Air fryer is one of the most popular cooking appliances in recent times. The advantage of an air fryer is that it produces healthier and crispier food. A frequently asked question among the air fryer user is whether they should use oil in it or not. In this article, I am going to answer this question.
Should I add oil to the air fryer?
You should add a little oil to the air fryer while cooking. It may seem surprising for you because everywhere people are talking about oilless cooking with the air fryer. But air frying is not purely oilless. About 80% of all cooking with an air fryer requires a little oil. But the use of oil is not as much as cooking with the deep fryer. You may need less than 1% oil that needs to cook in a deep fryer.
How much oil to add when cooking in the air fryer?
The requirement of the oil depends on the type of food you are cooking. But whatever the recipe is, you need not add more than a tablespoon of oil. Some recipes do not need to add oil at all.
There are some air fryers that can dehydrate as well. When dehydrating with the air fryer, you do not need to put oil in it. More oil will make the food tastier. But it is not recommended as it will lessen the food value.
What type of oil is good for air fryer?
Choosing the right oil for the air fryer is an important step in cooking food with it. Not all oils are good for air fryers. An air fryer cooks at a very high temperature. The average temperature that an air fryer cooks is around 380F to 400F. Not all oils sustain this level of temperature.
The temperature at which an oil burns is called the smoking point. Therefore, the smoking point of the oil has to be more than 400F to be usable in the air fryer.
Avocado and safflower oil has a smoking point of more than 500F. Therefore, both of them are good for use in the air fryer. They are healthy options as well.
On the other hand, rice bran oil, peanut, and soybean oils have a smoking point of 450F or more. Therefore, you can use them in the air fryer as well. Other than these, you can use vegetable oil, extra light olive oil, or ghee.
How to add oil in the air fryer?
Using an oil sprayer is the best way of applying oil to the air fryer. At first, you need to fill the air fryer basket with the food. Do not forget to preheat the air fryer before that. Now spray the oil on the food with the oil sprayer. Shake the basket when applying the oil. It will ensure an equal distribution of oil throughout the food.
I would highly recommend using parchment paper. If you have it, then spray some oil on it as well. If you do not have an oil sprayer and do not know what kind of oil is good for air fryers then read our article.
Advantages of using oil in the air fryer
- If you add oil it will make the food crispier. It will make a crunchy layer near the surface.
- It will hinder the food from sticking to the air fryer baseket.
- If you do not have a nonstik cooking basket and does not have parchment paper, then adding oil to the food is highly recommended.
Bottom line
Using a little oil in the air fryer is not bad. But you should pick a healthy option for it. The method of application will also need to be right. In fact, you need a lot of air fryer accessories to cook in the air fryer perfectly. If everything is fine, you will be benefited both ways – the food will be tastier and healthier compared to the food cooked in a conventional way.