Is paper or silicone better for an air fryer? (most complete version)

Brief introduction of air fryer

Since small home appliances are increasingly popular and loved by the new generation of young people, not only because of the prevalence of celibacy but also because of the development of high technology and a highly integrated society. And it is amazing that the light cooking equipment- air fryer can replace the traditional oven and bring more cooking fun for people, especially for the new bee in the kitchen. It is a simple and light home appliance which is a kind of machine that uses air to carry out “deep-frying”. Air fryer principle (information from Baidu Encyclopedia): that is, “high-speed air circulation technology”, is through the high-temperature heating machine inside the heat pipe to produces hot air, and then use the fan will be blowing high-heat air to the pot to heat the food, so that the hot air in the closed space circulation, the use of food itself, the oil and fat frying food, so that the food dehydration, the surface becomes golden and crispy, to achieve the effect of frying. The surface becomes golden and crispy to achieve the effect of frying. Therefore, the air fryer is just a simple oven with a fan.

If you’ve ever been bothered by high-calorie foods and hesitated to eat them, or if you have certain requirements for healthy, low-fat foods, then the air fryer will solve your confusion and help you realize “calorie freedom” while enjoying the foods you once avoided. The Air Fryer is the solution to your confusion, helping you realize “calorie freedom” while enjoying the food that you were once afraid to eat!

But you also need to choose good quality appliances since they would cause cancer because

some housings of electrical appliances may are made of plastic, and it will release toxic substances into the food while heating. Please note: don’t choose the air fryer that is too low in price and without product certification.

There are some famous brands of air fryers on Amazon such as Ninja, and quality silicone air fryer liners from SiliconeGPT.

To avoid the remaining food or getting dirty in the air fryer, people start to put the liners in the air fryers as people put food on the liners in the baking oven. So the liners are necessary and convenient for people to enjoy the delicious food and cooking joy. So the question is what kind of liners are better for an air fryer?

Here we choose parchment paper and silicone liner to make a comparison.

Parchment in the air fryer

1. Parchment papers are normal liners for the consumer to use in an oven because it is cheap and easy to dispose of. But you should notice that parchment is not recommended for re-use because it belongs to disposable goods. And another reason is that the chemical materials of these papers could be released and penetrate into the food under high temperatures during a long time use. It will damage people’s health.

So the best way is don’t use the parchment so many times and choose some quality papers with the brand.

1. People also choose parchment due to its convenience. You can shape the paper to fit the air fryer or ovens.
2. The heat resistance and light weight of Parchment are good to meet people’s needs, it will not shape in the air fryer. The fine property of parchment makes it the most popular liner for air fryers and ovens.
3. The disadvantage of parchment: 1)although it is cheap and fine liner it is not a green product for people’s life and the environment of the earth. 2)It can not be reusable so you fry food at a high frequency will bring more cost, especially if you are single and just want to cook a meal for yourself every day!

Silicone in the air fryer

Silicone materials have been applied to kitchenware for a long time since the new and green materials are synthesized. And silicone liners are food grade safe kitchenware loved by people.

What is silicone?

Silicone is an inorganic polymer colloidal material, the main component is silica, and its chemical molecular formula for mSiO2-nH2O, a simple understanding can be thought of as between synthetic rubber and synthetic plastics between a substance.

Our common silica gel: industrial grade silica gel, food grade silica gel, and medical grade silica gel. Industrial-grade silicone catalyzed by organotin, there will be some pungent flavor, food-grade silicone, medical grade silicone does not have any flavor. The silicone cookware we use basically belongs to food grade silicone.

In daily life, silicone kitchenware is used by more and more families because of its safety, softness, high temperature resistance, and chemical stability.

Is silicone liners or silicone kitchenware safe?

Food grade silica gel is insoluble in water and other solvents, non-toxic and tasteless, does not react with any substances except strong alkali and hydrofluoric acid, is chemically extremely stable, and is used at temperatures ranging from -40℃ to 230℃.

What are the advantages of silicone liners?

1. High safety: non-toxic and odorless, safe and healthy
2. Soft and does not hurt the pot: soft texture, not easy to deform.Long service life: good stability, can be used for a long time.
3. Resistant to high and low temperatures: can be used between -40℃~230℃, can be used in the air fryer, microwave, or oven.
4. Good mold resistance: no moldy phenomenon even if left for a long time.
5. Cost-effective and green: reusable silicone liner will save you money.
6. Easy to clean: the surface of silicone liners is dust-free, doesn’t attract oil and grease, and easy to wash with water.
7. Save your limited kitchen space: lightweight silicone liners can be folded, kneaded, and flipped and never occupy so much space.
8. Green: silicone liners protect the environment and are durable.

How to choose a silicone liner?

1. Smell: food-grade silicone kitchenware cold, heat should not have any smell, sealed products just opened there may be a bit of glue flavor (produced by the manufacturer of the high-temperature oil pressure molding process) generally one day after the smell. If a long time and can still smell a pungent odor, basically an inferior product.
2. Look: Bright colors, uniformity, and saturation of good products are better. The color is cloudy, uneven that manufacturers have problems in the mixing process.
3. Touch: Feel good, smooth surface without burrs, uniform hardness and softness, strong stretching rebound.
4. Rub: Rubbing a little on white paper without losing color
5. Burning: (Damage to cookware) Silicone products no matter what color burning is white smoke, ash is white powder. If there is black smoke, ash is black powder is a problem. Please view the following picture for your reference.
6. Inspection: Check that the instruction manual product complies with the FDA, LFGB, etc.

Some questions about silicone air fryer liners or kitchenware

1. Can I go back to the drawing board and rebuild the remnants of my silicone cookware? Answer: No. Once a silicone kitchenware product is processed and molded, it will be irreversible.
2. Silicone itself is odorless, why some silicone kitchenware will have a pungent odor? Answer: The silicone production process requires the use of a catalyst called “vulcanizing agent”, some manufacturers in order to save costs by using poor quality vulcanizing agents, resulting in the generation of products will have a greater odor, some advanced silicone kitchenware will use the second vulcanization for filtration, so that the production of the product basically can not smell the odor.
3. How to eliminate the odor of new silicone products? Answer:
   1. Place it in a well-ventilated area for a period of time.
   2. Boil it for a while
   3. choose a good quality silicone kitchenware brand.
   4. view this essay about silicone kitchenware odor

Summary

In summary, silicone liners are better than parchment, because of their priorities of high safety, long service life, high and low temperature resistance, and good mold resistance. And it is reusable and can replace paper to be a better choice for ovens and air fryers. SiliconeGpt, we have been specializing in silicone products for 12 years and provide one-stop silicone solution and quality products such as industrial silicone products, home silicone products, food grade silicone kitchenware and products, baby silicone products and medical grade silicone products.