What is a Health Fryer and What Can You Use It For?
We all love deep-fried food now and again. Combining all of food’s guiltiest pleasures into a greasy, crunchy flavour sensation, there’s nothing quite like tucking into a takeaway on a Friday night. But as enjoyable as fried food is, it’s not exactly nutritious – if it was, we’d be eating it all the time.
Luckily, for fans of fried food, there’s an alternative. Health fryers allow you to make your favourite foods, with the same delicious flavours and textures, without the same unhealthy amount of oil. If you’re thinking of scaling back the fried foods, then a health fryer is a great way to do so. Here, we’ll go into how they work, how they compare to regular fryers, and a few ways you can fry, bake, and roast your favourite foods with them.
What is a health fryer?
A health fryer, or air fryer, is comparable to an oven; it bakes and roasts in the same way, but the difference lies in its heating elements: in a health fryer, they’re located on top and accompanied by a large, powerful fan. This allows food to become crispy in very little time – and crucially – with much less oil than the deep-fried version. Our own Halo 5.5L Digital air fryer, for instance, uses 99.5% less oil than our 3L pro fryer.
Essentially, it functions in the same way as a convection oven. Hot air rushes down and around food that’s placed in the fryer’s basket. The rapid circulation of this super-heated air “bounces” off the bottom of the air fryer and back up through the food. The hot air cooks the food on all sides, resulting in a crisp exterior.
This means, however, that you can’t make anything with a liquid batter unless you freeze it first. That said, this does create the added benefit of being easy to clean up, and many health fryers have dishwasher-safe parts (though even the ones that aren’t suitable for dishwashers can easily be cleaned using a regular dish brush).
What are the differences between health fryers and deep fat fryers?
As we mentioned, air fryers bake food at a high temperature with a high-powered fan, while deep fryers cook food in a large amount of oil that has been heated up to a specific temperature. While both of them cook food quickly, an air fryer requires practically zero preheat time compared to a deep fryer.
And though food crisps up while still retaining moisture inside in both appliances, air fryers require little to no oil, while deep-fried food absorbs oil into it. As a result, deep fryers are strictly for fry foods, whereas an air fryer can employ different methods of cooking, such as grilling, roast and even baking desserts.
So, is air-fried food healthy? While the taste and texture remain similar to the results of a deep fryer, the drastically-reduced amount of oil makes it a much healthier alternative. And because you can easily air fry vegetables of all kinds, it helps to boost your intake of greens and reap the benefits of those too. And sure, you can deep fry vegetables, but the grease and batter kind of offsets all of the nutrients of the veg.
The beauty of air fryers is that they’re so quick when it comes to cooking time. Once you’ve got to grips with how they work, there are so many different things you can cook.
If you’re cooking meat such as chicken, steak, pork chops and salmon, most of these are juicy enough as they are, so require no added oil. Simply season them with salt and your chosen herbs and spices before placing them in your fryer. It’s a good idea to stick to dry seasonings here as less moisture leads to crispier results. If you’re planning on basting meat with any sauces, then wait until the last few minutes of cooking time.
Vegetables like broccoli, sprouts and sweet potatoes work really well when air-fried; toss them with salt and a bit less oil than you usually would and you’ll get flavourful, crispy veg that tastes delicious!
And though there are undoubted health benefits to using an air fryer, that doesn’t mean you can’t get a bit indulgent with things either. If you’ve a sweet tooth, then you can make all kinds of cakes, cookies, pastries and doughnuts with them too. Check out this guide to air frying your own sweet treats.
We hope this article has inspired you to get creative in the kitchen! Why not take a look at our range of health fryers here? Or if you’re looking for more ideas, you’ll find the full range of Breville products, whatever you’re in need of, on our homepage.