The What and Why of Air Fryers.
An air fryer is a versatile appliance that can help you create quick and healthy meals for your family. It is a kitchen appliance that offers several different cooking options by using little to no oil. But with so many air fryers on the market, it can be tricky to know which one to choose.
What Exactly Is Air Frying?
How does an air fryer work? An air fryer makes crispy foods that taste as good as the deep frying version. An air frying machine is essentially a hybrid between a deep-frying oven and a convection oven. Air fryers include an air-frying basket which makes food easily accessible to heat from both sides and helps to create nice crispy foods. In contrast, the food is not placed in warm cooking oil, but is exposed to circulating hot air similar to convection ovens. What is the difference between air fryers versus other high heat cooking methods?
Air Frying vs. Deep Frying
When you see the difference between deep frying and air frying you have one obvious winner: the air frying!
An air fryer is preferred over a deep fryer due to its high volume compared to a deep frying oil basket. Deep fried foods need a good amount of cooking oil and the air fryers require nothing or almost nothing! Eating allot of starchy foods or too many fried foods can easily lead to an unhealthy condition.
Compared to traditional frying, air frying reduces fat and oils absorbed by food significantly. Air fryers cook food by circulating hot air around the food thus making the air fried food healthier than deep frying. Compared to other cooking methods, this is a more beneficial result because you will use less oil, which usually results in less calorie consumption; reducing weight gain, obesity, heart disease, and more.
Is an Air Fryer the Same as Toaster Oven?
Air fryers work by utilizing forced-air convection and cook evenly and make their meat perfectly crispy. A chicken breast coated with bread crumbs and a light coating of oil offers a wonderful, less oil absorbed, option to deep fried chicken. A toaster oven will bake and some have frying combination cooking options. Toaster ovens however are generally larger, but do sometimes not feature conduction cooking functions.
Looking for something a little more versatile? See Best Toaster Ovens for more information.
Are There Benefits to Air Frying Food?
Although it does not taste deep-fried, air fryers offer an alternative to deep fried food while still frying does still have a fun, quick taste. Some foods are prepared twice as fast as preparing traditional breads and mashed Brussels sprouts. An air fryer is a quicker, healthier alternative to those deep fried chicken nuggets.
Air frying is certainly simpler cleaning up and requires less effort and counter space when compared to deep frying foods.
Are Air Fryers Healthy?
One of the health benefits people usually claim is that air frying is healthier because there's no excess oil. Medically reviewed studies and the health benefits of air fried foods with much less oil are a little less subtle. You will probably use almost nothing other than heated air when air frying.
Processed food such as fried chicken wings, frozen french fries, and mozzarella sticks are not really considered as healthy when they're cooked in traditional deep fryers. You can dehydrate fresh fruit or vegetables, bake fried cauliflower, chicken wings or brussels sprouts with a little hot oil that reduces the calories and provides a healthier option. Air frying fish with roast vegetables makes for a healthy inexpensive meal.
Home cooking allows you to control the cooking process and use significantly less oil or vegetable oil, which gives you better choices than restaurants which are often loaded with trans fats.
Consider Your Budget
The first thing you'll want to consider when choosing an air fryer is your budget. Air fryers range in price from about $45 to $250. So, it's important to decide how much you're willing to spend before beginning your search. Keep in mind that the more expensive air fryers tend to have more features and be more durable than their cheaper counterparts. An air fryer is considered a countertop appliance. Just make sure what you get is what you need and that it will fit where you want it. Moving it back and forth to under the cabinet for storage may defeat some of the convenience they bring to cooking.
Choosing the Right Size Air Fryer
Air fryers come in a variety of sizes, from small models that can cook foods for a single serving to large models that can feed a family of four or more. Once again, it's important to think about your needs before making a purchase. If you generally cook for yourself or just a few people, a smaller model will likely suffice. But if you regularly entertain guests or cook for large groups, you'll probably want to opt for a larger size.
Here Are Some of the Best Air Fryers
We took al look at some of the most highly rated and affordable options for our article. With so many different fryers on the market, we looked for what has worked the best for the most people.
- Versatile countertop cooking: Air fry, bake, dehydrate, rotisserie, or roast to crispy perfection in one convenient appliance.
- Cook faster: No need to preheat like traditional ovens. This all-in-one convection oven uses rapid air heating elements to cook fast, even, and crispy food.
- Healthy cooking made easy: Make healthy meals using 98% less oil than traditional fryers.
- Simplified set-up: Anyone can cook perfect meals in minutes with 17 preset options and an easy-to-use capacitive touch control screen.
- All-inclusive: Includes three air flow racks, stainless steel rotisserie oven spit and forks, stainless steel rotating basket/retrieval tool, and a drip tray.
- Family-size meals: Make meals for the family with the extra-large 10-Liter capacity. Also great for meal-prepping large quantities of food.
- Monitor cooking progress: The interior lights and extra-large air fryer oven window allow you to check your food's cooking progress.
- Minimal clean-up: The removable drip tray and dishwasher-safe parts keep cleanup fast and simple.
- Enjoy Food with Less Fat or Oil: With Ultrean air fryer you can enjoy the same fried and crispy foods with less fat and grease
- Get a Multifunction Cooker That Saves Your Time and Money: Aside from air frying you can also grill, roast, and bake your favorite food with its innovative heating system-rapid air technology, which is designed to cook your food evenly without the hassles of using hot oil or thermometer
- Hassle-Free Operation: With accessible buttons and an easy cooking set up, It comes with an auto switch off timer (0-30mins) and adjustable temperature setting (180°F-400°F)
- Easy to Clean: It has a nonstick pan, heat-resistant handle, and a detachable dishwasher safe basket, so it’s easy to cook and clean the unit after cooking
- Contemporary Design: With an LCD display and a bonus recipe book to help you prepare your fried food, snacks, grilled, and baked foods
- 7-IN-1 FUNCTIONALITY: Air fry, broil, bake, roast, dehydrate, reheat, and rotisserie.
- EvenCrisp TECHNOLOGY: Advanced technology that drives air flow top down for a perfect golden finish and crispy, tender results every time!
- ROTISSERIE FEATURE: Perfect for self-basting and tumble-frying. Top heating element with fan ensures optimal cooking and baking performance.
- ONE-TOUCH SMART PROGRAMS: 6 customizable programs for one-touch rotisserie-style chicken, garlicky potatoes, cookies cinnamon buns and more!
- FAST PREHEATING: Little to no preheating time, from frozen to golden in minutes! Create gourmet meals with the versatility of a temperature range of 95 to 400° F.
- INCLUDED ACCESSORIES: Include a non-stick drip pan and 2 perforated cooking trays, as well as stainless-steel rotisserie basket, rotisserie spit and forks, and lift tool.
- EASY CLEAN-UP: Oven door removes easily and cleans easily with a damp cloth and dish soap. Dishwasher safe drip pan, cooking trays, rotisserie basket, spit, forks and screws
- SAFETY FEATURES: Built-in safety features including Overheat Protection and auto-off to keep your mind at ease.
- DISCOVER AMAZING RECIPES: Download our free Instant Pot app, so you can create quick new favorites and prepare delicious meals, available iOS and Android.
- A KITCHEN MUST HAVE: Perfect for quick delicious meals, preparing side dishes, appetizers, rotisserie chicken and more. Great addition to any kitchen.
- Now enjoy guilt free food; Air fry with up to 75 percent less fat than traditional frying methods; Tested against hand cut, deep fried French fries
- Wide temperature range: 105 degree Fahrenheit to 400 degrees Fahrenheit allows you to gently remove moisture from foods or quickly cook and crisp foods with convection heat
- 4 quart ceramic coated nonstick basket and crisper plate fit 2 pounds of french fries. Cord length (feet) - 2.6
- The unit will need time to preheat before coming up to temperature. We recommend that you preheat the unit for 3 minutes before adding your ingredients to achieve the best results
- Dehydrate: Create flat, chip like dehydrated foods for fun, homemade snacks pounds; The combination of low fan speed and low temperature enables thorough dehydration
- Dishwasher safe parts: Easy to clean basket, crisper plate, and multi-layer rack
- CUT DOWN 85% OIL :With 360° rapid heat circulation technology, feel free to enjoy the same crispy textures as traditional deep frying with up to 85% less fat
- 9 EASY FUNCTIONS: 9 one-touch cooking functions on a tempered glass display let you preheat and add personalized Shake Reminders. Let's add some fun to the cooking process
- COMPACT BUT SUITABLE CAPACITY : It can hold 5-quarts of cooking space, which fits enough food for 1-4 people, with compact design takes up little room on your counter top
- DISHWASHER SAFE: With a nonstick basket, made without BPA and PFOA, easy to clean
- COOKBOOK & ONLINE RECIPES : Always be inspired to cook with an included cookbook of 30 original recipes by Cosori R&D chefs and 100+ recipes on the free VeSync app. You’ll be cooking like a pro in no time
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Air Fryers and Extra Features
Some air fryers come with extra features like an automatic shut-off function or a timer. These features are nice to have but not strictly necessary. If you're on a tight budget, you can save some money by choosing an air fryer without these bells and whistles. However, if you're willing to spend a bit more, they can certainly make your life easier in the kitchen.
This means that you can enjoy your favorite fried foods without all of the unhealthy consequences.
Air Fryers - Easy and Convenient
Air fryers work by circulating hot air around the food, which cooks it evenly and prevents it from sticking to the bottom of the fryer basket. There are many different air fryers on the market, and it can be tricky to know which one is right one. Basically, the best air fryer is the one that works for you.
We recommended several of the best air fryers on the market so that you can make an informed decision when purchasing one for your home. When it comes time to make your purchase, be sure to read reviews from other customers and compare prices between different retailers before making your final decision. And most importantly—enjoy cooking in an air fryer!
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