Non-Toxic Air Fryers: What Your Food Actually Sits On

What does your food touch in an air fryer?

The basket or drawer, the crisper plate or rack, and in oven-style fryers, trays. Most basket fryers use aluminium for these, and it is almost always coated. Above sits a heating element in a plastic housing, the source of the “new air fryer smell”. The coating matters more than the brand, and makers disclose it unevenly.

We traced the basket on popular air fryers

For each model below, we read the manufacturer’s own product page, manual, support FAQ or California AB 1200 chemical filing on 21 September 2026. California’s cookware law requires makers to publish listed chemicals, including PTFE and other PFAS, and it counts pots, pans, trays and bowls. The tiers rank what the food touches and how clearly it is disclosed. They are not a lab test or a health score.

Tier 1: no coating where food sits. Tier 2: glass with a coated plate. Tier 3: disclosed PFAS-free ceramic. Tier 4 (not shown): nonstick with an undisclosed coating, which you should treat as PTFE until the maker says otherwise. Tier 5: disclosed PTFE. Listings change; check the current disclosure for your model and manufacture date.

Disclosure: MicroPlastics has an affiliate relationship with Our Place. There are no affiliate links on this page. See our affiliate disclosure.

Are glass air fryers really coating-free?

The bowl is; the part your food sits on often isn’t. Ninja’s Crispi uses borosilicate glass containers, but the FAQ lists the crisper plates as “Aluminum with a nano-ceramic coating”, the adapter as “BPA free plastic and metal” and the lids as BPA-free plastic. That is still a PFAS-free, lower-exposure design. It just isn’t the “glass only” product many buyers picture.

The Fritaire comes closest. Its specifications list a tempered-glass bowl, 304 stainless-steel accessories and “Food-Contact Coatings: None”. Fritaire also discloses a food-grade PPS component rated to 500 °F. PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) is a high-temperature engineering plastic, so the bowl isn’t entirely plastic-free. Two practical caveats: the warranty is 60 days, and glass can crack if it goes straight from hot to cold water.

Does “stainless steel air fryer” mean a stainless basket?

Usually not. Cosori calls its Iconic “The Stainless Steel 6.5-Quart”, and the product page is clear that the cooking surfaces are “ceramic-coated, nonstick” while the stainless is the structure. Instant sells a stainless-look Vortex Plus ClearCook that appears on its own list of “Models containing PTFE coated cooking surface”. We could not verify a basket-style fryer with an uncoated stainless basket on any manufacturer page. The uncoated steel food paths we did verify were oven-style: the Our Place Wonder Oven’s steel basket and racks, and Fritaire’s stainless accessories. If “stainless” is what you want, look for it next to the words “basket” or “rack”, not in the product name.

Is my Ninja air fryer PTFE-free?

It depends on when it was made. Ninja’s current AF100 FAQ says the basket “has a ceramic coating that is PTFE-free, FDA-approved, and food-safe.” SharkNinja’s California chemical filing lists polytetrafluoroethylene, “a non-stick coating”, for single-basket air fryers including the AF080, AF100, AF140, AF150, AF160, AF180 and AF300, plus the dual-basket DZ and other series, under the heading “Product manufactured pre 8/15/24”. Both can be true: the coating changed in 2024 while the model names stayed the same. And not every current Ninja is PTFE-free. The support FAQ for the Foodi XL DZ401 says its “baskets are made of aluminum with a PTFE nonstick coating.”

To check yours, look for the manufacture date on the rating label underneath or on the back, or give Ninja support the serial number. If it was made before mid-August 2024, treat the basket as PTFE.

How much does the coating matter in an air fryer?

Less for heat, more for wear. Most air fryers top out at around 400–465 °F. Ninja’s AF100 maxes out at 400 °F in Air Fry, and Cosori’s TwinFry at 465 °F. That is below the roughly 500 °F where PTFE starts to break down, so an intact PTFE basket at normal settings is a low-exposure item. The problem is wear. Researchers imaging scratched nonstick cookware estimated that “thousands to millions” of fluoropolymer micro- and nanoplastics might be released in a simulated cooking process. Ninja’s own advice for a scratched or peeling basket is that minor scratches are fine “as long as most of the non-stick coating is still in place”, and to order a replacement basket otherwise.

Ceramic coatings avoid fluoropolymers but are softer and wear faster. Studies of ceramic nonstick have found titanium dioxide and silica particles held in a silicone matrix, and scratching can release some of them; see is ceramic cookware safe? For the full mechanism, from the new-appliance smell to the safe setup, read do air fryers release microplastics?

Are silicone air fryer liners safe?

The newest evidence is not reassuring. On 4 September 2026, researchers in Panama and Spain published a chemical analysis of ten silicone moulds sold for air fryers, from unnamed brands. They identified 128 substances. Dibutyl phthalate, a plasticiser, exceeded its specific migration limit of 0.3 mg/kg. The sum of cyclic siloxanes migrating into a simulant of dry, fatty food exceeded the 60 mg/kg limit used in Spanish law, and volatile compounds released on heating exceeded the recommended 0.5%. That is one study of unbranded moulds, but it is aimed squarely at this product category.

Parchment liners are mostly paper with a silicone coating. See does parchment paper have plastic? Cheap “non-stick” paper liners with an unnamed grease barrier are the ones to avoid. The simplest liner is none: a steel rack, or a quick wash of the basket.

What about the “new air fryer smell”?

It is normal: Cosori’s manual says “any air fryer may have a plastic smell from the manufacturing process” and prescribes an empty 10-minute run at 385 °F. Run a new fryer empty, ventilated, a couple of times; if the smell persists or the housing discolours, contact the maker.

How to choose a non-toxic air fryer

1. Find the basket and crisper-plate material on the manufacturer’s own page, not a reseller’s summary.
2. Prefer steel or glass where the food sits, or a PFAS-free ceramic backed by the maker’s chemical filing.
3. Search the brand plus “AB 1200” and read the row for your model and build date. PTFE, PFA or PFAS listed means a fluoropolymer coating.
4. Treat undisclosed “nonstick” as PTFE until the maker says otherwise.
5. Replace a basket that is peeling or scratched to the metal, rather than the whole fryer. Most brands sell baskets separately.
6. Skip silicone moulds for fatty foods, and use a steel rack instead of a liner where you can.

Related: how a cookware brand moved from PTFE to ceramic, what rice-cooker filings reveal, and the best non-toxic cookware.