Who doesn’t love fried foods that are tender inside and crispy outside? But these are high in calories. Air fryers are a recent addition to the modern kitchen that can help reduce the calories of the food without compromising the taste. Do you know the major differences between these two cooking methods? In this article, I am going to discuss the difference between an air fryer and a deep fryer. I will discuss the mechanism of these two cooking methods in detail so that you can understand which method is better for you.
Mechanism of an air fryer
Air fryers use hot circulated air to cook food. The working principle of an air fryer is simple. There is a heating element on the top of it. A blower fan is also there on the top that circulates the air at the bottom. The hot air is then circulated throughout the food bottom to top-wise. Newer air fryers have another blower fan at the bottom to enhance the speed of the hot air. Higher airflow is better for a crispier food output. Air fryers are a kind of convection oven. heat is circulated through the convection of hot air. From the top, the heating element also provides heat in the radiation method.
Mechanism of a deep fryer
Deep fryers also transfer heat through the convection process. But in this case, the medium is drenching oil instead of hot air. When we put the food inside the oil, the food is fried by the oil that circulates heat throughout it. Oil is a good conductor of heat. Therefore, it receives heat and then travels throughout the cooking pan and pass the heat into the food. Deep-fried food does not have water on the surface. The food traps the moisture inside it and makes a golden-brown layer outside.
Differences
- Deep fryers require a lot of oil to cook foods. On the other hand, air fryers require half of a spoon or no oil to cook the same food.
- The crust of the food prepared by a deep fryer is thicker. The reason is that oil can penetrate the food deeper than hot air.
- The cleaning process of an air fryer is easier than that of a deep fryer. Because you need a lot of oil to cook in a deep fryer, you have to give substantial effort to clean it.
- Uneven cooking can happen with an air fryer. Deep fryers can cook evenly.
- With a deep fryer, you can only fry foods. But an air fryer can be used for multiple reasons such as baking, grilling roasting, and so on.
Which one is better?
Taste of the food – there is no doubt that deep fryers can produce tastier food than that of air fryers. Foods cooked with an air fryer is dry. Sometimes, it may be cooked unevenly. Hot air can not seep through the food. Therefore, although the outer layers are brown, the inside may not be cooked properly.
Health benefit – if you consider health benefits, then air fryers win a mile. Foods prepared by deep fryers contain 90% more fat than that of air fryers. This fat is a source of calories that can cause obesity. Not only that, but overheated burning oil is also oxidized to complex compounds. These compounds are not good for our heart and lever. On the contrary, air fried foods are free from extra oil and fat. Therefore, compared to deep fryers, air fryers are better in terms of health benefits.
Air fryers are versatile – Air fryers are multi-taskers. A basic air fryer that costs around 50 bucks can cook in multiple modes such as grilling, baking, and roasting. An advanced air fryer that costs around 200 may serve even more functions such as dehydration, toasting, broiling, and so on. But deep fryers only fry. We can not use these for other reasons.
- If you are interested, you may read our article to find the best air fryers for the money.
- You may also read our article on the best air fryer dehydrator of this year.
Bottom line
Therefore, there is no fixed answer to the question of whether a deep fryer or an air fryer is better. In terms of health benefits and versatility, air fryers win a mile. But we eat foods for taste. What is the meaning of eating less tasty foods? Some people opine this way. Therefore, the choice is yours. But my personal preference is the air fryer because I want to live longer.