It is probably your first time considering air frying, and you’re in the market looking for the best air fryer to buy. You will surely come across many types. Air fryers can be generally categorized into two types:
Basket air fryers and convection oven air fryers. While basket air fryers are made almost the same as a deep fryer to contain the food, Convection oven air fryers have added air frying functionality and are designed with racks where you can place food on, like a toaster.
When it comes down to choosing the best type of air fryer, factors like features, material, and size will further broaden the type of air fryers available to include cylindrical and paddle types.
Air fryers can become a life-saving kitchen appliance, especially for making high-quality, low-fat dishes like pizzas and chips. However, it may seem like a mystery to decipher how it works and which air fryer type is best. Let’s now look at how these types of air fryers work to find out which would be best suited for your needs.
The Types of Air Fryers
In light of recent advancements in air frying technology, the generality of air fryers in the market today can be classified into seven different types which are:
- Cylinder Air Fryer
- Oven Air Fryer
- Halogen Air Fryer
- Pressure Cooker Air Fryer
- Paddle Air fryer
- Basket Air Fryer
- Microwave Air Fryer
Cylinder Air Fryer
These types are designed with two removable baskets. It generates hot air using a fan and then circulated from start to finish to make the food item hot.
Meanwhile, those who prioritize capacity would not want to go for the Cylinder Basket Air Fryer but it is best for frying, baking, broiling, and grilling.
Oven Air Fryer
As mentioned earlier, this one is similar to the Cylinder air fryer in heating methodology, only that it features racks that hold the food item and takes a resemblance to a toaster oven with its transparent doors.
Oven Air fryer is a particularly good choice for those who want easy-to-clean since this type of air fryer can be cleaned in a dishwasher. However, the space it takes on the counter is a downside.
Halogen Air Fryer
In this type of air fryer, the heat that makes your food cook is generated by halogen lights, and the mechanism is located at the top of this model. Most people like it for the glass texture that allows for monitoring while food cooks.
Pressure Cooker Air Fryer
This is the integration of pressure cooking into air frying devices. These models are ideal for dishes that require a golden-brown finish such as this Ninja Combo.
While they can be expensive, you can be lucky to find one with multi-functions like baking, slow cooking, and even roasting Paddle Air fryer In these types of air fryer, there is a paddle within the basket that moves the hot air over the meal for even distribution, allowing you to leave and forget.
It is ideal for greater cooking spaces and larger food items to be cooked. Basket Air Fryer Cooking food in a container that has small holes through which air is allowed to circulate and heat foot items, thereby preventing your food from sitting on oil while it cooks.
It is the most popular type of air fryer and Philips appear to be the leading brand in this category.
Microwave Air Fryer
Considered among the highly-rated models of Air fryers, These devices can cook food both in a microwave and an air fryer. It is ideal for those who are looking for a combo of air fryer and microwave.
Which type of AirFryer is best?
The best Air fryer type is one that ticks the box in areas of size, affordability, durable materials, digital controls, and ease of cleaning and maintenance. What this means is that: to know the type of air fryer that is best for you, you should consider:
- How many people it will feed versus the counter space available in your kitchen
- How much you’re willing to spend for convenience and utility. (Expect between $100 and $300.)
- Digital controls which are far more accurate than dial controls
- Ease of cleaning
Is a basket or tray air fryer better? Within the context of which cooks faster, a Basket Air fryer is better than Oven/tray Air Fryer. This also translates to the amount of time that both models will spend cooking the same amount of food.
Nevertheless, both basket and tray air fryers will cook faster than a conventional oven. Is there a difference between an air fryer and an air fryer oven? Yes. The main difference between an air fryer and an air fryer oven is the capacity and functionality. An air frying oven has more capacity, which saves you the time of cooking in batches, and also functions as not just an air fryer.