An air fryer, also known by other names such as oil-less fryer, oil-less pan, air fryer, or air cooker, is a kitchen appliance that cooks food by circulating hot air around it. Its unique feature is that it does not require the use of oil or grease to fry food like a traditional deep fryer. Instead, it operates based on the principle of circulating hot air streams combined with a circulating fan, quickly moving all over the surface of the food, ensuring that the food is evenly cooked from the inside out.
Food cooked in an air fryer has a beautiful golden color, crispy texture, and contains less oil compared to traditional frying methods.
How does an air fryer work?
An air fryer works by blowing hot air around the food, causing the food to cook and have a crispy texture similar to traditional frying. During the cooking process, it removes excess fat and oil from the food.
With this type of fryer, you only need to use a tablespoon of oil to brush the food, and you can achieve the same color and flavor as deep frying in a pan full of oil.
Similar to many other cooking methods, an air fryer activates a chemical reaction called the Maillard reaction, which enhances the color and flavor of the food.
Advantages of using an air fryer
Time-saving: With the operating principle mentioned above, when using an air fryer, you only need to marinate the food to suit the tastes of the members in your family. Then, put the food in the fryer, close the lid, select the appropriate temperature, and set the cooking time. During that time, you can do other tasks. With an air fryer, you don’t need to stand by and flip the food. For grilling, an air fryer only takes about 3 minutes to heat the air to the desired temperature and the total cooking time is only half that of traditional frying methods.
Time-saving
Delicious food: One concern when choosing an air fryer is the quality of the food. The fryer is equipped with odor and smoke filters, so the food will always have a delicious aroma without being smoky or having an unpleasant odor. When cooked with the fryer, the food remains crispy while retaining moisture, unlike being dried out.
Delicious food
Good for the user’s health: The fryer only fries food with about 10% oil. This helps the food to be flavorful and delicious without soaking up too much fat. For those who want to lose weight or have conditions such as heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure, an air fryer is the perfect choice. It ensures the user’s health and helps prevent cardiovascular disease and obesity.
Good for the user’s health
Clean and well-ventilated kitchen: Deep-frying or grilling always makes your kitchen stuffy, clothes smelly, and greasy stains splattered everywhere. But when using an air fryer, this problem no longer occurs.
Clean and well-ventilated kitchen
An air fryer does not guarantee a healthy diet
By simply replacing all fried foods with an air fryer does not mean that your diet is completely healthy. You still need to have a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and low-fat protein.
– The fryer can produce other harmful compounds
Although it reduces the formation of the harmful compound acrylamide, other potential harmful compounds can still be formed in an air fryer, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines, all of which result from high-temperature cooking processes.
These compounds are associated with an increased risk of cancer, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Therefore, further research is needed to clarify how the air frying process and these compounds are related to each other.
– Air-fried food is not necessarily healthy
Although an air fryer can cook food in a safer way compared to deep frying, it is still a form of frying. When overcooked with excess oil, it can still pose health problems.
There is currently limited research on the impact of air fryers, but in general, experts advise people to limit fried foods in general (regardless of how they are cooked). Make sure you cook regularly using other methods to optimize your health. Diversifying types of food and cooking methods will help you have a better diet.
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