Shifting to a healthy lifestyle is no easy feat. It requires cutting off unhealthy elements from your diet, including oils. That means you cannot deep fry the chicken to crispy perfection and devour it quickly. Hence, you invest in an air fryer; but will it give you the same level of crispiness?
Yes, an air fryer does make your food crispy, but it won’t be as crispy as deep frying it. Why? Because technically, an air fryer does not fry food; it uses hot air to cook it.
We’ll explain this sorcery in a moment.
Cooking vs. Frying vs. Heating
You have used a gas cooking range all your life for cooking food. You have used to fry food and even reheat the leftovers. On lazy days you gave that poor microwave a chance to heat your food. But what about the newly-purchased air fryer? What can it do?
Your confusion is understandable because, believe it or not, an air fryer can do all three. It can even bake cookies if used correctly. The difference between a microwave and an air fryer is the method of heat they use and the results it gives out.
A microwave uses radiation to heat food. But it does just that; heat it. The leftover food will lose its original flavor and appearance. On the other hand, an air fryer heats the food while freshening it up. That is because an air fryer uses hot air by convection to reach every part of the food, making it crispy and fresh even after a day.
If your air fryer is not heating properly then we’ll teach you how to fix it!
The difference between air frying and deep frying
By definition, the process of frying requires a huge amount of oil. But since an air fryer does not use that much oil, we can’t say it fries the food. It simply cooks the food at a high temperature by pushing hot air all around the food.
It’s another debate whether an air fryer can replace a deep fryer. For now, we are interested in crispy food only.
So, what about cooking? Can the shiny air fryer cook food from scratch? The simple answer is yes, it can. The not-so-simple thing is that it is not as easy as reheating leftover food. You will have to do your research and consult that user manual several times.
Does an air fryer make food dry? Learn right now!
Tips for cooking crispy food in your air fryer
We present to you some of the most common mistakes that people make and how you can rectify them to get a plate of crispy but healthy food:
Know your food
Every food item will take a different time to cook. You can’t expect a piece of thick chicken to be cooked within the same time as small chicken bites. According to a study done by food engineers, temperature and time play a crucial role in maintaining the food’s moisture level. Too high temperature and your food will be dry. Too little, and it will be soggy.
Don’t skip oil
Just because it is an air fryer doesn’t mean you won’t have to add oil to your food. A tablespoon in the marination or spraying a little over the food before cooking is enough. This little oil won’t be dangerous to your health but will surely give you crunchy food. Learn how much oil you should eat.
Contrarily, if you add too much oil, your food will be nothing but soggy and disgusting. Of course, getting the quantity right will take time and several attempts. But you will get there soon.
Proper marination
This is where your air fryer will fail you. We all love batter-coated tempura and meat on a lovely night, but our precious air fryer dreads it. Wet batter equals uncooked, tasteless coating and raw food.
Unlike deep frying in hot oil, the batter will drop to the bottom of the cooking basket in an air fryer. The remaining batter won’t be enough for a crispy chicken; hence, a sad-looking plate of food. For some things, deep frying is the only option you get.
Learn to cut your food
Like thick pieces of meat, big chunks of veggies will not be crispy. Slice the veggies and meat as thinly as your knife allows, and then see the magic. Be careful; thinner pieces of food burn quickly if you mess up the time and temperature.
Conclusion
An air fryer is a convenient gadget for everyone. Using it correctly is the key to getting perfectly cooked, crispy food. With some experimentation, everyone can enjoy crunchy food any time of the day! However, keep in mind that the result will be slightly different from deep frying.