The Air Fryer Controversy

For some the air fryer is a blessing. It's a handy way of cooking certain foodstuffs without having to rely on the oven. It's small, and compact. There's no preheating and cleaning it is a snap. So what's wrong with it?

According to the New York Times and it's subsidiary Wirecutter, this genius machine has a lot of flaws. Melissa Clark wrote an article about it in today's New York Times Food section. There are also recipes too which highlight the air fryer's good points. To be honest, I don't see why there are any complaints.I was skeptical at receiving it at first but that quickly dissolved with the first use. For me, it's better than using the stove. No annoying preheating time. Just set the temp and the minutes and cook. Since it's  a convection oven ,every part of the food being cooked is perfectly "fried" to golden perfection. Hot air is circulated around by high speed fans in the machine's upper part.The food is placed in a perforated basket and the grease drips down into the basket beneath.It's a simple clean up - another plus. Yet Wirecutter claimed that it was over hyped and overpriced. (Mine was a gift bought during a pre- Christmas sale at Target. $60 dollars marked down from $100)

The machine was first introduced in Europe in 2010 and since it's introduction to the States, nearly ten million were sold. Sales increased 69 % in 2018 alone. Those are numbers not to be sneezed at

. As for the recipes, I feel Ms. Clark gets too elaborate with them, especially the fries.She bakes them twice , first at 350 degrees F for ten minutes and then 400 degrees F for another ten minutes

 . There's a cooling period in between that I think is unnecessary (but that's just me). I would probably go for 360 F for ten minutes then, turn, then cook again. There's also a Brussels sprout one, with them being baked with garlic. The sprouts  sound good and something I would try, but without the balsamic soy sauce. As for the chicken wings, again they sound tasty but , again, Ms Clark puts a lot of work into a simple dish. She coats them with baking powder, salt and pepper, then refrigerated for anywhere from an hour to overnight (really?) Then the pieces are placed along the edges

 of the basket and air fried for 400 degrees F for twenty minutes. One, I don't think it has to have all that overnight waiting and two, placing the wings on the basket's edges is too much. They can be placed on the basket's floor and flipped after ten minutes of cooking.

Are air fryers worth it?  YES! I would urge to get one if you don't have one already. They are definitely worth the money and the counter space. Buy one. You won't regret it.

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