How to choose a right air fryer?

Nowadays, people are paying more attention to fitness culture and healthy diet. Calories, triglycerides, sugar, etc. are regarded as the big demons that destroy healthy diet. They often bring diseases to people’s bodies, such as high blood pressure, high blood lipids, fatty liver, excessive obesity and so on.

In recent years, air fryers have emerged, providing people with a good solution for oil-free and healthy eating, which can preserve the deliciousness of food to the greatest extent while ensuring health. However, the quality of air fryers on the market varies greatly, and some unscrupulous merchants even use substandard materials to make air fryers, which can bring the risk of cancer when the fryer operates at high temperatures.

How to choose the best air fryer? Below you will get what an 18-year manufacturer has to say about how air fryers work and how to choose one

It can be clearly seen from the picture below that the principle of cooking food is the circulation of hot air. The main components used for cooking are a motor, two fan blades, and a heating tube.

When turing on the power, the rotation of the motor will drive the fan blades to rotate. The upper fan blade faces upward to cool the motor; the lower fan blade blows air downward to circulate air in the pot. After the air passes through the heating tube, the temperature of the air will rise to the temperature set by the user (usually between 80 and 200 degrees).

After a period of baking, the food will gradually be cooked. Some fryers have a ventilation plate in the pot, which can have a better cooking effecy for the bottom of food.

Schematic diagram of air fryer

Now you can understand what determines the heating efficiency of the air fryer. Yes, it is motor, fan blades and heating tube:

At present, shaded pole motors are mainly used to make fryers on the market, but a small number of manufacturers have begun to develop fryers with DC motors. Here will introduce the performance differences of shaded pole motors used in fryers.

Shade pole motor-YJ61

There’re two key points to determine the “power” of motor: model and thickness. We understand the four digits separately. The first two digits represent the model, and the last two digits represent the stator thickness.

The above three are main models of shade pole motors used in making fryers. The first two digits are named after the longest diagonal or diameter (YJ58 is oval) of the motor. A longer diagonal or diameter will make the motor larger overall. You can imagine the same shape of a circle or square with different lengths of diagonals, it may make it easier to understand. Larger models tend to have more horsepower, RPM (Revolutions per minute), which will provide enhanced heating performance in fryers. Obviously, YJ61>YJ58>YJ48.

The stator is a component made of gray silicon steel sheets on the outermost side of the motor. Its thickness also plays a decisive role in the performance of the motor. The thickness of a silicon steel sheet here is 0.5mm, so 12 (thickness) is 24 pieces. Within a certain range, the thicker the stator (or the more stator slices it has), the better the performance of the motor.

The more powerful the motor is, the larger the fan blades can be driven, making the heating in the pot more efficient and complete. The model and thickness of the motor are points where unscrupulous merchants tend to cut corners. They often use low-quality motors with smaller blades to save costs, trying to “steam” food for longer instead of perfectly “frying” it.

As mentioned above, the motor and the fan blades are used together. The stronger the performance of the motor, the larger the fan blades can be driven, which can improve the heating efficiency in the pot.

Fan blade

When choosing a fryer, you can try to pull out the pot and check the size of the fan blades, which determine the heating efficiency.

It has the characteristics is that it can emit light while generating, heat fast heating speed, high thermal efficiency and good durability, so visibility will be the main selling point. However, the manufacturing cost is relatively high, so some high-end brands of air fryers may use this heating tube.

Light wave heating tube

Stainless steel heating tube

It’s widely used in fryers. An economical type of heating element that is low cost, durable and safe, but stainless steel heating elements heat up slowly and take longer to reach the appropriate cooking temperature.

Infrared heating tubes are a type of efficient and energy-saving heating tubes with the characteristics of fast heating speed, high thermal efficiency, energy saving and environmental protection. In addition, the heat energy of infrared heating tubes can penetrate the surface of food, making the inside evenly heated, thereby improving the cooking effect and taste. However, the manufacturing cost of infrared heating tubes is also high, and it is not easy to repair after damage.

In general, if you are looking for an economical price, you can choose a stainless steel heating tube; if you are looking for stronger heating efficiency, you can choose a light wave heating tube or an infrared heating tube.

There’re three main heating methods: normal hot air circulation, 360°C hot air circulation, spiral 360°C hot air circulation. The second one is the main method.

For the heating efficiency, you just need to check the motor, fan blades and heating tube. Under the same price conditions, choose a higher horsepower motor with larger fan blades, which you can check by pulling out the pot or asking clerk. For the heating tube, the stainless steel heating tube is the mainstream model, and it is proved that it is also sufficient for heating.