Air fryers are popular kitchen appliances that promise crispy foods with less fat than deep-frying and faster cooking times than conventional ovens. Let’s dive into how they work:
Convection Cooking: Air fryers don’t actually “fry” food. Instead, they use convection cooking. Here’s how it works:
The food is placed in a perforated basket inside the air fryer.
The machine blows hot air around the food, creating a convection effect.
This hot air cooks and browns the exterior of the food in the basket.
Temperature: As long as the air temperature reaches more than around 320°F (160°C), breaded foods (like frozen chicken tenders) or unbreaded starchy items (like french fries or tater tots) will turn brown.
Limitations:
You can’t cook foods dipped in liquid batter (e.g., onion rings or fried chicken) because the batter would drip through the holes in the basket.
Doughy foods like doughnuts or beignets are also not suitable for air frying.
Portion sizes are limited due to the basket size.
Health Benefits:
Air fryers claim to be healthier because they use less oil. However, all cooking oils are generally healthy.
Deep-fried foods absorb very little oil when cooked at the proper temperature (between 350°F and 375°F).
Comparative studies found that french fries cooked in oil had only slightly more calories than baked fries.
Toss the raw foods in some oil or spray