back
19 comments
I was an air fryer skeptic for a long time, before eventually my toaster oven broke and I replaced it with one that had air-frying built in.

Yes, it is just a convection oven - that was my response for years when people waxed poetic about how great air fryers are. The difference is that it's a tiny convection oven that heats very quickly, as opposed to a full convection oven which takes much more time.

So no, not a hoax. They work pretty good.

It's just a hair dryer pointed at a tray with food is what I say.
So, then... at last, hair dryers found useful purpose.
Article says:

- There’s roughly five times faster air movement through an air fryer compared to a convection oven.

- Besides the wind, and the crisping tray, it’s really more of an optimized convection oven than a new technology.

The article doesn't say that air fryers don't exist or don't work; just that it's not a new cooking technique.

It certainly isn't frying.

The title of the article is literally that they’re a hoax, yet your own points show they’re not “just a convection oven” and they demonstrably cook things differently from a regular convection oven. Saying it’s “not frying” doesn’t mean anything either: they’re not called dryers, they’re called “air fryers” specifically to indicate that they’re not just frying things like usual.
Those are not my points; they're from the article. The article agrees with the idea that air fryers are not exactly convection ovens; they're smaller, faster convection ovens.

Except for the "not frying" part. That's not in the article; it is my opinion. Frying refers to cooking in a pan, on top of a layer of oil or fat. Air does not fry.

I don't really see the hoax as much as air fryers being misleadingly named. The idea that air fryers bring about a new cooking method, or at least a useful variation in the method of baking, is more plausible than that they bring about the old method known as frying.

> they’re not called dryers

Which is a shame, because they work wonders on my socks.

:D
After my Instantpot (pressure cooker), the air fryer is the most used device in my kitchen. The hoax article is the actual hoax.
Care to share any corpus of pressure cooker recipes ? :)
Love using the air fryer, warms up foods fast, crisps foods, liners are a game changer. Fish cooks perfectly in it quickly. I just get the largest 10 quart version I can find to fit larger foods.

Also, tater tots are super crispy like fried in oil, without frying in oil. And reheating pizza is amazingly crunchy.

Air fryer really works. Gets your food crispy with very little oil. Great for heating up stuff that needs to be crispy too.
Alt title: "the air fryer is not an oil fryer and that makes me mad"
I accidentally bought my first air fryer yesterday when on a mission to get keys cut.

It’s the best thing since sliced bread. I love that it cooks so fast. AND it has two seperate trays so my foods don’t touch each other while cooking, and the most beautiful thing about it is I can set it so the different foods go in at the same time, cook at different times/temperatures but are ready at the exact same time. The food comes out crispy, and cooked all the way through faster than my usual oven, and it’s easier to clean than a normal oven, and there was less dishes. It adds value to my life. The food may not be the air equivalent of deep fried, but it’s cooked super efficiently! Not a hoax!!

The ones with lamps in them are a real scam (not built for replacement but still painfully possible to replace), but beefier proper electric element is high power and amazing and way more portable and cleanable than an oven.
I have an air fryer. I use it regularly. I assure you it's not a hoax, me and millions of other people have verified this first hand.
It works great if you cooking for just two people - perfect sizing and speed.
Instapot gets way more hype but air fryer is the real mvp
Hoax is click bait