Have you ever wanted crispy, brown foods with very little or no oil? Do you want to enjoy healthy French fries, fried chicken and other fried foods? And would you love a 4 in 1 appliance that air fries, bakes, cooks and grills?

If your answer is YES to any of the above question; you need an air fryer.

In simple terms an air fryer is a trendy and versatile kitchen appliance used to make fried foods like French fries, chicken, doughnuts and veggies. It makes use of little or no oil depending on the food to produce brown, crunchy and crispy texture.

An air fryer prepares food by circulating hot air around the food placed into a slide out perforated basket. The force of the air produces a convection effect that cooks and browns the exterior of the food and keeps the inside soft just like deep fried foods. A container below the basket catches the oil drips.

Here are a lot more reasons why need an air fryer

1. Less oil, healthier cooking and a healthier you:

Air frying cuts down calorie intake by as much as 80% because it requires very little or no oil to prepare your food unlike traditional frying that relies heavily on large amounts of oil and grease.

2. Yummy, crispier and crunchy foods

The air fryer crisps up the food so you get a crispy and golden exterior. This is perfect for your breaded and frozen foods. Unlike deep frying that can leave a soggy mess.

3. Using air fryer is safer than traditional frying

In traditional frying because large amounts of oil are heated to extreme high temperature, there is a risk of burn and in some extreme cases grease fire accident may occur.

But an air fryer is safer because the cooking receptacle of an air fryer is closed and contained, thus, you never come into contact with heat as your food cooks.

4. Less time to cook, easy to use

An air fryer is a time saver. For those times you really don’t want to spend much time cooking, an air fryer will save your day. Simply bring out your frozen chicken, season it, put it in the air fryer basket and set the machine to cook.

5. Multi-functional

An air fryer can cook virtually everything, from your chicken to doughnuts and steaks. Most models of air fryers can air fry, bake, grill and cook, so you have an all-in-one kitchen appliance. And what more your teenage child can easily operate it and that’s less stress for you.

5. Super-fast

You don’t need to pre heat an air fryer before using it, which means, you can simply put your food right into the basket, slide it into the air fryer, set the time and be ready to eat in 10-15 minutes. Voila!!

6. So easy to clean

Cleaning an air fryer is as simple as cleaning your cooking pot. Just add soapy water to the basket and use a non-scratch sponge to clean the interior and exterior. Some air fryer baskets can even go in the dish washer.

With all these benefits of having an air fryer; your next question is “how do I get a good one”?

Here are the things to look out for when buying an air fryer.

1. Size and Capacity

Air fryers come in different sizes and capacities. Smaller families of between 3 to 5 persons may opt for the air fryers that come in small sizes of capacities between 1.8 litres to 2 litres.

Check out this Tower Vortx and Salter air fryers.

For larger families you may want to consider air fryers with larger capacities like this 5.3L Anko Air fryer,                  5.5L Pershow Air fryer and this 4.3 Tower Vortx Air fryer.

Perhaps you need a much bigger air fryer with a larger capacity; then the air fryer oven is right for you. Check out this 25L Mistral  Air fryer oven, 23L RCA Air fryer oven and this 11L Tower Vortx air fryer oven.

2. Functionality

Air friers are multi- functional by nature. That is; aside air frying, they also bake, grill and roast. However, they are some air fryers that perform special functions like this 5 in 1 Tower Vortx 11L air fryer that also carry out the rotisserie function. Also see the 23L RCA air fryer oven that features dehydrating function.

3. Analog or digital

Air fryers are either analog or digital. Analog air fryers are often called manual. Both the digital and the analog work the same way. The difference between them lies on their control panel.

The control panel of the digital air fryer features preset cooking functions like grill, bake, roast, dehydrate etc while the analog or manual air fryer have manual dials to control temperature and time.

Examples of digital air fryers are these; 4.3L Tower Vortx Digital Air fryer and this 5 in 1 Tower Vortx 11L Digital Air Fryer.

For Manual/Analog air fryers see 5.5L Pershow air fryer, 5.3L Anko Air fryer and 2L Salter Air fryer.

4. Wattage/power consumption:

Air fryers are available up to 2000 watts. Often times the wattage depends on the capacity, size and functionality of the air fryer.

Its therefore good to be sure that your kitchen outlet supports the wattage use of your air fryer. Also important is to note that the higher the wattage, the higher temperature it will reach to prepare meals.

Now that you know what to look out for when buying an air fryer; lets take a delve into how to make your air fryer last long.

1. Use only silicone and nonstick utensils on the fryer basket so as to ensure that the nonstick lining of the fryer basket last long.
2. Avoid using anything abrasive to clean your air fryer and ensure to clean it in between use with a soft wash towel or non-scratch sponge.

• Think of your air fryer like your usual pot, it requires nothing special to clean, simply clean in soapy water; some are even dishwasher safe.