Are Air Fryers worth it?
In short, yes, air fryers are totally worth it. I know you are skeptical and thats ok. We are here to help you understand why air fryers are worth it and live up to the hype. We will go through all the pros and cons of owning an air fryer and why we believe ultimately buying an air fryer for your home is well worth the investment.
Today we take advice from our engineers, manufacturing team and customers on the Pros and Cons of using an air fryer. We are going to take a look at the types of foods you can cook in it, why it is better than a traditional deep fryer or regular convection oven. We deep dive into the advantages and draw backs of air fryers, We also include some really helpful tips and tricks from our customer feedback that will make your experience with an air fryer that much better. Get a cup of your favorite beverage, this is about to be fun!
1 - What is an air fryer?
Air fryers are a kitchen appliance that fries food without the use of oil. Air fryers are made up of 3 main components, a control screen to set the temperature of the heating element, a fan that pushes air through the heating element, and the heating element that heats up the air. Once the temperature is set the heating element and the fan work together to circulate hot air around the food in the air fryer basket to fry it without using any oil or grease. For a deeper dive into how an air fryer works check out our article.
The Difference between an Air Fryer, a deep fryer and a conventional oven
An air fryer is basically a combination between a traditional oven and a deep fryer, it takes the best of both worlds and combines it in a compact and highly effective package. It fries food with no oil, and uses much less electricity!
A deep fryer utilizes an oil bath at a high temperature to fully coat the food and quickly cook it to perfect crispiness. The drawback of deep fryers are that they use fatty oils that transfer into the food adding un-necessary calories, the hot oil is a safety hazard for small children as they can easily burn themselves on it, the frying process is messy and produces an unfavorable smell in your house.
The oven is slightly better but given the large size of an oven, you end up utilizing quite a bit of electricity to cook a meal compared to a fryer, the way ovens are designed causes the food to cook un-evenly and the end result is usually not as crispy as a deep fryer.
2- Advantages of an Air Fryer:
Theres so many pros to using an air fryer, we came up with a small list below but honestly there are just so many and we didn't want to list them all and overwhelm you, without further adieu...
Healthier - Less calories due to frying with out oil
Air Fryers do not use any oil to fry food. Oil in fried food is the main reason deep fried food is high in calories and fat. The oil gets imbeded in the food during the deep frying the process and we end up eating some of that oil in the deep fried food. With air fryers that is not a concern so you get the same crispy texture you crave without the added calories from frying oil. Some studies show that air fried food can have up to 70% less calories when compared to their deep fried counterparts. Now thats something to look forward to with air fryers, a slimmer waist!
Odorless - No foul frying smell
Have you ever walked into someone's house after they had been frying up chicken or fish. Yeah, you cant shake that deep fryer smell for a few hours. With air fryers there is no smell after cooking just delicious crispy air fried food.
Safer - No hot oil to burn yourself on
Hot oil around adults and children poses a big risk. Most people who go to the hospital for 3rd degree burns were usually involved with hot oil in the kitchen. Air fryers dont use oil, so no hot oil will ever harm you or your children while using an air fryer. Better yet the good brands have nifty safety features on air fryers so that if the basket is removed from the air fryer it stops cooking. Air fryers are way safer compared to deep fryers.
Less messy - No oil splatter in the kitchen
Cleaning up after using a deep fryer is such a chore, grease splatter all over the kitchen thats not easy to remove because grease is just sticky like that. Air fryers are self contained, the basket is contained inside the air fryer keeping all the mess inside the basket not on your kitchen counter.
Efficient - Uses less electricity compared to a traditional oven
Firing up the oven burns up a lot of Kilo watts of electricity, The oven is a big boy and uses a lot of electricity to get the whole thing up to temperature for cooking. Not with an air fryer, the basket is much smaller than the oven so you only use enough electricity to heat up the basket which is where your food is. No need to waste electricity cooking meals in the oven that you can fry up in your air fryer. Most people see a drastic reduction in their electric bill after getting an air fryer because they are so much more efficient on electricity use.
Compact - Space Saving
Air Fryers are so compact they hardly take up kitchen counter space. In small apartments and dorm rooms having an air fryer is fantastic because you can make your favorite fried food without sacrificing much space.
Versatile - You can cook so much in your air fryer
The biggest advantage is the fact that you can cook most meals in an air fryer. We have successfully cooked rib-eye steaks, fries, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, potato skins, as well as deserts such as donuts, cinnamon rolls and even cakes and soufflé’s. The air fryer is so versatile, especially with the multitude of accessories on the market, you can make personal pizza’s, Kebab’s or even a rotisserie chicken in an air fryer.Easy to clean non-stick coated basket
The cleaning process is pretty straight forward, most of the excess oil and grease falls in the pan below the grease separator or the air fryer basket, remove your delicious air fried foods from the basket, drain the air fryer pan of any excess grease then wipe down with a damp soapy microfiber towel, rinse and dry. Or you can drain the grease and chuck it in the dishwasher.
Better than a microwave - No microwave radiation
Last but not least almost all microwaveable dishes (except for liquids, like soup or chili) can be cooked in an air fryer, using an air fryer is healthier than the microwave as air fryers use convection heating not radiation heating to warm up foods. Radiation heating has a very well documented history of inducing harm to humans with excessive use over a life time. The less microwaved food you eat the better, air fry it instead.
3- Disadvantages of an Air Fryer
Honestly we had to think hard about the disadvantages, there really aren’t that many and the few disadvantages can be easily remedied or avoided with some research.
Capacity - Can be limited based on your needs
The first and major one is the size of your air fryer. Air Fryers come in many different sizes from as small as 1.5 Quart up to 10 Quart and everything in between. Depending on what you plan to use your air fryer for if you pick the wrong size you will have issues cooking the foods you like. Some people like an air fryer that they can cook up to a whole turkey in, if they buy a 1.5 Quart sized air fryer they will not be able to cook a turkey in it so size definitely matters. We recommend at a minimum a 3 quart, ideally a 5 quart size air fryer to be able to cook most foods. At a 5 Quart size you can cook up to a whole chicken in it. Now with larger size air fryers, they will take up more valuable counter space so choose wisely.
Price - air fryers can be expensive
Air fryers can be expensive depending on what features you want. Some air fryers can be as cheap as $60 or $70 while some can be had for as much as $200 or $300. The price of your air fryer depends on a few things including the air fryer's capacity, the features, the controllers use whether digital or manual, as well as its functionality and aesthetic. For example digital air fryers are more expensive than manual dial air fryers. While an air fryer with a plastic exterior might be cheaper than a stainless steel air fryer. So depending on what you want air fryers can be expensive.
Noise - Some can be loud
Although air fryers have a lot advantages, one of their disadvantages is noise while cooking. Remember from earlier we noted that air fryers use a fan to circulate hot air to air fry food, well that fan makes noise while cooking. Thats something to keep in mind when buying an air fryer, it will not be silent like an oven thats for sure.
Dry or overcooked food
It takes time to perfect the art of air frying, although there are plenty of guides online that give you time and temperature guidelines, we must remember that these are only guidelines. Depending on the power of your heating element and the shape of your basket sometimes these online air fryer time and temperature guidelines may not work and may result in really dry or overcooked food. For the best results follow the manufacturer times and temperatures and overtime you will get a feel for what works best for your air fryer. Your first couple of cooking endeavors with the air fryer may not meet your expectations but you will figure it out over time.
Can have a plastic smell/taste during first couple of uses
One of the biggest complaints of buying an air fryer is the plastic smell or taste that users experience during their first couple of uses. The lower quality air fryers have a plastic smell and taste during the first couple of uses due to the factories not properly venting the new plastic’s inside the air fryer. We put together a guide to help remedy this issue, a savvy shopper will find a plastic smell free air fryer like the Uber Air Fryer XL which is pre-vented from the factory, yep that’s right no plastic smell at all, just delicious air fried foods!
Scratching and flaking of non-stick coating
4 - What can I cook in an air fryer?
Air fryers are very versatile cooking appliances, there is so much you can do with an air fryer the limit is your imagination. Air fryers are capable of air fryer, baking, broiling, roasting, dehydrating and reheating many foods.
What can I Air Fry with an Air Fryer?
- French fries, curly fries, waffle fries, steak fries any shape of potatoes you like
- Onion Rings
- Chicken wings
- Chicken breasts, chicken thighs, chicken drum sticks
- Frozen churros
- Tater tots
- Mozerella sticks
- Falafel
- Egg Rolls and Spring Rolls
- Shrimp
- Fish
- Corn dogs
and many more than we can think of right now
What can I Bake in my Air Fryer?
- Cookies - chocolate chip, oatmeal, sugar, raisin and more
- Cakes of all types in a small corning ware dish
- Brownies
- Muffins
- Cup Cakes
- Pastries such as danish, cinnamon rolls, biscuits, crescent rolls and scones
- Doughnuts
- Macarons
- Personal Pizza's
- Bread
What can I Broil in my Air Fryer?
- Chicken
- Fish
- Beef, steaks, burger patties and meat loaf
- Hot dogs, Bratwurst and sausage
- Bacon
- Pork steaks and Pork Chops
- Vegetables
- Scalloped potatoes and other casserole side dishes
- Pasta and lasagna
What can I Roast in my Air Fryer?
- Beef Pot roast
- Lamb Chops
- Kebab skewers
- Chicken
What can I Dehydrate in my Air Fryer?
- Jerky - beef and vension alike
- Home made trail mix
- Fruits like banana chips, apple chips, apricots, oranges, peaches and more
- Vegetables like sweet potato chips, carrot chips and more
- Various nuts and seeds like peanuts, pistachios, pecans, sun flower seeds and others
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Mushrooms
What can I Reheat in my Air Fryer?
- Left over pizza
- Hot pockets and Pizza rolls
- Toaster strudels
- Frozen foods
- Potato wedges and potato skins
Overall thoughts
Air fryers are pretty awesome and are backed with some crazy cool science, really its an engineering marvel in the kitchen. There are so many advantages and so few drawback’s that it is a no brainer. Most air fryers cost between $75 - $150 so it is a small investment for a huge return in delicious home cooked meals and lower electric bills compared to using a full size oven. We highly recommend trying out an air fryer for yourself and get ready to be hooked on all the awesome recipes you can try out and enjoy with your friends and family.
Where can I find the best air fryer?
Uber Appliance offers one of the best air fryers on the market today, our Uber Air Fryer XL is perfect for any family with its roomy 5 quart basket you can air fry a whole chicken. The dishwasher safe basket and grease separator with non stick coating make cleaning a breeze just wipe it down with a damp soapy microfiber towel and toss it in the dish washer.
The Uber Air Fryer XL features an easy to use touch display for temperature and time setting with temperatures ranging from 150F to 400F, the digital display also has several pre-set cooking temperature and time to perfectly cook chicken, steak, fries, wings and so much more with a single press of a button. Every Uber Air Fryer XL Comes with a free recipe book so that you can explore tasty meals as soon as you get it with plenty more recipe’s on our site.
The Uber Air Fryer XL’s plastic is pre-vented from the factory which eliminates any plastic smell or taste in your foods from the first use. This is one of the biggest complaint from air fryer users and at Uber Appliance we listen to our customer’s feedback and strive to provide the best experience from the first use!
Last but not least buy from Uber Appliance with confidence, we guarantee the quality of our air fryers with our “love it or leave it” 30 day free returns and free exchanges warranty. Our Uber Air Fryer comes standard with a 1 year warranty against any manufacturers defects and we offer extended warranties for up to 2 years. We have been in business for the last 5 years and we have a reputation to protect which is why we place our customers first, our friendly Customer Service Rep Jennifer is available via email 24/7 to answer any questions you might have!
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