Air fryers were the kitchen accessory of 2022, and it looks like we haven’t fallen out of love with them just yet. In fact, they’re still selling out at record speed, with the likes of Ninja, Tower and Salter harder to get our hands on than a PS5, which is really saying something.
For those who already have one, we don’t need to convert you to this cooking machine, and for anyone still sitting on the fence, let us fill you in on why they’re so popular.
In short, air fryers fry food with much less oil than your regular deep-fat frying or even pan frying methods. Using little to no oil, they cook food by rapidly circulating hot air, like a convection oven but even more powerful, creating a crispy finish, as if by magic. Plus, when it comes to cutting costs, they average around 17p per day, which is certainly a good thing, considering the current cost-of-living crisis.
“The largest benefits one can get from air frying food is reducing overall fat content – in particular, saturated fats and trans fats, which can be harmful to health when eaten in excess,” shared registered dietician Megan Hilbert MS, RDN.
“Because air frying reduces the amount of fat content by up to 70-80 per cent in foods, this can also drastically reduce the number of calories eaten without sacrificing on the crunch and texture that frying provides,” she added. So, if that sounds rather tempting, keep reading below to see our team’s tested favourites.
Turning off our ovens, we lined up all of the latest and greatest air fryers we could get our hands on, to see which ones truly stood out from the crowd. Whipping up steak, chips, vegetables and more, no recipe was off limits, as we worked our way through our usual array of dinners – and even a roast – all done in these machines.
Size, shape and noise level were all key considerations, as well as how fast they cooked, how easy they were to use and, most importantly, how the resulting food actually tasted. Keep reading below to see which ones really impressed
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