Alternative to greasy frying: you should know this about hot air fryers

Why air fryers?

Greasy and therefore unhealthy cooking, an unpleasant smell of grease and complicated cleaning: conventional deep fryers have a number of disadvantages. If you still don’t want to do without fried food, you are right with hot air fryers. The devices can also be used to bake, grill and roast. In addition to classics such as fries, bread and vegetables can also be prepared in the hot air fryer.

The most important difference between conventional and hot air fryers is how they work. Conventional fryers are designed to quickly heat up the oil and thus the food. This removes the water from the food, which then evaporates. Once the liquid has completely evaporated, a degree of browning sets in – the so-called Maillard reaction.

Unlike hot air fryers. The devices work in a similar way to an oven that heats with circulating air. In this way, the food is constantly heated. Here, too, the water evaporates from the food, but in this case it is mixed with the dry air of the fryer. That’s how it rises Temperature of the food and crispy crusts are formed.

A big advantage of hot air fryers is the significantly lower oil consumption. This means that the food can be prepared in a much healthier way. In addition, the meals taste less greasy and the annoying smell of fat is also absent.

In the following table we present four popular hot air fryers – including advantages and disadvantages.

Our recommendation for you

Our top recommendation is the Innsky hot air fryer. The device allows you to set preheating. This improves the texture and allows the food to be cooked quickly and thoroughly. Compared to conventional fryers, 85 percent less oil is required.

A total of seven different cooking pre-programs can be selected for the model. The temperature settings vary between 80 and 200 degrees, the time setting goes up to 60 minutes and the reservation function up to 12 hours. The device also has an LED display. Another advantage of the model is the non-stick frying baskets. These should make cleaning easier and are also dishwasher-safe. There is space for five to six portions in the basket, with a capacity of 5.5 litres.

Comparison instead of test: What’s the difference?

For this comparison, a CHIP specialist editor examined test reports from other publications as well as the most popular offers (“best sellers”) and customer opinions from online retailers. Based on this we made the product selection. When selecting the top devices, we focus on models with more than four stars and a reasonably high number of reviews. We have read a selection of customer reviews and selected devices that, based on our professional assessment, meet the needs of the users. The products have not been tested in the CHIP test center.

All products that the CHIP test center had in the laboratory can be found in this list of the best. Products that have also been tested by our cooperation partners can be found in our test & purchase advice and in our consumer portal.