Should You Use Parchment Paper In the Air Fryer?

What is Parchment Paper and Should You Use it in the Air Fryer?

Parchment paper is oven-safe paper that is generally used for anything you bake in the oven and makes clean-up super easy (love that!).

However, there is a difference between air fryer paper parchment paper and regular rolled parchment paper.

Air fryer parchment paper has perforations and can come in different shapes and sizes that will fit your different types of air fryers. 

Let me answer a few questions about why, when, and whether should you use parchment paper in the air fryer. 

First off, you definitely can and will find it beneficial to use parchment paper in the air fryer. However, it will vary for each recipe as to when the best time to use parchment paper is.

One thing you do NOT want to do is preheat the air fryer with parchment paper in it. That can cause the parchment paper to burn or catch on fire. Both are bad things.

Will using air fryer parchment paper cook my food differently?

This can happen. So, depending on the type of food you are making, it will be a little bit of guessing and checking to see if parchment paper is appropriate to use.

So, we performed a few test recipes for you below! 

1. Bacon test:

Air fryer paper – It seemed to cook well with the paper and the oil drips down in into the air fryer basket or was absorbed by the parchment paper.

However, it was messier than the regular parchment paper clean-up wise.

Regular parchment paper – For this recipe, the bacon proved to be slightly undercooked and the oil pooled in the paper creating soggy bacon (not ideal). 

But, since all the oil was concentrated in the parchment paper the air fryer cleaned up a little easier.

No parchment paper – Without using the parchment paper the bacon cooked about the same as with the air fryer parchment paper, nice and crispy. 

On the downside, the air fryer was definitely messier to clean up.

The winner was the bacon with the air fryer parchment paper. 

2. Cookies: 

Air fryer paper – The paper blew around causing the cookies to smoosh together. After starting the test again, to keep the paper in place, you can use a rack and place it over top of the cookies to keep the cookies and the paper from moving around in the air fryer.

The cookies seemed to be a bit crispier with a slight chewiness, but definitely dryer.

Regular parchment paper – In general the parchment paper stayed in place and the cookies cooked well. 

As for the taste of the cookies, they happened to have dried out more and were crispier.

Foil Sling – Since the foil is heavier the cookies set up nicely and did not move in the air fryer.

The foil also proved to make the best cookies, still having that nice crispy outside, but chewier on the inside.

** The key to making cookies in the air fryer and most baked goods is keeping the temperature low. I normally bake cookies around 320F or 160C.

3. Frozen Chicken Wings (page 106 in my cookbook!): 

Air fryer paper – The wings browned up wonderfully before adding the sauce. After adding the sauce, the wings cooked up nicely, and were still able to get airflow happening to allow the wings to get a nice crisp outside.

The air fryer was also overall, fairly easy to clean up afterward.

Regular parchment paper – With the regular parchment paper the wings were less browned, less crispy, and less done.

Not to mention, that the parchment paper even burnt a bit, but the mess is definitely contained. 

No parchment paper – Without using anything in the air fryer, the browning of the wings was better than full parchment, as well as super crispy. However, clean-up was a little bit more labor intensive. 

Overall, I would say the wings with the air fryer parchment paper were the favorite.

Next Up, Parchment Paper vs Silicone – Which One Should you Use?

Let’s Look at:

1. How well does silicone clean up?

2. Does the silicone actually block the heat?

3. Do you need to put oil on the silicone liners?

Interesting Fact: Silicone actually has low thermal conductivity, so it transfers heat at a much slower rate – which is the opposite of what an air fryer normally does – high heat, and fast. 

So, we put the parchment paper and the silicone mats to the test with 3 recipes:

1. Eggs in a basket:

Parchment paper – For this one, the parchment paper made it still surprisingly harder to separate the egg from the parchment paper, and the bread cooked unevenly,

But, the cleanup is great because you can just throw away the parchment paper, but there was still some egg to clean up in the air fryer basket.

Silicone – When this was done cooking, the bread was more dried out, but more evenly cooked. The egg also stuck just a little bit to the silicone mat as well.

Cleanup is a little more labor intensive as you will have to clean the whole silicone mat as well as the leakage from the egg (which is to be expected).

As for the final product, they looked pretty identical in look and taste. Either one would do great!

2. Cinnamon Rolls:

Parchment paper – The cinnamon rolls cooked through slightly better, and came off the parchment paper very easily.

The air fryer basket cleaned up super well, and barely anything in the bottom of the air fryer.

Silicone – We sprayed the right side was sprayed with oil to see if there would be a difference, however, both sides seemed to have come off the silicone mat nicely and cooked perfectly.

On the plus side, the silicone mat can also be used to lift the cinnamon rolls out of the basket as a little bit of a tray.

Overall the mat was pretty clean with only a little bit of residue in the air fryer. 

I’d say the parchment paper was easier for cleanup and less sticky, but only ever so slightly. 

Things to Take Note Of:

You may need less oil or no oil at all for food that already has a higher oil content

Baked goods have a recommended internal temperature. I have a handy dandy internal temperature chart where you can get them all listed in one place. But for these types of baked goods, the ideal internal temperature is 180-190F (or 82-87C). 

3. Meatballs and Veggies:

Air Fryer Parchment paper – When the meatballs ball were made, they seemed to cook up a little faster. And the parchment paper seemed to absorb almost all of the grease, making it super simple to clean up. 

Silicone – However, the meatballs were slower to heat up to the internal temperature with the silicone mat, so it may only be restricting the heat ever so slightly.

The mat itself was pretty greasy, but there was still a bit of grease in the bottom of the air fryer. 

So, again I think the parchment paper would be my go-to for this recipe as well.

Parchment Paper Vs. Silicon Mat – Which was Better?

The result of the difference between the silicone mats and the parchment paper between the different recipes seems to be pretty much the same. It really comes down to if you want the convenience of grabbing a piece of parchment paper and tossing it. Or if you want to be more eco-friendly with the silicone mat. The price for the two is also pretty comparable as well.