Whenever you think of answering questions like can you put wax paper in an air fryer, you have to replace the words air fryer with oven.
Thus, would you put wax paper in an oven? No, you wouldn’t. Therefore, the direct conclusion is that you can’t put wax paper in an air fryer.
Wax paper or paraffin paper is paper coated in wax. The wax is used to make it non-stick and moisture-proof but wax is never going to be heat-resistant. Paper is not heat-resistant either.
Nothing about wax paper is heat-resistant in the least.
Also, if you’re interested in similar questions, check out my article answering the question if we can put plastic in an air fryer. The answer for that one is also obviously no.
It’s important to know the answer to various questions like these if we want to not ruin our food when it’s cooking and if we want our air fryers to last longer.
And we should want our air fryers to last longer since we can also consider them to be energy efficient appliances.
Why We Can’t Put Wax Paper in an Air Fryer
The reason for not using wax paper in an air fryer is that wax paper is not heat-resistant.
Basically, when it comes in contact with heat, wax paper melts just like wax, thus the name.
Wax is moisture-proof and non-stick but it’s not heat-proof. Those are the main properties you must remember about it.
To make things easier, you should know that wax paper is mostly used for storing ingredients. That’s why it’s important for wax paper to be moisture-proof.
Moreover, we can also use it to store foods in the freezer because there’s no heat involved in that process, either.
So, storing things in wax paper is perfectly fine no matter where you want to store your foods: cupboard, fridge, freezer, etc.
As long as you don’t put wax paper in a heated air fryer or oven, everything is great. An air fryer uses a heating element to cook the food, it’s very similar to a conventional oven.
Putting wax paper in an air fryer can also be dangerous.
The wax that coats the paper will melt when it finds itself in a heated environment. Once the wax melts, all that’s left is paper. The paper will catch fire if it’s left in the air fryer. No one wants to start a fire that way.
Thus, things can also take a dangerous turn very quickly.
What is wax paper used for?
Wax paper is mainly used for storing food. As long as you keep it away from heat, you can place wax paper anywhere you’d like.
You can use it to freeze food or to put them in a cupboard or to keep them in the fridge.
We can freeze up dough in wax paper and then put the dough in a bag or container in the freezer.
Freezer paper and wax paper are not the same but they are very similar. These two can be used interchangeably but not the same can be said for wax paper and parchment paper. They’re vastly different.
Wax paper is good for storing because it’s moisture-proof and non-stick.
Another use for wax paper is to grate cheese on it or to grate citrus fruits.
Thus, it makes food preparation a lot less messy and easier.
We can peel vegetables on it. Or we can line out countertops or working stations with wax paper and then proceed to roll pie crusts or to knead dough.
We can also use it when dipping pretzels, cookies or strawberries in chocolate. Or to make candy.
It definitely helps with keeping a kitchen clean during a wide array of food preparations.
Wax paper can be used in the microwave
Unlike ovens or air fryers, a microwave doesn’t use a heating element to heat up food.
Thus, wax paper doesn’t melt or catch fire in a microwave.
We usually use it to cover up food to prevent splatters. That’s basically the only use I find for it in a microwave.
Moreover, we can also use wax paper to line our fridge. It keeps the shelves and drawers clean.
Types of Air Fryer Liners
Since I decided to answer the question can you put wax paper in an air fryer, I also want to talk about what we can actually use in an air fryer as a liner when we’re cooking.
We’ve already established that wax paper is not a viable air fryer liner.
If you’re looking for the non-stick, heat-resistant thing we can use in air fryers and ovens of all kinds, then you’re looking for:
- parchment paper
- silicone mats
- air fryer silicone pots
- air fryer liners
- aluminum foil
Moreover, you should also consider that you can use nothing at all to line the basket. You can just cook in the basket without any liner because air fryer baskets are non-stick.
Most of us prefer to use a liner of some kind to lessen how much cleaning we have to do after cooking. It’s important to clean an air fryer after each use.
Moreover, using a liner will ensure that the non-stick baskets will be preserved in optimal condition and the non-stick coating won’t peel off.
Check out my reviews for the best air fryer liners if you want to know more.
Lining an air fryer basket with parchment paper
If you want to buy a liner that can be used both in air fryers and ovens and it’s not too expensive, then you should consider lining the basket with parchment paper.
If you use air fryers with a round or square shape, you’ll have to cut the parchment paper to fit the size and shape of the basket.
After cutting it in the right shape and size, fold the parchment paper. Then punch holes so that the heat can still circulate as it should.
I prefer using parchment paper because afterwards I just throw it out and there’s not much mess left behind.
Moreover, we can also buy biodegradable parchment paper, which can be an important aspect for some of us.
Using air fryer liners
The advantage of using air fryer liners is that they’re already round shaped. So we don’t have to cut them or poke holes into them.
If we buy bamboo steamer liners, these are also perforated. They’re perforated parchment paper sheets that are usually sold in packages of 100pcs. However, we can do that by ourselves by buying a huge roll of parchment paper and we can get the biodegradable kind.
Other air fryer liners are not perforated but, in essence, these are also made of parchment paper. They just look nice.
We can buy oval or square liners. You should all pay attention to their size.
All in all, air fryer liners are easy to use and we can find them in different shapes, sizes, perforated or non-perforated. However, it might be just a bit cheaper to buy a big roll of parchment paper and do the cutting ourselves.
We can even use glass baking dishes in an air fryer but it’s not my favorite method.
Are air fryer silicone pots good?
Unlike air fryer liners that are made of parchment paper and are disposable, air fryer silicone pots are not disposable.
Thus, if you don’t want to throw away a bunch of parchment paper every time you cook, you might want to consider buying silicone pots that can be washed and reused for years to come.
If you are accustomed to using silicone mats in the oven, like the Silpat ones, you know what I’m talking about.
Silicone pots are also non-stick. And they’re easy to clean. I think they are a good alternative to liners for people who don’t want to accumulate too much waste.
Can you use aluminum foil in an air fryer?
We’ve already seen the answer to the question can you put wax paper in an air fryer. That answer was in the negative.
However, when we question if we can use aluminum foil in an air fryer the answer is yes.
We use aluminum foil in ovens and we can definitely use aluminum foil in air fryers.
The reason is simple: it doesn’t melt.
However, you must also remember that aluminum foil is not non-stick. That’s where it differs greatly from parchment paper.
It can stick to food but you can spray it with nonstick cooking spray if you want to prevent sticking.
All in all, by answering the question can you put wax paper in an air fryer I hope you were able to learn a bit more about these fantastic kitchen appliances.
