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My air fryer bacon grease caught fire on a Tuesday and now my smoke alarm hates me
I know everyone on here loves saying bacon in the air fryer is a game changer, but I'm gonna push back a little. Last Tuesday I threw four strips in my basket at 400 degrees like always, and about 7 minutes in I heard this violent popping noise, looked over, and actual flames were licking up the inside of the drawer. Turns out the grease had pooled up under the crisper plate and hit the heating coil, and I stood there in my tiny apartment kitchen in Boise holding a lid like an idiot because you can't just dump water on a grease fire. I killed the power, smothered it with the lid, and let it sit for a full 20 minutes before I even touched the handle. Cost me a burnt basket liner and the smell of burnt pork hanging in my curtains for 3 days. Now I trim the fat way back, pour off the grease halfway through, and never go past 360 for bacon. The whole "it's safer than a pan" thing is only true if you're actually watching it. Has anyone else had a grease fire in theirs, and did you keep using the machine after or toss it?
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the_joel1mo ago
Man that popping sound is burned into my brain now, same thing happened to me back in January except I was doing frozen wings and the grease from the skin pooled up the same way. I kept mine after, just gave the basket and drawer a real deep clean with dish soap and hot water and ran it empty at 400 for like 10 minutes outside on the patio to burn off whatever was left in the coil area. Only thing I had to replace was the crisper plate because it got warped and no longer sat flat, which was actually part of the problem since it let grease run under it. If your coil or wiring looks fine and it still heats evenly, you're probably good, but if the liner melted or theres any scorching on the plastic housing I'd toss it. Mine's been fine for 8 months since and I do the same thing you do now, pour off halfway and keep bacon at 350 or lower.
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