What is Air Fryer & how does it work?
Air Fryer is nothing but an oven with a fan for air circulation, eliminating the hassle of traditional frying. This fryer typically simulates deep frying with very little oil. It uses 60 – 70% less oil than conventional deep frying.
First of all, everyone loves fried food. The crispy and tasty feel of deep-fried food is like no other. As we fry anything, we use lots of oil. Excess oil is not suitable for our health, and here, air-fryer makes the difference. It uses less oil and gives a taste very close to deep-fried food.
Besides, this fryer works by circulating very hot air around the food. The hot air circulating the food cooks the food evenly. The cleaning process of this fryer is simple and super easy. So, you don’t need to worry. Most of the racks and baskets inside this fryer are compatible with dishwashers. Hence, you can clean up very easily.
How does an air fryer work?
The air fryer basically uses the idea of the oven in a more advanced way. The heating element with a fan is situated at the top of the fryer. Simultaneously, the air inlet is located at the fryer’s top while the air outlet at the fryer’s backside.
Basically, these fryers use circulating hot air to cook the food. The fryer’s chamber contains the heating element that radiates the heat, and the fan circulates that heat around the food by air. The temperatures reach around 230 degrees Celsius, depending on the model. The thin layer of oil around food, along with hot air, cooks the food. As a result, browning starts, and you get the crisp feel of food just like a deep-fried one.
Most of the time, you need to apply a thin layer of oil around the food to get things done in this fryer. This Fryer controls the internal temperature by removing excess heat from the air outlet at the fryer’s back. These fryers heat up very quickly. As a result, the cooking time is 20% less than traditional frying. Also, you can set up a timer and temperature control. Some advanced fryers have agitators that keep shaking the food, giving you more uniform cooking. In small air fryers, you need to do it manually.
Difference between deep fryer and air fryer
First of all, the deep fryers use hot oil for cooking the food, while this fryer uses hot air to cook the food. This fryer heats up very quickly. So it saves the time required for cooking because of low preheating time. Deep fryers need to heat oil, and hence the preheating time is almost ten minutes in the case of the deep fryer. The deep fryer requires lots of oil, while this fryer requires very little oil. Thus, you can save 60-70% oil by using this fryer.
Advantages and disadvantages
By using this fryer, you can fry anything quickly. You can fry frozen food in the best possible way using this fryer. The oil requirement is significantly less. You can get the feel of deep-fried food, although the taste is different than deep-fried food. You can also bake in these fryers.
Furthermore, the air fryer only lags when the batter is involved in cooking when it comes to disadvantages. So, the liquid batter is a big no-no for this fryer. The size of this fryer is small; hence, you can’t fry larger quantities at once.
Is air fried food healthy?
First of all, you need to understand that this fryer works with very little oil and, in some cases, no oil at all. Hence, ultimately you end up using 60-70% less oil than a traditional deep fryer. So, air-fried food is definitely healthy than deep-fried food.
In conclusion, an air fryer is a more healthy way of frying food instantly and getting the feel of deep-fried food in very little oil. So, go for it.
Image Courtesy: Philips
