Caught my air fryer smoking at the Westside potluck and finally figured out the issue

Last Saturday I brought my air fryer to a potluck at the Westside community center. I was making some buffalo cauliflower bites for everyone. About halfway through I noticed this weird smoke coming out the back. Turned out I had packed the basket way too full with those frozen cauliflower florets. The air couldn't circulate and the oil on the outside just burned instead. I had to dump half of them out and spread them in a single layer. They came out perfect after that, crispy all around instead of mushy on the inside. Anyone else have a similar fail when trying to cook for a crowd?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellam8926d ago

wait so you were using frozen florets straight from the bag without thawing first? that mightve caused extra steam and the oil to burn faster. did you pat them dry at all or just toss them in straight from frozen?

zara_perez6225d ago

...and honestly that whole situation reminds me of the time I tried to make stir fry with frozen peas straight from the bag. I figured they'd thaw in the pan, but they just turned the whole thing into soup. My roommate walked in and asked if I was making pea stew. I didn't even know I had that many peas in the freezer lol. Anyway, yeah, frozen stuff really does mess with the cooking time, I learned that the hard way too.