We all love fried food, don’t we? Fries, fish, chicken, oh my goodness! And who can blame us because they are incredibly crispy and hard to resist.
Even though these fried foods taste great and feel satisfying, they unfortunately also promote cardiovascular diseases and there is a lot of cholesterol involved in creating these meals.
In addition to containing high levels of trans-fat and cholesterol, these foods lose many essential vitamins and minerals during the frying process.
There are generally two ways to make fried food — deep frying and air frying.
Both of them can make fried food that is crispy and hard to resist. However, when it comes to choosing the best way to cook your food, there are a few things you need to consider to make an informed decision.
In this blog post, we’ll talk about how both deep fryers and air fryers work, what they’re good for, what they aren’t good for, and which one might be right for you.
Air Fryers And How They Work:
Air fryers are designed to give people healthier fried foods by using hot air instead of oil. The fryer heats the air inside the appliance to create a hot air circulation system. If you have ever used a convection oven, it’s similar to that. There is also a fan that distributes the hot air around the food in order to cook it from all angles.
Air fryers’ fans continuously circulate the hot air throughout the unit, which helps cook food more evenly, resulting in crispy fries and other foods that don’t miss the oil.
They can generally cook food faster than a traditional deep fryer, and they certainly hold more food at a time.
Some popular air fryer brands also feature a touch control panel with an LCD display for temperature adjustments. Along with several accessories including cleaning tools, tongs and a recipe book.
Check out our article on Air fryer vs Slow cooker
Deep Fryers And How They Work:
Deep fryers were invented years ago, and since then their design has changed quite a bit. The early deep fryers were very different from what they look like today. They were not electric machines, but rather propane or gas fired heating devices that used metal baskets to cook food in pots filled with hot oil.
Over time the concept of deep frying foods remained, but the design and types of oil has changed quite a bit. Now, food is fried in large tubs of oil heated by electricity and surrounded by a stainless steel container.
The deep fryer operates by heating oil to a specific temperature, typically between 350 and 375F. Ideally, the temperature of the oil should be 350-365 F. In this way you can cook French Fries, chicken, fish and many other fried snacks without harming the nutritional value of the food.
In the meantime, the oil must be filtered and changed regularly to ensure that food isn’t contaminated.
Check out our article on Air Fryer vs Instant Pot
Differences between Air Fryer and Deep Fryer:
There is a significant difference between these two devices, let’s see what the few major differences are.
Temperature:
Deep fryer makes food crispy if it is fried at an appropriate temperature. However, if another oil is used, the food can get burned. In contrast, Air fryer makes food crispy without using oil. However, the taste is not a “deep-fried” taste. And the food can still get burned if hot air does not transfer heat precisely.
Use of Oil:
The food cooked in deep fryer is frequently immersed in hot oil. Whereas, air fryers use hot air to cook food. This is precisely why most people use air fryers instead of deep fryer.
Cleaning:
The best part about cooking in an air fryer is that it uses no oil, so the clean-up process is less messy. Besides, Air fryers have a non-stick surface that makes them easy to clean.
On the other hand, deep fryer uses large amounts of cooking oil. Therefore, after you finish cooking your food, you have to dispose of the oil.
Time to Cook:
Deep frying requires a lot of oil and time to cook, while air frying can be done in a short period of time on a small scale. The main difference between them is the temperature at which they are used. A deep fryer will heat the oil to 350 degrees F, while an air fryer will go down to 165 F.
Grilling and Baking:
Deep fryers can only fry food. Whereas, air fryers use multiple methods of cooking.
Taste:
Deep fryers achieve crispiness that is unbeatable by air fryers. Air fryers can achieve an exterior that is crispy but it’s not the same as deep fryers.
Deep frying provides you with more crispiness on the outside as well as a juicier inside. It’s rich, creamy, and full of deliciousness.
Health:
Deep fryer prepares food in a harmful manner. It is not suitable for health-conscious individuals or people who are trying to reduce their waistlines.
On the contrary, an air fryer can be used both for healthy cooking as well as family gatherings.
Also Check out our article on Air Fryer vs Pressure Cooker
Bottom Line:
If you just want deep fried food with great taste but no health concerns, I suggest you buy a deep fryer. But if you are too concerned about your health and want to eat only healthy fried food then an air fryer is a great option.
Check out our article on How to fix an Air fryer that stopped working
My Final Thoughts on Air fryers vs Deep Fryers:
Air fryers and deep fryers both have their advantages and limitations. Personally, if someone would ask me what to buy? I would suggest them to buy an air fryer. They are more energy-efficient than deep fryers, and they don’t require any cooking oil.
Lastly, Air fryers are safer for kids to use because there is less risk of burns associated with hot oil.
