Air Fryer 101
An air fryer or convection oven is an electronic kitchen appliance with a fan that rapidly circulates the heated air and cooks the food on demand. It also makes sure that frozen foods such as fries are crispy and well crunchy without too much fat. However, does buying an Air Fryer really make sense for your kitchen budget? While an air fryer certainly is an attractive kitchen appliance and one should opt for a budget-friendly choice, does buying an air fryer really make sense for your kitchen budget? Read on to find out whether you need an air fryer or not.
In reality, an air fryer may be a good investment for you. You save time because the process takes very little time. All you need to do is to place the food into the basket, switch on the heat and then wait for the basket to preheat up. After that, you just need to place the food into the basket, cover it and leave it to heat up. In a few minutes, you will have yummy meals ready to serve to your family.
But is it really a healthy kitchen tool? Will it cook all by itself without any help? It is true that the food cooked in an air fryer does require less oil compared to food cooked in a traditional skillet or wok. This is due to the fact that the basket traps the heat inside and thus cooks the food faster. However, this doesn't mean that the air-fried food is necessarily healthier than the other kinds of food.
There are some foods that are better cooked using the fryers. For instance, frying French fries is better done using these than with woks. Because the wok is made from heavy steel, it requires a lot of energy to go through the entire meal and French fries are such light foods. Frying them in a metal basket does not only saves you energy but also allows you to control the crispiness of the fries. On the other hand, the air fryer's basket allows you to infuse more flavor into the fries.
Air fryers have many advantages. They can be used for a wide temperature range and can retain the temperature even after you have removed the lid. They can also cook multiple foods at one time. However, a downside to using an air fryer to cook your favorite cuisines is that you cannot use it as a full-fledged toaster oven. Thus, if you want to prepare pizza or a wide temperature range of foods using it, you would have to buy a separate oven.
There are also two kinds of air fryers - the ones that come with a preload option and those that don't. A preloaded air fryer has preset wattage that you can increase or decrease according to the amount of food you want to cook. A non-preloaded one has no wattage adjustment option and remains on the default setting of 100 percent. If you want to fully control the cooking temperature, you would have to manually increase or decrease the amount of power. It is recommended that you buy an air fryer with a preset wattage option as it ensures that the appliance cooks to the exact temperature and can save you energy.
The second category is the hybrid type. These air fryers can act like both a grill and a toaster. You can roast, bake, and fry using the same appliance. Some models also feature a rotisserie function where the bottom part of the air fryer has two removable baskets that allow you to roast, bake, and cook different foods. Such additional functions add convenience especially when you want to do several things at once.
Another category that is very popular among air fryers is the multi-watt models that doubles up as an oven and a stove. Such appliances usually come with a heating plate, fan, adjustable racks for toasting and roasting, and a separate grill area. When it comes to safety, multi-watt models are recommended as they are safe to use even when your oven and stove are in use. However, it is important to remember that the higher the wattage, the faster the rate at which the food cooks. Hence, it is recommended that you buy multi-watt models if you want to cook fast healthy meals.