Can an air fryer really cook out of thin air?

Fried chicken legs, fried meatballs, fried fish, fried sweet potatoes, fried tofu... these delicacies taste so delicious!

Recently, various short videos about cooking with air fryers have suddenly become popular. In the comment section, people have been asking: Do air fryers really not require oil? Is it the air that does the frying? Is it really easy to use? Is it just a waste of money?

Today, let’s talk about the pros and cons of air fryers.

01 How to cook delicious food in an air fryer?

As the name suggests, "air fryer" is naturally inseparable from "air". If you have to say that it uses "air" to fry food, it makes sense. Let us understand its working principle together.

Compared to traditional ovens that use heating tubes to raise the temperature of the oven cavity, air fryers use rapid air technology. There are heating tubes and fans inside the pot. After the heating tubes are heated, the fan will accelerate the air flow. Each cycle forces all the air to pass through the food and the heater surface, heating up the entire space and taking away the moisture in the food. [1]

The rapid airflow inside the air fryer transfers heat to all parts and sides of the food with high intensity, which can penetrate a thick layer of food. The radiation from the heater is partially in the far infrared range, penetrating deep into the surface of the food. This combination results in a very high heat transfer rate and can produce a cooking effect comparable to deep frying.

▲Figure: Air fryer heating diagram

To put it simply, it can be understood as using high-temperature "air" as a medium to "fry" food.

Compared to a traditional oven, an air fryer takes less time, uses less energy, and uses less or no oil to bake the same food.

02 Is it healthy to use an air fryer?

Many people like to eat food with a "crispy crust" (fried or baked). The crunchy texture makes people salivate. This is because baking or frying gives the food a caramelized flavor and a crisp texture. However, while enjoying the delicious food, many people are also worried about consuming too much calories and fat. For example, the oil absorption rate of fried fish is 13%, while the oil absorption rate of fried bread is as high as 80%. [2]

The emergence of air fryers not only satisfies people's desire to enjoy delicious food, but also enables oil-free cooking. Because when using an air fryer to bake foods with high fat content, you can achieve the same taste without adding oil, and at the same time, you can bake out the oil originally contained in the food to reduce the fat content, such as pork belly, chicken legs, chicken wings, etc.

Studies have also shown that air fryer fried chicken fillets can retain more vitamin B1 than traditional fried chicken fillets. The vitamin B1 loss of air fryer chicken fillets is 9.4%, while the vitamin B1 loss of traditional fried chicken fillets is 19.9%. Compared with fried chicken fillets, the degree of fat oxidation in air fryer chicken fillets is also lower.

So it seems that occasionally using an air fryer to replace fried food is healthy. However, there are rumors that food cooked in an air fryer can cause cancer because it produces acrylamide, which is a carcinogen. So, does using an air fryer really cause cancer?

Speaking of acrylamide, there is actually no need to be so afraid of it. As a Class 2A carcinogen, acrylamide has been proven to cause cancer in animals, but there is limited evidence that it causes cancer in humans. Moreover, acrylamide is not only produced when using an air fryer. When we usually cook carbohydrate-rich foods, this substance will be produced as long as the cooking temperature is greater than 120 degrees. For example, foods such as potato chips, bread, cakes, and fried dough sticks, the higher the temperature, the longer the time, and the less water, the more acrylamide is produced.

Furthermore, air fryers may produce less acrylamide than normal cooking. Experiments have shown that air fryer chicken fillets produce less acrylamide, only 50% of the acrylamide content of traditional deep-fried chicken fillets. [3]

Therefore, for friends who like to eat fried food, the air fryer is really a better choice. If you want to reduce the intake of acrylamide, bake less starchy foods.

03 Can an air fryer replace a wok?

Since the air fryer is so easy to use, can it completely replace the wok to cook dishes? I'm afraid it's really not possible.

From the cooking method point of view: air fryer is more suitable for cooking foods containing oil, such as meat, fish and shrimp. Or it is also good to bake sweet potatoes and potatoes occasionally. But it is not suitable for leafy vegetables without any oil and relatively low water content, which are easy to be baked "dry" or even "burned". If you really want to cook leafy vegetables, it is recommended to add some water and oil.

From the perspective of cooking convenience: the air fryer is closed when working, which is not as convenient as the traditional wok. The open stove is more advantageous, which is convenient for adding ingredients and seasonings during cooking. Let's take a look at the price. The price of air fryers is not cheap, while the price of woks is generally more affordable.

Therefore, the air fryer may not be a must-have kitchen tool for every household, but for those who like to eat baked and fried foods, you can consider buying one to add points to your diet health.

04 Air fryer is suitable for cooking these dishes

Since air fryers are better suited for cooking foods with high water or fat content, what ingredients should be put in an air fryer?

① Meat: For example, the chicken legs, chicken wings, pork belly, steak, ribs, fish with skin, etc. we mentioned before. These meats do not need to be brushed with oil. Just put them directly into the air fryer and set the temperature and time according to the size of the food.

② Tofu: Fry the tofu in an air fryer. Cut the tofu into mahjong-sized pieces, brush them with oil, and put them into the air fryer. Bake at 200℃ for six or seven minutes (different air fryers have different tempers, so adjust according to the situation). The tofu baked in this way will be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and it will be super delicious.

③ Potatoes: baked sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, and baked French fries are all fine.

④ Vegetables: Eggplant, beans, zucchini, broccoli, pumpkin, okra, mushrooms, etc. are all OK, but leafy vegetables are not suitable for roasting.

Summary: For those who like to make homemade food in the oven or like to eat fried food, the air fryer is a more recommended alternative kitchen appliance, but it is also recommended not to use it every day!

For those who do not have this kind of eating habits, they need to be reminded not to buy it on a whim, so as to avoid it becoming an "idle decoration" in the home and easily gathering dust.

References:

[1]http://apds.nl/development-en/what-is-rapid-air-technology/

[2] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2016

[3] Ma Chao. Study on the influence of different frying methods on the quality characteristics of chicken fillet[D]. Yantai University, 2017.

Author | Xue Qingxin, member of Chinese Nutrition Society, registered nutrition technician, health manager, public nutritionist

Review | Song Shuang, Associate Researcher, Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Editor | Jiang Fan

Editor | Ding Zong

This article was first published on Science Refutes Rumors