Lifestyle

10 Facts of Air Fryers You Probably Didn’t Know About

2021-08-10 , 5:50 pm

Last Updated on 2022-09-28 , 1:53 pm

If you’re a real foodie like me, you would probably own an air fryer at home so that you can cook all the delicious food and snacks whenever you want, especially during the night for supper. It’s super convenient, and you don’t have to worry about getting splashed with oil.

And if you don’t already own an air fryer, what are you doing with your life? Here are 10 facts of air fryers that will make you want to use one right now!

If you prefer to watch a video about this topic instead, here’s one we’ve done:

Using An Air Fryer Instead Can Help You Lose Weight

Looking to lose some weight? Using an air fryer can help a lot, especially if you’re someone who loves to eat deep-fried foods.

Deep-fried foods are high in fat and calories, which is why they can easily lead to weight gain. Plus, you tend to consume a lot of unhealthful oils when you eat deep-fried foods instead.

So when you switch out deep-fried foods for air-fried foods, your intake of fat and calories is reduced by a fair amount. The foods may not taste the same, but hey, at least you won’t feel as guilty when you’re eating them.

Air Fryers Help To Cut The Fat Content of Certain Foods

We have all established the fact that deep-fried foods tend to have more fat than foods prepared with other types of cooking methods.

Did you know that 200g of fried chicken breast actually has more fat than 200g of roasted chicken?

Using an air fryer can help to reduce the fat content of fried foods by up to 75%.

Air fryers require only one tablespoon (15ml) of oil to cook food, while deep fryers require at least three whole cups of oils (750ml) to fry something according to many recipes online. So as you can see, while not all of the oil will be absorbed into the food, air-fried foods tend to have less fat content than deep-fried foods.

Air Fryers Help To Reduce The Formation of Acrylamide In Food

Frying food can lead to the formation of harmful compounds like acrylamide, which is a compound formed in carbohydrate-rich foods when cooked at high heat.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has even shared through their research that acrylamide may have links to cancer development, and is considered a “probable human carcinogen”.

One study also revealed that air-frying food can reduce acrylamide by a maximum of 90% as compared to deep-frying.

You can also reduce the amount by lowering the temperature of the air fryer or shortening the frying time.

So next time you think of eating your favourite fried chicken, maybe opt for air-frying it instead.

Air Fryers Can Be Used To Cook Things Other Than Frozen Food

You probably already know that air fryers are best used in the middle of the night to cook your frozen finger foods like french fries and chicken nuggets.

After all, what’s a better supper than that?

But did you know that air fryers can also be used to cook other types of food?

You can use it to cook chicken, fish, seafood, and even vegetables.

And since an air fryer is like a small conventional oven, you can also use it to bake single-serving desserts, like cookies, apple fritters, shepherd’s pies, and bread.

See how convenient it is with just one handy appliance?

Air Fryers Are Safe To Use

You may be wondering if air fryers work in the same way as microwave ovens. After all, they’re both used in cooking food. However, unlike microwaves, air fryers do not use, produce, or emit any radiation.

Instead, they use radiated heat, which is heat that is quickly heated and circulated around food. This allows the exterior of the dish you are cooking to dry out and form a crispy layer.

And plus, since it is all contained in one basket, you don’t have to worry about being burned by the heat or the splattering oil.

Rotate Your Food While They Are In The Air Fryer

While we all love the convenience of chucking all of our uncooked food into the air-frying basket and not caring about it until it “dings” when it’s ready, we shouldn’t actually be doing that.

Turns out that we are making a mistake by not checking on our food periodically before it’s done.

In order to get an evenly cooked final dish, you should flip your food and move them around a bit at the halfway mark. This allows the heat to get to all areas equally, especially for meats with uneven thickness.

Air fryers Can Lead To Formation of Harmful Compounds

While air-frying food can reduce the formation of acrylamide, it may still lead to the formation of compounds like aldehydes, heterocyclic amines, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

These compounds are formed when the meat is cooked at high heat, and these dangerous chemicals can result in cancer development.

As of today, there is still no clear relation between air frying and the compounds, but it’s best to keep them in mind when you’re cooking.

Air Fryers May Not Be A Good Choice For Those With A Large Family

If you’re cooking for a large family or a large group of people, air fryers may not be your best friend because their capacity is quite small, and you’re only able to cook dishes for up to four people at one time.

Even if manufacturers market their air fryers to be in the XXL size, they may still be too small and not cater to your needs.

It’s not that the manufacturers don’t want to. In fact, it’s because they can’t. If you have a larger capacity, you will have to sacrifice the cooking results because there is reduced power in the air circulation to fry your dish as compared to when it is in a pan with a smaller capacity.

As such, you may have to cook the same dish in smaller portions when you’re preparing a meal for more than five people, and this will definitely take longer than doing it conventionally with pots and pans, or even an oven.

Air Fryers May Not Save As Much Energy As You Think

Each air fryer may use a different amount of energy depending on its model, but you can easily calculate the energy use by taking the wattage and multiplying it by the number of hours you use in a day. After you have arrived at a value, divide it by 1,000 and you will get the daily kilowatt-hour (kWh).

While air fryers may not use much energy if you use them for short periods of time a day, this may not be the case if you’re constantly using them.

In order to cook your food, air fryers use convection and heat the food up by circulating hot air around the air frying basket. This heat circulation is kept constant until your food is ready to eat. This is unlike the case in ovens where they maintain the heat once it has reached an optimal temperature.

This means that air fryers are constantly using energy, which could rack up a higher electricity bill.

Air Fryers May Not Always Give You The Results That You Want

If you’re using an air fryer for the first time, it’s best that you read the instructions booklet or research extensively before attempting to cook anything.

Alternatively, you can just do what your gut tells you to and pray that the food you’ve placed inside the air frying basket will turn out good.

Air fryers tend to have different settings and modes depending on the type of model you get. This means that the same dish may require different settings if it is being cooked by two different types of air fryers.

If you don’t adjust the settings correctly, your food may end up burnt, dried, or even become inedible.

A lot of trial and error may be required for you to fully understand your air fryer and how it works to give you the best food results.

Our suggestion? Read the instructions booklet and research extensively. And don’t be afraid to try!