Yes, if the mold is rated above your cooking temperature and fits with air around it. Set it in the basket before you fill it: a full silicone mold bends the moment you lift it.
The three checks
Temperature rating. Most food-grade silicone is rated to about 425 to 450 °F; most air fryers reach about 400 °F. Check the mold’s own figure.
Fit. Measure the basket floor, not the rim — baskets taper, and a mold that clears the opening may not sit flat. Leave about half an inch around it.
Airflow. The crisper plate’s holes put air under the food. A mold that covers them turns the appliance into a small, uneven oven — see why a single layer matters.
The silicone-specific problem
It flexes. A full mold bends wherever it is held, and an air fryer basket comes out of a hot drawer. Fill it in the basket, and lift it out on something rigid — the crisper plate, a small rack, or after it has cooled.
What silicone gives you
Easy release, often without greasing — useful for egg bites, muffins and mini cakes. Storage, because it folds. No rust and no scratching of a nonstick basket.
What it gives up
A crisp, browned base, which needs conducted heat from metal. In an air fryer that matters less than in an oven, because the heat comes from moving air rather than the surface underneath.
The rigid alternative
Small metal or foil pans hold their shape when lifted. The Waytiffer 4.5-inch foil pie tins, $10 for fifty, fit most baskets; for cake pans, see can I bake a cake in an air fryer and the baking tins and molds page.
And the oven alternative
An air-fry toaster oven takes a silicone mold on its flat tray, with none of the lifting problem — the BLACK+DECKER 5-in-1 or the Hamilton Beach. Your manual has the final word on what your machine allows.
Check your own manual before you follow anything here. Temperatures, fill limits and pressure ratings differ from model to model, and the manufacturer’s figures take precedence over anything written on this site. We report what makers publish — an oven’s range in degrees, a cooker’s maximum fill line, whether a part is declared dishwasher-safe — and we never turn those figures into food-safety guidance. Cooking temperatures and holding times for particular foods are set by manufacturers and by your national food safety authority, and this site points you to them rather than restating them.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-18. The live price is at the top of the page.
What readers want to know
What temperature can silicone molds take?
Most food-grade silicone bakeware is rated to about 425 to 450 °F, above the roughly 400 °F most air fryers reach — but check the rating on your mold or its packaging, and do not go past it. Cheap molds with no stated rating, or ones that smell or turn sticky when hot, are not worth using.
Can empty silicone cups fly around in an air fryer?
Yes — light, empty cups can be lifted by the fan and pushed against the heating element. Only put them in filled, never preheat with empty cups inside, and keep them below the basket rim.
Does a silicone mold need something underneath?
Something rigid, if you will lift it full. Silicone flexes, so a filled mold folds and spills when picked up by one edge. Set it on the crisper plate or a small metal rack, fill it in place, and lift it out by the rack — or let it cool in the basket first.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026