Everything You Need to Know About How Air Fryers Work

Deep fat frying without the fat… sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? It’s natural to be suspicious of any kitchen gadget that rises to fame through an onslaught of infomercials, but unlike many dubious gizmos of yore (looking at you, quesadilla makers), air fryers are the real deal. Don’t think of them as magical machines that can replicate the deep fried experience for a fraction of the calories—think of them as tiny high-speed convection ovens that can slash cooking times and deliver the sort of fantastic results your standard home oven could only dream of.

在空气炸锅内，热空气通过强大的风扇迅速循环，各方​​围绕着食物，不断地移动从未冷却的热空气。由于空气炸锅比标准的家用烤箱小得多，所以这种热空气可以更快地吹掉食物，使其比传统方法更快地烹饪近20％。烧焦空气的快速循环也允许食物变得不可思议，因此高度销售的“空气油炸锅”品牌。（让我们真实：你宁愿买一个“小对道烤箱”或奇迹机器，这些机器承诺“健康”炸薯条？）

Because an air fryer is much smaller than a standard oven, food cooks much closer to the heating element, which makes the cooking process much more efficient. The high power fan (which you may see advertised as “Rapid Air Technology”) blasts the heated air inside the air fryer into a rapid loop, meaning it is constantly blowing past the heating element and staying at a steady temperature. This hot air not only circulates around the food, but the fan’s force pushes it through all the spaces and crevices in between whatever you’re cooking—it’s “submerged” in hot air much like how, in deep frying, it is submerged in hot oil.

However, even though air frying produces incredibly crispy results, does not produce the same exact results as fryer does; fry oil is not in perpetual motion and clings to the surface of food, which allows it to deeply brown thanks to prolonged contact. While you can certainly cook completely oil-free in an air fryer, it’s best to toss ingredients with a tiny bit of oil, just as you would if roasting it. While the results won’t be 100% the same as deep frying, they’ll be a hell of a lot closer than oven “frying”.

您可以在市场上看到三种主要类型的空气炸锅：篮子模型，台面和混合动力车。篮子的烹饪室类似于（你猜到了）一个深炸篮子，在各个方面具有穿孔孔，以允许最大的气流。这些空气炸锅要求您在烹饪过程中握住篮筐几次，以确保食物不粘在一起，并确保您烹饪的每一寸都有机会暴露在空中。因为烹饪室比宽度更深，这意味着有一个机会食物不会均匀煮熟（特别是如果它过满），并且对于在烹饪时不能堆叠的食物存在有限的占地面积。篮子模型非常适合烹饪冷冻食品，如炸薯条，蔬菜和小剪裁食品，这些食物可以掌握几个猛烈的摇晃的力量。他们也是只有一个或两个人的家庭的好选择;如果您正在为人群烹饪，即使使用大型篮子模型，您也可能会批量炸地炸。

Countertop air fryers look like small ovens, because that’s exactly what they are. These normally have slots for multiple wire racks, which allows you to cook food in 2-3 layers, meaning you can make multiple dishes at the same time, or cook for a larger crowd than you would with a basket model. With this style you do not have to shake the food, but if you are cooking in layers, you may want to flip it halfway through to make sure you get even browning on all sides. Countertop air fryers take up a decent amount of space in the kitchen, but the plus side is that they can replace multiple other appliances as they can function as toasters, dehydrators, ovens, broilers, and, with some models, rotisseries.

Hybrid models function as both an air fryer and a pressure cooker, which makes them attractive to people that don't have room for two appliances on their counters. If you’re a fan of pressure cooking, a hybrid model allows you to crisp your food after cooking under pressure. These models come with multiple round wire racks that can be stacked on top of each other, so while you may have less surface area to cook with than a countertop model, you’ll get more even cooking than a basket model.