A mother of two has issued a stark warning to air fryer owners after her own appliance suddenly burst into flames.
Rebecca Sim, 52, was using the one-year-old Tower product to cook bacon in her kitchen when she noticed a plastic odour.
The former school teacher, who has multiple sclerosis, then saw a flame which quickly escalated into an inferno as she unplugged the appliance and flung it outside.
Ms Sim from Prestwich, Greater Manchester, said that so many people have now got air fryers and that many of her friends have got one, and they all say they’ve frequently left their appliance on while they go and do something else. She said that it’s extremely easy to use and it had been thoroughly cleaned, so she wasn’t expecting it.
She said she was truly shocked and that she’d purchased the air fryer for her daughter Isobel when she was at Liverpool University and she would cook in it and leave it when she was washing her hair.
She said thank goodness she didn’t leave it, it could have burnt the kitchen down.
Ms Sim added that it was a truly nasty experience that could have been far worse without her quick thinking and that she knows with the cost of living crisis numerous people were endeavouring to lower the cost and have purchased air fryers.
Ms Sims said the appliance had been thoroughly cleaned out before she used it, adding that she put some bacon in to cook.
She said that when it was almost done she drew out the tray to check it. It was splattering and as she inspected the tray she noticed a minuscule flicker in the bottom part of the fryer and was worried as it didn’t look right.
She said her daughter used to leave the food to cook, while she got ready, so thank goodness she didn’t leave it.
She said she noticed the flickering and plastic smell, so she hit the switch off with a wooden spoon, unplugged it and smothered it with a damp tea towel.
She said that when she removed the tea towel she saw smoke and the beginnings of what looked like flames in the bottom of the fryer.
She said that she has multiple sclerosis and that she’s not that swift or strong but that with much difficulty she picked it up and flung it out the back door where it turned into an inferno.
She said that she wouldn’t have been cooking anything with a high-fat content in an air fryer.
The whole point of them is to lower the amount of oil or fat in your cuisine. Even cooking bacon under the grill can result in a fire, although according to the internet, bacon is safe to cook in an air fryer, but the air fryer needs to be clean before you start and it should be cooked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit as this will make the bacon go crispy without causing it to smoke or burn – well for this little piggy it was certainly overcooked and extremely crisp.
Well, you’ve heard the expression ‘burnt to a crisp’, well, I’m sure it probably fits the bill here.
Fat and a hot element never mix well and just because it says you can cook bacon in it doesn’t mean that it’s safe to do so.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 