New helper in our kitchen: air fryer

Best Standard Design Air Fryers

A classic deep fryer is a device with a deep bowl and a mesh container. The cooking process is frying in a large amount of hot oil. A deep fryer saves housewives from problems such as oil splashing on the stove, dirty dishes, and fumes in the kitchen. Moreover, it significantly reduces the cooking time. Deep fryers are available in a wide range of stores - they come in different sizes, with solid or removable bowls. Despite the fact that their operating principle is the same, tasty potatoes are obtained only in high-quality deep fryers.

Advantages of an air fryer

• Cooking food with a minimum amount of oil - you get tasty and at the same time healthy dishes without carcinogens. This leads to another advantage of kitchen appliances.
• Saving on oil. After all, to make crispy fried food in an air fryer, you only need a tablespoon of oil. This results in time savings, since there is no need to heat a huge volume of deep fat. Cooking food itself begins immediately after starting the program.
• Cook food quickly with advanced heating technology.
• The device is simple and easy to use. Most household appliances have similar control principles. All buttons are labeled; if you have questions, the instructions from the manufacturer can help.
• It can be easily disassembled into its component parts and washed with water. Unlike air fryers, an air fryer comes apart into components that can be placed in the dishwasher without exception.
• More expensive models have special filters to capture cooking odors. Considering that classic deep fryers are associated with smoke from boiling oil and the bright “aroma” of fried foods, air fryers with a filter almost completely absorb odors .
• Air fryers with a bowl are very compact , which allows the housewife to easily find a place for it in the kitchen. This is especially valuable in small kitchens. However, models with a door cannot boast of this - having a larger volume, such equipment is larger in weight and size.
• Some models with a door can cook two dishes at the same time . There are also models with the ability to install 3-4 pallets.
• Due to the presence of a rotation function in an air fryer with a door, more uniform heat treatment of products . The finished dish will not only be healthy, but also as tasty as possible. Unfortunately, air fryers with a pull-out tray do not have this feature. However, it cannot be said that the dishes turn out much worse.
• The transparent door allows you to see the food while it is cooking. Full control of the process is an additional bonus of the air fryer.
• Depending on the configuration, you can get a huge variety of dishes . The manufacturer additionally produces baking trays, grill grates, frying baskets, skewers for kebabs of meat, fish, vegetables, etc. This mainly applies to air fryers with a door.

Rawmid air fryer

Disadvantages of an air fryer

• High cost of equipment. Since air fryers were created relatively recently and are not produced by all manufacturers, prices for these kitchen aids are still relatively high .
• Air fryers with a pull-out tray have a small bowl volume - from 2 to 4 liters. About 2 kg of food will be prepared at one time. This is not enough for a large company, but for a small family of 2-3 people it is quite enough.
• To start the air fryer with a slide-out tray to cook a second portion of food, you need to wait until the bowl has cooled . Therefore, when preparing a dish for a large number of guests, it will take a lot of time.
• Most air fryers with a bowl are not transparent , so there is no way to see the food being cooked. To look inside, you need to pull out the tray.
• Some manufacturers include primitive instructions with their product without a detailed description of the operation of the device. In this case, it is difficult to independently understand the proposed programs and the cooking time of a particular mode.

Variety of dishes prepared in the air fryer

Air fryer reviews

Reviews from air fryer buyers are divided into 2 camps. While the first group notes the high quality of the resulting dishes, the speed of their preparation, and the absence of the need to monitor the cooking process, others are frankly not satisfied with the operation of the device. Despite the high cost of these household appliances, the programs of some models freeze. There are also manufacturers who did not bother to include instructions for the air fryer(?!?!), which discouraged housewives. In the Internet era, this issue is resolved quite quickly, but a description of the programs of a specific model (their detailed purpose, for which dishes each of them is used and the cooking time of the product) is not always easy to find.

Air fryer - cooking without oil Having collected numerous reviews about air fryers of a few models, we can conclude: not every housewife is ready to find a place for a new, not yet cheap, assistant. The undeniable advantage of the device is the final healthy product without excess fat (harmless French fries - that’s cool!). Caring for the health of the family is the main priority of every housewife, but you can also do without an air fryer. Therefore, this kitchen appliance should not be strongly recommended; the potential buyer must independently decide whether to purchase it or not. After all, for some, for example, a coffee maker or toaster is a necessary thing, while others are used to frying bread in a frying pan, preferring to have a spacious kitchen.

How to choose an air fryer?

Before purchasing any kitchen appliances, you should study its characteristics, types, as well as customer reviews. There are many types of air fryers. Let us note the most significant parameters.

1. Pay attention to the case material , which will directly determine its price. Manufacturers make air fryers from plastic, stainless steel, or a combination of both materials. A plastic air fryer is lighter but not durable. Therefore, it is recommended for housewives who do not plan to use it frequently. With a metal device, the opposite is true: its strength will allow it to serve for a long time, even taking into account daily work. The price will be higher accordingly.
2. Air fryers vary in capacity . Here, start from how much of the final product you need to get. Manufacturers create bowls with a volume of 2 to 4 liters, in models with a door - up to 12 liters, so you can choose the equipment of the required volume for your family and depending on your goals.
3. The temperature range is also different for different models. Most often, the temperature is set between 60 and 240 degrees. At the same time, low values ​​are created for drying, drying (vegetables, fruits, fish, meat), while high values ​​are used mainly for making baked goods.
4. The shape of the bowl is also different: round and square. If round air fryers win in terms of compactness, then square ones win in terms of capacity.
5. The power of the devices varies from 800 to 2000 W. Most air fryer models have a power of about 1400 W, which is enough to cook most dishes.
6. The device control can be electronic or mechanical. In the first case there is a touch screen, in the second there are only mechanical toggle switches and buttons. At the same time, the type of control will affect the price of the device - air fryers with touch controls cost more. Mechanical ones are less likely to fail and are not so demanding on voltage drops in the outlet.
7. The kitchen appliance turns off after the timer . The time range is from 30 to 60 minutes. Some models automatically turn off after the time has elapsed, while others beep while continuing to cook.
8. An air fryer with a door has many additional features compared to appliances with a pull-out tray. For example, grill, rotation function, baking, skewers, popcorn basket, etc.
9. Some models have functions for defrosting and heating food , which is a pleasant bonus for many housewives.
10. Air fryers differ in the type of heating element . Inexpensive models most often have a halogen heating element made of glass and containing halogen gas. Another type of heating is stainless steel, heating element, which has a number of advantages over halogen ones. These are fast heating rate, strength and durability.

Air fryer comparison

The comparative characteristics of air fryers are summarized in the table below. Models described for example:

• Tefal FZ707267 ActiFry - air fryer with bowl,

  
  Air fryer Tefal FZ707267 ActiFry

• Zigmund & Shtain ZAF-900 - air fryer with bowl,

  
  Air fryer Zigmund & Shtain ZAF-900

• Rawmid Modern RMA-02 - air fryer with a door.

  
  Air fryer Rawmid Modern RMA-02

Air fryer 5 in 1| What is the new RAWMID Modern RMA-02 capable of? REVIEW. Video

Tips for using an air fryer

Customer reviews are a very valuable thing. By collecting positive and negative information from people, as well as advice from manufacturers, we get:

1. To prevent the product from sticking to the grill of the appliance, grease it with sunflower oil before placing food.
2. Before purchasing an air fryer made of combined metal and plastic material, pay attention to the presence of thermal insulation of the body. Getting burned while using a kitchen appliance will be a very unpleasant fact.
3. Before using household appliances, manufacturers recommend warming them up in advance - 1-3 minutes will be enough. In this respect, air fryers are similar to ovens. However, this is only a recommendation, not a mandatory rule.
4. The manufacturer does not recommend placing more food than is provided in the bowl. An extra pile of vegetables or meat will result in uneven cooking. As a result, it will not be the “bad device” that will be to blame, but the housewife who overdid it with the amount of products.

Air fryer from Tefal with measuring spoon included

How does an air fryer work?

For many housewives, it is important to know the operating principle of kitchen appliances. For different reasons. Therefore, we will also touch on this issue, but in general terms.

Once the food is placed in the containers, placed inside the air fryer, the timer and cooking temperature are set, the magic begins. Thanks to the internal heating element located in the upper part of the chamber and the convector, hot air flows are formed, which are carefully and evenly distributed inside the device. As a result, the product is first dried, then the food is cooked using the convection method - the food is evenly blown with hot air from all sides.

How does an air fryer work?