If you don’t already have a deep fryer, then you’re probably Patrick Star, or at least living with one.
Whether you live on the Spongebob set or not, you’ve heard of a deep fryer, even if you haven’t used or bought one yourself, but experts have now confirmed that there is a safety issue with them when cooking certain foods.
So what are these tabletop cookers?
While convection ovens, to give them their true name, have been widely used since 1945, it wasn’t until 2006 that a French manufacturer developed an appliance under the Actifry brand that circulates hot air around food while churning it continuously.
Philips, a British manufacturer of convection ovens, established the deep fryer brand in 2010, and until 2018 the term “fryer” was commonly used.
However, the fryer took off in the United States when it first hit the market in 2017 and grew even more during the pandemic when viral cooking videos on TikTok were in high demand.
Between 2021 and 2022, sales are expected to top $1 billion — a whopping 20 percent increase from the previous year — and nearly 60 percent of American households will own a home by 2023, according to Nestle’s Adam Graves.
Experts at Which?, a UK-based organization that tests products to support informed consumer choice when buying goods and services, have given you advice on what to avoid when cooking.
So what foods should you avoid cooking in an air fryer?
Cooking a whole chicken in a deep fryer is not recommended, according to what? But why is that? Since there isn’t enough room for hot air to move, the center will remain raw unless your worktop is particularly large.
The ad warned: “Cooking whole roasts such as roast chicken can be problematic, so tie up the bird before frying.”
It is not recommended to use the air fryer for pasta, rice, or even any fresh vegetables.
WHO? he said, “A pressure cooker is not a cooking and steaming device – stick to a slow cooker or stovetop pot.
“You can use an air fryer to reheat pasta and sauce that has already been cooked, but a microwave is a more efficient way to do it.”
But why fresh vegetables? Spinach, lettuce, and kale are so light they just blow away in a convection oven, so it’s best to avoid the mess.
However, the popular popcorn snack may be also unwise because an air fryer might not even be able to cook it!
“Cooking popcorn in your deep fryer may not even work because most deep fryers won’t get hot enough to pop the popcorn.
A good old microwave will do a much better job”, experts warned.
He added that he would avoid adding fresh cheese and toast – though not so much for health reasons!