14 Mistakes Everyone Makes Cooking Salmon In The Air Fryer

A piece of salmon and an air fryer: It's a marriage made in heaven. It's no secret that salmon is one of the most popular types of fish in the United States, with the average American consuming several pounds of it per year and benefiting from its numerous nutritional bonuses. It's also no secret that air fryers have become one of the must-have appliances for easy, quick dinners. So when you combine the two, it kinda feels like nothing can go wrong — especially when you add in the fact that salmon is, for the most part, a breeze to cook in an air fryer, requiring little more than a few presses of its buttons.

However, cooking salmon in an air fryer is a little more complicated than you might think. Contrary to popular belief, salmon can emerge from this appliance dry, overcooked, and lacking in any flavor whatsoever. That's if you manage to retrieve it in one piece, too: Salmon can be a nightmare to remove from an air fryer due to its flaky consistency, and if you're not careful, it'll rip in half before you have a chance to eat it. Fed up with ruining your fish? We thought so, and that's why we put together this list of the most common salmon mistakes in your air fryer.

There are a lot of reasons not to line your basket when you're using an air fryer, with the main one being that it can get in the way of your food cooking properly. Air fryer basket liners block some of the airflow in your appliance, meaning that certain foods can be a little harder to cook thoroughly. However, when it comes to salmon, lining your air fryer basket is crucial, primarily because the fish can be so delicate and flaky. If you place your fish directly onto the bottom slats of the air fryer, its skin can adhere to the metal, and when you come to pull it out, it'll rip in half and end up near impossible to eat. It will also make your air fryer way messier and harder to clean.

Conversely, popping your salmon in an air fryer basket liner will allow you to remove it in one piece and stop your air fryer from getting too grubby and oily. If you use a parchment liner, it'll also be easy to get it onto your plate with the skin still intact, as it should slide right off. If you want increased airflow around your fish, try poking a couple of holes in your parchment liner, or use an air fryer liner that's already perforated.

It feels logical to flip your salmon halfway through cooking it in your air fryer, right? After all, that's what you do with pretty much any other type of food to ensure that it cooks well on both sides. Plus, flipping food partway through cooking can prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your air fryer, which can be a huge bonus (especially with foods as delicate as salmon).

However, with salmon, this is largely unnecessary. The reason for this is that salmon comes with a generous layer of skin on the bottom, which doesn't need browning in the same way that the flesh does. If you flip it over, your skin may get slightly crispier, but you'll sacrifice any real color on the top of your salmon.

Things may be slightly different if you're working with skinless salmon or salmon bites, though. If this is the case, you may well want to flip them so that they develop a good color on either side. Just be sure not to blast them with too much heat, otherwise you'll overcook them.

One key mistake that people make when air frying salmon is preventing their fish from getting brown and crispy, and it can be easily solved with some paper towels. Before you cook your air fryer salmon, make sure you pat it dry as much as possible. Doing this will remove any excess moisture that's collected on your fish, which can cause it to steam instead of roast (which is, after all, what's happening in your air fryer — it doesn't actually fry things, folks), and prevent it from developing a nice brown crust.

When patting your salmon dry, make sure you're using a sturdy paper towel that won't leave any stray pieces on the fish itself. Plus, you should always pat it dry before you add any seasonings or oil to your fillet. If you pat it down once you've added all of your flavorings, you'll just rub them off and ruin your eventual meal. You'll also get rid of any of the fat on your fish, which helps it cook in the first place.

Marinating your salmon may feel like it's not worth it, especially because the fish is so flavorful already. Plus, because it already has loads of moisture, providing it with extra juiciness can feel like a chore that's not worth it. Unfortunately, though, if you're not marinating your air fryer salmon, you're missing out. Marination can help imbue your salmon with extra flavors that you just can't get by dusting it with seasoning mixes or herbs. As well as this, it gives your salmon a boost of additional moisture, which can help it withstand the high temperatures of your air fryer and prevent it from drying out.

The best thing about marinating your salmon is that you can take it in loads of different directions. For a lighter flavor, opt for a cucumber-lime salmon marinade, which has a dash of sweetness from the addition of honey. If you want to ramp up the umami notes in your fish, going for a soy or miso-based marinade can add that depth. You can also create spicy notes by marinating your salmon in sriracha or another hot sauce, or adding some chili powder or flakes into the mix.

We're taught in this life that most foods need some kind of fat to cook properly. However, with salmon — and with all types of fish — it may not be that beneficial to bathe it in oil. "You don't need to add any fat at all when you are air frying fish," says air frying expert Clare Andrews, citing over-oiling as one of the key mistakes people make when air frying seafood. Because fish is so delicate, it can cook perfectly well without any additional fat, and salmon in particular can suffer from ending up way too oily.

Instead, salmon's natural fat will help it to stay lubricated when it's cooking, keeping it moist while it firms up in the hot air. It's definitely true that adding fat can create extra flavor, though, but if you want to include a touch of fat, Andrews recommends keeping it light. "I would suggest investing in a cooking spray, to apply a little oil on your fish," she says. "This way it reduces your fat intake, and you only need a little spray, if any at all."

There are few things worse than overcooked salmon: What's normally a tender, moist, flavorful piece of fish can rapidly turn into a dry, gritty mess. The problem is that in an air fryer, this can happen way quicker than you think. Air fryers operate by whizzing hot air around your food at lightning speed to cook it, but as this happens, that same hot air is also wicking away moisture. There's a really fine line between your salmon being done and all of its moisture completely dissipating; this really isn't one of those foods you can leave in there for a couple of extra minutes, folks.

The key here is to ensure that your timings and temperatures are bang-on. The average salmon fillet, if it's cooked from room temperature, will need roughly eight to 10 minutes in a 400-degree Fahrenheit air fryer. Importantly, many air fryers can run at slightly different temperatures, so if yours tends to be a little hotter, you should drop your temperature by 10 degrees or reduce cooking time slightly. It's also wise to check your salmon after seven or eight minutes to assess how it's doing.

One of our favorite things about air fryers is that you can tap the screen a few times, step away for however long your food takes to cook, and then come back to a hot meal. Well, almost. There's actually one step in there that a lot of people forget about, and failing to adhere to it is an air fryer mistake most people don't realize they're making. When cooking salmon in your air fryer (heck, if you're cooking any food in your air fryer), you should always make sure you give it a little shake and shimmy. This is important even if you're not flipping it over, and just leaving it to cook on one side.

What's the point in doing this, you ask? Well, moving your salmon around halfway through cooking can help prevent it from sticking to the bottom of its liner, which is a common problem with this fish. Salmon skin can get a little tacky when it cooks, causing it to glue to whatever surface it's sitting on — and the longer it's heated, the more it tacks on. Moving it around slightly as it cooks will help prevent it from getting stuck and will release any moisture build-up underneath the fish.

If you're not preheating your air fryer when cooking salmon, you're not doing it right. There are some foods you don't need to preheat your air fryer for, and for larger items that are cooking for longer or foods that are being heated to a lower temperature, you can just pop them straight in. With salmon, though, neither of these things is true. You're aiming to cook it at a high temperature for a short amount of time, with the idea being that you blast it with quick heat to give it a satisfying color without overcooking its center.

If you fail to preheat your air fryer, though, it'll have to warm up in the first few minutes of its cooking time. This can throw off your eventual result and overcook your salmon. Instead, simply preheat it before you kick things off. Give your air fryer roughly five minutes to preheat at your chosen temperature, and then throw your salmon in. It sounds like a hassle, but we promise that it'll make a huge difference.

There's nothing wrong with seasoning your salmon with dry ingredients, and doing so can give it a ton of flavor. Having said this, if you're just throwing dry ingredients on without any additional moisture, you should be prepared for your fish not to taste of anything. The problem with seasoning your fish without having a base layer of moisture for it all to rest on is that your dry ingredients will sit loosely on top of your salmon. Then, when you turn your air fryer on, they'll blow around in your appliance, coming off the fish and splattering the walls of your basket.

So, rather than this happening, you should always ensure that your seasonings have something to stick to. Lightly spray your salmon with cooking spray before sprinkling them on. Plus, make sure you really rub your seasonings into your fish, so that there's no risk of them scattering and dispersing. You can always hit them with another pop of cooking spray before putting the fish in the air fryer, too, to ensure that they don't burn.

Air fryers are perfect for easy, all-in-one meals, where you can shove all of your ingredients in your basket and let it do its magic. However, one thing you need to avoid is overcrowding your air fryer. Like ovens, air fryers don't work as well when they're crammed full of ingredients. When they are, the air around them has a harder time circulating, leading to your food not being cooked as well and the potential for it to steam instead of roast or bake.

This can happen with salmon, whether you're cooking it with multiple other fillets or with other ingredients. If you're opting for the latter, you also need to be wary of high-moisture ingredients that will release a load of steam into your machine. Remember, too, that if you want to cook a big meal with multiple pieces of salmon and other ingredients, you may want to use a different appliance entirely: Your oven. Air fryers are just mini convection ovens, after all, and they use the same technology on a smaller scale — you may just have to extend your cooking time slightly.

Salmon isn't served in battered form as much as some other types of fish, which generally require a bit more fat or texture to pop. However, if you are battering your salmon, you'll want to avoid air frying it. Battered salmon, or anything type of battered fish, won't fare well in your air fryer, as it's usually just way too wet. By the time it starts cooking, your batter will have dripped all over your appliance, both making a huge mess and ruining your meal.

Although the thought of cooking battered fish without a hot pot of fat to deal with might be appealing to some, you really do need to deep fry it for the best result. Breaded fish is another question entirely, though. You can cook breaded salmon in an air fryer pretty well, and it'll come out crispy and golden. Just make sure that your breading is stuck on your fish really well, so that it doesn't blow away in the whirling winds of your machine.

When you're making air fryer recipes, it's natural to want to make things as easy as possible. After all, the less effort the better, right? This can lead folks to forego punching in their temperature and timings for their salmon manually, and instead rely on one of the seemingly handy settings on their appliance. A lot of air fryers come with preset options for cooking proteins like fish and chicken, and most of the time, you can just tap a button and leave it to do its thing.

The problem with these settings, though, is that they don't take into account any differences in thickness and size — they're just a more general estimation of how long your food will need. So, if you're relying on these preset options, you may end up vastly over- or undercooking your salmon. Instead, it's always a good idea to enter things manually; while you can generally rely on certain combos of time and temperature to produce a reliable result, you may well need to tweak them if your fillet is especially large or chunky.

Air fryers are pretty magical, but they're by no means foolproof. These appliances can undercook food just like an oven or a microwave can, and if you're not careful, you can end up with a raw piece of salmon. Unfortunately, many people simply don't check their salmon once it comes out of the air fryer, and rely too much on the machine to produce a perfect result. A lot of the time, they skip checking it because they're worried about breaking the fish apart and ruining its appearance.

Look, folks, we get it — but you really should be checking your salmon before you eat it. Seafood should be cooked through before it's eaten to reduce any risk of foodborne illness. To check whether salmon is done, the easiest method is to sink a fork into it: If it flakes and comes apart easily, you should be good to go. We get that this can ruin the appearance of your food, so if you want to keep your fish filets intact, you can always cook an extra one and check that one instead.

One of the biggest mistakes people make with air fryer salmon — and any type of air fryer fish — is thinking that they're good to chomp into it the moment it comes out. Well, while you can do that, you really shouldn't. Not only will this give you a burnt mouth, but it'll also cause you to skip over the key step of resting your filets before serving them. Contrary to popular belief, air-fried fish should be rested just like any other meat would be. This gives the fish a chance to redistribute its juices and slightly improve its texture, which can be a little loose when it's just been cooked.

It's especially important to do this with salmon as it has more fat than a lot of other fish, and this fat can leak out all over your plate if you don't rest it. The good news is that you really don't need to do this for too long. "I would suggest you do rest fish after removing from the air fryer, but it certainly doesn't need a long, slow rest like other meats," says Clare Andrews. "A couple of minutes resting will allow the fish to finish cooking and firm up a bit."