Can You Toast Bread in an Air fryer?

Everyone loves toast! Toast is one of my favorite parts of breakfast cuisine – it’s a quick and easy breakfast to make. Just toast some white bread and add toppings you prefer – cream cheese, almond butter, make avocado toast.

With a perfect toast, you’ll have a tasty and quick breakfast every single time.

Making toast in a toaster is a well-known method, but what to do if you don’t have a toaster and crave some perfect toast? Can you toast bread in an air fryer?

If you’re new to air fryers, the answer is yes – you can freely make toast in the air fryer, muffins, or any other kind of bagels you like for breakfast.

Making toast in the air fryer is easy – it requires minimal effort, doesn’t take long, and you almost don’t have to clean up afterward. Not the mention that air fryer toast is delicious!

Air fryers come in two different styles: basket-style air fryer and oven-style air fryer. They both function the same; the only difference is that places, where you put food are other.

If you have an oven-style air fryer, use it simply as a toaster oven. If you have an air fryer basket, put pieces of bread into the basket.

The one thing is sure – air fryers are stronger and cook food faster than traditional ovens. They will toast bread perfectly every single time.

What bread makes the best air fryer toast?

When making air fryer toasted bread, you don’t limit toast bread.

You can use any bread you like – ciabatta, baguette, keto bread, bloomer, whole wheat bread, sourdough bread. Also, you can use rye or pita bread, focaccia, multigrain bread, brioche, gluten-free bread, paleo bread…

Of course, as long as it’s sliced bread, it’ll make the best toast.

You’re not limited to using bread only – English muffins, pizza rolls, and all kinds of bagels will be delicious when toasted into an air fryer basket.

Benefits of toasting bread in an air fryer

When you air fry slices of bread, they will turn out perfectly every single time. Here are the advantages of using an air fryer to get toasted bread:

• It’s easy – Air fryer is easy to use. Just preheat it, put bread inside, wait for a few minutes and take it out. That’s all. Your toast will be ready in no time.
• Perfect texture of toast – Air fryer toast bread is wonderfully crispy and crunchy on the outside, while it’s soft on the inside. Once you try air fryed toast, you won’t make it any other way.
• Toast will be ready fast – And when we say fast we mean really fast! Air fryer needs only 3 minutes to cook bread slices and that’s the time the most traditional oven doesn’t even heat up.
• Hands-free method – When preparing toast or any other food in an air fryer, you won’t need to stand by it all the time. Simply shake it from time to time or flip the food that’s inside.

How to toast bread in the air fryer?

Toasting bread in the air fryer is simple, but we’ll take you through this procedure step by step:

1. Preheat your air fryer for 1 minute to 400 degrees Fahrenheit temperature.
2. Put sliced bread in the air fryer basket or oven and make sure to not overcrowd it.
3. Set the time to 6 minutes at same temperature (400 degrees).
4. After 3 minutes, open the lid of the air fryer and flip bread slices. If you put toppings (buttered toast), do not flip them, as they could stick to air fryer basket’s surface.
5. Leave bread in the air fryer for another 3 minutes (if you flipped bread slices) and your plain toast is ready!

Air fryer toast – Tips and tricks

There are some tips on how to avoid beginner’s mistakes when making toasted bread in an air fryer:

1. Resist the urge to overcrowd air fryer basket with slices of bread. Toast bread in air fryer, single batch at a time and put only one layer of bread on the surface of air fryer.
2. If you’re using air fryer oven, make air fryer toast on the lower rack. Otherwise, you could end up with burnt toast.
3. There is no universal time on how long will an air fryer need to toast your bread. That depends on the type of the air fryer you’re using. Experiment and find out what works best for you.
4. Thickness of bread will affect cooking time. The thinner the bread, the less time it will take to toast.

Things to keep in mind when making toast in the air fryer

If you’re new to an air fryer or you toast bread in the air fryer for the very first time, there are some things to keep in mind:

Funny noise

You probably have an idea how does the air fryer work – it’s circulating hot air with a powerful fan.

When you put fresh bread in it, it is moist, and it won’t fly around, but after the bread is dried, you can hear a funny noise.

This noise happens because the toast is lighter once cooked and quickly picked up when air circulates, like most very delicate things.

If you start hearing funny noises, that means that your air fryer bread is toasted.

Don’t overcrowd

As mentioned in the previous section, an air fryer works by circulating air. If you overcrowd the basket of the air fryer, hot air won’t be able to distribute appropriately.

As a result, you’ll get bread that is toasted on one side and completely light on the other.

You won’t toast pieces in the middle at all since the air won’t reach them.

Just toast one batch of the bread at a time – it may take just a few minutes extra, but your toast will be perfectly made and golden brown on all sides.

Don’t thaw frozen bread

Don’t thaw it before air frying if you want to toast frozen bread or other food.

Thawing could change the taste and the texture of bread, so it’s a better idea to put it into an air fryer directly from the fridge.

Is air fryer basket better than air fryer oven?

It’s ok if you have an air fryer in the form of a basket or oven; both will cook faster than a traditional oven and have a short prep time for your food.

Baskets are a bit faster than ovens, but it’s an insignificant difference – of course, keep in mind that the prep time will differ depending on the type of machine and the kind of food you prepare.

Ovens can hold more food than baskets, and layering food is more accessible in there than in a basket-style air fryer.

Whatever one you choose, you won’t make a mistake.

Can an air fryer replace a toaster oven?

Air fryer and toaster oven have the same function – to heat or cook different kinds of food, and they both have advantages and disadvantages.

However, they are not the same thing – the oven has more features than the air fryer.

Toaster ovens have a door that you can open to check on food or remove it, a timer to turn off the stove after a given period automatically, and a convection feature so that the food does not get soggy.

Air fryers aren’t so versatile as taster ovens.

They use super-heated air technology to cook or heat food quickly and evenly.

One of the most significant advantages of air fryer use is that it excludes the usage of oil, lard, or any other grease. Therefore they’re considered as a healthy method of food preparation.

Citations:

• https://hamdirecipes.com/can-you-toast-bread-in-an-air-fryer/
• https://www.melaniecooks.com/air-fryer-toast/26243/
• https://www.upstateramblings.com/air-fryer-toast/
• https://www.cooked.com/uk/authors/Quadrille-Publishing/Posh-Toast/Types-of-bread-for-toasting