Vent: I read that air fryers don't actually fry, and it's been bugging me all week

I was looking up some cooking facts online, and I found this article from a university food science blog. It said air fryers are basically just small, powerful convection ovens. They don't actually 'fry' anything because there's no oil submersion, which is the real definition of frying. This whole time I've been telling my family we're having 'fried' chicken, but it's just baked chicken with a crispy skin. It feels a bit like false advertising, you know? I still love my air fryer for making quick frozen fries and reheating pizza, but calling it frying seems wrong now. I tried explaining this to my sister and she just shrugged and said the food tastes good so who cares. But it matters to me. Has anyone else had this thought, or am I overthinking a kitchen gadget?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix_thomas7310d ago

My buddy got into a huge argument with his wife over this. He kept calling it "oven baking" and she got mad because the box said "air fryer"!

wesleyjohnson11d ago

That food science blog is spot on, it's just marketing that stuck. My mom still calls it frying too and it drives me nuts.