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.
What is happening
Flavour transfer between cooks is a cleaning problem with a specific location: not the basket, which gets washed, but the pan, the element and any shield, which do not. Heated fat carries the aroma compounds of whatever produced it and releases them again on the next cook.
Why it happens
Commonest first. It is almost always the boring one, and a page that walks you through the exotic causes before the obvious one has given you a longer path to a fixed dinner.
Most common
Fat residue somewhere other than the basket
The outer pan, the underside of the element and any splatter shield collect fat and are rarely washed. Heated again, that fat volatilises and its aroma goes into whatever is cooking.
What to do
- Clean everywhere the fat goes, not just what the food touched
- Clean the splatter shield after every use if your machine has one
Common
The chamber was left closed while damp
A warm closed chamber with condensation in it holds a smell the way any closed damp container does.
What to do
- Leave the drawer or lid open after cooking
Common
Something strongly flavoured was cooked recently
Fish, curry, garlic and smoked foods leave aroma compounds that persist through an ordinary wash. Nothing is wrong with the appliance.
What to do
- Clean everywhere the fat goes, not just what the food touched
- Cook the strongly flavoured thing last
The fixes in full
- Clean everywhere the fat goes, not just what the food touched
Basket, crisper plate, outer pan, and the element area where the manufacturer permits it. This is the step that actually removes the smell, and it is the step people skip.
You will know it worked when: An empty run produces no smell of the previous food.
- Clean the splatter shield after every use if your machine has one
It is the part directly in the path of everything that spatters, and the manufacturer that documents one says to clean it every time.
- Cook the strongly flavoured thing last
Cakes and bread before fish and curry, rather than after. A simple ordering change removes most of the problem without any extra cleaning.
- Leave the drawer or lid open after cooking
One manufacturer instructs keeping the lid open after removing food so the unit cools faster. It also lets the chamber dry rather than sitting damp.
Evidence and confidence
- Applies to
- Specific to this type of appliance
- Why this rating
- The published instructions cover the two effective remedies. The mechanism — heated fat re-volatilising its aroma compounds — is stated as reasoning and is the reason washing the basket alone does not work.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- Derived from manufacturer troubleshooting tables for the appliances AirfryerHQ holds manuals for. It is not fault-rate data and nobody has counted how often each cause actually occurs.
Sources (2)
Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK — Instructions (PDF)
SharkNinja Europe Limited — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: That the splatter guard should be cleaned after every use, that oil builds up on the heating element without it, and the instruction to keep the lid open after cooking.
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 735/0124. The document identifies itself as revision AG551UKSeries_IB_MP_Mv1_200630_Mv1.
AirfryerHQ assessment of airflow, element proximity and material behaviour
AirfryerHQ — Calculated or inferred by AirfryerHQ (Not jurisdictional)
Relied on for: The mechanism behind the symptom: airflow, element proximity and thermal behaviour in a small chamber.
AirfryerHQ's interpretation of what it says
Citation checked — the document exists and is described correctly
Equipment that bears on this
- Soft-bristled cleaning brush — Genuinely useful — Reaches into perforations and grooves that a sponge cannot, without doing what a scourer would.