Despite being a staple in most American households, the air fryer is still a relatively young invention. Since its debut was only 12 years ago, it is the new child on the block. Yet the appliance has created a whole community.
Despite its simplicity, maintaining and using air fryers still calls for a certain amount of culinary and technical expertise.
How to utilize oil in air fryers is one of the things that most people might not know. An air fryer’s key selling point is that it produces the same kind of crispy skin as a deep fryer but without the trouble or calories. Having some oil is still beneficial; adding some to the basket of your air fryer can assist in preventing sticking and preserving moisture.
However, even though utilizing oils can be advantageous, many people are unaware of the best cooking oils to use when using an air fryer and how to prepare food without using cooking spray.
Air Fryer Oil 101
Contrary to popular assumption, some air fryer recipes call for oil, while others do not.
Fried chicken, burgers, steaks, and other meats that make their own juices, for example, can be cooked without oil. Frozen items such as pizza rolls, hotdogs, hashbrowns, hot pockets, and onion rings can also be cooked in the air fryer without the use of oil.
And if the recipe calls for oil, chances are you’ll only need a “little oil.”
Three Methods for Putting Oil in an Air Fryer
There are three common ways to apply oil to your food or directly to the air fryer:
- Drizzle oil using a small bowl of oil. Combine your herbs, spices, or marinade (only if you want to). Then sprinkle the mixture lightly over your food. Because you have less control over the oil, this method is frequently the messiest.
- Basting brush or silicone brush – If you have a basting brush or silicone brush in your kitchen, you might dip it in oil and brush it on your food. If you don’t have this type of brush and want to acquire one, look for silicone sets with multiple sizes to make it easier to distribute oil on different foods.
- Oil Mister or Spray Bottle – Pour the oil into a spray bottle or an oil mister. The meal is then sprayed with it before being placed in the air fryer. You could spray the basket directly, but you’d have to be very careful not to splash other sections of the air fryer.
Do You Use Oil In The Air Fryer?
An air fryer can use oil, although it uses less than a deep fryer because the amount needed depends on the food being cooked.
You don’t need more than 2 tbsp of oil for the majority of foods that you would cook in your air fryer. I don’t recall using any more oil for my steaks and vegetables than 2 tbsp.
My main motivation for purchasing an air fryer was to reduce my calorie intake, and I must say that I made the right choice.
If you’re hesitant to use a liter of vegetable oil in the air fryer, as you would in a deep fryer, set that hesitation aside. You don’t need too much oil in an air fryer. Instead, it will be harmful if you use too much oil in an air fryer.
Does Air fryer make your food Healthy?
An air fryer has its limitations even though it can significantly lower your fat intake (by up to 70–80%).
Making Some French Fries in an Air Fryer
Do you want some French fries? Put your cut-up potatoes in the air fryer after giving them a light oil brushing. By doing that, you lower the maximum quantity of acrylamide that deep-frying in fat can produce.
However, don’t think that using frozen potatoes in an air fryer will make them healthier because they are handled differently than fresh potatoes. Frozen fries are already unhealthy because they were fried before freezing, therefore there is no use in air frying them to make them healthier.
Making Some Fish in an Air Fryer
The heated air that circulates inside the air fryer can hurt some meals, such as fish, even though most air-fried food is superior to conventional deep-fried cuisine.
Fish that has been air-fried may have higher cholesterol oxidized products (COPs). The COPs are harmful to health and can result in difficulties including cancer, cell membrane deterioration, and other grave concerns.
Therefore, it is best to either avoid fish when using an air fryer or to air-fry fish while adding an antioxidant herb, such as parsley or chives.
How Much Oil is Enough?
Most of the time, using oil in an air fryer cannot be avoided. For most fresh foods to come out crispy and golden brown in the air fryer, you need to dry them out and lightly brush them with oil. If you use too much oil, however, your food will come out soggy.
However, the majority of recipes only call for one or two teaspoons of oil to adequately coat the food. In contrast, the breaded dishes, which may call for up to two tablespoons of oil, are the most oil-heavy.
This still only requires a small portion of the oil required for a deep fryer, which can use up to a whole bottle.
To stop food from sticking to the basket in your air fryer, you might also need to add a little oil. The best way to prevent the meat from sticking to the bottom of your air fryer basket is to simply spray it with a light layer of vegetable oil before heating it.
Just be mindful of the amount you use since using too much oil on the food or the basket can drip into the heating components and begin to smoke, which could harm your fryer or make a mess and trigger the smoke alarm.
How to Use Oil in an Air Fryer?
In comparison to frying, using oil in an air fryer is easier. The best way is to use a brush for this purpose.
- Simply coat the meal with oil and place it in the air fryer is all that is required.
- Check your food for any oil drips to determine the appropriate amount of oil. You’re doing it wrong if you’re using so much oil that it begins to drip inside the basket.
- The oil will leak and clog the air fryer fans, creating an unpleasant haze that nobody likes.
- An air fryer can be used with homemade cooking spray. The method of food preparation will be healthier.
- Because commercial cooking sprays with aerosol propellants, such as PAM, can damage air fryer parts, it is preferable to make your cooking spray.
- In addition to using it to cook with, you can also create a cleaning spray for your air fryer.
- To avoid destroying delicacies like crispy chicken wings or deep-fried crispy chicken, make sure to spray oil on the air fryer basket to create a non-stick coating.
What Food Can be Prepared in an Air Fryer Using Oil?
Now let’s talk about what food can be prepared in an air fryer using oil. The answer is that oil can be used in an air fryer to cook any meal that uses oil in traditional cooking.
You can prepare any food you want to, including veggies, poultry, and meat. The sole recommendation is to cook your food with less oil than you would in a standard oven.
You can use oil in your freshly made cookies, doughnuts, tiny pizzas, burger patties, and other baked items. So there is no restriction on the kind of food you may fry in an air fryer while using oil.
Watch the following video to learn about how to use oil in the air fryer.
The Worst and the Best Oils to Use When Cooking in an Air Fryer
The most important thing to keep in mind while frying food is the smoke point of the fat you’re using. The oil stops boiling at the smoke point and begins to emit dense smoke.
The mineral components of crude oils that react poorly to high temperatures are the cause of this smoke. Virgin oils that have not been refined have a low smoke point, whereas refined oils perform very well at high temperatures.
This is due to the absence of naturally occurring minerals in these oils. However, another thing to keep in mind when using an air fryer is how the oil may impact the flavor of your air-fried items.
The question of which oil is healthier should be discussed another time. What oils perform best and worst in an air fryer is the topic of discussion. So let’s begin:
Best Oils | Worst Oils |
Avocado Oil | Coconut Oil |
Olive Oil | Corn Oil |
Grapeseed Oil | Sesame Oil |
Conclusion
- The way oil is used in air fryers differs from how it is used in other types of cooking.
- Simply brush the proteins with the best-suited oil alternatives or toss the veggies with them before storing them in the air fryer.
- However, neither air frying nor any other form of cooking is entirely oil-free. You must be careful with the oil you use and the quantity you put in the air fryer.
- Avoid using too much oil in air fryers since the dripping oil can interfere with the appliance’s function.
- Recall the specifics of how much oil your favorite gadget uses as you continue to run for weight loss.