How to choose an air fryer

The twenty-first century gives kitchen lovers an excellent opportunity for easy-to-use appliances. Surely most people know about the air fryer. This popular unit is famous for preparing healthy food. However, in order to choose it, it is worth analyzing all the characteristics and understanding which ones are more suitable for you.

How to choose a good convection oven for your home: what to follow

Of course, you need to conditionally set the purpose of the device. And start from this. The choice can be influenced by both price factors and others. In the article we will examine the second of them in detail.

Air fryer type

The model will depend on heating element options.

• Carbon. We will look at the merits in more detail. This is an environmentally friendly device that consumes a small amount of electricity. Due to the uniform distribution of heating temperature, the product is prepared with a uniform crust. And there is a guarantee against overheating during operation. As for the disadvantages, the device is unreliable and if it falls, some cracks may occur. In addition, if you leave plastic items near the air fryer while it is running, there is a possibility of damage to them.

• Halogen. The principle of operation is that the device is equipped with a halogen lamp, which creates an infrared heat flow. Thanks to this, heat arrives immediately after turning on the device, therefore, the food is heated in a matter of seconds. And due to the emission of soft light, it becomes easier to observe the process. You can precisely adjust the temperature. And the final advantage of this device is its low cost. Among the disadvantages, you should remember about the shortest service life, since it consumes a lot of electricity. And, unlike the previous model, it distributes heat unevenly throughout the product.

REFERENCE!

You should be wary of large changes and jumps in temperature.

• Air fryer with metal heating element. A special feature of this variety is its long-term service to the owner (can exceed ten years). Interaction with the device is safe. As for the preparation itself, this is a guarantee against drying out the products during the process. But, like the above-mentioned halogen type, it consumes a large amount of electrical energy. What they have in common with a carbon unit is a long warm-up time.

Selecting functionality

To make an appropriate choice, you should pay special attention to the availability the following functions:

• temperature sensor. This will protect the device from overheating. And the regulator will allow you to maintain a certain heat level inside throughout the entire cooking process. This is how it differs from an oven.
• Delayed start very helpful when you need the dish to be ready by the designated period. You just need to put all the required ingredients in the air fryer and select the desired hour in the settings.
• All models include the following feature: self-cleaning. Now you don’t have to manually clean the device, which saves a lot of free time.

Power

An important point, but very simple to understand. The fact is that power will naturally affect the efficiency of the device. And how efficiently he copes with it affects the cooking time.

ATTENTION!

If the indicator of the characteristic in question is large, this does not mean that the dish will be ready in two seconds. Most often, such a device makes food dry.

In addition, you need to look at the capacity in the unit. With large dimensions, of course, it is worth choosing a more powerful device. Typically the value varies from 600 W to 1800 W. Think about what products you will most often prepare and go from there: what power will be required for this.

What volume of air fryer is better to choose?

There are containers from 3 liters to 18. When determining this characteristic, you should remember how many people are in the family. For a small number of people, a bowl with the smallest volume is also suitable. Therefore, you should not chase containers with large dimensions. Sometimes manufacturers indicate the displacement range. This means that the kit includes an expansion ring that allows you to increase the capacity of the bowl. Therefore, the first number means the capacity without a ring, and the second number is how much the product can fit using a ring.

Which brand to trust: customer reviews

After some time, you can safely identify quality manufacturers that most people trust. These include the models listed below. They all have an expansion circle.All of them have a halogen heater type, except the latest brand. The second one has more capacity.

• Polaris;
• VES;
• Hoter.

Choosing the right air fryer: expert advice

Don't chase high scores. You need to focus on personal preferences, the number of people in the house, what dishes you cook most often, the size of the kitchen, etc. And the cost of the device does not always guarantee that the choice will be a miracle machine. Before purchasing, you should study the reviews to find out for sure whether it suits your requirements or not.