Should I Buy An Air Fryer

Should I Buy An Air Fryer

This year, my mother-in-law got me the Ninja Air Fryer. I thought, Oh no, is this another huge appliance that Ill use a couple of times a year?

People say they love their air fryer, but they also say they love their Instant Pot so I was very skeptical. Boy, was I wrong. I have literally used my air fryer twenty times since I got it at Christmas.

You dont just have to cook french fries in an air fryer, but you can literally cook all kinds of food, even desserts. I learned all this from Pinterest and even created a board called air fryer recipes because I wanted more recipes to try out.

There Are Many Different Types Of Air Fryers And The One You Choose Is Important

There are many air fryers on the market, but they mostly boil down to two models: a convection-oven air fryer and a basket air fryer. The first resembles a mini toaster or convection oven. On the other hand, the basket air fryer is the more traditional air fryer that uses a drawer-like compartment to cook food.

I was not expecting there to be so many options, so I had to do a lot of research to make sure I was making the right decision. In the end, I decided to buy the Cuisinart convection-oven air fryer for around $100 because it has more capabilities, like broiling, toasting, and roasting.

How Do I Clean An Air Fryer

Ideally, your air fryer should be cleaned out after every use to avoid any build-up of food. To clean your air fryer, simply remove the basket, tray, and pan, then hand-wash with soap and warm water. You may need to soak the basket or tray in hot water for longer if you find any baked-on grease. Make sure to check the instruction manual to find out if these pieces are dishwasher safe. After washing, dry all of the parts well before reassembling.

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Different Styles Of Air Fryers

• Basket/Bucket Style Food is added to a basket or a bucket and then air fried with a hot circulating fan on top. Bucket styles have one main compartment and has an insert that keeps the food slightly elevated, allowing grease and oils to drip to the bottom. Some basket styles have a handled basket that actually separates from the main bucket. This basket is what keeps the food separated from the oil drippings. This is the most common style where recipes will say shake because the basket/bucket allows you to do that.

Is Cooking With Air Fryer Easy

Yes! I just push the ON button, set the time and start. The timer is automatically set to 20 minutes. You can change it to whatever time you need before or during cooking. You can also open the air fryer at anytime to check on the food. Thats huge for me because I always get busy with something else and loose track of time and I like to check on things while they cook. You cant do that with an Instant Pot. Im always hoping it turns out ok.

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Are Expensive Air Fryers Better Than Cheap Ones Lets Find Out

If youve looked at air fryers youve no doubt noticed that they are disproportionally priced. Ive seen air fryers range from $30 to $200 and beyond.

The increase in quality, size, technology and style is evident between the $30 to $100 price mark-making an investment at the higher end of this scale worth it. This is significantly reduced between the $100 and $200 mark, making anything more than $100 on an air fryer an unworthwhile investment.

In this post, well look at whether an air fryer is a worthwhile investment, the research that went into finding out whether a more expensive air fryer is worth the cost and what air fryer might be right for you.

Which Type Of Air Fryer Is Best

The best air fryers you can buy today Cosori Smart Wifi Air Fryer. GoWISE USA 3.7 Quart 8-in-1 Air Fryer. Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven. Dash Compact Air Fryer. Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. Ninja Foodi 2 Basket Air Fryer. Philips Premium Airfryer XXL. Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 XL Pro Air Fry Oven DT201.

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Biggest Air Fryer Cons To Be Aware Of

I do really like air fryers a lot. But I want to tell you about some of the downsides of air fryers, especially when you want to buy a new air fryer.

Because, just like any other product, air fryers do have a couple of disadvantages. I experienced these myself during the use of my air fryers since 2015.

I have currently 12 air fryers, because I test and review them for my Dutch site. So I have quite some knowledge on the downsides of these air fryers.

How To Choose: Convection Toaster Oven Vs Air Fryer

If youre having trouble choosing which type of air fryer to get, heres how wed decide.

Get the Cuisinart oven if:

• You have room in your kitchen for a larger oven.
• You have a family or larger household, and/or want to be able to cook larger portions of food at once.
• You want to make a variety of foods, such as baked goods, toast, frozen pizzas up to 13 inches, or roast chicken as big as 6 pounds.
• You want the option to adjust the convection fans speed or turn it off completely.
• You dont want to buy extra accessories to get the most out of your appliance.
• You dont mind turning your food to achieve even browning while cooking.
• You like to avoid nonstick coating, which lines the baskets in most pod-shaped air fryers and tends to wear off quickly.
• You want faster cleanup.

Get a pod-shaped air fryer if:

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How Big Is The Air Fryer Inside

Every expert we spoke to agreed that the most important thing to consider when buying an air fryer is its size. Its like looking for a new mattress, Weinstein said. You know what kind of bed you have, so youre only going to look at models that will fit it.

Try spotting marketing jargon at the outset of your search. capacity from a marketing perspective and a real perspective is different, Pitre said. When they say, This is a 4-quart air fryer, theyre talking about capacity if you fill it to the brim.

What really matters about an air fryer is not how much you can fill it, but the internal surface area. When you cook in an air fryer, youre going to be spreading your food out in a thin layer across the inside of the pan you wont want to pile your food on top of itself.

The square and rectangular air fryers are a better use of inside space, Pitre said. Look the flat area in the basket and think, Could I put two or four burgers in there? Buy whatever size air fryer better suits your needs: 2 quarts should be good for a couple of people, while 6 quarts or more should suit larger parties.

You Can Do So Much In An Air Fryer

My favorite air fryer has settings for grilling, roasting, reheating, and even baking. In fact, when you buy an air fryer youre really not restricted to just cooking food you would usually fry. Things Ive cooked in my air fryer include tray cakes and even air fryer hard boiled eggs. I have also seen people make cheesecakes, toast, and muffins in their air fryers, so you can get plenty of use out of an air fryer all year long.

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What About Using A Full

For the record, you can get similar air-fried results when cooking food in a full-size oven with convection. But because a full-size oven is so much larger than a toaster oven or an air fryer, it takes much longer to preheat and can take longer to cook food. The Cuisinart TOB-260N1 toaster oven preheats almost immediately, making it the better choice if speed is part of what appeals to you about an air fryer.

Whats The Difference Between An Expensive And A Cheap Air Fryer

Once youve determined that purchasing an air fryer might be of benefit to you and your family then its time to begin purchasing one. At which point youll likely have seen that theres a large disparity in pricing.

Air fryers can range from between $30 and $200 and more often than not the machine at the higher end of the price point has little to no additional features compared to the one thats a third of the price. So whats the difference?

Often the price comes down to

• The manufacturer
• The model
• The size/capacity
• Additional features, accessories and abilities
• The warrenty

Take for example this $50 air fryer at Target. Its 900w, by a relatively basic brand and holds 2 quarts. Its basic, with little to no added features or accessories but it certainly does the job.

At double the price you have this Instant Pot air fryer. Its currently being sold for $100. So why the additional cost?

Firstly, its a brand people know and people trust, many see it as high quality. Next, the size. This Instant Pot Vortex air fryer is 6 quart, triple the capacity of the $50 Dash appliance above.

The additional functions. Not only does this air fryer, air fry. It also has dedicated buttons to bake, roast and reheat foods.

The final reason this air fryer is double the price of the $50 Dash air fryer is due to its style. How it looks and in my opinion at least it looks sleek, it looks stylish and it looks expensive. Especially when compared to the cheaper air fryer above.

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If You Already Have A Convection Oven Why Would You Need An Air Fryer

It cooks food faster. There may be less chance of food drying out and being overcooked.

You can use it for a variety of non-fried foods, too. It’s great for toasting nuts, cooking vegetables, and even desserts. It’s also great for reheating leftovers. Reheating leftovers in an air fryer produces food with a better texture than using a microwave.

You don’t want to heat your oven for a quick snack or small amount of food.

However, if I’m cooking a large amount of food, for example, a couple of trays of roasted vegetables for a family dinner, or a sheet pan dinner, the convection feature on my regular oven is the obvious choice.

I’ve heard that it’s great for cooking foods like frozen french fries, chicken nuggets, or tater tots. These aren’t food that I normally eat, so I’ll just have to take others’ word for it. However, I have roasted small cubes of potato, sweet potato, and butternut squash and they were absolutely delicious!

What Shouldnt I Use An Air Fryer To Do

Although the air fryer is a great tool to speed up time spent in the kitchen, the food you make in it isnt going to taste the same as something youve deep-fried. If youre expecting an air fried egg roll to have the same consistency as a deep-fried egg roll, youre going to be disappointed, White said. Free yourself of those confines.

Linda Larsen, author of The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook, also noted that not every food can be cooked in the air fryer, pointing specifically to frozen stuffed chicken breasts. Foods like this, after being put in the air fryer, will look fully cooked and golden brown on the outside even if theyre still raw and potentially dangerous to eat. Both Larsen and Weinstein explicitly warned against cooking anything with a runny batter in the air fryer, too, since it can make a mess and require more painstaking clean-up.

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Pro: They’re Great For Small Households

For downsizers and empty-nesters who find themselves cooking smaller meals, the air fryer can just about replace the conventional oven. It’s also great for renters who may have substandard ovens, or for small spaces that don’t have an oven at all. If you love camping or live in a tiny home, an air fryer can also be handy.

How To Adjust Air

You dont need to seek out air-fryer recipes to get great results in a convection toaster ovenany recipe written for a standard oven works. However, if you have your eye on a recipe written specifically for an air fryer but want to prepare it in a convection toaster oven, you have to make some minor adjustments for the best results.

Generally, if youre following an air-fryer recipe but plan to cook it in a convection toaster oven, you need to increase the cooking time and temperature to compensate for the toaster ovens larger cavity. You dont need to buy an air-frying basketa regular quarter-sheet pan will give you similar air-frying results in a convection oven . Here are some tips for cooking some common dishes in a convection toaster oven.

Vegetables:

• Roasted vegetables: Roast at 425 °F with speed convection for 12 to 20 minutes, tossing halfway through cooking time.
• Air-fryer pickles: Bake at 425 °F with speed convection for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking time.
• Hand-cut fries: Bake at 425 °F with speed convection for 40 to 45 minutes, tossing occasionally.
• Frozen fries: Bake with speed convection at the temperature indicated on the package. You may need to cook them longer than the instructions recommend .

Meat, poultry, and fish:

Baking:

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Should You Get An Air Fryer Oven

An air fryer oven has a larger footprint , but it is more spacious than an air fryer, so its a better option if youre cooking for four-plus people. Take, for example, the Instant Vortex Plus 7-in-1 Air Fryer Oven . This oven has two nonstick roasting trays that can easily accommodate two pounds of fries or tater tots, whereas a 3.7-quart air fryer maxes out at about 1 pound of fries. Its also large enough to accommodate a whole chicken and a 8×8-inch baking pan or 9-inch round cake for baking brownies or cakes.

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Air fryer ovens also have extra features a regular air fryer does not have, like roasting, broiling, baking, dehydrating, and even rotisserie settings. However, there are some downsides to consider. Like we said, these ovens are quite large, so you cant easily store them in the pantry or in a cabinet. They also need to preheat for two to three minutes and lack the easy-to-grab handles than an air fryer basket has, so you have to be careful when grabbing the trays out of the oven.

Air Fryers Are Difficult To Clean

Cleaning an air fryer is the biggest complaint I come across when researching air fryers. It is true that cleaning an air fryer is more easy to do in comparison with a conventional deep fryer. But still, people ask me frequently how to clean an air fryer properly.

The reason people have difficulties with cleaning their air fryer is because, I think, they use their air fryer just like their old deep fryer. This means that after usage the owner stores the air fryer away, just like they did with their old deep fryer, without cleaning it.

Yes, an air fryer is an alternative for deep fryers. But you have to see an air fryer more like any other pan in your kitchen. After using a pan or pot you clean it before you store it away in one of your cabinets, right? You basically have to do the same thing with the parts of an air fryer. This means that it is recommended to clean all the parts, such as the frying basket and the pan, thoroughly so you can use a clean air fryer the next time you want to use it.

When you dont make it a habit of cleaning the air fryer after each and every usage, it will be very difficult to clean the parts. Food residues and fat accumulates at the parts of your air fryer and can turn black after a while. These scorched and burnt on food residues are very difficult to remove and they are unhealthy for you.

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