Have you been hearing the buzz about air frying? We certainly have! Everywhere we turn, there is information about the health benefits, efficiency, and ease of use. An air fryer can take deep-fried, high-fat foods into lower fat healthier alternatives! Wait…healthy fried foods?! With all the excitement and buzz, you could wonder if this appliance is right for your household. We are sharing with you what we feel are the advantages and things to take into consideration when choosing to add this great appliance to your kitchen!
You may also have heard,” Air fryer isn’t that healthy!” It is as healthy as oven baking and healthier than deep frying. So, if you compare all cooking methods, Air Fryer is the winner and good for health. Well, one more thing we want to convey, the overall ‘healthy’ factor depends on the food you keep in it; it magically cannot convert an unhealthy food to healthy food. But on the whole, it is better than everything.
Mechanism Of Air Fryers
Don’t go by the name; air fryers do not fry food like deep fryers in oil. Consider them miniature countertop convection ovens. This convection oven uses a fraction of the oil used in deep frying while producing the same crisp and crunch that we all love in deep-fried foods! Air fryers use a fan to evenly circulate hot air, allowing food to cook faster than other methods such as pan frying, stir-frying, or baking.
Compared to a traditional oven, they take only minutes to preheat, and most of the heat stays inside the unit, increasing the cooking speed to four times that of a standard stove or oven! So, without the hot oil, how does the food get crispy? The combination of sustained heat and circulating air creates magic. Food is quickly and crisply cooked on the outside while remaining tender and juicy on the inside.
Benefits of Using Air Fryer
Health Factor
Without a doubt, air frying is healthier than traditional deep frying. Most air fryers require little to no oil to crisp and brown your food as conventional fryers do. With an air fryer, a little goes a long way. The amount of oil required by the air fryer is used, and the rest drains away from the food, making the air fryer an ideal cooking unit for foods like French fries, fried fish, mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets, and countless others – the same crisp, none of the added saturated fats from deep frying oil!
Easy to Use
Besides being a healthier alternative to deep frying, the air fryer is quick and simple. However, an air fryer can be used for more than just frying food. You can defrost frozen foods, particularly meat, without using a microwave. It requires little to no preheating time. It can be used for grilling, toasting, baking, and roasting, among other things. Instead of relying on takeout, you can now make restaurant-style food much healthier and faster.
Preserve Nutrients
Certain nutrients, such as vitamin C and a variety of protective plant products known as polyphenols, may be preserved during the cooking process when using convection heat, such as that used in an air fryer.
Safer Cooking
Crunchy and Crispy
The crunchy and crispy texture of fried food enhances its flavour. By using less oil, air fryers can achieve the same results. You only need a tablespoon of oil and can eat all the cakes and crisps you want.
Reheat Food
It can be used to reheat food in addition to cooking. It quickly reheats food, prevents overcooking and burning, keeps food crispy, and makes it taste fresh. Reheating a pizza in an air fryer makes the crust crunchy, and the toppings feel fresh.
Easy to clean
Air fryers are incredibly simple to clean. If you clean the appliance after each use, it will require minimal effort. You can add some soap and water to the basket to clean it. At least twice a month, you should deep clean the appliance, including the coil.
What to Choose Between Air Fryer & Microwave Oven?
The air fryer and the Microwave are excellent kitchen tools that make cooking easier and faster. However, you might be concerned about which is best for you and your culinary needs. What would you buy for your kitchen if you could choose only one? If you’re still curious, this one’s for you.
Technology
In air fryers, convection heating is used, in which the heating coils are heated first, and then the fan blows the hot air uniformly throughout the vessel to produce consistent heating throughout the food. On the other hand, this procedure takes a reasonable amount of time. On the other hand, microwave ovens use electromagnetic radiation to heat water molecules already in the meal.
As a result, when heated, the water molecules begin to vibrate and generate heat, allowing the food to be cooked appropriately. Despite being faster than an air fryer, this method does not produce crisper food.
Health
Food cooked in a microwave requires a small amount of oil, whereas food cooked in an air fryer requires very little oil and is thus very nutritious—the less oil in the food, the better. If you want to eat healthily, get an air fryer.
Both appliances produce healthier meals than deep-fried items. Air fryers allow you to control the temperature and don’t require any additional oil to keep the food moist. However, microwaves need at least a tablespoon of oil and much more when cooking meat-related meals.
Cooking Capacity
When purchasing kitchen equipment, capacity and size are the two important factors to consider. Air fryers have a much lower cooking capacity than microwaves because they are so small.
Because air fryers are small and compact, they cook less food. Microwaves typically have a capacity of 45 litres, whereas an air fryer has a maximum capacity of 5 litres. As the saying goes in the kitchen, “the larger the size, the better the cooking ability.”
Price
In terms of price, microwaves are more expensive than air fryers. On the other hand, microwave ovens have a larger capacity and thoroughly cook food. On the other hand, air fryers are small and cook less food. An air fryer costs around INR 5000 and can cost up to 20,000 INR, whereas a microwave with many features costs around INR 8000 and can cost up to INR 50,000.
Maintenance
Microwaves are easy to maintain because they are simple to use and clean. They only need to be cleaned regularly. Food can become stuck to the surface, and if not removed, it will absorb heat while another dish cooks, making that meal less efficient.
They only use microwave containers because regular plastic containers may melt and contaminate the food. The air fryer should also be cleaned after each use, but there is no need for a separate vessel because it already has a heating vessel.
Ease of Cleaning
Because air fryers use so little oil, less greasy residue is left after each use, so you don’t have to clean the exterior as frequently as the interior. Microwaves can be cleaned after each use. After a few days, or if the vessel appears dirty or food has become lodged within, it should be cleaned.
The best Air Fryers in India are:
1. Best Air Fryer With Rapid Air Technology: PHILIPS Digital Air Fryer
2. Best Air Fryer With Different Preset Programs: Inalsa Digital Fryer Nutri Fry
3. Best Air Fryer With A Large Capacity: Instant Vortex Air Fryer
4. Best Air Fryer With Digital Advance Technology: KENT Hot Air Fryer
It is up to you to decide which appliance is best for your home after considering all the positives, negatives, benefits and uses of both pieces of equipment. If you are a bachelor or a couple, the air fryer is an excellent choice because it saves money and provides you with nutritious prepared meals. If your household is more extensive, you may need to purchase a microwave to meet the various needs of all family members without using excessive electricity, as an air fryer does. It is critical to select a model that perfectly matches your tastes, references, and culinary needs!
What do you feel? Please let us know your point of view at Review@snackfax.com and if you are already using an Air fryer and Microwave, tell us if we missed any peculiar point. Till then, Stay tuned!