-out operating is a protection device telling you something, not a glitch to be worked around.
Electrical or fire risk
The display is blank, or the appliance is completely dead
Check the socket and the fuse once. After that this is a fault in a mains appliance, and this product stops.
Electrical or fire risk
Grease or liquid leaking from the appliance
Liquid escaping the chamber of a mains appliance is not a mess to be wiped up and forgotten. Find out where it came from.
Electrical or fire risk
Parchment or a liner lifted into the element
A fire that has not happened yet. It is the single most preventable hazard in this appliance class, and the prevention is one sentence.
Cleaning and maintenance
The basket coating is flaking or peeling
Usually mechanical damage from cleaning, and it does not repair. A basket shedding coating should be replaced rather than used.
Cleaning and maintenance
Everything tastes or smells of the last thing cooked
Fat that is still in the machine, being re-volatilised. Washing the basket does not reach it.