Gone are the days of greasy stovetop frying and long hours spent slaving over a hot oven. In recent years, the air fryer has emerged as the kitchen’s Swiss army knife, allowing home chefs to roast, grill, bake, and fry their dishes in one simple appliance. Just fill up the air fryer’s basket and hit a few buttons to prepare a delicious meal. Read on to learn about the versatility and benefits of using an air fryer plus a few cool cooking hacks. Then, go on to shop for the best air fryers available on Amazon.com.au.
Helpful hacks for your air fryer
While air fryers are relatively straightforward to use, a few handy tips and tricks can take your air fryer recipes to the next level.
1. Preheat for optimal results: To ensure even cooking and crispy exteriors, preheat your air fryer before adding your ingredients. This helps create a hot cooking environment from the start, resulting in consistent texture and flavour.
2. Don’t overcrowd the basket: For optimal airflow and browning, avoid overcrowding the air fryer basket. Instead, cook ingredients in a single layer, leaving space between each piece to allow hot air to circulate evenly.
3. Experiment with spices: Elevate your meals with seasonings, herbs, and spices to add depth and flavour. Experiment with flavour enhancers like garlic powder and paprika, or spices like curry powder and za’atar, to give your dishes a boost.
The versatility of an air fryer
Whether you're craving air fryer recipes like crispy chicken wings, succulent grilled vegetables, or decadent baked desserts, an air fryer can do it all. Here are just a few ways how you can use an air fryer.
1. Roasting: Thanks to powerful hot air circulation, an air fryer can roast ingredients to perfection, creating golden-brown exteriors and tender interiors without the need for excess oil. Think of roast chicken, crunchy chickpeas and crispy brussels sprouts.
2. Grilling: Say goodbye to having to painfully clean the grates of an outdoor grill—or weather-dependent dining. Simply preheat your air fryer, place your meats and veggies on the grill rack, and let the indoor grilling begin.
3. Baking: An air fryer also doubles as a miniature convection oven, allowing you to whip up cookies, cakes, and pastries with ease. Plus, the rapid air circulation ensures even cooking and crispy edges all round, so you get results worthy of a gourmet bakery.
4. Frying: Traditional frying methods often involve a lot of oil and messy cleanups. With an air fryer, you can enjoy indulgent favourites like hot chips, pakora, and fried chicken with significantly less oil and hassle. The circulating hot air creates a crunchy exterior while locking in moisture.
5. Reheating: You can reheat leftover food from previous day easily in your air fryer. Just spread it out in the basket so that the food is evenly heated and set it for 3-5 minutes. If it’s not heated sufficiently, you can add a couple more minutes.
6. Sautéing: An air fryer can make your everyday vegetables easy to cook, and flavourful. All you need is to chop your vegetables into small and uniform pieces and set the air fryer for 5-10 minutes depending on the type and quantity. It’s good to keep a tab on it and turn over the ingredients halfway through preparations to prevent burning.
Best air fryers on Amazon
Let’s shop for the best air fryers on Amazon
Philips 7000 Series Air Fryer Combi XXL
This air fryer equipped with Rapid CombiAir+ Technology Cooks Food however you want. The superior heat circulation for evenly cooked results just got an upgrade. Now you can also adjust airflow speed to enjoy the widest range of cooking methods. From high airflow grilling to low-and-slow stews and even sous-vide, the cooking possibilities with perfect results are endless.
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Philips Dual Basket Air Fryer 3000 Series
A revolutionary hot air fryer with 2 drawers in different sizes with preset temperatures for fresh fries, frozen fries, chicken, meat, vegetables, fish, cakes and reheating. Enjoy countless culinary possibilities with just one food processor.
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Ninja Airfryer Max
Featured with ax Crisp Technology, which delivers 230 degrees of superheated air to cook foods up to 30% faster (versus Ninja AF100) for hotter, crispier results with little to no oil for guilt free fried favorites. Enjoy guilt-free air-fried food with up to 75 percent less fat than traditional frying methods (tested against hand-cut, deep-fried French fries).
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Ninja Foodi Max XXXL Dual Zone
Introducing your revolutionary cooking companion: a 9.5-liter device equipped with dual independent cooking zones. It can crisp, roast, fry, bake, reheat, and dehydrate two different items simultaneously. With customisable functions, it’s a versatile addition to any kitchen, and clean-up is a breeze thanks to dishwasher-safe parts and non-stick baskets.
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Russell Hobbs Brooklyn Air Fryer
Here’s an air fryer that combines aesthetic appeal with functionality. This 5.7-liter cooker has seven auto functions, all managed through an elegant digital touchscreen display. Plus, it cooks up to 80% faster (when comparing the RHAF15 Air Fryer to the George Foreman GFAF5000 Air Fryer when cooking with 400g frozen fries), making it an ideal kitchen companion for busy moments.
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Breville the Air Fryer Chef Plus
This air fryer offers 12 preset cooking favourites, a large 4.8L/2.2kg non-stick cooking basket, adjustable temperature and timer dials, an easy-to-navigate LCD display screen, reminder alerts, and a custom setting. Equipped with heat-resistant silicone mat and reminder to turn or shake food during cooking cycle, making cooking more convenient.
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The benefits of cooking with an air fryer
Beyond its versatility, cooking with an air fryer offers several benefits that make it a must-have appliance for both seasoned and starter chefs.
1. Healthier cooking: By using minimal oil, air fryers offer a healthier alternative to traditional frying methods without sacrificing flavour or texture.
2. Easy clean-ups: Say goodbye to messy pots and pans—air fryers feature non-stick cooking surfaces that are a breeze to clean. Simply wipe down the interior with a damp cloth or place the removable components in the dishwasher.
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