What Are the Pros and Cons of an Air Fryer?

Every cooking device has pros and cons. It upon you to weigh between the pros and cons when buying any of the cooking device. What we all want are easy-to-use devices that are economical in terms of energy consumption. You also need to consider the versatility of a device and the quality of food it makes. An air fryer is one of the top cooking appliances that many people have acquired. It has advantages as well as disadvantages. What are the pros and cons of an air fryers? Below is a detailed discussion about an air fryer including its pros and cons.

A brief discussion about an air fryer

An air fryer is a popular cooking appliance that has proved to be a better option over deep fryers. The cooking appliance uses hot circulating air to cook food. You don’t need to immerse food in boiling oil for it to get cooked like in the case of a deep fryer. You only need to set the temperature and time, and your food will cook and have the almost the same texture and taste like deep fried food. The air fryer has several parts such as the heating element, fan, frying basket, pan among others.

Air is sucked into the air fryer and it passes thought the heating element where it is heated. The heater is at the top of the air fryer. After the heating, the hot is blown in to the cooking compartment where it comes into contact with ingredients and food to be cooked or reheated. It then escapes through a vent. Most air fryers use Rapid Air Technology which makes sure that the airflow is fast. You need to turn food during the cooking process to ensure that the food is evenly cooked.

Things you need to do before, during and after cooking using an air fryer

Before cooking

When you buy an air fryer, you need to place it in the right place in your kitchen. After that you need to invest in the right accessories such as baking dishes, pans and even a kitchen spray bottle. After getting all that, it is advisable to get your ingredients ready including spraying the ingredients with some oil. When all is set you can now preheat the air fryer for some minutes. After that, remove the cooking basket and place all the ingredients (make sure not to overload) and fix it back. Set the time as well as the temperature and the cooking begins.

During the cooking process

You need to remove the cooking basket to check how the food is cooking. On top of that, you need to shake or flip the food depending on the type of food you are making. You are also supposed to spray some cooking oil when you are halfway. If you find that the air fryer is producing white smoke, make sure to add some water on the drawer to prevent oil and grease from burning. It is advisable to open the air fryer more often to check the progress until when the food is ready.

After the cooking

Remove the cooking basket from the drawer before serving the food. After that, pour all the juice as well as the grease in the drawer on a plate, but you can still poor it over the food if the juice is free of dirt. Clean the drawer and cooking basket after you have emptied the oils and the food respectively. After that fix the drawer and the cooking basket back in to the air fryer and turn it for some minutes to dry.

After discussing how to use an air fryer we can now focus on what are the pros and cons of an air fryer. Here are the details.

What are pros and cons of an air fryer? Here they are;

Pros

Prepares healthier food

An air fryer requires less or no oil to cook food. The food will brown and get crispy. Food with less oil is healthier compared to deep fried food. If some foods like chicken thighs have excess oil, it drains off to the drawer. On top of that, food prepared using an air fryer have no harmful compound such as acrylamide that can be high on deep fried foods.

Versatility

An air fryer is one of the cooking appliances that can be used to cook almost everything. You can use it to grill, air fry, roast, reheat, steam and even bake. It can be used to cook a wide range of meals such as fish, chicken breasts, bacon, pork, vegetables, lasagna among other types of food.

Quicker and more efficient

Cooking using an air fryer is faster compared to using an oven or a stove. Heat is not lost to the surrounding and it is concentrated inside the fryer to cook the food. On top of that, the device is energy efficient as it consumes less power compared to other cooking devices such as oven.

Safe and easy to use

It is a safe cooking device that can’t harm you while cooking. It is easy to use in preparation of various foods. You just need to get the ingredients ready, place them in the frying basket and set the temperature and the time to cook. You just need to open several times to shake or flip what you are cooking.

Cons

Taste is an issue

Food cooked using an air fryer cannot be compared to deep fried foods in terms of taste. Deep fried foods are much tastier and crunchy. This applies mostly to French fries and meat.

Most are not durable

Many air fryers on the market are made of inexpensive metal and plastic parts. For that reason, they tend to break easily and cannot be used consistently for many months. This applies to the heating element, cooking basket, pan as well and the control panels.

Not ideal for large families

Many air fryers on the market have a low capacity. For that reason, they are not ideal to prepare meals for large families at once. You need to cook in shifts until you get the right amount of food that can satisfy your family. Many models available can prepare a meal for 1-4 people.

Final thoughts

An air fryer is a great device that every home should have. It prepares healthy foods and is versatile. It has some cons but the advantages outweigh them hence it is a good cooking appliance option. Just buy the right model and you will have an easy time when preparing meals.