How to Replace a Rooftop HVAC Package Unit

In this post, I’ll explain step by step how my HVAC guy replaced an old rooftop HVAC stand with a modern HVAC curb.

I had this done due to water leaking into the building from multiple places below the HVAC unit. The entire process took 6 hours nonstop. These steps can also be used to replace an old HVAC unit.

Below are before and after pictures showing the difference.

BEFORE

In the following photo, you’ll see the rusted metal stand below the HVAC unit. That stand was from 1978. The HVAC unit was replaced in 2025, but the HVAC contractor was cheap and didn’t replace the stand with a modern curb. Instead, since the new HVAC unit was too large for the stand, he strapped two pressure-treated 2x4s to the stand using a strip of thin metal.

In the photo below, you’ll also see the old “elbow” at the back of the HVAC unit where the air flows into the ducting in the attic and into the building. The elbow is from 1978. Had the HVAC contractor replaced the stand with a modern curb (shown in the “after” photo below), the elbow would be removed and air from the HVAC unit would flow straight down from below the unit.

AFTER

In the following photo, you’ll see the old stand was replaced with a “curb”, which is an enclosed stand. Also, the elbow was removed and the air inlet/outlet on the back of the HVAC unit was closed off with sheet metal because the air now flowed into the building from below the HVAC unit. You’ll also notice the electrical wires (power and thermostat) come out of the roof below the HVAC unit rather than next to it.

If you’re replacing a rooftop HVAC unit, you won’t need to follow all of the steps here.

Note: Most of the screenshots below were taken from this corresponding video.

Order a curb that is designed for the HVAC unit you have. A curb looks similar to the picture below.

Disconnect everything from the HVAC unit so it can be lifted using a crane and replaced with the same or a newer one.

Have a crane operator come to lift the curb onto the roof.

Connect the 4 rope hooks to the 4 holes in the metal base of the HVAC unit. Instruct the crane operator to life the HVAC unit and place it somewhere else.

In my case, since we weren’t replacing the HVAC unit itself, we just placed the HVAC unit on another area of the roof.

With the HVAC unit out of the way, we can see the old elbow and ducting that goes into the attic. The left duct is for air to return to the HVAC unit and the right duct is for conditioned air to flow into the building.

Remove the elbow. You may need a pry bar to lift some shingles and a utility knife to cut some sealant connecting the elbow to the shingles.

Here’s how the opening in the roof looks with the elbow removed.

After dry-fitting the curb on the roof where you want it to go, mark along the inside perimeter and then cut the shingles along the left and right edges of the perimeter. If using a circular saw, adjust the blade cutting depth to avoid cutting deeper than the shingles.

Using a pry bar, a row or two of shingles at the top edge and a bit of shingles on the left and right edges.

Drill a hole in the roof inside the curb so that the electrical cables can come up through the roof from below the HVAC unit rather than next to the unit.

Turn off the circuit breaker to the HVAC unit and check for any voltage. My Lennox 2.5 ton package HVAC unit had two hot wires, red and black, each at 120V, for a total of 240V. The green wire was for ground.

Remove the line cable, which supplies electrical power from the circuit breaker box, from the HVAC electrical box.

Since the Romex line cable will be moved to come up through the roof from under the HVAC unit, we removed the conduit.

We then pushed the Romex back into the attic so we could push it through the hole in the roof we made earlier.

Then go into the attic so you can push the Romex cable through the new hole in the roof.

Slide the top half of each side of the curb under the shingles and move the curb into its final position.

You may need to remove some nails holding some shingles down.

Place a magnetic torpedo level on one side of the curb, then lift the front of the curb up until the level shows it is level. This is so the HVAC unit will sit level on the curb rather than angled following the slope of the roof.

When it’s level, drill a self-tapping screw for metal from the outer side of the curb through the inner side of the curb to hold the outer side in place.

Drill screws in multiple places to ensure the top of the curb remains level and can support the weight of the HVAC unit.

Install the 4 brackets that came with the curb – 2 on the front and one on each side.

Drill a 3/4″ diameter hole in the front of the curb for the electrical Romex cable and the t-stat (thermostat) cable to go through.

We needed some sheet metal to connect some ducts and cover some openings. It’s much cheaper to buy a roll at a dedicated HVAC store than the big-box stores like Home Depot, which only sell small sheets. However, some HVAC stores only allow licensed contractors to buy from them.

The sheet metal roll is held in place using a long zip tie.

When going up and down the ladder, make sure to strap the ladder to the building, like an eye hook in the eaves, to keep the ladder from moving. Some city inspectors require this when they come for an inspection.

Cut pieces of sheet metal to connect the duct in the attic to the curb.

Use a flashing folding tool to fold some edges of the sheet metal.

Position the cut sheet metal to connect the duct to the curb.

Then screw the cut sheet metal to the curb.

Repeat until you’ve connected the duct in the attic to the curb.

Apply HVAC foil sealer duct tape at the edges of the sheet metal connections.

If it helps, you can reuse old duct parts to connect the duct in the attic to the curb. In the following photo, the left opening is where air flows into the building. The right opening is where air flows from the building back into the HVAC unit.

Connecting the duct to the curb can be tricky because there may not be enough slack in flexible ducts and you are sometimes working in tight spaces.

In this case, the contractor had to create a short circular duct to extend the flexible duct that was in the attic.

He inserted the duct at an angle since the flexible duct in the attic came in at an angle.

Then, he screwed in the extension piece using self-tapping sheet metal screws.

Then he screwed the flexible duct to the duct extension he just created.

And he applied HVAC tape to all duct and curb connections.

He also covered all gaps with HVAC tape. For big gaps, as shown below, the tape will serve as backing for the HVAC sealant (Pookie).

Apply HVAC sealant (Pookie) to all seams and connections. When dry, this sealant becomes very hard.

Stick the electrical line cable and load wires (red, black, and green) through the hole previously made in the curb. The load wires connect from the wires in the line cable to the terminals in the HVAC unit.

Insert a 3/4″ plastic bushing in the hole in the metal curb to prevent the wires from getting cut if they slide against the sharp metal hole in the curb.

Stick the wires through the hole in the electrical box.

Screw the box to the curb.

Since both the black and white wires in the line cable are hot (120V), the white wire must be colored black to indicate it is hot. You can cover a portion of the white cable sleeve with black electrical tape.

Connect the wires to the appropriate terminals in the electrical junction box.

Screw the plastic cover over the terminals.

Insert the circuit breaker.

Close the box door.

Optionally lock the door by inserting a lock through the hole.

Tape the ends of the load wires and the thermostat wires together to make it easier to access them when the HVAC unit is lowered onto the curb.

Screw the base of the curb into the roof at various places.

Drill a 3/4″ hole at the bottom of the HVAC unit near where the power and thermostat wires will connect to the unit.

Since the previous HVAC contractor connected the unit to the elbow at the back of the unit, we had to remove the tape and sealant that remained after disconnecting the elbow from the unit.

The contractor unscrewed and removed the two panels at the bottom of the HVAC unit since airflow will flow through the bottom rather than the back.

He then measured the openings so he could create some custom panels using sheet metal.

The crane returned to lift the HVAC unit and lower it onto the new curb. The contractor inserted the 4 hooks into the 4 holes at the base of the unit.

The contractor pulled the load and thermostat wire through the hole he made in the base of the HVAC unit.

The unit was then lowered onto the curb such that the base would sit on the 4 brackets around the top of the curb.

The contractor routed the wires to where they need to be connected.

He connected the load wires (black, red, and green) to the appropriate terminals.

He connected the thermostat wires to the corresponding color-coded wires in the HVAC unit.

He then connected the gas line to the unit.

He applied PVC glue to connect the drip line to the unit.

He put HVAC tape to close the gap between the openings at the bottom of the unit and the duct openings in the roof.

He brushed on some HVAC sealant (Pookie) over the tape.

He cut some sheet metal to cover the two openings at the back of the unit.

He folded the 4 corners of the sheet to fit over the lip of the openings at the back of the unit.

And he screwed the panels in place

He put HVAC tape around the panels, but he didn’t apply HVAC sealant (Pookie) over the tape so that maintenance and inspection can easily be done in the future, if needed. (Pookie dries really hard and is hard to remove)

He screwed the electrical panel back on the unit.

He put new shingles over the area where he had to remove some old shingles.

Since replacing the stand with a curb, the HVAC unit was moved up, so he had to add an extension to the old PVC drip line.

Since the old electrical line cable was moved from outside the HVAV unit to under the unit, he covered the old hole in the roof with HVAC tape, which is very sticky tape.

He applied silicone sealant over screws that could result in roof leaks.

He also applied silicone sealant around the electrical box.

The feet of the old stand were screwed into the roof. He lifted the shingles where the feet were using a pry bar.

And applied sealant in the holes beneath the top layer of shingles.

He then pressed down on the top layer of shingles so the sealant would squeeze out of the holes.

He smeared the sealant to completely cover the holes.

He also applied sealant over the tape that covered the hole where the electrical Romex line cable came out.

And here’s how everything looked when he was done.

He only needed the shingles to cover the top half of both sides of the curb because the lip at the perimeter of the curb would force water to run down the roof rather than sideways.

Temporary Dust Blocker and Privacy Wall While Renovating Your Home

Some home improvement projects can produce a lot of dust, like when dealing with drywall, concrete, and mortar. Additionally, when you have contractors coming and going into your home, it’s nice to have a temporary partition for privacy. You can buy a plastic dust containment door at Home Depot for $30, but that’s expensive for a piece of plastic, and it only covers a 3′ x 7′ door opening. One option for covering a large space to both block dust and create privacy is by hanging blackout curtains on a sliding track, as shown below.

Note: if you don’t need to slide open the temporary wall, you can screw some 2×4 pieces of wood to the ceiling and then screw or staple the curtain to the 2×4 wood. You can also replace the curtains with thin (or thick) plastic or canvas drop cloth. In my case, I wanted the ability to easily slide the curtain wall open when the contractors weren’t working.

I first bought a lightweight shower curtain, but it was more expensive than the blackout curtains, and it filtered light, so anyone could see through both sides.

The curtain track just screws into your ceiling, either into joists or just drywall, using anchors.

You can also adjust the length of the track.

I went with two tracks and two curtains. Where the curtains meet in the middle, I had one curtain partially hang on the hooks of the other track for about 1 foot of overlap. This minimized any gaps in the middle for dust to get through.

CAUTION: While you might not think dust will get very far, you’d be surprised how wrong you are. Before I put up these curtains, dust managed to make it all the way to my living room, as I saw a thin film of it on my laptop cover. Also, there was a thin film of dust on the kitchen floor as well. While cleaning large flat surfaces like floors is easy, it’s not when dust gets into many nooks and crannies or in rugs.

The next time you need to do home improvement that could generate a lot of dust, or if you just need a temporary privacy wall, the ceiling track and curtain solution above may be just what you need, unless you want to spend all day removing dust everywhere.

Should You Finance or Pay Cash for Rental Properties?

Let’s say you’re willing to invest $600,000 in rental real estate. You find the average purchase price of a multifamily triplex (3 apartments) is $600,000, with rental income potential (after one-time renovations) of $6000 per month. You can buy the property in cash and have no mortgage, or you can buy 2 or 3 such properties by financing them. Let’s analyze the finances based on current interest rates of about 6.5% for a 30-year fixed mortgage.

1 Triplex2 Triplexes3 Triplexes
Purchase Price$600,000$1,200,000$1,800,000
Down Payment (%)100%50%33.3%
Down Payment ($)$600,000$600,000$600,000
Mortgage (P&I) 10$3,792$7,590
Insurance + Taxes$379$758$1,137
Rental Income$6,000$12,000$18,000
Profit 2$5,621$7,450$9,273
Increased Profit ($)$1,829$3,652
Increased Profit (%)32.5%65.0%
Net Rental Yield ($)11.24%14.90%18.55%

1 The mortgage (P&I, or Principal and Interest) and the insurance and taxes are based on the Zillow mortgage calculator.
2 Profit in this calculation is just gross rental income minus large expenses, like mortgage, insurance, and taxes. It excludes water, garbage, business license, etc,)

If we ignore closing costs, which are a one-time cost and can be wrapped into a mortgage, we find that for the same $600,000 investment, we can make an additional

  • $1,829 per month if we buy 2 properties instead of one (32.5% increase)
  • $3,652 per month if we buy 3 properties instead of one (65% increase)

From a net rental yield perspective, which is annual profit divided by purchase price, the ratios for each case are 11.24%, 14.9%, and 18.55%. The yield if we buy just one triplex is already very good (11.24%), but the yield when we buy 2 or 3 triplexes is amazing!

Based on this simple analysis, we can see that for the same investment amount ($600,000), we can make significantly more money if we finance multiple properties rather than pay cash for just one property. But, the financial benefits don’t end here. Since the interest rate was 6.5% (current as of this writing), there is potential to make even more money if we refinance when interest rates drop. Let’s compare the numbers for interest rates of 5%, 4%, and 3%. Note that during the pandemic in 2021, it was possible to get a rate of 3% for a 30-year fixed mortgage on an investment property.

Interest Rate = 5%

1 Triplex2 Triplexes3 Triplexes
Purchase Price$600,000$1,200,000$1,800,000
Down Payment (%)100%50%33.3%
Down Payment ($)$600,000$600,000$600,000
Mortgage (P&I)0$3,220$6,444
Insurance + Taxes$379$758$1,137
Rental Income$6,000$12,000$18,000
Profit$5,621$8,022$10,419
Increased Profit ($)$2,401$4,798
Increased Profit (%)42.7%85.4%
Net Rental Yield ($)11.24%16.04%20.84%

If you refinance to a 5% interest rate, the rental yield for 2 and 3 triplexes jumps to 16.04% and 20.84%, respectively.

Interest Rate = 4%

1 Triplex2 Triplexes3 Triplexes
Purchase Price$600,000$1,200,000$1,800,000
Down Payment (%)100%50%33.3%
Down Payment ($)$600,000$600,000$600,000
Mortgage (P&I)0$2,864$5,733
Insurance + Taxes$379$758$1,137
Rental Income$6,000$12,000$18,000
Profit$5,621$8,378$11,130
Increased Profit ($)$2,757$5,509
Increased Profit (%)49.0%98.0%
Net Rental Yield ($)11.24%16.76%22.26%

If you refinance to a 4% interest rate, the rental yield for 2 and 3 triplexes jumps to 16.76% and 22.26%, respectively.

Interest Rate = 3%

1 Triplex2 Triplexes3 Triplexes
Purchase Price$600,000$1,200,000$1,800,000
Down Payment (%)100%50%33.3%
Down Payment ($)$600,000$600,000$600,000
Mortgage (P&I)0$2,530$5,061
Insurance + Taxes$379$758$1,137
Rental Income$6,000$12,000$18,000
Profit$5,621$8,712$11,802
Increased Profit ($)$3,091$6,181
Increased Profit (%)55.0%110.0%
Net Rental Yield ($)11.24%17.42%23.60%

If you refinance to a 3% interest rate, the rental yield for 2 and 3 triplexes jumps to 17.42% and 23.60%, respectively.

Conclusion

If your goal is to maximize ROI, then it should be clear now that financing the purchase of many rental properties is better than paying cash for fewer properties.

Compare Property Investments Using Rental Yield

There are many ratios investors use to compare rental property investments. To quickly estimate the profitability of an investment, I like to use price rental yield, which can be either gross or net.

  • Gross rental yield (%) = (annual rental income / purchase price) x 100
  • Net rental yield (%) = (annual rental income – expenses / purchase value) x 100

One popular measurement is the capitalization rate (cap rate), but it requires having detailed income and expenses, which are not necessarily available. It is similar to the net rental yield. The formula is

  • Cap rate (%) = (net operating income / current value) x 100

where

  • Net operating income = annual rental income – all operating expenses (excluding mortgage payments, depreciation, or amortization)

If you are buying a property, then the current value is usually the same as the purchase price.

According to AI, a “good” rental yield is between 5-8%. I personally target a gross rental yield of about 12%. Let’s see how to calculate rental yield on some properties.

Apartment building in Stockton, California

  • Zillow Listing
  • Address: 1135 N Sutter St, Stockton, CA 95202
  • 8 apartments
  • Each apartment is 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
  • Total 4192 sqft (524 sq ft / apartment)
  • Zillow Estimate: $766,000
  • Sale Price: $800,000
  • Estimated rent for a 1 bd, 1 ba apartment in/around 1135 N Sutter St, Stockton, CA 95202 according to Rentometer: $1000
  • Actual rental income per listing: 4 units @ $1000 / month, 3 units @ $900 / month, 1 unit vacant
  • Cap rate per listing: 8.5%
  • Gross rental yield potential: (8 units x $1000 / month x 12 months) / $800,000 = 12%

This property has a potential gross rental yield of 12%, which is good. I would look further into this property as an investment.

Townhouse in Hayward, California

  • Zillow Listing
  • Address: 841 W Sunset Blvd #B, Hayward, CA 94541
  • 1 townhouse
  • 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
  • Total 1448 sqft
  • Zillow Estimate: $713,000
  • Estimated rent according to Zillow: $3626
  • Cap rate per listing: details unavailable to calculate
  • Note: This property is in an HOA with monthly dues of $200 / month
  • Gross rental yield potential: ($3626 / month x 12 months) / $713,000 = 6.1%

The property has an estimated gross rental yield of only 6.1%, which is closer to the low end of the range of what is considered good. I wouldn’t bother considering this property as a rental investment.

Single-family house in Hayward, California

  • Zillow Listing
  • Address: 28578 Harvey Ave, Hayward, CA 94544
  • 1 single-family house
  • 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
  • Total 1,709 sqft
  • Zillow Estimate: $971,800
  • Estimated rent according to Zillow: $3,862
  • Cap rate per listing: details unavailable to calculate
  • Gross rental yield potential: ($3,862 / month x 12 months) / $971,800 = 4.7%

At an estimated gross rental yield of 4.7%, this is not a good investment. However, if you convert the house into a co-living space, you can increase the rental yield as follows:

  • Convert 2-car garage into a JADU with 2 rooms, each of which can be a bedroom
  • Convert the family room into a bedroom
  • Depending on the house layout, it may be possible to convert other rooms into a bedroom

In doing so, the house would have at least 6 bedrooms, which, at $1000 of rental income each, would bring in $6000 / month, resulting in a rental yield of 7.4%.

Tasty Toasted Turkey, Egg, Cheese, and Guac Sandwich Recipe

This came out better than I thought, so it’s blogworthy.

Ingredients

  • French roll (I wish there were keto rolls, but they don’t seem to exist)
  • 2 eggs
  • Guacamole
  • 1 slice of turkey deli meat
  • 1 slice of cheddar cheese
  • Avocado oil spray
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Spray avocado oil in a frying pan
  2. Add the eggs, break the yolk, and cook to your preferred doneness
  3. Sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper as desired
  4. Heat the French roll in a microwave for 20 seconds to soften it
  5. Spread a layer of guacamole on the bottom half of the roll
  6. Add the slice of turkey meat on the guac
  7. Add the scrambled eggs on the turkey slice
  8. Cut a square slice of cheddar cheese in half and place it over the eggs lengthwise
  9. Spray the base of your air fryer basket with avocado oil (optional)
  10. Fold the sandwich roll and place it in the air fryer basket
  11. Spray a bit of avocado oil on the top of the sandwich (optional)
  12. Place a metal air fryer rack on the sandwich to prevent it from unfolding
  13. Air fry at 390 degrees for 2-3 minutes

Photos

Delicious Egg, Cheese, Turkey, & Guac Air-Fried Sandwich

Ingredients

  • 2 slices of French sourdough bread (Costco Business Center sells a 2-pack of sourdough bread loaves for just $7. Each slice is square, not oval, so each slice is the same size). You can also try soft Ciabatta bread, available at both Costco and Costco Business Center.
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 slices of turkey deli meat
  • 2 slices of cheddar cheese
  • Guacamole
  • Avocado oil spray
  • Salt and pepper
  • Mayonnaise

Directions

  1. Spray a frying pan with avocado oil, add the eggs, and fry them to your desired doneness, optionally adding salt and pepper or other spices.
  2. Spread mayonnaise on one side of each sourdough bread slice. This side will be the outside.
  3. Spread guacamole on the other side of one slice of bread
  4. Add the eggs on top of the guacamole
  5. Add the cheese slices on top of the eggs
  6. Add the turkey slices on top of the cheese
  7. Add the other bread slice on top of the turkey slices (mayo side up)
  8. Place the sandwich in an air fryer and air fry at 390 degrees for 5 minutes
  9. Enjoy

Healthy, Keto-friendly Quesadilla in an Air Fryer

The other day, I went to El Pollo Loco and had their chicken quesadillas with avocado salsa verde. It was delicious, so I sought out how to make a healthy version at home using my air fryer. Though my version doesn’t taste as good as El Pollo Loco’s, it’s healthier, still tastes pretty good, and is much cheaper. For the salsa, I found one that tastes almost the same as El Pollo Loco’s. Here’s my recipe.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Heat the precooked chicken breast strips in a microwave
  2. Spray avocado oil on the air fryer basket
  3. Place a tortilla in the air fryer
  4. Put cheese on one half of the tortilla
  5. Place some chicken breast strips over the cheese
  6. Top the chicken strips with more cheese
  7. Fold the other half of the tortilla over the first half
  8. Spray avocado oil on the folded half
  9. Keep the tortilla from unfolding by either sticking a toothpick through both sides of it or placing a metal air fryer rack over it
  10. Cook at 390 degrees F for about 4 minutes
  11. To consume, dip it in the guacasalsa or spoon some guacasalsa on it

How to Visually Peek Behind Drywall

Most of the time, stud finders are sufficient to tell you what’s behind some drywall since most drywall just has 2×4 wood studs behind it. But what if you’re still unsure of what’s really behind some drywall. Here’s a simple way to visually peek behind drywall without making a mess or giving yourself a lot of work.

1. Get a borescope inspection camera

I have this one and I think it’s good.

2, Drill a one-inch hole in your drywall.

You can use a 1″ spade bit.

3. Stick your inspection camera through the hole

You should now be able to see what’s behind the wall.

4. Prepare to patch the hole

Get some joint compound and a joint knife.

Buy at Home Depot
Buy at Home Depot

5. Spread the joint compound over the hole

Some compound may ooze out the back. That’s okay.

6. Wait 24 hours and add more compound

7. If necessary, repeat step 6 again

8. Sand, (texturize?), and paint

Note: When the joint compound dries, it will become very hard, and you can probably stick a nail or screw in it to hang something. For a one-inch hole, to keep things simple, I didn’t use any joint tape, and this method worked just fine without it.

A 3-minute Cheaper and Healthier Chicken Sandwich

Chicken sandwiches are very common at fast-food restaurants. They taste good, but you have to drive there, wait in line, and pay between $4 to $6 for just one sandwich. In this post, I share a better chicken sandwich that only takes literally 3 minutes to make at home. First, let’s take a look at some popular fast-food chicken sandwiches.

KFC’s Chicken Sandwich – $3.99

Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich – $5.99

McDonald’s McChicken – ~$4

McDonald’s McCrispy – ~$5

Burger King’s Royal Crispy Chicken – $8

Chick-fil-A® Chicken Sandwich – $6.59

Note: all of the sandwiches above look good in the marketing pictures, but when you get them, they don’t always look that great.

Now, here’s my recipe for a better and healthier chicken sandwich that only takes 3 minutes to make at home.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Take one of the frozen chicken breast fillets and heat it up in a microwave for 3 minutes
  2. Optionally, place a slice of cheese on the chicken and melt it in the microwave
  3. Spread some mayo on both sides of a keto bun
  4. Place the heated chicken fillet in the bun
  5. Eat

For a lower-calorie alternative, replace the mayo with Kinder’s Zero Sugar BBQ sauce, which uses no artificial sweetener.

Note that Kirkland frozen chicken breast fillets are

  • Fully Cooked
  • Have No Antibiotics Ever
  • Have No Artificial Ingredients or Preservatives
  • Boneless and Skinless
  • Have 22g Protein per Serving

If you do the math, one sandwich costs about $2 each.

Panini Sandwiches Using an Air Fryer

Panini sandwiches are usually made with a panini press, but I’ve found that using an air fryer is easier and better. Here’s how to make a turkey and cheese panini sandwich in an air fryer.

Ingredients

  • 2 slices of turkey
  • 2 slices of mozzarella cheese
  • 2 slices of bread (sourdough, etc)
  • mayo

Instructions

  1. Preheat the air fryer to 400 F
  2. Spread mayo on one side of each slice of bread
  3. Assemble the sandwich as follows
Bread slice (mayo on outside)
Turkey slice
Cheese slices
Turkey slice
Bread slice (mayo on outside)
  1. When the air fryer is preheated, set the time to 10 minutes and place the sandwich inside
  2. After 5 minutes, flip the sandwich
  • Increase or decrease the frying time to suit

Here are some ingredient options for making different panini sandwiches. The ingredients are listed in the order of the sandwich layers.

Meatball and cheese panini

  • mayo
  • bread slice
  • meatballs cut in half
  • pizza sauce
  • mozzarella cheese slices
  • bread slices
  • mayo

Chicken and cheese panini

  • mayo
  • bread slice
  • grilled chicken strips or sliced lightly breaded chicken breast
  • pesto sauce
  • roasted tomato
  • mozzarella cheese slices
  • bread
  • mayo

Turkey and cheese panini

  • mayo
  • bread slice
  • turkey slice
  • cheese slices
  • tomato slices
  • turkey slice
  • bread
  • mayo

BBQ chicken and cheese panini

  • mayo
  • bread slice
  • cheese slice
  • shredded chicken
  • bbq sauce
  • bread
  • mayo

Kebab and cheese panini

  • mayo
  • bread slice
  • cheese slice
  • kebabs
  • tzatziki sauce
  • tomato
  • bread
  • mayo

Beef brisket and cheese panini

  • mayo
  • bread slice
  • cheese slice
  • beef brisket
  • bread
  • mayo

Corned beef and cheese panini

  • mayo
  • bread slice
  • cheese slice
  • corned beef
  • bread
  • mayo

Following are different types of pre-cooked meat you can put in your panini and their prices.

$13 / lb at Costco
$10 / lb at Costco
$8.48 / lb at Costco
$13 / lb at Costco
$14 / lb at Costco
$6 / lb at Costco
$3.32 / lb at Costco
$12 / lb at Costco
$5.60 / lb