Air fryer glossary

The two main air-fryer form factors. Basket-style uses a drawer-shaped chamber 4–6 quarts with a perforated tray (Cosori, Ninja Foodi, Philips, Instant Vortex Plus, Chefman). Oven-style is a countertop convection oven with a hinged door, 10–18 quarts, and racks instead of a basket (Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro, Cuisinart TOA-60, Instant Vortex Pro 10 Qt).

In practice: Most per-brand calibration on this site lists basket vs oven-style separately because timing and preheat differ. Per-brand calibration.

The phenomenon where food keeps cooking after it leaves the air fryer because the heat already in the meat conducts inward from the surface to the cooler centre. Internal temperature typically rises another 3–8 °F during rest — significant on thick cuts of poultry, pork and beef.

In practice: Pull poultry at 162 °F internal so it lands at 165 °F after a 5-minute rest; pull steak at 130 °F so it rests to a 135 °F medium-rare. Per-protein internal temperatures.

The cooking mechanism shared by every air fryer — a heating element warms the air, a fan circulates it at 5–10× ambient velocity past the food, and the moving hot air drives moisture off the surface and triggers Maillard browning. The same chemistry as a convection oven; the difference is geometry, not physics.

In practice: Convection is why crowded baskets steam instead of crisp — the moving air cannot reach a piece that another piece is sitting against. Air fryer vs convection oven.

The perforated metal insert that sits at the bottom of a basket-style air fryer, lifting food off the basket floor by ~½ inch so air circulates underneath. Removable for cleaning. Most baskets cook with the crisper plate IN; some delicate items (small fish, batter-set foods) cook better without it on a parchment round.

In practice: Wash the crisper plate after every cook — trapped fat there is the most common source of next-cook smoke. Clean & care.

The combination of internal temperature and visual cues that confirms food is safely cooked. Internal temperature is the primary signal for poultry, pork, beef and seafood; visual cues (juices clear, flesh opaque, crust deep golden) are secondary confirmation.

In practice: Visual checks alone are not safe for poultry — every chicken, turkey and duck cook on this site requires an instant-read confirmation of 165 °F / 74 °C. Per-protein doneness reference.

A basket-style air fryer with two independent chambers, each with its own heating element, fan and basket. Cooks two foods at two temperatures simultaneously (e.g. chicken at 380 °F + brussels sprouts at 400 °F) or in zone-sync mode (both chambers finish at the same time despite different times). Mostly Ninja Foodi DZ-series — DZ090, DZ100, DZ201, DZ401, DZ550.

In practice: Pick dual-zone if you cook protein + side together. Skip it if you usually cook one food at a time — you're paying for capacity you don't use. Ninja dual-zone models.

The midpoint pause where a piece of food is turned over so the previously-down side gets the same direct airflow exposure as the previously-up side. Applies to whole-piece foods that hold their shape — chicken breasts, fillets, kebabs, burgers, fries.

In practice: Every food card on this site lists its exact flip moment in minutes. Skipping the flip is the most common reason for an unevenly-browned underside. Per-food flip moments.

The temperature of the centre of a piece of food, measured with an instant-read thermometer at the thickest point. The only reliable confirmation of doneness for any animal protein. USDA-mandated floors: poultry 165 °F / 74 °C, ground meat 160 °F / 71 °C, whole-muscle pork and beef 145 °F / 63 °C, seafood 145 °F / 63 °C.

In practice: Probe at the thickest point and avoid bone — bone reads hotter than the surrounding meat and gives a false-high reading. Per-protein internal temperature table.

The chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that develops the deep golden-brown crust and roasted aroma on cooked meats, breads and vegetables. Starts at around 280 °F / 138 °C on the food's surface and accelerates above 320 °F / 160 °C. Distinct from caramelisation (a sugar-only reaction).

In practice: Why most air-fryer cooks sit at 380–400 °F: it's the temperature band where Maillard runs fastest without scorching. Oven-to-air-fryer temperature conversion.

Marketing names for the same underlying technique — running the chamber at high temperature (400–450 °F) with maximum fan speed for a short duration to maximise surface crisping. Ninja's MaxCrisp, Cosori's TurboBlaze, Instant's RapidCook, Philips's Twin TurboStar are all variants of the same thing: hotter air, faster fan, shorter cook.

In practice: Useful for frozen breaded items and quick reheats. Not always available on the cheapest basket models — see per-brand notes. Per-brand feature notes.

A light spray of cooking oil (~½–1 teaspoon per batch) applied to bare food surfaces before cooking so the convection heat can transfer into the food and crisp the exterior. Bare proteins and naturally lean vegetables — chicken breast, broccoli, kale, falafel — need it. Pre-fried frozen items, fatty proteins and breaded foods do not.

In practice: Use a refillable pump mister, not aerosol cooking spray — most aerosol sprays contain propellants that gum up non-stick basket coatings. Per-food oil-spray guidance.

Pre-cut parchment rounds sized for air-fryer baskets are safe to use IF they are weighed down by the food on top of them. An unweighted parchment round lifts in the convection airstream within seconds and contacts the heating element above the basket, where it ignites. The rated temperature is the upper bound, not the failure mode.

In practice: Never preheat with parchment in the basket — load the food onto the parchment first, then start the cook. The empty-parchment case is the canonical air-fryer kitchen-fire scenario. Air fryer safety reference.

Running the empty air fryer at the cook temperature for 2–4 minutes before adding food so the chamber surfaces are already hot. Lets the food start crisping the moment it hits the basket instead of warming through 2 minutes of climb time first. Most basket units need 2–3 minutes; oven-style units need 4 minutes.

In practice: Skip preheat for cold-start cooks where slow fat-rendering is the goal — bacon, long-cook sausages, dense frozen items. Preheat for everything else. Per-brand preheat times.

The mid-cook pause where the entire basket is lifted out and shaken or stirred so loose pieces of food redistribute. Used for foods that won't survive a clean flip — small cubes, fries, sliced vegetables, gnocchi, kale leaves, popcorn-shrimp. The agitation rotates pieces so previously-down faces face up.

In practice: Every food card with a shake moment lists the minute mark and counts as the equivalent of a flip for cook-time accounting. Per-food shake moments.

The non-negotiable rule that food must sit in a single layer with airflow space between pieces, never overlapping or stacked. Overlapping pieces trap moisture against each other and steam instead of crisping; the contact faces stay pale and soggy regardless of total cook time. Cook in two batches before you cook in one overloaded one.

In practice: Crowding turns 10 minutes into 18, and the result is still worse. Splitting a 2-lb tray into two 1-lb single-layer batches takes ~14 minutes total and beats a 22-minute crowded cook. Why food comes out soggy.