Why Is My Ninja Air Fryer Smoking?

The sight of a smoking air fryer is frightening, even to the most experienced user. Your first gesture will be to defend yourself from a possible fire. That comes before you think about dealing with a piece of defective equipment or burning food.

Air fryers smoke for different reasons. Though your guess about an exploding air fryer could be correct, it rarely happens. Air fryers have modern technology, which includes an inability to ignite a fire.

A smoking air fryer means a technical cause or you are misusing your gadget. So, what will be your first reaction when you see smoke smoldering from your cooker? It would be best to treat any smoke from your air fryer as an emergency.

The next step is to turn off the socket and pull out the plug to ensure that the power is off the device. That is a safety measure for yourself and your oven.

You can then go ahead and observe the smoke (your apparatus is still hot and producing smoke). That includes the color as it will help you define the problem.

Before we get into specifics and answer your question, let’s learn about the three types of smoke that you are likely to note from your Ninja air fryer;

Air Fryer Smokes

1. Blue

A technical breakdown will show blue smoke, which should be a red alert for you to switch off your device immediately. Remember that your air fryer may catch fire if you don’t act promptly.

Plus, it warns you not to engage in repairs, as attempting to fix your air fryer without any technical knowledge can cause significant damage. You can also interfere with the manufacturer’s warranty. Unplug the unit and call your brand for complex repairs.

2. Black

Black billowing smoke from your appliance is an indication of burning food. Mostly, it is excess oil dripping from your food that causes fat buildup and burning. In addition, it can be food particles stuck on the drawer below or the heating coil.

Bread crumbs, flour, and seasoning can fly over and burn at high temperatures. The result is smelly smoldering black smoke. After every cooking session, remember to clean your cooker and put an extra effort under the drawer and on the heating element. As a safety precaution, always unplug your air fryer when cleaning.

3. White

White smoke comes out from water or greasy food. Did you drain your veggies well before stacking them in the air fryer? Note that green leafy vegetables like kales and spinach have a lot of water, thus not ideal for air frying. Instead, dehydrate cabbage, lettuce, Brussel sprouts, zucchini, et cetera.

But if you have already begun cooking the veggies and spot the white smoke, unplug your device and open the basket to drain the excess water. Oily meats are also culprits for white smoldering smoke. Remove the fatty food sections and only fry leaner meat to avoid such hitches.

I heard about the Ninja. ‘She’ sounds complicated when I love our cask iron skillet, but for health reasons and smoking out our house, the wife bought an air fryer.

I’m trying to stay married during this pandemic.

— Sister Night Says VOTE (@AdrienneCMcW) July 26, 2020

Why Does My Ninja Air Fryer Smoke?

If you have witnessed your air fryer smoke, you indeed need to find out why this is happening. It is not only your Ninja air fryer that smokes but all other brands too. The cause depends on how you use your air fryer and the appliance’s condition.

One of the reasons your air fryer is smoking is too much water in your ingredients. Air fryers come with a design for cooking air fryer recipes without water. The appliance will use the ingredients’ moisture for cooking until the food is ready in most instances.

Your air fryer will also cook with little or no fat. It uses the food’s natural oils to cook the food. You can moisten your ingredients or spray oil for some recipes for efficient cooking.

But it isn’t entirely necessary. It is a perfect recommendation for people living with diabetes and lifestyle diseases.

Your air fryer smokes when you add extra oil because oil drips from the basket to the drawer. Some others get into the heating coil. The hot coil burns the fat, which produces smoke. Usually, the smoke is black.

Same case when there are food scraps in the drawer or on the heater. There will be black smoke.

Excess water in the basket produces steam, which escapes from the appliance as white smoke.

Any other colorful smoke, especially blue, means a burning device and may spark a fire. Disconnect your machine from power to resolve any smoke from your device.

Why Is My Air Fryer Smoking So Bad?

There are some specific reasons why your Ninja air fryer is smoking so bad. While this is a topic of its own, I will try to answer you in summary and make you understand that issue.

Firstly, fatty foods and excess water are the culprits. Water releases steam and fills the cooking compartment. The hot mist has to escape, so you see the white smoke.

Greasy foods spatter and fall on the heating coil. The result is white or black smoke. The black smoke has a burning smell, and it indicates burnt food.

If you spot a cloud of blue smoke, that’s already too dangerous and may mean your air fryer heating elements or other features could be burning.

Did you clean up your air fryer last time? Harmful black smoke billowing from your air fryer may mean dirt on the drawer, underneath, and the heating coil.

Make an effort to remove breadcrumbs, pieces of meat, pizza, and many other types of food particles that may fall under your drawer. Wipe grease to avoid accumulating dirt that causes black smoke when your appliance heats up.

Whether the smoke is blue, black, white, or any other color, do not just observe. Switch off your machine by pulling the plug out of the socket. Treat each smoke uniquely, as I mentioned above in your previous question.

But does that mean you cannot cook higher fat content food? Unfortunately, high-fat content food will constantly batter and spatter on your heating coil. The result is the black smoke that you see. You have to choose between air frying high fatty foods or stopping the smoke and burnt food.

If you still crave the delicacies, use another roasting like barbecue and save yourself from this scary sight. You can trim fat from your pork, mutton, or beef if you fry it. Besides saving your air fryer from smoking, you will be keeping your heart from high cholesterol and living a healthier life.

Can My Ninja Air Fryer Explode?

Yes, your Ninja air fryer can explode. But the appliance rarely explodes unless it is a case of manufacturing defects, bad repairs, or poor usage.

Air fryers cannot ignite a fire, but a quack’s simple electric fault or poor repairs can damage your appliance’s heating element, thermal fuse, or solenoid.

A blue smoke billowing from your equipment is a bad sign. If you don’t switch off your cooker, there may be an explosion. Don’t wait for that to happen. It is dangerous.

In addition, when you bring in your new appliance, go through your air fryer’s user guide/manual. Please spare a few minutes to familiarize yourself with your apparatus before using it.

That equips you fully to handle emergency fire outbreaks. Call your care center for any unclear information to avoid mishaps and fires.

In addition, it is a safety precaution to keep fire fighting equipment in your kitchen. Please place them in unlocked cabinets where everyone can spot them in case of an explosion. You can set safe dos and don’ts of handling kitchen fires.

In an overview, use your Ninja air fryer confidently without fearing explosions. There are very few recorded fires resulting from air fryer explosions. It means the gadgets rarely explode!

What Can I Do If My Air Fryer Explodes?

An explosion in the kitchen resulting from your air fryer will rarely happen. But I cannot rule out that! There could only be a handful of documented cases of air fryer explosions.

That doesn’t tell you to relax with the safety precautions. So, what do you do or not do if an air fryer explosion occurs?

1. Do not attempt to extinguish the air fryer fire: this is an electric fire. Never contemplate putting out the fire as it may increase and spread to the entire house.
2. Be swift: Any decision you make in the first few seconds will determine the outcome of the fire. Make a quick decision and move.
3. Switch off the equipment and also the main meter box. This step should be fast to prevent the fire from spreading in the kitchen.
4. Grab a blanket or towel and soak it with water in the kitchen sink. Cover your air fryer with a damp blanket/towel.
5. Call the fire department immediately for help. The personnel is highly trained to handle all kinds of fire explosions.

Tips To Prevent Air Fryer Explosions

• Only buy your air fryer from credible stores like Amazon and licensed outlets.
• Keep monitoring your oven when cooking. That way, you can notice any abnormal smoke.
• Only a licensed technician should handle your air fryer and other electrical repairs in your home.
• Read your air fryer user manual thoroughly and inquire from the manufacturer where the guide is unclear.
• Never use a faulty air fryer. Call the manufacturer for repairs and exchange.
• Use the correct power voltage for your air fryer.
• Cook only the specified foods using your air fryer.
• Never use your air fryer near open fires.
• You should never place your air fryer on an oven top. Any accidental ignition of the stovetop can cause explosions and fire.
• Display a copy of safety precautions dos and don’ts in your kitchen where everyone can read out and understand.
• Keep your air fryer unplugged after use.
• Restrict children and persons of unsound mind from using your air fryer.

 What Should I Do When My Air Fryer Smokes?

Whether your air fryer is smoking blue, black, or white, you should treat it as an emergency, and so the safety precautions should come first in your mind.

It doesn’t matter the magnitude; There are some the steps that you should never forget to take when you spot any smoke from your air fryer:

• Pause whatever you are doing and concentrate on your pot.
• Switch off the socket and pull off your plug to stop the air fryer cooking process.
• Pull out the drawer and keep it on the countertop.
• Gently remove the basket while taking care not to scald your hands.
• Inspect the bottom of the drawer for oil and water. If there is any oil or excess water, pour and wipe the drawer.

• I guess that you observed the color of the smoke. Was it white? If so, drain the tray and any excess water or oil from your ingredients.

• Return the basket into the drawer and place it back into the air fryer. Resume the cooking and keenly observe the cooker.

• From step five above, skip step six and proceed to step seven below if it is a cloud of black smoke.

• Black Smokey air fryer? Check for burning food (if the smoke is black). There must be excess oil in the food. Drain the oil and scrape the sticky burning food. Clean your basket. Returning the oily food will mean black smoke. Look for an alternate means of cooking fatty meats and other oily stuff.

• Inspect beneath the drawer and on the heating coil for food craps and grime. Dislodge the dirt using a blunt tool like a wooden spoon and wipe excess dirt with a paper towel. Only use your bare hands to touch the heater if it is cool.

• When all is clean, return your dry, non-oily food to the air fryer and continue cooking.

• Blue smoke? That’s already too dangerous to handle. As I said, disconnect your appliance at once.

• Pull out your drawer and gently remove your basket while taking care of your hands, so they don’t get burnt. You can use a tong or towel to hold the basket.
• Blue smoke means that your air fryer urgently requires technical help, so cook your food with a microwave, stove, or oven as you wait for help to arrive.

Never cook with a smoking air fryer, regardless of the color or quantity of smoke. Inspect your gadget and solve the issue before resuming cooking.

Simple Remedies To Prevent Your Ninja Air Fryer From Smoking

Reduce fat in your recipes: Extra oil in your food will drip under and mess with your drawer and heating coil. Once your appliance begins heating at a high temperature and has a layer of oil or food particles, a smoldering black smoke also messes up your food’s taste.

Use oils that withstand extreme temperatures: peanut, avocado, canola, sesame, and sunflower oil do not produce smoke at high temperatures unless intense. Use them for baking, air frying et cetera.

• Reduce the temperature of fatty foods: Use medium or low heat for your air fryer. Lower temperatures reduce air fryer smoking but prepare for a slower cooking pace.

• Add little water under your basket (on the drawer): The water soaks up fat and prevents burning and smoking. Excess water will cause steam buildup, which is the white smoke you are seeing from your cooker.

• A slice of bread is useful: Place it on the surface of the drawer beneath your air fryer basket. The bread will soak up dripping oil and prevent burning. 

• Do not overload your air fryer: We advise cooking in batches or using a larger air fryer for more ingredients.

• Keep your air fryer clean: Food particles, juices, grease, and oils dripping from your food are culprits for your air fryer smoking.

Dirt causes odors and peels off your appliance’s non-stick surface when you scrub to remove accumulated grime. Cleaning your air fryer is super easy. Following your user manual is essential, but you can use easy steps here.

After use, unplug and wait for the appliance to cool. Remove your drawer, basket, and mats. Soak them in soapy water. Scrub and rinse to dry. Clean the drawer’s cabin and wipe the heating element and the fan. Wipe the exteriors and return the drawer components, including the basket.

• Ventilate your kitchen when air frying: a little white smoke is normal and should not bang your head. 

• Use parchment paper: The paper to tap oil and food particles, and make your cleaning super easy. A non-stick tray is equally crucial and fits perfectly under your air fry basket.

• Do not cook dry batter: Your air fryer fan speed is high, and it blows off batter, which lands in the drawer and on the heating coil. It causes a smoky burning hence the messy black smoke you see.

• Use your air fryer appropriately: Read and follow the set-up manual and all the cooking processes. If you bought your appliance from a certified dealer, you should have no major problems while using the pot.

Related articles

Ninja Foodi Replacement Parts and Accessories Reviews

The Sum Up

Generally, you can use your air fryer without fear. A small amount of white smoke from your air fryer is not a cause for worry. However, a case of your air fryer smoldering up is not as simple as any other pot.

It can be because of excess steam building up, burning food, or roasting food particles on the heating coil. It could also be appliance complications like factory faults.

A faulty air fryer is not something that you can easily ignore. Using the oven can be disastrous. Using faulty appliances has blown up and caused a fire in the past.

Yours will not be an exception. Never ignore any smoke billowing from your air fryer. Be keen to Observe the color so that you can quickly and rightly diagnose the issue.

Our steps to solve the problem are practical, while the tips to prevent your Ninja air fryer from smoking are straightforward. You have the correct information to handle an exploding air fryer and stop your Ninja air fryer from smoking.

Remember to follow your Ninja air fryer user manual. Above all, keep your air fryer’s maintenance procedures to ensure durability, and smokeless, fire-free air frying.

related article:

• 5 Best and safest air fryers 
• 51 Best Amazing New Kitchen Gadgets You Probably Need
• 8 Best Chefman Blender Reviews and Buyer’s Guide
• Best Parchment Paper for Air Fryer
• 12 Best 2 Quart Air Fryer 
• 5 best 26 quart air fryer 
• 7 Best 16 quart Air Fryer
• 10 Best Meat Thermometers Made In USA
• Ninja DZ401 Vs DZ550! What Is The Difference And Which Is The Best?