STACK #191 Sep 2020

LIFE TECH FEATURE

visit stack.com.au

Picture the scene: it’s late at night, you’re watching a film or smashing out a marathon session of Ghost of Tsushima and you want a quick bowl of chips. Forget waiting for the oven to heat up; the air fryer is your new favourite friend. Words Bec Summer THE HEATWAVE

Air fryers reduce the oil used in the cookingmethod by 70 to 80 per cent

A ir fryers, pardon the pun, are a hot topic in 2020, and the must-have kitchen accessory for a healthier approach to frying food. Except, of course, they don’t fry in the traditional sense. So, how do they actually work?

The Tech Think of an air fryer as a souped up, condensed benchtop convection oven. The device concentrates the cooking process as heat from an element is distributed rapidly via a fan. Consequently, the food crisps much like it would in a regular fryer without being immersed in oil. The Size Air fryers come in a range of different sizes to cater for singles and couples, right through to big families. The Potential Outside of the obvious frying comparisons, an air fryer can, depending on the model, bake cakes, grill meats and roast veggies. And there’s a plethora of free recipes available online to accommodate beginners, and the more adventurous.

time, and walk away. When the alarm sounds, the food is ready. And clean-

up is a cinch. The Health Benefits We all know that deep fried food, although delicious, is no friend to the waistline or the ticker. Air fryers reduce the oil used in the cooking method by 70 to 80 per cent, eliminating the extra calories and trans fats from your plate. The Cost Is it cheaper to use than a traditional oven? Whilst it still uses electricity, the element heats up in seconds and the concentrated area significantly decreases the cooking time, thus reducing the amount of power used.

The Simplicity It honestly doesn’t get much easier than this: Pull out the drawer, drop the food into the fryer- style grill basket, hit a button with the required

52 SEPTEMBER 2020

jbhifi.com.au