When they first appeared on shelves in Australia, Air Fryers were a novelty. Soon they were taking the Benchtop Cooking world by storm. Crispy chips and crumbed chicken without deep frying and using almost no oil seemed too good to be true. Fast forward a few years and now everyone either has an Air Fryer or wants one. If you’re tired of sad oven chips then Air Frying is for you. This is our Air Fryers guide!
What is Air Frying?
Most Air Fryers work by circulating hot air all around the food at high speeds, which heats up the basket inside with the ingredients and heats the food evenly. The result is food that’s crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and on the table faster than a conventional oven – ready to fill hungry tummies.
Why use an Air Fryer?
There are many benefits to using an Air Fryer, here are the big ones:
- Speed – cook foods faster than a conventional oven, because they don't need to preheat and often have a faster cooking time
- Health – Air Fryers use a lot less oil than a deep fryer.
- Taste – Air Fryers deliver food that is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
- Versatility – with countless Air Fryer recipes and online Air Fryer enthusiast communities online, you’re only limited by your imagination. They can also be used for roasting and baking.
- Convenience – if it can be cooked in a convection oven, microwave or even a toaster, chances are it can be cooked in an Air Fryer. Air Fryers can be used to cook most frozen foods too!
Basically, it all boils down to the convenience of having all of these benefits sitting right on your benchtop - or anywhere else you want to take it, since they’re quite portable and can be easily carried to make you the star of any dinner party.
Getting Started
Like all appliances it’s important to choose the right Air Fryer for your family. Bigger is not always better if you’re only cooking for one or two people. Consider how many people you’re cooking for and what foods you’re going to be cooking. If it’s just chips, chicken wings and the odd bit of bacon then you wouldn’t need a large machine, conversely if it’s a full roast chicken, veg and bread rolls then a larger machine is needed. You also need to consider warranty, and whether the machine you’re looking to purchase offers the peace of mind that comes with a warranty.
Check if the basket is dishwasher safe, so you can clean your air fryer easily.
Start With Chips
Everyone loves chips! Get a bag of frozen chips from the supermarket and use these as your first Air Fryer meal. Your Air Fryer might have pre-set time and temperature for different types of foods. If you're unsure just start at 15 mins and 180 degrees C, and stay close to machine and check regularly until you get a feel for how quickly it cooks.
There’s no preheat time! Just prep your food, chuck it in and set the timer and it’s cooking. This prep/chuck/cook method is easy for all skill levels from pre-teens learning to cook (with parental supervision) to the uni student who wants more than instant noodles, to the dad serving chips while mum’s at a hen’s party and the sweet old couple making a Sunday roast for their grown up children.
When your food is finished cooking you can remove the entire basket for easy access to serve and ridiculously easy clean up.
