What Is The Most Important Feature Of An Air Fryer? (Poll Results)
According to a poll with almost 1000 total voters, 297 voters claimed that the amount of food an air fryer can cook at once is its most important feature. In second place, about 259 voters believed it should be the quality of food, while 228 of them think that it should be the ease of cleaning.
Special features of the air fryer
Air fryers have a ton of features that help make things much easier for the user.
- The size of the basket or drawer
- The quality of food it produces
- The ease of cleaning
- The portability factor
- The high-quality materials
- The cooking performance and speed
- The basket and draw design
- The affordable prices
- The health benefits you get
- The energy consumption
- The safety benefits
The size of an air fryer basket or drawer
Air fryers come in a variety of sizes. It’s important to understand that depending on the size of your air fryer, it will determine whether you need to cook more than once or not.
Air fryers come in capacities ranging from 2 quarts up to 10 quarts. Most models fall in the middle of this range, with capacities of about 3 to 5 quarts, but you should also be aware that some manufacturers offer smaller units than others.
You might be wondering about your cooking habits. Are you cooking for only 1 person or for several people? Is there enough room in your kitchen to accommodate a bigger oven? What kind of cuts of meats do you prefer? These are some things you need to consider before buying an air fryer.
The quality of food your air fryer produces
The quality of food that a certain appliance produces isn’t something to ignore. In fact, the poll between first (capacity) and second place (food quality) were very close.
If an air fryer couldn’t produce food with good flavor and nutrition then it definitely won’t be as popular as it is today. No one wants a machine that always makes a dry and flavorless roast.
Many times, the quality of food can be contributed to the fine-tune settings of an air fryer. Can your air fryer bake, broil, toast, etc? Can it cook the meal evenly while cutting out the fat and using almost zero oil as well?
Not all air fryers are made equal. Even the wattage usages are different among different air fryers. If you want an air fryer that’s consistently pumping out amazing dishes, you’d probably have to spend a little extra to make that happen.
Air fryers that are easy to clean
Another wonderful thing about air fryers is that most, if not all of them are actually really easy to clean. A few of the disassembling components are actually dishwasher-safe such as the basket and some of the plastic trays.
The basket and many of the accessories in an air fryer are usually non-stick. That means that they have a non-stick coating that they are built with. This allows for easy scrubbing. Food that falls unto these accessories basically just wipe right off.
However, it’s very important to understand that you must wash your air fryer after each use. Not washing an air fryer and leaving it for next time may end up causing food buildup that can eventually be very difficult to clean off. It can even damage the nonstick coating.
Air fryers are easy to move around
Even the biggest air fryers aren’t really that heavy. Some of them are about the size of a larger toaster oven. But the benefit here is that they don’t need to be attached to any platform such as the table. You can unplug it and move it anywhere you wish.
The smaller air fryers are fantastic for college students. And even the larger ones have great benefits if your student likes to meal prep.
You can even move your air fryer outside if you wish. As long as there’s an electric outlet, your air fryer will work just fine no matter where it is.
Get the air fryers that are made of high-quality materials
If you settle for one that is as cheap as you can get it, then there’s a chance that it won’t cook your food right nor will it last very long. Getting an air fryer that is of high quality and a little bit more expensive can be of great value to your meals.
An air fryer with high-quality materials should be able to last you several years as long as you maintain and clean it often. Air fryers with high-quality materials often also have many high-quality accessories.
The more popular air fryers are usually the ones we recommend because even third-party companies will make sizes that better fit these units.
Another thing to mention is that there are different qualities of non-stick coating that some manufacturers use. You don’t want to be the one with a basket that has its non-stick coating chipping off. Some of the more expensive air fryers use high-quality coding that is not easily removable. They won’t crack, break, or peel so easily.
Air fryers have incredible speed and performance when cooking
Depending on the type of model air fryer you buy, you would be able to cook chicken from frozen to perfect in less than 30 minutes.
Air fryers create this almost sealed chamber that allows extremely hot air to circulate around the food and cook it evenly. The performance is incredible when you think about it. It only takes a few minutes for food as well.
The idea of hot air circulating within the chamber provides major benefits because the heat stays inside the air fryer and ultimately Cooks the exterior of the food. It Cooks it so well that the exterior of the food begins to dry up quickly extracting water out and creating this crispy layer we all love so much.
Air fryers come in a very smart basket design
When it comes to the shape of the basket, it’s important to understand that it’s like a large deep pot. It can fit almost anything you want. The shape of the basket is usually deep so that you can place large foods inside.
The baskets also allow you to set up racks in layers so that you can further cook more food in one sitting. The racks will allow air to circulate throughout and between all the layers of food conveniently making all of them crispy from top to bottom. We do however recommend that if you use racks, then it is good to switch the top with a bottom layer in the middle of cooking that way the top layer doesn’t burn since the heating element is located up there.
Air fryers are very affordable machines
If you think about it, owning an air fryer can replace almost every single kitchen appliance in your kitchen. It can reheat, toast, air fryer, broil, bake, and in some cases dehydrate, slow cook, and even steam depending on the model you buy.
Are fires usually only cause anywhere between $50 for the really cheap and affordable ones to $300 for the more professional-grade ones that can do almost anything. These devices will last several, several years and so you really do get your money’s worth when buying an air fryer.
Our air fryer has lasted over seven years and is still running great.
Using an air fryer has many health benefits
You’ve heard the phrase of how air fryers cut the fat. Well, this is absolutely true because it really does cut out the fat from the outside and allow it to drip down to the bottom of the basket.
There’s also no need for oil when you cook food. That means you won’t be adding more of those fats to your diet. However if you really want to add oil you can oh, but there’s no need to add a lot of it. Maybe just a tablespoon or two sprayed around the food would be enough. This is way healthier than deep-frying And the benefit here is that the food comes out just as delicious.
Air frying also promotes eating vegetables. We’ve heard from countless people who never really like eating vegetables but when they air fry their cauliflowers, broccoli, carrots, etc, they love it. It actually becomes an enjoyable meal for those who don’t normally eat a proper course of vegetables.
Air fryers don’t use any more energy than other kitchen appliances
Air fryers actually run on average at about 1500 watts when you compare it to something like an in the home oven that uses almost twice as much when run for about 60 minutes. Your average microwave will take just about 1200 watts of energy in an hour time span.
So, the difference here between air fryers and their non-built-in kitchen appliance counterparts is almost negligible.
Air fryers are safe to use even for young children
It’s pretty difficult to make a mistake or burn your food when you’re using an air fryer. The settings are all there and you really need to put it in for 20 to 30 minutes for the average meal. Putting it in for that time frame will almost surely result in a great meal.
Air fryers always have timers that end up stopping it so that it can never keep going on forever.
Some of the smarter air fryers actually come with a smartphone app that allows you to monitor its status. It allows you to control your air fryer from a distance.
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