Air fryers have become very popular in the last couple of years, let’s take a look:
Do you save money using air fryer instead of a big oven?
An air fryer uses less energy than a big oven. Because the electric usage rate from state to state so it’s hard to give an exact figure of how much money is saved. The following is a general idea:
Cost per hour of cooking gas oven is 40 cents
Electric oven is 52 cents
Air fryer is 25 cents
The rule of thumb is about 50% less total energy
used, and that’s before factoring in the shorter
total time needed for most food when cooked
in an air fryer versus the big oven.
Simply put, air fryers don’t actually fry food
How does an air fryer work?
Because of the smaller cooking chamber and
super convection (intense fan blowing heat
into food), air fryers generally cook foods
much faster than your traditional gas or
electric stove. Often in about half the time it
takes to make a similar recipe in a full oven.
Actual frying involves immersing food in hot oil. The hot oil dehydrates the surface of the ingredients, and the Maillard reaction (the definition of this word is food turns brown) makes the food crispy and delicious.
A list of pros of air fryers
The advantages of cooking with an air fryer are: they use less oil, are less messy, and require less hands-on cooking than a deep fryer. They also use less energy and cook faster than a regular oven, and you can use it as a microwave to reheat food. I love my steamer, its one of the functions on my ninja foodie.
A list of cons of air fryers
If you are cooking for more than 4 or 5 people than an air fryer may not be the best option since most them are small when
compared to a convection oven. You still choose your air fryer than you will have to air fry food in batches and that doesn’t work when you are preparing food for a group dinner.
Also, air fryers do not cook vegetables perfectly, especially Brussels sprouts and broccoli.
Air Fryers take up a lot of counter space.