Can you put foil in an air fryer?
Yes, in the basket, and not on the crisper plate. The manufacturers' own manuals say so. The rule that matters is never putting paper in without food on it.
Oohunt Deal Desk · Buying guides · November 1, 2026 · 8 min read
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Yes, in the basket. Not on the crisper plate, and never with nothing on top of it. That is the short version, and unlike most answers to this question it comes straight out of the manufacturers’ own manuals rather than from general caution.
Cosori’s Pro LE manual says plainly that you may use parchment paper or foil, and its care section adds that lining the basket with foil, except the crisper plate, may make cleanup easier. That parenthesis is the whole answer, and almost nobody quotes it.
The crisper plate is the part that matters
An air fryer is a small convection oven. The fan drives hot air down through the food and out again, and the perforated insert in the bottom of the basket, the crisper plate, is what the air passes through. It is also what keeps food out of the grease that drips off it.
So the distinction is not foil versus no foil. It is:
- Foil in the basket, under the crisper plate: catches drips, makes cleaning easier, leaves the airflow alone. This is the use the manual describes.
- Foil on top of the crisper plate, covering the holes: this is the one to avoid. You have turned a convection oven back into a covered tray.
The same logic appears in Presto’s manual from the other direction: do not cover the air inlet or outlet vents or put anything on top of the air fryer, because it disrupts the airflow, affects the cooking and may cause the fryer to overheat. Every warning in this category is a warning about airflow.
The real hazard is paper, not foil
If there is one sentence to take from this page, it is Cosori’s: never put baking or parchment paper into the air fryer without food on top, because air circulation can cause paper to lift and touch heating coils.
Think about when that happens in practice. It is not during cooking, when a chicken thigh is holding the paper flat. It is during the preheat, when someone puts the liner in first and the basket is empty, and the fan comes on with nothing in the way.
Foil does not do this nearly as readily, because it is heavier and holds a crease. Which makes the usual internet ranking, parchment safe and foil risky, close to backwards for this specific failure. Both are fine under food. One of them flies.
So load it in this order
- Preheat the machine empty, if your model wants a preheat at all.
- Put the liner or foil in, and the food on it, at the same time.
- Keep the liner inside the basket, not riding up the sides past the food.
- If you are using perforated liners, the holes are there to be lined up with airflow, not decoration. A solid sheet in the same place does more harm.
Do not overfill it either
A related warning from the same manual, and the one people break most often with chips: do not overfill the basket, because heaping amounts of food may touch the heating coils and cause a fire hazard. The coils are directly above the basket. A tall pile of food is a version of the same airflow problem, and a more dangerous one than a sheet of foil lying flat.
Brands genuinely disagree
Which is why “check your manual” is real advice here rather than a way of avoiding the question. Four manuals, four positions:
| Manual | What it says about foil |
|---|---|
| Cosori Pro LE | “You may use parchment paper or foil.” Care section: lining the basket with foil, except the crisper plate, may make cleanup easier. |
| Cosori TurboBlaze | Same cleanup note about foil in the basket, but no sentence permitting foil outright. Same brand, different manual. |
| Philips HD9270 | Does not mention foil anywhere. Says never to use the Airfryer without the pan and basket in place. |
| Presto | Its cooking chart and recipes tell you to line the basket bottom with foil for salmon, biscuits and cinnamon rolls. |
Two models from the same brand are worded differently, which is a useful reminder that these documents are written per product rather than per company.
What we are not going to tell you
You will read elsewhere that foil reacts with acidic food such as tomato, citrus or vinegar, and that you should avoid the combination. We searched all four manuals for any mention of acidity and found none. It may well be sound kitchen advice; it is not something these manufacturers say, so we are not going to present it as though it were.
The same goes for temperature ratings. Liner packets print numbers, but a seller’s listing is not a manufacturer instruction, and we have no way to test one.
Liners and foil worth having
Prices change often, so check the current one on Amazon.
What we would buy (4)
Affiliate links
- Check price on Amazon
GeestaPerforated air fryer parchment liners, 8 inch, 200-pack
Opens Amazon in a new tab.Perforated, so the holes line up with the airflow rather than blocking it. Still needs food on top.
- Check price on Amazon
BYKITCHEN6 inch round perforated liners, 200-pack
Opens Amazon in a new tab.The small-basket size. Measure yours before buying, since a liner wider than the basket rides up the sides.
- Check price on Amazon
ReynoldsHeavy duty aluminium foil, 130 sq ft
Opens Amazon in a new tab.Heavier gauge holds a shape, so it stays where you put it instead of lifting at the edges.
- Check price on Amazon
NinjaAir Fryer Pro, 5 Qt, 4-in-1
Opens Amazon in a new tab.If you are reading this because cleaning yours is miserable, a removable basket and crisper plate is most of the fix.
No prices or star ratings here. Prices change daily and we do not track them, so Amazon shows you the current one. Nothing on this list has been tested.
Common questions
Can you put aluminium foil in an air fryer?
Generally yes, in the basket. Cosori's manual says in as many words that you may use parchment paper or foil, and its care section says lining the basket with foil may make cleanup easier. The exception it prints is the crisper plate, the perforated insert the air passes through.
Where exactly should the foil go?
Under the food, in the bottom of the basket, not over the crisper plate and not up the sides to the point where it blocks airflow. Presto's own recipes go further and instruct you to line the basket bottom with foil for salmon, biscuits and cinnamon rolls.
Why can't foil go on the crisper plate?
Because that is the part the air is supposed to go through. An air fryer is a small convection oven, and covering the holes stops the circulation that does the cooking. Cosori's instruction is literally parenthetical: lining the basket with foil, except the crisper plate.
Is parchment paper safer than foil?
Not inherently, and in one way it is riskier. Paper is light enough to be picked up by the fan. Cosori's warning is to never put baking or parchment paper in without food on top, because air circulation can cause paper to lift and touch the heating coils.
Can you preheat an air fryer with a liner in it?
Not with an empty paper one. There is no food holding it down during a preheat, which is exactly the situation the manufacturer warns about. Put the liner and the food in together after the preheat.
Do all air fryer brands allow foil?
No, and this is worth checking. Two Cosori models word it differently, the Philips manual we read does not mention foil at all, and Presto's recipes actively call for it. Your own manual is the authority for your machine.
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