The air fryer is a hoax

The air fryer is not frying anything. Oil has a significantly higher "heat flux" than air, which measures how quickly heat transfers to your food. Oil frying occurs between 10 and 30,000 watts per square meter, but air frying doesn't even get close. High heat flux means a crisp crust will develop quickly before water escapes – the ultimate enemy of browning and crisiping.

. Baked foods are much healthier and easier to make, and air frying is really just baking, though it's sold to us as something else.

As with many product myths, names are important. The name "air fryer' leads you to think of this as something new. The logic behind buying one is that you can't deep fry at home, but an air fryer allows you to do the next best thing. It's really a genius marketing tactic more than anything, but it's misleading.

The air fryer community is also uniquely strong. There are entire recipe books and website blogs purely dedicated to air fryers. This culture just doesn't exist for other kitchen appliances like a microwave or a toaster oven, but for some reason, the air fryer has grabbed ahold of the American psyche.