How to Clean an Air Fryer the right way

Most air fryers get dirtier than they need to

The basket gets a rinse. The tray gets a wipe. The heating element gets ignored for months. That’s how most people clean an air fryer — and it’s why most air fryers start smoking, smelling, and cooking unevenly long before they should. Grease doesn’t disappear between uses. It builds up on surfaces that aren’t visible, gets baked in over time, and eventually affects both taste and performance.

This guide covers the full clean — what to do after every cook, what only needs attention every few weeks, and how to handle the heating element without breaking anything. No harsh chemicals, no metal scourers, nothing that damages the non-stick coating. Just a repeatable process that takes less time than most people think.

🧼 What You’ll Need

• Soft cloth or sponge
• Mild dish soap
• Soft brush
• Baking soda
• Warm water
• Toothpick or small brush (for vents and edges)
• Dry towel

🧽 How to Clean Your Air Fryer

1. Unplug and cool down — This is the step most people skip when they’re in a hurry — and it matters more than it sounds. Cleaning a warm basket warps the timing of how soap works, and touching a hot heating element is a burn risk. Unplug the unit and give it at least 30 minutes. If you cooked something fatty or heavily seasoned, a full cool-down also makes grease easier to lift off once it’s set rather than still liquid.
2. Remove basket and tray — Pull out the basket and the tray or rack that sits inside it — these are the two parts that take on the most grease and food residue. On most models they separate from each other with a button or clip. Take them apart fully before washing. Cleaning them as one unit means the area where they connect stays dirty, which is where odours typically come from after a few weeks of use.
3. Wash removable parts — Wash the basket and tray with warm water and a small amount of mild dish soap using a soft cloth or sponge. Don’t use steel wool, abrasive pads, or anything that scratches — the non-stick coating is what makes the basket easy to clean in the first place, and once it’s damaged it doesn’t recover. Some manufacturers say their baskets are dishwasher-safe, but repeated dishwasher cycles degrade the coating faster than hand washing over time. Check your manual before putting anything in the machine, and even then, hand washing is the gentler long-term habit. If food is resisting, soak in warm soapy water for 10 minutes rather than scrubbing harder.
4. Clean stuck-on grease — For baked-on grease that won’t shift with soap and water, make a loose paste with baking soda and a small amount of warm water. Apply it to the affected area, leave it for 5–10 minutes, then work it off gently with a soft brush. Baking soda is mildly abrasive in a way that shifts grease without scratching the coating — unlike scouring powder or anything with bleach. This is especially useful on the tray underside and the inner walls of the basket where fat from something like garlic paprika chicken thighs or a gochujang glaze can carbonise over multiple cooks.
5. Wipe interior and heating element carefully — With the basket removed, wipe down the inside of the drawer with a damp cloth — you’ll usually find a film of grease on the inner walls that doesn’t get addressed when you only clean the basket. Then turn the unit upside down to access the heating element. Use a soft brush or a slightly damp cloth to gently brush away any residue or food particles. Never submerge or spray water into the unit itself, and never use anything sharp to scrape the element. If there’s significant grease buildup on the element — usually visible as a dark coating — a baking soda paste applied carefully with a soft brush and then wiped clean works well. This is the part of the clean that makes the biggest difference to smoke and smell during cooking. Damaged or coated heating elements are a common cause of an air fryer that smokes at temperature — our guide to non-toxic air fryer materials covers what coating damage actually looks like and when it becomes a concern.
6. Dry fully before reassembling — This step is easy to rush and worth not rushing. Reassembling a damp air fryer traps moisture near the heating element and inside the drawer cavity, which creates odour over the next few cooks and can over time affect the unit’s internals. Use a dry towel to wipe down all surfaces, then leave everything disassembled on the bench for 15–20 minutes before putting it back together. If you’ve washed the basket and tray and need to cook again soon, pat dry thoroughly and let the assembled unit sit unplugged for a few minutes before switching on.

✅ You’ll know it’s done when it smells like nothing

A properly cleaned air fryer has no residual smell when it’s cold and produces no smoke or odour in the first few minutes of its next cook. The basket should feel smooth and non-tacky, the tray should show no dark residue on the underside, and the drawer interior should be grease-free to the touch. If there’s still a smell after a full clean, run the unit empty at 180°C for 3 minutes — this burns off any remaining residue the cloth couldn’t reach. If smoke or a burning smell persists across multiple cooks after cleaning, it’s worth checking whether the coating is intact. Our guide on PFAS and non-stick coatings covers what to look for and when a coating has reached the end of its usable life. Looking for an easier-cleaning model? Start with our best air fryer picks.