Can you Deep Fry in an Air Fryer? – Air Fryer Vs Deep Fryer

Air fryers are machines that circulate heat at a very high speed to deliver a crunchy meal as a result. To circulate heat, air fryers use a fan and a heating source. For this, a little amount of oil is also used in the air fryer. So, you might be thinking, can you deep fry in an air fryer?

Deep fry and air fry are different as one uses no oil to fry a meal, and the other use a lot of oil to cook the meal. Thus, you can only try to deep fry in an air fryer with some modifications in the air fryer.

You have to reduce the temperature of the air fryer by 25°F to get desired outcomes for deep frying. For further details, keep reading it!

How does an Air Fryer Work?

Air Fryers are cooking machines that start cooking by dispersing heated air. The hot air is produced by the flow of electricity and then it is heated by a heat source. Thus, food is cooked from the outside by the hot air that is dispersed inside. It will provide the meal with a crunchy and browned flavor.

Depending on the model, the fan can be at the bottom or on both ends of the fryer. It pushes down the air toward every corner of the appliance by heating food over the edges. It produces the Maillard reaction, which is also known as the French toast appearance.

How does a Deep Fryer work?

On the other hand, deep fryers are machines that prepare meals using a heat-transfer substance. For this, you will have to heat the fat at a high temperature between 350- and 375 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare a meal. In this way, it will form vapors and bubbles.

With the help of this machine, food is cooked accurately on all edges at a high heating degree in the oil. In contrast to air fryers, deep fryers begin by heating the oil to the right temperature. This will allow the oil to absorb heat from the heat source.

In comparison to air fryers, this procedure results in deep-frying without the usage of extra oil.

How can I deep-fry meals in the air fryer? 

You cannot heat the deep-frying oil to the proper temperature between 350- and 375 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the process of how food is heated in air fryers. Are you using a deep fryer, a gasoline flame, or some other method? The heating coils will situate under the oil barrel.

The pot or pan is the conductive substance that transports the heat to the oil. It receives direct heat exchange from the heating element. In this way, the oil’s temperature will be raised to frying temperature through heat exchange.

If you will load the baskets with a lot of oil, the heated air in the air fryer will only heat the oil’s surfaces. This happens because it is also a conducting material.

To have the air fryer spread heat evenly with the use of the full amount of oil would take a very long time. And preparing the meal in it would take a lot more time. So, trying to deep fry with an air fryer will be a foolish idea to experiment with.

Air fryer Vs Deep fryer

By utilizing a heat absorption technique, deep fryers cook food by immersing it in hot liquid or oil. As compared to meals fried in an air fryer, the deep fryer provides meals that are less crunchy and greasier. On the other hand, air fryers use convective oven innovation to prepare meals efficiently.

In the air fryers, the surface area of the meal fries first, and food is heated from the bottom up. This is how air fryers cook food that is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. While deep fryers require a huge amount of oil to properly drown foods, air fryers only require a tablespoon or no oil at all.

Some dishes can become dry and coarser when fried in an air fryer than in a deep fryer. It happens because air fryers utilize little to no oil. While deep fryers are used for frying food, air fryers can use many other cooking techniques, such as broiling, baking, dehydrating, etc. Even you can prepare sweets in an air fryer.

It is simpler to clean the air fryer than a deep fryer that consumes a lot of oil. Cleaning a huge amount of oil can be more problematic for you.

What can I use a deep fryer for that I can’t use an air fryer?

Deep frying is the process of submerging food in hot oil. The heat is hot enough to prepare meals but not too hot to risk spilling while using.
An appliance called an air fryer uses a heated vent that circulates air through the food to fry it at a high temp.

It is simple to misuse an air fryer for a deep fryer by just adding a lot of oil but it is hard to fry at a high temp. You will end up making your food extremely mushy or soggy by immersing it in a bucket of oil.

This happens because deep-frying uses a different technique to increase the temperature than an air fryer does.

What you cannot cook in the air fryer?

Below are the items that you cannot cook in the air fryer;

FAQs

Conclusion

Mery Webber

Mery Webber, the founder of Kitchen Aims, is a passionate home cook with extensive experience in the kitchen appliance industry. Through her blog, she aims to share her knowledge and help readers create the perfect kitchen.