Why You Should Broil In Your Air Fryer Instead of Your Oven

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Adding the crispy, browned top to your casserole or roast is supposed to be a quick finishing touch with the broiler. Unfortunately, depending on where your broiler is situated or what you’re cooking, you could be in danger of overcooking your dish. When the circumstances are right, I actually save time and avoid disaster by broiling with my air fryer.

What is broiling

I'm pretty sure I was born knowing how to fry an egg, but broiling was a mystery until I was an adult. The broiler is a special heat setting and it probably has its very own button on your oven. It’s a setting where an upper heating element in your oven fires at a high temperature (between 400°F to 500°F) aggressively browning and crisping anything in its path. If you have a large casserole or ham (or anything bigger than the air fryer) that you're trying to brown and crisp then you should definitely know how to use your oven’s broiler. (Do check out my article on how to use your broiler.)

The broiler will crisp and brown a cheesy bread crumbed topping or caramelize a sugar coated custard easily, but it can also be troublesome. Issues arise if you don’t account for the right distance from the heating element or if the dish your broiling takes more time to brown than you expected, it might be too long under the intense heat. That could lead to a dried out chicken or a broken and greasy mac and cheese. Trust me, I’ve ruined both under a broiler.

Why the air fryer is my broiling bestie

The air fryer, however, is an ideal broiler. The heating element in most air fryers is situated at the top, its small size usually puts the heating element very close to the top of your food, and the convection fan forces the hot air to continuously blast the food’s surface. Not only will your food brown evenly, but it’ll brown quicker than ever thanks to the fan.

I’ve had the most success broiling in my Instant Vortex air fryer because the basket can facilitate roughly two to four portions of any meal. Since I’m usually just cooking for myself and my partner, I don’t need much more space. The Cuisinart air fryer and toaster oven works perfectly well too for larger casserole dishes. You can read about both of these air fryers and my reviews of them here.

How to broil in the air fryer

1. Size-up the dish

When making a casserole, consider if the dish is appropriate for the air fryer. One thing I learned from making a week’s worth of food only using my air fryer was that a metal cake pan is invaluable. The Instant Vortex can fit a 9-inch pan but it’s a tight squeeze and it’s difficult to lift the hot pan out of the hot basket later. I prefer a metal cake pan that’s six to eight-inches across. If you're not sure, it's an easy fix—shove the pan in there before you fill it with food to find out.

2. Add the food and broil

Place the food into the basket and secure it in the air fryer. Set the temperature to the highest setting (it’s likely around 400°F) and press start. Depending on what you’re cooking, this will take anywhere from two to four minutes. Check on it every two minutes to see when it’s finished to your liking. 

I made this overnight mac and cheese from Ina Garten’s cookbook Go-To Dinners. I love this recipe the way it is, but lacking panko, I used extra cheese instead of bread crumbs for the topping this time. The top layer was crackling-crisp after three minutes, and the cheese underneath was irresistibly gooey. 

Tips and takeaways for air fryer broiling

It’s ideal for smaller dishes since you can fit them easily in the basket or slide them into the rack (for oven-style air fryers). However, large casseroles and roast meats are better served by the conventional oven. 

Keep in mind that broiling in an air fryer is very directional, meaning the heat will really only shoot downward. This is excellent to keep meats plump in the center or preventing cheesy casseroles from breaking, but if you put a frozen or fridge-cold item in the air fryer to broil for 3 minutes, you may very well end up with a beautifully browned top and a cold underside. 

To avoid that, be sure to heat up cold food in the air fryer on a lower temperature first to warm it thoroughly, then boost the temperature and fan speed to broil at the end.