Can You Broil With An Air Fryer?

Sometimes, we feel our air fryers are magical machines that can do almost anything, including broiling. It's times like these when we forget that air fryers are just mini convection ovens with hot air circulating evenly throughout the unit. So if you're wondering if you can broil food with an air fryer, our answer is, well, it depends on the air fryer model. Does it have a heating element at the top? Is there a broil setting? If both of the answers are no, then, no, your air fryer won't be able to broil food.

Now, if broiling food is important to you and you don't have an air fryer or haven't cooked with one yet, look over our list of all the tips you need when cooking with an air fryer. We've talked about how a little research first and choosing the right model are very important. If you need help deciding on a model, we've tested and reviewed nine popular ones and named the best air fryers during the 2023 Tasting Table Awards. One air fryer that won an award can broil food: the Ninja DZ401 Foodi 10-Quart 6-in-1 DualZone XL. To use the Ninja to broil food, set the unit to Air Broil. Note that air fryers that can broil don't come with the actual flame that your gas ranges do. 

The point of broiling food is to ensure a well-cooked top layer that is usually crispy and sometimes charred with a grilled taste. There's nothing like a perfectly broiled crème brûlée or steak. Some call broilers an upside down grill, and we get it. A hot flame really makes all the difference when you're trying to broil food to perfection. So what happens when we have air fryers that don't come with the broil setting or a good top heating element? Can we hack the broiling effect in these air fryers?

The quick answer is no. Remember how we said air fryers are mini convection ovens? Without a broil function or that super hot top heating element, the food in your oven will be evenly cooked and crispy throughout. So while broiling food might not be the absolute best use for your air fryer, it's still great when you want to avoid deep or shallow frying food, or for when you want to make crispy bacon in a pinch.