How Does An Air Fryer Work & How To Use It? – Complete Mechanism
You people have been flooding my inbox asking me over and over again that, “What is an Air Fryer?”. More precisely, you guys asked that, “How does an Air Fryer Work?”
I already made up my mind to answer those questions. But I didn’t want to make any assumptions. Hence, I waited for my air fryer to arrive.
As things stood, I tested it out, made a couple of fried recipes, ate them, and then decided to share my experience.
Without any further ado, let us first describe an air fryer and then move on to how it works as follows:
What is an Air Fryer?
As per Wikipedia, “Air Fryer also known as a countertop convection oven stimulates deep-frying qualities without actually submerging the food into oil. Simply put, a fan is installed on the top that circulates hot air over and over again until the food is cooked thoroughly.”
The reason I quoted Wikipedia first is that it has accurately explained the air fryer.
Now coming towards my perspective, it actually is a small countertop convection oven.
However, it uses only a few drops of oil and gives crispier results within few minutes.
Air fryer has a shape similar to a small slow cooker. It consists of a heating element (a hot air circulating fan), a frying basket (where you put the food), and finally a control panel.
Some air fryers also come with a transparent window, which helps you analyze the whole cooking process conveniently.
That’s all about an air fryer. I got one from Philips and up till now, I’m quite enjoying the way it works.
Moving on, let us now answer the question, “How does an Air Fryer Work?” as follows:
How does an Air Fryer Work?
Air fryer relies on hot convectional air that the fan and heating element produces mutually.
That said, it comes with a fryer basket where food is targeted perfectly.
Heating mechanism and hot fan are installed at the top of the air fryer.
So, when you close the lid and turn it on, hot air starts circulating between the food, again and again.
In doing so, it gives a crispy texture to the food and cooks it slowly but steadily.
Mind you that the air has a temperature above 180°C to 200°C (depending upon which air fryer brand you choose.)
Therefore, food such as French Fries, Chicken Wings, Fried veggies, and Chicken Nuggets get cooked thoroughly.
In a nutshell, the appliance uses few oil drops and extremely hot air to prepare multiple fried items within less time.
So, what do you think? That’s enough to answer your question?
Well, I have this bad habit of covering each prospect of a gadget to its core.
Therefore, bear with me as I’m about to describe how to use an air fryer in simple steps:
How to Use an Air Fryer?
Follow these simple instructions to use this appliance especially if you are new to air frying:
1. Placing the Food in Frying Basket:
Air fryer comes in different sizes ranging from 2 quarts capacity to 10 quarts.
That said, the Philips Air Fryer I got has a 3 quarts frying basket.
Placing the food, however, requires no rocket science.
For instance, if you want to prepare French fries, then simply place properly chopped potatoes into the frying basket.
Here’s a catch: You must also add a few drops of oil to get 100% crispy results while preparing French fries.
2. Setting the Time and Temperature:
After placing food in the basket, push it back and close the door.
Set the time and temperature in accordance with the food you’ve placed and the type of air fryer you’ve purchased.
The temperature control an air fryer provides ranges from 180°C to 200°C with a timer of 30 to 60 minutes.
About the air fryer that I got, it has a temperature range of 180°C and it comes with a 30-minute timer.
Anyways, that’s the next step of using an air fryer.
3. Let the Air Fryer Work:
Let the air fryer work to its potential while you could carry on with other kitchen chores.
When done, it will give a small Beep, which will mean that it has cooked the food.
One thing you need to be careful about is that sometimes you have to flip the food when the timer hits halfway mark.
This way you’ll get improved crispiness and deep frying quality as well.
4. Serve the Food:
Finally, serve the food with dip sauce or mint Chutney or whatever you like as extras.
Here’s another point to ponder: To what extent could you trust an air fryer?
I mean to say, what kind of cooking we could expect from an air fryer?
Let’s answer it as follows:
What Can You Cook in an Air Fryer?
You can cook the following food products if you own a reliable air fryer:
Multiple Frozen Finger Foods:
Air fryer works like a charm when you have to cook frozen food products.
That includes frozen French Fries, Chicken Nuggets, Frozen bacon, and Mozzarella sticks, etc.
Homemade Finger Foods:
Apart from the frozen food, it also cooks homemade finger foods with a crispy texture.
For instance, I used it for preparing French Fries from scratch. The results were even crispier than I expected.
Besides, it took Philips Air Fryer less than 10 minutes to prepare French Fries with 100% taste and deliciousness.
Cooking Chicken, Meat, and Fish:
People do ask me that whether they could use an air fryer to cook chicken, meat, or fish.
My answer is that “Yeah, you can cook small pieces of chicken, beef or mutton, bacon, or Salmon in an air fryer.”
Don’t forget to watch the tutorial on air frying these food products before proceeding. It will help you get the best out of an air fryer for sure.
Roasted Veggies:
I for once am a big fan of eating fried vegetables.
So, when I got the air fryer, I instantly fried some vegetables with it. The results were awesome and to be honest, I really enjoyed eating air-fried Brussel Sprouts and Lemon Cauliflower.
Baked Food:
Last but not least, you can use it for baking food. It offers a perfect baking interface with hot convectional air circulating all around the food.
Recipes like cookies and lava cakes could easily be made while using an air fryer.
To Sum It Up:
This small countertop convection oven uses hot air to cook crispy fried items.
Using it is quite easy. Besides, it takes less time to cook frozen foods as compared to other kitchen appliances.
With that, I’ll bid y’all farewell. Don’t forget to share your first experience of using this tiny innovative gadget.
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Good Luck!!
