My air fryer caught fire last night and I'm still shaking

I was making frozen chicken wings at 400 degrees and suddenly smoke was pouring out of the back vent. Opened it up to find grease buildup had ignited near the heating coil. Has anyone else had this happen with their air fryer?

2 comments

2 Comments

milesrobinson19d ago

Hold up, did you check the manual for your air fryer BEFORE this happened? A lot of people ignore the cleaning instructions and that's exactly how fires start. Grease buildup is no joke, especially if you're using it multiple times a week without scrubbing the heating element area. I'm asking because the way you described the smoke coming from the back vent makes me wonder if you ever took the outer shell off to clean inside. Not blaming you or anything, but this is a common mistake with basket style air fryers. Those vents get packed with gunk over time.

rivera.simon19d ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? I've been using the same air fryer for like three years and I think I've cleaned the heating element maybe twice. Never had smoke, never had a fire. I just wipe out the basket and call it a day. Seems like some people are just clumsy or have bad luck. Plus, taking the outer shell off sounds like a good way to break the thing. Most people aren't gonna do that.