If you like to cook healthy meals at home, you may already have an oven or have been thinking about getting one. The multi-oven is a popular kitchen appliance that allows you to cook healthier food than other methods such as pan frying or deep frying. In the multi-oven, cooking healthy dishes is easier and faster.
However, before you buy such a device, you need to know a few things about it. In this article, I will talk about multicookers: how to use them, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as some alternatives.
What is an airfryer / multi-oven?
Despite their popularity over the past few years, multi-furnaces are a relatively new invention, having only been on the market since 2010. Multi-ovens use the power of convection (circulating hot air): thanks to it, uniform baking and browning of the dish on all sides, a crispy crust is achieved. The appliance is equipped with fans to help distribute hot air throughout the cooking area. This unique method really allows you to cook faster in a multi-cooker than in a traditional oven.
Despite the fact that food in a multi-oven is not fried in the traditional sense, these devices are called air fryers, because they manage to cook dishes with a crispy crust in a way similar to frying in a pan or deep-frying, but using an extremely small amount of oil, which, undoubtedly makes cooked food much healthier. Food placed in the electric grill only needs to be lightly sprayed or oiled to produce a crispy, golden brown crust.
The multi oven is easy to use. It is enough to set the desired temperature and cooking time, place the products in the multi-oven basket and turn on the device, turning or shaking the contents as necessary to ensure even baking and oil distribution. Most products are cooked on an air grill in 15 minutes or less.
Almost everything can be cooked in the multi-oven, from meat to desserts. The air grill can be used for self-cooking snacks: dried fruits or vegetable snacks, chips, jerky, popcorn, etc. In the multi-oven, you can fry nuts and seeds and even make simple pastries.
Airfryer Advantages
Multifurnaces have several advantages. They can help you reduce the amount of fat, calories, and potentially harmful compounds in your food. In addition, multi-ovens cook faster and consume less energy than other kitchen appliances.
Less fat and calories
Due to the small amount of cooking oil, multi-ovens can significantly reduce the calorie and fat content of foods that are usually fried (fries, chicken and many other dishes).
Traditional fried foods absorb 10-60% of the oil in which they are fried. Because butter is so high in calories, even 10% fat absorbed can greatly increase your daily calorie intake.
What’s more, one study found that people who ate fried foods four or more times a week were about 40% more likely to gain weight or become obese than those who limited fried foods to less than two servings per week. .
Airfryer-fried products need only be greased or sprinkled with oil to get a dish with a ruddy crispy crust. Compared to frying, this amount of oil adds a negligible amount of calories to the dish. One study found that deep-fried and air-fried french fries have the same moisture content and identical color, although air-fried french fries contain significantly fewer calories and absorb less oil.
Less harmful compounds
Often, deep-fried foods are fried in low-quality oil containing harmful compounds that can be detrimental to health. Ideal oils for frying include avocado oil and coconut oil , but most often, cheaper vegetable oils such as corn oil, soybean oil, or peanut oil are used in deep-frying.
Frying foods that are high in carbohydrates, such as potatoes or flour products, can lead to a buildup of acrylamide, which the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies as a “probable carcinogen.”
In addition, most of the vegetable oils commonly used in deep frying are high in inflammatory omega-6 fats, which can contribute to chronic inflammation and increase the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
Repeated heating and cooling of old oil, as is often the case with deep fryers in restaurants, also leads to the formation of other harmful compounds that can promote inflammation, damage cells and potentially lead to cancer.
Using an airfryer significantly reduces the buildup of these harmful compounds in your food. Multi-oven cooking can reduce acrylamide by up to 90%. And since the airfryer requires less oil, the body’s exposure to some of the other harmful substances contained in the oil is also reduced.
Food cooks faster
The convection used in multi ovens can reduce cooking time by up to 20% compared to baking in the oven. This is possible because in the multi-oven hot air circulates around the product from all sides, and the working area is smaller than in the oven, which together reduces the time required for complete cooking. A multi-oven can be a godsend for those who try to eat healthy food, but not always because of lack of time.
Consumes less energy
Among other things, the multi-oven consumes less energy than the oven. Multi-ovens are much more modest in size compared to large kitchen appliances and cook food faster, which saves energy. Another advantage follows from this: the airfryer will not heat the kitchen as much as the oven, and this in turn can save you some money on your air conditioner bills!
Portability
And finally, the multi-oven is a portable device, so you can take it with you anywhere. The airfryer can be taken with you on vacations or trips where you won’t have access to a fully equipped kitchen to save money on lunch at establishments.
Cons of aerogrill
Multicookers also have disadvantages that you should be aware of before buying.
Security Considerations
Multi ovens are quite safe, but if the manufacturer’s instructions are not followed, problems are still possible. For example, multi-furnaces get very hot. If you need to turn or shake food while cooking, take precautions to avoid burning yourself, such as using oven mitts and tongs.
A safety hazard is also created by the use of more oil than provided for in the instructions for the device. Too much oil increases the risk of fire in the appliance. Be sure to carefully follow all instructions that come with your airfryer.
small work surface
The surface for cooking in multi-ovens is much smaller than that of an oven or stove, so a multi-oven may not be suitable for a large family. If you need to cook a large amount of food on an air fryer, you will have to cook in batches, which can actually increase the total cooking time compared to using an oven or stovetop.
Big and bulky
The multi-oven is sometimes too large for a kitchen appliance and takes up quite a lot of space on the desktop or in the closet. If you have a small kitchen or little free storage space, the appearance of a bulky multi-oven may not please you.
Airfryer alternatives (multi-oven)
If you do not have space in the kitchen or money in the budget to buy an air grill right now, do not be discouraged. There are many alternative cooking methods and foods available that can be used to make healthy meals.
Much of what a multi-oven can do can be cooked in a conventional oven. Frying in a pan in a small amount of oil also allows you to reduce fat and calorie content, compared to deep-frying, and at the same time get a delicious dish with a golden crispy crust.
Many people cook healthy snacks like dried fruits, vegetable chips or homemade jerky in a slow cooker, but it’s not difficult to buy such products. There are such useful snacks on sale: seaweed snacks , jerky and dried fruit snacks .
Airgrill-multi-oven is healthier?
Air frying is definitely healthier than deep frying. The multi-oven uses significantly less oil, resulting in products containing less fat, fewer calories, and fewer potentially harmful compounds such as acrylamide.
It is possible to prepare a dish with the same crispy ruddy crust as when frying, but without negative side effects. In a multi-oven, food is cooked faster and less electricity is consumed compared to a conventional oven or hob. However, even if you don’t have an airfryer, there are many options available that are far healthier than fried food.
