If You Cook This Snack In Your Air Fryer, You Might Just Burn Your House Down

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There are some common mistakes people make when popping popcorn, but attempting to do so in the air fryer? To quote Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman:" Big mistake! Huge! This ain't an exaggeration, either. We love our air fryers for easily cooking and reheating just about anything, and we're obsessed with popcorn, including upgrading it with peanut butter. But if the hot, dry circulating air of your favorite countertop appliance sounds like a natural vessel for popping popcorn, back away from the basket. Not only is the air fryer a lousy and inefficient way to pop corn compared to other methods, but airborne kernels can get lodged in the heating elements and/or fan of your air fryer and cause damage, billowing smoke ... or even fire.

There are two ways to theoretically pop popcorn in the air fryer, and both are flawed. The first method involves placing a sack of microwave popcorn in the appliance. This could be a disaster because said bag can easily catch fire inside the air fryer and turn your kitchen into an inferno. On the other hand, you could try to pop loose kernels in the basket, but the convection power of the air fryer could turn those kernels into flying shrapnel that's destined to lodge in parts of your machine where you don't want them. Furthermore, the specific way an air fryer heats food is a poor choice for popcorn anyway and will likely leave you with a mixture of burnt popcorn and unpopped kernels, assuming it doesn't end in a conflagration. 

We covered the debate over whether microwave vs. stovetop popcorn was easier, where the microwave won handily. Whether you are making prepared bags from the supermarket or popping your own kernels DIY style, Chef Mike offers a hands-off method of delivering perfectly popped results with oodles of room for customization. When the air fryer is your alternative, however, we'll gladly sing the praises of stovetop popcorn! There's a reason this is a traditional, beloved way to make your favorite movie snack: it's fun to do, doesn't require much in the way of specialized equipment, and is pretty foolproof with a bit of attention, even if you have to shake the pan frequently. Serious popcorn aficionados with room in their home for an extra doodad might even consider a specialized air popper like this highly rated model by DASH, which can pop 16 cups at a time.

All of this to say, there's no excuse for attempting popcorn in your air fryer and risking smoke inhalation or even flames in your abode, not to mention subpar popcorn. For ease of use, you have the microwave. For retro fun, you have the stovetop. For diehards who live and breathe popcorn, you have dedicated appliances. There's no good reason to try air frying popcorn, even if you love your air fryer like we do. Not every cooking method is meant for every single food, and that's A-okay.