Tips On Can You Cook Biscuits In An Air Fryer Perfectly
Many believe perfect biscuits only come from ovens, but air fryers break this tradition, offering food lovers a new choice.
Is an air fryer suitable for cooking biscuits?
Yes, but you must master some techniques and make adjustments:
Lower the Temperature and Reduce the Time
Set the temperature 10 - 15°C lower than the standard oven temperature and reduce the baking time by one-third. For example, if you bake in an oven at 180°C for 15 minutes, set the air fryer to 165 - 170°C and bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
Force to Flatten
Press the dough to a thickness of 0.6 cm (one-third thinner than the oven version) to avoid having an undercooked center. For thicker biscuits, cover them with aluminum foil halfway through baking to prevent burning.
Limit the Quantity in Layers
Only spread 5 - 6 biscuits in the air fryer basket at a time, and leave at least three finger-width spaces between them to ensure uniform hot air circulation.
Key Points for Success or Failure:
Refrigerate the raw biscuits for 30 minutes before baking, so they are less likely to deform under high temperatures.
For recipes containing chocolate chips, sprinkle a small amount of powdered sugar on the surface to prevent the chocolate from burning under high temperatures.
Take the biscuits out immediately after baking and let them cool. The residual heat will continue to make the biscuits crisp.
What's the best temperature for cooking biscuits in an air fryer?
Basic Butter Biscuits
165°C is the perfect temperature. Bake thin slices for 6 minutes. If the thickness exceeds 1 cm, increase the baking time to 8 minutes. Open the lid and quickly flip the biscuits over at the 4th minute during baking, so the bottom is less likely to burn.
Pastries or Phyllo-like Biscuits
First, bake at 180°C on high heat for 3 minutes to let the layers expand. Then immediately adjust the temperature back to 160°C and continue baking for 5 minutes. This way, the biscuits will be fluffy without collapsing.
Tips for High-sugar Dough
For caramel or brown sugar-based dough, reduce the temperature by 10°C and bake at 155°C throughout. The key is to lay two layers of baking paper on the baking pan and sprinkle a small amount of uncooked rice grains in between. This can absorb the excess heat.
Secrets to Avoid Mistakes
When you're not sure, bake one biscuit first: Bake half a biscuit at 170°C. Observe the color at the 4th minute. If it's already slightly yellow, it means the air fryer's heat is too strong. Reduce the temperature by 5°C for the actual baking.
Why did my biscuits burn on the bottom in the air fryer?
When making biscuits in an air fryer, the bottoms tend to burn mainly because the hot air rushes directly from below. Here are several practical methods we can try:
Key to Bottom Heat Insulation: Crumple aluminum foil into a wavy pattern and place it in the air fryer basket to create a 1 - centimeter elevated layer, keeping the biscuits away from the direct heat source. Alternatively, sprinkle plain flour on baking paper to form a natural heat - insulating layer.
Secret of Temperature Adjustment: Lower the initial temperature by 20 degrees and increase the total baking time by 2 minutes. For example, change from 180 degrees to 160 degrees and from 8 minutes to 10 minutes. An advanced method is to keep the normal temperature for the first 5 minutes and then lower the temperature by 15 degrees for the last 5 minutes.
Details of Space Arrangement: Keep a three - finger - width gap between biscuits and quickly turn the baking tray around halfway through baking. Choose off - white silicone baking mats, which can reduce bottom heat absorption by 30% compared to metal mesh.
Handling of High - sugar Dough: Brush melted butter on the bottoms of the biscuits with a pastry brush before putting them in the air fryer. This will significantly slow down the coking speed of the sugar. For slightly burnt biscuits, gently scrape the burnt areas with a knife rubbed with lemon peel, re - brush with egg wash, and reheat for 1 minute to fix them.
Equipment Testing Skills: For a new air fryer, first sprinkle raw flour crumbs for testing. After preheating the empty fryer, observe which area the flour crumbs turn yellow first within 1 minute. That is the high - temperature area, and avoid placing food in this area later.
How do I prevent biscuits from sticking in the air fryer?
① Essential Anti - sticking Base Layer
Lay a round piece of baking paper (with a diameter 2 cm smaller than the air fryer basket) at the bottom of the air fryer basket, leaving some space around the edges to ensure hot air circulation. If there's no baking paper, gently brush a thin layer of melted coconut oil or spray food - grade anti - sticking spray.
② Control Spacing and Thickness
Leave at least a three - finger - width gap (about 5 cm) between each raw biscuit. Biscuits will expand by 1.5 times during baking. For biscuits thicker than 1 cm, press a small depression in the center to prevent them from swelling and sticking together.
③ Freeze the Dough in Advance to Keep Its Shape
Freeze the shaped raw biscuits for 15 minutes before baking. This makes them less likely to collapse or spread under high temperatures. Especially for recipes containing butter, the oil solidifies after freezing, reducing its spreading speed by 50% during baking.
④ Double - sided Grease Protection
In addition to brushing oil on the bottom of the air fryer basket, gently dip the bottom of the biscuits in a small amount of cornstarch or caster sugar to form a separation layer. After baking for 5 minutes, quickly pull out the air fryer basket and use a silicone brush to brush a layer of honey water (diluted 1:5) on the surface of the biscuits.
⑤ Precise Timing for Flipping
Use chopsticks to flip thin biscuits after 4 minutes of baking and thick biscuits after 6 minutes. Immediately wipe the oil - sugar mixture that drips onto the edges of the air fryer basket with a wet cloth after flipping to prevent it from clumping and sticking after cooling.
Key Experience Reminders
For biscuits with chocolate or jam fillings, leave a 1 - cm blank edge around the filling.
Immediately use a metal spatula to lift the biscuits horizontally after baking. Stack them only after they are completely cooled on a cooling rack.
Soak the air fryer basket in warm water with baking soda for 10 minutes after each use. Gently remove stubborn residues with an old toothbrush.
Emergency Treatment
If the biscuits are already stuck together, use clean scissors to cut along the gaps while they are still warm. For stuck biscuits that have cooled down, put them back in the air fryer and heat at 100°C for 2 minutes. The sugar will soften, and then they can be separated.
Can you cook frozen grands biscuits in an air fryer?
Yes, you can! Frozen Grands biscuits can definitely be baked in an air fryer, and it's much faster than using an oven. The taste is just as soft, fluffy, crispy, and fragrant.
Recipe suggestions:
Preheat the air fryer to 160°C (320°F) so that the biscuits are heated more evenly.
Lay a piece of baking paper in the air fryer basket to prevent sticking to the bottom (or gently spray some oil).
Arrange the biscuits, leaving some space between them as they will expand.
Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. You can flip them over or check the color halfway through to ensure even heating.
Check for doneness: The biscuits should turn golden brown, and the inside should be soft but not raw. You can stick a toothpick into them. If there's no sticky dough when you pull it out, it means they are cooked.
If you prefer a crispier crust, you can increase the temperature to 175°C (347°F) at the end and bake for another 1 - 2 minutes to make the surface crunchier. The baked frozen Grands biscuits will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and they taste really great!
What's the difference between air fryer and oven-baked biscuits?
The core differences between biscuits baked in an air fryer and an oven lie in the following aspects:
Heating Method:
The air fryer is like a powerful hair dryer. The hot air rushes up from the bottom. As a result, the bottom of the biscuits is prone to burning first. An oven, on the other hand, uses a gentle enclosing heating method. The upper and lower heating elements gradually bake the biscuits through, providing a more even heat distribution.
Time Efficiency:
For biscuits of the same thickness, the time taken by an air fryer is 60% of that of an oven. For example, if an oven takes 15 minutes, the air fryer only needs 9 - 10 minutes. However, you need to turn the biscuits during the process to prevent local overheating.
Crispness and Texture:
The biscuits made in an air fryer are crisper at the bottom, which is suitable for people who like the burnt aroma. The oven can retain more moisture, and the finished products are softer, making it more suitable for making shortcrust biscuits.
Capacity Limitation:
In an air fryer, at most 6 medium - sized biscuits can be placed in a single layer, and the spacing between them needs to be more than 3 cm. An oven can bake multiple layers at the same time. Even with a 2 - cm spacing, the heat distribution can still be relatively even.
Temperature Control Details:
When using an air fryer, the temperature should be 15 - 20°C lower than that in the oven recipe. For example, when the oven uses 180°C, the air fryer should be set to 165°C. When baking dough containing butter in an air fryer, the baking needs to end 5 minutes earlier, and the remaining heat can be used to finish cooking to prevent oil extraction.
Remedy Advantages:
Over - baked biscuits in an oven can be softened by covering them with a wet towel. Burnt biscuits in an air fryer are basically beyond rescue. However, with correct operation, the color of biscuits baked in an air fryer may be more beautiful than those in an oven.
