What Is An Air Fryer And How Does It Work?

How To Use An Air Fryer

The first thing you’ll notice about cooking with an air fryer is how little oil you need, with just a small amount you can achieve that perfect crispy texture every time. While you could cook most dishes without any oil, it also prevents food from sticking to the baking basket, so it’s best to add a little. Another important thing to remember is spacing your food. Whether you’re cooking air fried chicken wings or classic golden wedges, make sure that you don’t overcrowd the basket. Too much food means the hot air won’t be able to circulate around the surface leaving you with cold chicken and soggy spuds.

A good tip is to give the basket a shake every now and then while cooking. Doing this will rotate everything inside to ensure a nice and even consistency. The best news? it barely needs any time to heat up. Switch it on seconds before cooking and you’ll be air frying in no time.

What Are The Best Foods To Cook In An Air Fryer?

Whether it’s a succulent roast, crispy chips or moist scones, an air fryer brings the latest smart technology to your kitchen. Roasting, baking and frying foods is perfect in the air fryer because of the dry heat these cooking styles require, whereas braising and steaming won’t work due to a lack of moisture.

Air fryers are perfect for frozen food and things that are meant to be deep fried. Think chips, nuggets, fish fillets, mozzarella sticks and all those things that kids (and adults) love. Even baking is a cinch with an air fryer. From cakes to cookies, an air fryer has your sweet tooth covered.

If you really want to see where an Air Fryer excels – get ready to roast! Cook crispy golden spuds every time, or perfect your pork with delicious crackling that always lives up to its name. And if you cook too much, don’t worry! Air Fryers take leftovers to a whole new level. Reheat last night’s meal in minutes with that same delicious crispy texture and say goodbye to day-old microwaved mush.

While Air Fryers don’t necessarily make unhealthy foods healthy, switching from a traditionally oil heavy method of cooking like deep frying to air frying is definitely a healthier choice. The reason air frying is so much better for you is that it only uses a fraction of the oil that deep frying does, relying instead on air to circulate heat and small amounts of oil to evenly crisp food. In some cases, this reduction in oil can cut calories by up to 70%.

Another benefit of air frying is that you can make vegetables crispier and tastier – which may please the fussy little eaters in your house.

Can An Air Fryer Replace An Oven?

An air fryer is like a mini turbo charged convection oven. Both use an element to provide heat which then circulates around the space to cook food. Would you use an air fryer instead of an oven? Perhaps not, but when you combine these two appliances you can really up your cooking game. Think about it, next time you’re cooking a feast you won’t have to worry about oven space, just roast your pork in the air fryer for that delicious crackling while the veggies take it slow, roasting away in your oven. Or for something a little more low-key, cook guilt-free chips in the air fryer while the fish sizzles in the oven.

Things To Consider When Buying An Air Fryer

Bench Space/Storage Availability

An air fryer is a benchtop appliance, so when it’s not in use, simply pop it away in the cupboard. No need for built-in cabinetry, all you need is a simple power point connection. You could even take it in a caravan or away on holiday for simple meals and snacks in a flash.

Basket Size/Capacity

This is really important when choosing the right air fryer for you. Basically, the bigger the basket, the more you can cook at once. A smaller air fryer would allow you to roast meat, whereas a larger air fryer would mean you could add vegetables into the basket to cook at the same time. A single or a couple may only need the small basket size, whereas a hungry family would need a larger size.

Convenience

An air fryer takes no time at all to cook delicious food. It uses high-speed air circulation in combination with a top grill for amazing results. You’ll have crisp chips in minutes.

Easy to clean

Our favourite feature of the air fryer is the clean-up, or should we say ‘lack of clean-up’. When you clean an Air Fryer there’s no need to deal with messy hot oils and it’s nothing like cleaning a conventional oven that’s been coated in baked-on fat. Simply remove the basket, wipe down with a sponge, handwash and you’re ready to start cooking again. Go from crisp chips to lemonade scones in minutes.

Choosing the right Air Fryer for you

When it comes to choosing the right air fryer for your family, there are a few things to look out for.

Tefal Air Fryers

With an easy-to-use touchscreen and 8 pre-set modes, you’ll be cooking up a storm in no time with the Tefal Easy Fry range, featuring Deluxe air fryers.

Philips Air Fryers

You’ll be proud to show off the latest Phillips air fryer collection in your home. Perfect for modern kitchens, and available in sleek black, you’ll never want to take it off your benchtop.

Combine your standard oven and air fryer into the one appliance with the black Breville smart oven air fryer combo.

With so many incredible air fryers on offer, finding one that’s right for you can be a tough choice. To find exactly what you’re looking for, explore our full range online, or If you need a little extra help, visit us in store and one of our friendly team members will be happy to help.