Air Fryer First Use: What to Do Before You Cook
For air fryer first use, take off the packaging, wash the parts that hold food, and run it empty only if your manual says to. Brands differ on the empty run, so your own manual comes first.
updated November 2, 2026 · 2 min read
The short answer
Follow your own manual. Breville says to run its BOV900 oven empty for 20 minutes. Cosori describes a 10-minute empty test run for its TurboBlaze. Our Place recommends 10 minutes with no food for its Wonder Oven. The Instant and Gourmia pages we saw don’t ask for an empty run.
What's on this page
Do I need an empty run?
Only if your manual says so. Here is what a few brands say, each about its own model.
- Breville BOV900: 20 minutes, oven empty, in a well-ventilated room. Breville calls it necessary.
- Cosori TurboBlaze: 10 minutes at 385°F with an empty basket.
- Our Place Wonder Oven: 10 minutes at 400°F on Bake, with no food. Our Place recommends it.
- Instant and Gourmia: the pages we saw don’t ask for one.
If your brand isn’t here, the material table shows what we found for each model. The manual in your box still comes first.
How do I get it ready?
Remove all packaging
Take off packing material, labels and tape, inside and out. Check inside the drawer too.Wash the parts that hold food
Use warm soapy water and a soft sponge, then rinse and dry. Cosori allows the dishwasher for its TurboBlaze parts. Our Place says no for the Wonder Oven.Wipe the inside
Use a soft, slightly damp cloth, then dry. Never put the main unit in water.Give it room
Set it on a stable, heat-resistant surface. Brands ask for different space around it, so check your manual.Run it empty if your manual says so
Use the time and temperature in your manual. Breville and Our Place both ask for good airflow during this run.Let it cool
Cosori says to let the TurboBlaze basket cool completely, 10 to 30 minutes. Then it’s ready for food.
What do the brands say about smoke or a smell?
We found no study of new air fryers, so we won’t judge what you might notice. These are the brands’ own words, for their own models.
- Breville: the oven “may emit vapors” in the empty run. Breville adds they “are safe and are not detrimental to the performance of the oven.”
- Cosori: some white smoke or steam may appear. The TurboBlaze manual says: “Any air fryer may have a plastic smell from the manufacturing process. This is normal.”
- Our Place: “a small amount of smoke and odor may be detected. This is normal and should be expected.”
- Gourmia: a “hot plastic” smell may show up for the first few uses.
More is on what brands say about a new air fryer’s smell.
What should I do next?
Clean it as your manual says after each use. Our guides cover the basket and the heating element. Still choosing a model? How we compare explains how we pick what to show you.
Common questions
Do you have to run an air fryer empty before first use?
It depends on the brand. Breville, Our Place and Cosori each describe an empty run for their own models. The Instant and Gourmia pages we saw don’t. Your manual decides.
How long should the first empty run be?
The brands don’t agree. Breville says 20 minutes, while Cosori and Our Place say 10. Those numbers belong to those models, so use the time in your own manual.
Should I wash the basket before using a new air fryer?
Yes, say the brands we looked at. Most name warm soapy water and a soft sponge. Check your manual before using the dishwasher.
What if I see smoke on the first run?
Cosori’s manual says some white smoke or steam can appear at first. For dark smoke, it says to unplug the air fryer right away and call Cosori support if burnt food wasn’t the cause.
You might also like
- New air fryer smellAir fryer smells like plastic? We found no study on new air fryers. See what Breville, Cosori and others say, and when Cosori says to stop.
- Clean the heating elementHow to clean an air fryer heating element: unplug it, let it cool, wipe gently, dry it fully, and what Instant, Cosori, Breville and Our Place say.
- Clean the basketHow to clean an air fryer basket: find out what yours is made of, soak instead of scraping, and check whether it can go in the dishwasher.
- How we compareHow we compare stainless steel air fryers: we read what brands publish, we don’t run lab tests, and we explain what “Not confirmed” means.
- Material tableSee what 17 air fryers are made of. For each one we list the basket, the inside walls and any coating the brand names, with sources.
Where this comes from
- 1Breville, BOV900 instruction book, p. 9 (Before first use)
- 2Cosori, TurboBlaze CAF-DC601-KUS user manual, pp. 5, 10, 11 and 18
- 3Our Place, Wonder Oven user manual, p. 14 (copy hosted by QVC)
- 4Instant, Vortex and Vortex Plus 6 quart user manual, p. 9 (copy on ManualsLib)
- 5Gourmia, GAF846 manual, section 4, Before First Use (copy on ManualsLib)
Stainless Steel Air Fryer Editorial Team
We are the team behind Stainless Steel Air Fryer. We read what the companies say and explain it in plain English. We don’t run lab tests, and we say so when we couldn’t find something out.