Silicone vs Parchment Air Fryer Liners: Which Should You Use?

Every air fryer owner reaches the same fork eventually. You are tired of scrubbing baked-on glaze out of the basket, so you go looking for a liner, and the internet cracks into two camps. One says disposable parchment is cheap and cooks better. The other says a reusable silicone liner pays for itself and never blows into the heating element.

Both camps are partly right. For most kitchens the honest answer is to keep a pack of each and match the liner to the food. Below you will find which jobs suit which material, what published testing found, and the specific liners worth your money as of September 2026.

EggBoo does not run a test kitchen, so this is research-based. We leaned on published liner testing from America's Test Kitchen and Consumer Reports, and cross-checked it against manufacturer listings and what owners consistently report. If you are new to lining a basket at all, our guide to using parchment paper in an air fryer covers the safe-use rules in more detail.

The short answer

Use parchment when crisping matters or when you are cooking something pungent like fish. It moves heat into food better than thick silicone does, and you just bin it afterward.

Use silicone when the food is light enough that paper might fly, or when you cook saucy dishes several times a week and would rather wash one thing than keep buying another.

Use nothing when you are making fries or wings and want the crunchiest result. Bare basket wins that one every time.

Silicone vs parchment at a glance

Crisping: parchment wins, and thickness is why

America's Test Kitchen tested both types and preferred thin liners with low sides. Its reviewers found that parchment has relatively high heat conductivity, so hot air still reaches the food through it. Thicker silicone did the opposite. Food on thick silicone liners took about 3 to 4 minutes longer on average to reach its target temperature, and liners with high sides blocked the circulating air that makes an air fryer work. ATK found thin silicone, under about 2mm, did better than the thick stuff, and it still named parchment the ideal material for letting heat through.

Consumer Reports saw the same pattern from a different angle. It rated a silicone pot as worth buying for the cleanup, while noting that cook times went up when its reviewer used one.

Plenty of silicone liners sell thickness as a feature. One popular square pot advertises 2.5mm walls and brags about their heat insulation, which is a durability win and a crisping loss in the same bullet point. For a basket liner, insulation is the thing you are trying to avoid.

Perforated or solid? The two testers disagree a little here. ATK marked down liners with holes, because grease and crumbs pass straight through and defeat the point of lining the basket. Consumer Reports liked a perforated silicone liner because the holes kept air moving while holding marinades mostly in place. Both findings hold up: holes buy airflow and cost you containment. Choose solid for saucy or sticky food, and perforated for breaded food where crunch still matters.

Cleanup: parchment is less work, silicone is less waste

ATK said its winning liners contained grease so well that its testers usually did not need to clean the basket at all. That is the whole appeal of paper. Lift it out and bin it.

Silicone asks more of you. Most pots are dishwasher safe and flip inside out for hand washing, which helps. The catch owners run into after a few months is a tacky film. Silicone attracts oil, and grease that gets heated over and over can turn gummy on the surface. A thick paste of baking soda and water, left to dry on the sticky spots and then washed off in hot soapy water, usually lifts it. Keep scouring pads away, since they damage the surface.

Silicone can also hang on to smells, with garlic and strong spices the usual examples. It tends to be a smell issue rather than a flavor that transfers into the next meal, but if you cook fish often, paper is the calmer choice.

The basket still needs a proper clean now and then, and our air fryer cleaning guide has the quick after-use routine and the monthly deep clean.

Safety: silicone fixes the flying-paper problem

The main hazard with paper has nothing to do with chemistry. An air fryer fan is strong enough to lift a light sheet of parchment into the heating element, where it can scorch or catch fire. Consumer Reports rated disposable paper liners as not worth it for exactly this reason, pointing out that light foods like vegetables or bacon slices are not heavy enough to hold the paper down.

Manufacturers agree. Cosori's own paper liner listing opens with a warning never to put the liner in during preheating, and to always load enough food to hold it down. So preheat empty, then add paper and food together. Loose, scorched paper is also a common reason an air fryer starts smoking.

Silicone sidesteps all of that. It stays where you put it, which makes it the better liner for chopped vegetables and other small, light pieces.

Check the temperature rating against your machine. Plenty of air fryers top out at 400F, but several Ninja and Cosori models go to 450F (our Ninja vs Cosori comparison covers which ones). Roll parchment often sits below that line. Reynolds lists its parchment as oven safe to 425F, and If You Care lists 428F. Some purpose-made liners go higher, and Cosori rates its paper liners to 465F. The silicone listings we checked claim 428 to 450F. If you use a 450F max-crisp setting, pick a liner rated above it or cook on the bare basket.

The chemical questions, answered honestly

Is one liner "cleaner" than the other? The evidence is thinner than either side's marketing suggests.

Silicone. Food-contact silicone falls under FDA rules for rubber articles meant for repeated use. A 2025 study in the *Journal of Hazardous Materials* looked at 25 silicone bakeware products (cupcake trays and loaf pans rather than air fryer liners) baked for an hour at 338F. It found cyclic siloxanes, leftovers from silicone manufacturing, migrating into a simulated food and into the air. It also found that migration dropped by about 95 percent after three baking cycles. Michigan State toxicologist Jamie Alan told VegNews it was "not a moment to panic," and noted that well-used silicone is likely the safer silicone. The health effects of many of the compounds measured have not been well studied, so honest uncertainty is the fair reading.

Wash a new silicone liner before its first use, which is also what the FDA rule expects of food-contact rubber. Kitchen guides commonly suggest a 30-minute bake at around 350F to drive off the new-silicone smell. Since the study found that early heat cycles release the most, running a new liner through a few empty heat cycles with a window open before food touches it is a sensible precaution.

Parchment. Parchment paper is itself coated with silicone. Older parchment used a chromium-based coating called Quilon, and If You Care markets its paper specifically as silicone coated and Quilon free. Paper-industry sources say silicone is now the standard coating at major brands, so the Quilon worry mostly applies to older or unbranded paper.

On PFAS, the consumer site Mamavation had parchment tested for total fluorine in April 2021. If You Care came back non-detect at a 10 ppm limit. Reynolds showed 14 ppm, which Mamavation said did not suggest PFAS was added on purpose, though it still declined to recommend it. For context, compostable-packaging certification uses a 100 ppm threshold. If this matters to you, unbleached If You Care is the paper with the cleanest published result.

Cost: silicone wins, but slowly

As of September 2026, Cosori's 100-pack of paper liners lists at $14.36 on Amazon, or about 14 cents a liner. In ATK's review, its winning paper liner worked out to about 22 cents each and its winning silicone liner to about $4.66 each. The BYKITCHEN silicone pair below lists at $14.99, or $7.50 a liner.

Run the numbers and one silicone liner replaces somewhere between 21 and 54 paper ones, depending on which pair you compare. If you line the basket twice a week, that is a payback of roughly three to six months. A silicone liner that warps or goes permanently tacky before then never pays off, so buy it for convenience and fly-proofing first and savings second.

Which foods suit which liner

• Parchment: fish fillets, pastries, cheesy bakes, sticky glazed chicken, anything you want to lift out and plate in one move.
• Silicone: saucy dishes you cook often, chopped vegetables that would lift paper, reheated leftovers.
• Bare basket: fries, tots, wings and breaded chicken, where maximum crunch is the goal.
• Also bare basket: bacon and burgers. Consumer Reports noted silicone is not ideal for fatty foods that cook better when the fat can drip away, and a bowl-shaped paper liner pools fat the same way.

For what else is worth adding to your setup, and what is not, see our list of air fryer accessories actually worth buying.

The liners worth buying

Measure the inside floor of your basket before you order anything. Quart ratings do not tell you the footprint, and nearly every liner complaint is a sizing complaint. Prices are as of September 2026 unless noted.

Cosori Air Fryer Liners (paper)

• The Yolk: Shaped paper bowls from an air fryer brand, at about 14 cents a liner. Check price on Amazon
• What you get: 100 square 6.5 inch liners for 3 to 5 quart baskets, $14.36 on Amazon. The listing describes the paper as bleach-free and silicone coated, rated to 465F, with 1.8 inch walls. Cosori also sells a size for 5 to 6 quart baskets.
• Pros: The highest heat rating of any paper here, so it covers 450F machines. No folding or trimming, and the walls keep juices off the basket.
• Cons: The walls sit a touch above the 1.75 inch cutoff ATK favored for airflow, so expect slightly slower crisping than a flatter liner.
• Skip if: Your basket is 6 quarts or larger, where a 6.5 inch liner leaves much of the floor bare.

Loveuing 9.1 Inch Disposable Paper Liners

• The Yolk: The paper liner America's Test Kitchen picked for keeping grease off the basket without choking airflow. Check price on Amazon
• What you get: ATK measured them at 9.5 by 9.5 inches with 1.75 inch sides, and listed them at $21.83 for 100, about 22 cents each, in its review last updated June 2025.
• Pros: Sized for bigger baskets, with low sides that leave room for airflow. ATK found glaze and grease stayed on the paper instead of the basket.
• Cons: Costs more per liner than the Cosori pack, and it is too big for compact baskets without trimming.
• Skip if: You run a 4 quart or smaller machine.

If You Care Unbleached Parchment Roll

• The Yolk: Plain unbleached parchment you cut to size, with the cleanest published PFAS result of the papers we looked at. Check price on Amazon
• What you get: A 70 square foot roll, silicone coated and Quilon free, listed as oven safe to 428F and certified home and municipally compostable. Target lists a single roll at $5.99.
• Pros: The cheapest per use if you are happy with scissors, and it doubles as ordinary baking paper.
• Cons: You cut every circle or square yourself, and a hand-cut flat sheet is lighter and easier to lift than a shaped liner. Rated below 450F.
• Skip if: You want grab-and-go liners, or you cook at 450F.

Infraovens Air Fryer Silicone Mat

• The Yolk: A thin, low-sided silicone mat, the design ATK found cooks closest to paper. Check price on Amazon
• What you get: ATK's silicone winner is a 9 by 9 inch mat with half-inch sides, sold as a set of three for $13.99 when ATK reviewed it. Infraovens sells several sizes, so match the listing to your basket.
• Pros: Thin and low, so you pay less of the insulation penalty. It stays put under light food where paper would lift, and it is reusable.
• Cons: Low sides hold less sauce than a pot, and you still have to wash it.
• Skip if: You mostly cook saucy dishes that need walls.

BYKITCHEN 9 Inch Square Silicone Liners

• The Yolk: A two-pack of square silicone pots with handles, sized for the big 6 to 8 quart baskets that small liners leave bare. Check price on Amazon
• What you get: Two 9 inch square liners at $14.99, rated to 450F and dishwasher safe. The listing names fits including the Ninja Air Fryer Pro XL 6.5 qt, Cosori 6 qt, Instant Vortex 6 qt and Power XL 7 qt.
• Pros: Handles make lifting food out easy. Raised lines on the base let oil drain away from the food toward the edges, and the 450F rating covers max-crisp settings.
• Cons: It is a walled pot, so expect the slower cooking ATK and Consumer Reports saw with silicone pots. Too big for compact baskets.
• Skip if: Your basket is round or under 6 quarts. If you are still choosing a machine, our air fryer finder matches basket size to your household.

Common liner mistakes

1. Preheating with paper inside. The single most likely moment for a liner to blow into the element. 2. Buying by quart size. Two 6 quart fryers can have different floors. Measure. 3. Lining everything. Fries and wings crisp better on the bare basket. 4. Buying the thickest silicone. Thick walls sound durable and cook slower. 5. Using a liner rated below your temperature. Check the box against your machine's max setting.

Most of these overlap with the air fryer mistakes beginners make, and all of them are free to fix.

FAQ

Which is better for crispy food, silicone or parchment?

Parchment. America's Test Kitchen found thin parchment lets heat into food better than thick silicone, which added about 3 to 4 minutes to reach target temperatures, and Consumer Reports also saw longer cook times with a silicone pot. Thinner, low-sided silicone narrows the gap. For the crispiest fries and wings, skip the liner altogether.

Are silicone air fryer liners safe?

Food-grade silicone is regulated by the FDA for repeated food contact, and the listings we checked claim ratings of 428 to 450F. A 2025 study found new silicone bakeware releases siloxanes, and that the release drops sharply after a few uses. Washing a new liner and running it through a few heat cycles before cooking is a reasonable precaution.

Is parchment paper safe at 450F?

Not all of it. Reynolds rates its parchment to 425F and If You Care to 428F. Some air fryer liners, like Cosori's, are rated to 465F. Check the box against your machine's highest setting.

Can a silicone liner blow into the heating element?

Not in normal use, which is its main advantage over paper. Silicone stays flat even under light food.

What liner works in a dual-basket air fryer?

Dual-basket drawers are narrow and rectangular, so standard square or round liners often do not fit. Look for rectangular liners sized for dual drawers and measure each drawer separately. Our best dual-basket air fryers roundup covers the machines themselves, and for single-basket compacts see the best air fryers for small kitchens.

EggBoo Verdict

EggBoo Verdict: Keep both. Reach for parchment when you want food crisp or you are cooking something smelly. Save silicone for light food and the saucy weeknight regulars. Leave the liner out for fries and wings. If you only buy one, choose paper when crispness is what you care about, or a thin, low-sided silicone mat if the risk of loose paper is what has kept you from lining the basket at all. Either way, measure the basket first and check the heat rating against your fryer before you order.