Frying foods traditionally means to cook foods in boiling oil and this method is already
mentioned in the old testament of the bible. Also medieval authors Geoffrey Chaucer and
Miguel de Cervantes mention it in their novels. Nowadays frying in oil has a very bad reputation and rightfully so. A lot of oil is absorbed by frying the foods in oil and there are downsides even when the oil is rich in polyunsaturated fats. Vegetable oils contain a lot of omega 6 fatty acids which replaces the omega 3 fatty acid needs. Omega 3 fatty acids are called essential fatty acids because they have to come from food as our body can't produce them. Another downside of frying in oil is that when heating up vegetable oils high concentrations of aldehydes are released, which have been linked to cancer, heart disease and dementia.
There is great news for people who like fried foods, but want to maintain a healthy lifestyle: at this time and age we can fry our foods in a much safer way, without the use of added oil. Technology invented a method to keep the taste and texture, but without the downsides of frying in oil. Air fryers use hot air that makes the fats that are present inside the foods come out and circulate, frying the foods with its own fats. Fried foods from the air fryer don't contain absorbed oil and therefore they are easier to digest. Also air frying does not
leave a greasy smell and cleaning up afterwards is easier (no greasy pan to clean). The foods take longer to fry, but if you count heating up the oil, cooling down and cleaning time of oil frying the difference is small. Air fryers don't contain hot oil and therefore are less of a burning hazard.
Air fryers have so much more to offer than perfect french fries. You can fry, roast, grill, bake and reheat. How do roasted bell peppers sound? You can roast several bell peppers and then add them to your meals over the next days. You can do this with any vegetable or mix several vegetables together. More and more people discover the possibilites of air frying and there are very many recipes on the internet, recipes that children will appreciate as well. Your kids will love coated vegetables, burritos/taco's, french toast, avocado fries, baked bananas, veggie nuggets and homemade popcorn. You can also use the air fryer for baking: you can make brownies, cookies, muffins, breads and cupcakes. There is a perfect recipe for anyone. Ideal for people who have little time to cook, you just set the timer, maybe shake the food once at midtime and the air fryer will do the rest.
Both oil fried and air fried foods may contain acrylamide, a substance that is seen as possibly harmful for our health. The levels are especially high in starchy foods that are heated over 120 °C. Therefore in order to reduce the acrylamide levels of air fried potato chips it is advised to presoak them for 30 minutes before frying them and not to heat over 180°C. Research indicates that this is very effective.
http://grasasyaceites.revistas.csic.es/index.php/grasasyaceites/article/viewFile/745/736
http://www.airfryerexpert.com/are-air-fryers-healthy/
http://www.ifrj.upm.edu.my/22%20(04)%202015/(35).pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25872656
Insert date: 2017-07-19 Last update: 2017-07-20
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Authors > Contributor writers > Renate Hoornstra
