Sales of the tool have soared last year. Understanding how it works, its advantages and limitations.
In air fryers were recently touted as the 2021 benchmark product, with a 400% increase in sales.
But how do they work? And because they use little or no oil, are they a healthier option than other food preparation methods?
At a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing, it’s also worth wondering how air fryer it affects your energy consumption (and your wallet).
The answer is yes in both cases. But air fryer has its limits.
Greg Foot, host of BBC Radio 4’s Sliced Bread program, consulted with two experts to understand why.
1. The air fryer cooks by circulating hot air around the food
THE air fryer It is similar in size to a bread maker and fits nicely on the kitchen counter. Circulates very hot air at high velocity around the food.
“Basically it’s a very strong and very hot wind. You can compare it to using a hair dryer,” explains Jakub Radzikowski, Culinary Education Designer at Imperial College London, UK.
“It’s essentially the same as a convection oven. But it’s smaller and the fan is usually much, much stronger.”
The strength of the air current inside a air fryer reminiscent of a rather sophisticated professional oven you might find in a professional kitchen.
2. The air fryer cooks faster than a conventional oven, but only in small batches
as a fan of air fryer it is more powerful and its compartment is smaller, the whole device is more efficient, says Jakub.
“If I take a chicken leg, I will probably cook it for 20 minutes on the air fryer. It would take longer in the oven “.
Also, it takes longer to preheat a larger conventional oven.
But like the drawer of the air fryer has less capacity, you can only prepare small quantities.
“If you cook for four or six people, it doesn’t save you time, because you will need more batches in the air fryer“says the food scientist.
3. The air fryer is great for making food “crunchy”
The stars of advertising air fryer usually it’s chicken and fries, because the appliance is great for making “anything you want to crunchy,” says Jakub.
Black cabbage chips, bananas, breaded zucchini, and so on.
4. Is it healthier?
“Compared to frying, it is obviously healthier because it uses less fat,” says Jakub.
But it can also be healthier than cooking in a traditional oven.
If the potatoes are greased with oil, they will absorb it while cooking. With the air fryereverything falls into the perforated basket.
“If there is excess fat, it will flow to the bottom and you will not eat it.”
There are still healthier ways to cook: you can often, for example, grill or steam food without using oil.
But “the advantage of a air fryer is that it usually has functions beyond the air frying function, ”says Anya Gilbert, editor of the BBC’s Good Food magazine, which specializes in equipment and appliance evaluations.
5. There is a wide range of pricing and features between models
The variety of air fryers the market is vast.
“They are becoming more and more versatile,” says Anya. “Some of the newer models have around 15 functions.”
Recently, the BBC’s Good Food magazine published a list of the 14 best air fryers of 2022, ranking the models according to a number of categories.
“The Cosori brand has done very well,” he says. “The Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer was also a very popular model.”
6. The air fryer consumes less energy than the oven
To reach this conclusion, Simon Hoban, producer of the BBC’s Sliced Bread program, prepared chicken legs and potatoes – one baked, the other baked. air fryer (making sure that the other appliances were switched off at the time of preparation).
Then he checked the electricity meter to see how much energy had been consumed.
The program team compared the air fryer to an electric oven for comparison.
“The chicken took about 35 minutes to cook in the oven and the counter told me I was consuming 1.05 kilowatt hours of electricity. air fryer it took 20 minutes and the meter indicated a consumption of 0.43 kilowatt hours “.
The potato (with the peel) took, in turn, about an hour to cook properly in the oven, the equivalent of 1.31 kilowatt hours.
“In air fryer, it took a lot less time, “says Simon.” Thirty-five minutes “, consuming 0.55 kilowatt hours.
The conclusion? “Cooked air fryer consumes less than half the energy needed in the oven, “says Greg.” So cooking in the oven costs more than twice as much as cooking in an oven air fryer. “
7. An air fryer never completely replaces an oven, but it is a “great invention”
Jakub does not believe that a air fryer it can completely replace an oven. “Obviously you can’t roast a whole chicken in one air fryer“he says, or at least not a turkey!
“But I think it’s a great invention. I have one, I use it a lot. I think it’s great for someone who doesn’t have an oven.”
Anya agrees: “I think the air fryers they are a really exciting tool … They can be a smart investment when it comes to kitchen storage and cooking time. So yeah, I’m a fan. “
– Text originally published in https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-62067423
Source: Terra
Benjamin Smith is a fashion journalist and author at Gossipify, known for his coverage of the latest fashion trends and industry insights. He writes about clothing, shoes, accessories, and runway shows, providing in-depth analysis and unique perspectives. He’s respected for his ability to spot emerging designers and trends, and for providing practical fashion advice to readers.
