With air fryers becoming increasingly popular, this versatile kitchen appliance helps you make food quicker, cheaper and healthier than a traditional fryer. You might be wondering, do you put oil in an air fryer, and which oils should you use in your air fryer?
What is an air fryer?
An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that are a healthier alternative to traditional frying. They are gaining popularity because they use less energy to run than a traditional oven, therefore reducing energy consumption and energy costs.
How does an air fryer work?
You might be wondering how an air fryer works. When using an air fryer the hot air circulates around the food, giving the food a crispy outer layer using less oil or grease. The air fryer also cooks foods faster than an oven or stovetop and uses less energy than an oven.
Do you put oil in an air fryer?
The short answer is that yes, you do have to put oil in an air fryer, this is dependant on what you are cooking though.
You won’t need to use as much oil though as you would with traditional frying, which means that the food you cook is alot healthier and cheaper too as you aren’t using as much oil in your cooking.
How much oil do you put into an air fryer?
The amount of oil that you need to use in your air fryer will depend on what you are cooking, but typically if you need to use oil it would be a few sprays to one tablespoon of oil. That's a big difference compared to the amount when it comes to traditional frying.
Where do you put the oil in an air fryer?
If what you are cooking requires using oil than the oil is applied to the food and not to the air fryer itself.
What kind of oil can I use in an air fryer?
You don’t need to use any special oils when cooking with your air fryer - you can use whatever you usually use - vegetable oil, olive oil, rapeseed oil, coconut oil and many more. Our personal preference is to use spray oils and low-calorie cooking sprays.
Can you use butter in an air fryer?
If you want to use butter in an air fryer dish instead of oil then you can do this.
What foods do you need to add oil to in an air fryer?
If you would use oil or butter to cook a dish traditionally then you will need to use oil when using the air fryer.
For example, all roasted vegetables cooked in the air fryer should use some oil or butter when cooking them.
When cooking meat in your air fryer you may or may not need to use oil - the easy way to decide whether to add oil is to add oil if you would add oil when cooking it in the oven. If you wouldn’t add oil when cooking it in the oven then you don’t need to add oil when using the air fryer.
