Are fryers or oil-less fryers aim to achieve the wonderful taste of deep fried foods without the rather large amount of calories. The air fryer cooks food by circulating super hot air which cooks the food, the crispy outer layer is achieved by something called “The Maillard Effect”.
In a deep fryer, the food is bathed in boiling oil to achieve the crispy texture. But an air fryer doesn’t have an oil-bath. This leads to the question.
Do air fryers need added oil? No, air fryers do not need to be supplied with oil in order to cook food and give it a crispy exterior. This can be done without oil, it is one of the great advantages of using an air fryer, however, adding a tiny bit of oil to your food prior to cooking it will make it even crispier. To do this without adding a bunch of calories, I would recommend using a kitchen spray bottle as it will be much easier to keep the oil to a minimum, opposite to using a tablespoon or brush.
Even with added oil, the difference between deep fried food and air fried food is huge when it comes to calories. The fat content of air fried food is much, much lower than that of deep fried food.
With that in mind, if you lust for a little extra crust you can add a bit of oil to the food you’re air frying and still keep the number of calories low.
What Is The Best Kind Of Oil To Use In An Air Fryer
When you reached your twenties and had to do your own grocery shopping, you may have spent way too much time in stores trying to decide which of the two options of a product you want.
The same thing goes for oil, there are a bunch of alternatives made from a bunch of different things and they have a bunch of different properties. With such a wide selection of oils, it can be pretty hard to come to a conclusion.
For the sake of this article, we’ll focus on oils that are suitable for air frying. As the air fryer will reach high temperatures (somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees) when cooking, the oil used in the air fryer needs to be able to handle that kind of temperature without losing its health benefits or ruining the taste of your food.
Therefore, the smoking point (the temperature needed for the oil to burn or smoke) of the oil is imperative when cooking with it. The table below shows each oil and their respective smoking points – when air frying, you want to use an oil with a smoking point over 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
| Avocado Oil | 520 |
| Safflower Oil | 510 |
| Rice Bran Oil | 490 |
| Soybean Oil | 450 |
| Peanut Oil | 450 |
| Palm Oil | 450 |
| Ghee | 450 |
| Vegetable Oil | 400-450 |
| Grapeseed Oil | 420 |
| Beef Tallow | 400 |
| Sunflower Oil | 440 |
| Coconut Oil (Refined) | 450 |
| Butter | 350 |
| Extra Light Olive Oil | 460-470 |
So, which oil should you use in an air fryer? As you can see there are plenty of options that are above the 400-degree limit. My favorites include:
- Avocado Oil: With such a high smoke point, the avocado oil handles the air fryer perfectly. It is without a doubt one of the most stable oils when cooking at high temperatures. The oil is produced by pressing avocados and contains nutrients like unsaturated fats and omega3.
- Peanut Oil: The peanut oil has a smoking point of 450 degrees Fahrenheit, therefore, it can be used in an air fryer without burning. It’s a mild vegetable oil that’s full of unsaturated fats and a mild taste of peanuts.
- Refined Coconut Oil: The coconut oil tastes like a mixture of the peanut oil and something sweeter. It is produced from the meat of the coconut and gives a lot of taste to the food. The downside of coconut oil is the alarming amount of saturated fat that it contains. But with a smoke point at 450 degrees, it can be used in the air fryer but I recommend using it with modesty.
- Extra Light Olive Oil: The extra light olive oil has a smoke point of 460-470 degrees. Not to be mistaken with Extra Virgin Olive Air with a smoking point of 380 degrees. The olive oil is a great pick for the air fryer because of its modest yet flavourful taste.
Oils You Shouldn’t Use In An Air Fryer
We want to stay away from any fats that might ruin the taste of our food or lose their nutritional benefits when heated to higher temperatures. These fats have lower smoke points and are better used elsewhere.
- Butter
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Lard
- Non-Stick Sprays
- Margarine
Where Do You Put Oil In An Air Fryer
The air fryer is not operated as a regular deep fryer. There is no bath to hold larger quantities of oil, just a basket
To control the amount of oil you add to the food, I would suggest you either spray or brush the oil or use a spritzer bottle with a mixture of oil and herbs. I think getting an oil mister/spritzer bottle is a must for someone who’s planning to use their air fryer frequently.
How Much Oil Should You Use In An Air Fryer
Because everyone uses a different method of adding oil to their food I will try my best to stay away from measurements. Firstly, the amount of oil you should use depends entirely on your taste and what you are trying to achieve with the air fryer.
I recommend adding enough oil to create a thin layer that covers the entire (chicken breast). If that doesn’t give you enough crisp, add more.
Oil Can Make It Harder To Clean The Air Fryer
The downside of using oil is that it requires you to clean the air fryer more thoroughly after using it to avoid accumulating grease residue in the air fryer.
However, it has to be done once in a while no matter what ingredients you are using. Here’s how you remove grease from your air fryer components.
- Fill your sink or a container large enough to hold the air fryer’s components with warm water and soap
- Place the components in the sink or container and let them soak
- Let them bathe in the solution for a minimum of 10 minutes
- When 10 minutes or more has passed, scrub the components using a very soft sponge or brush. Stay away from rough sponges and brushes as they can ruin the component’s surface.
- Once you’re done scrubbing, wash the basket or pan under running water one last time. Let the components dry before placing them in the air fryer again.
The cavity (the inside of the air fryer) can also collect quite the amount of grease residue and dirt.
Instead of using chemicals and tools that may harm the air fryer, we approach the cavity with the same technique but instead of bathing it in soap and warm water we scrub the inside of the air fryer with a rag dipped in the solution.
Make sure to squeeze any excess water out of the rag to keep the flooding of the air fryer to a minimum.
When you’re done scrubbing and sweeping you want to clean the entire inside of the air fryer with paper towels to collect the dirt. Repeat until the paper towels come out clean. That’s it.
Related Questions
Can you use vegetable oil in an air fryer? Yes, the smoking point of vegetable oil is somewhere between 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit, making it a viable option for the air fryer. (See chart above)
Can you use PAM Non-stick spray in an air fryer? I would advise against using it as it may damage the nonstick coating on the air fryer’s components. Frequent exposure to non-stick sprays and their propellants may cause the basket to lose its coating entirely, making it even harder to remove food from it. Instead, opt for any oil of your choice, as long as it has a smoking point above 400.