Listening to a food blogger say you can't air fry raw bacon made me test it myself

I was scrolling through this blog post about air fryer breakfast ideas and the person flat out said 'don't ever try to air fry raw bacon, it'll smoke up your whole kitchen and make a mess.' I mean, I've done it maybe 4 or 5 times in my Cosori and it comes out crispy in about 8 minutes at 375. Sure, you gotta line the basket with foil and check it halfway, but it's way less greasy than pan frying. The smoke thing? Only if you pile it up. I lay the strips flat in a single layer and it's fine. So I tried their exact method with a whole new pack of bacon last weekend and honestly, my kitchen didn't smoke at all. Has anyone else had a blogger tell you something won't work in the air fryer that you've been doing for months without issues?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron_mitchell9d ago

That whole thing reminds me of a bigger pattern I've noticed people have online. Everybody acts like there's only one right way to cook or do stuff when really half of it is just trial and error with your own gear. Like, my buddy had a YouTube chef tell him you can't reheat pizza in a microwave without it getting rubbery. But he's been doing it for years with a glass of water next to the plate, comes out fine every time. Same with the air fryer stuff - people just repeat what they heard one time and it becomes gospel. Take it from me, your mileage may vary with every single appliance you own.

kim.nina9d ago

Read some article saying air fryers are basically just tiny ovens with a fan and people act like they invented fire.

foster.jordan9d ago

That bit about "your mileage may vary with every single appliance you own" is exactly where I push back a little. In my experience, air fryers are pretty dang consistent across brands, it's more about the user not reading the manual or just dumping stuff in there. I get what you're saying about people acting like there's one right way, but I also think there's a difference between a quick hack and just ignoring basic physics. Bacon has a ton of fat, and if you crowd it or don't line the basket, that smoke is real for a lot of folks. I've had mine smoking once because I tried to do a whole pound at once, and that was my mistake, not the machine's fault. So yeah, some of those warnings come from people who actually messed up and are trying to save you the headache, not just repeat something they heard.