Air Fryers are arguably the most popular kitchen appliance today. Many famous names do not hesitate to express their love for air fryer.
These devices use hot air instead of hot oil to cook food and offer a faster and healthier alternative to deep-frying.
While most of us use our appliances to make french fries or cook frozen foods, there are some surprising foods that air fryers can cook wonderfully.
“Which?”, a test and review site published in the UK, says, “Air fryers can be useful for quickly cooking frozen foods and adding crispness to them,” and adds: “But you can cook ‘almost anything’ with this device!”
Here are seven foods you probably didn’t know you could cook in an air fryer, from soft-boiled eggs to steak:
Boiled egg
Blogger Liana Green, who has prepared numerous guides on air fryers, explains how to make the perfect soft-boiled egg in the air fryer:
“Cooking eggs in an air fryer may seem counterintuitive, but since the temperature provided by these devices is constant, you can get the ideally cooked egg every time. Plus, you don’t need to boil water.”
So how do you cook eggs in the air fryer?
Green recommends setting the air fryer to 150 degrees and “frying” the egg for eight minutes for a runny yolk (that is, soft-boiled), or 12 minutes for a firmer yolk.
However, you may need to experiment a bit to find your ideal cooking time.
London-based food blogger Emma, known as “The Suga Fix” on social media, posted a recipe for delicious-looking desserts on Instagram. For this easy recipe, you will need 200 grams of self-raising flour, 250 ml of yoghurt, butter and powdered sugar for decoration, and spreadable biscuit cream if you want a sauce.
So how to cook donuts using an air fryer?
Emma says: “Mix the yoghurt and flour until a smooth dough forms. Knead on the counter for 3 minutes, adding flour if it sticks to your hands. Use a spoon to break the dough into small pieces and then roll into balls.”
What settings will you use on the air fryer?
Grease your air fryer basket with sunflower oil and place 12 balls of dough in it. Fry at 200 degrees for 12-15 minutes. If there is dough left inside the balls, it means they are not cooked yet.
Brush the melted butter on the cooked dough, roll it in sugar and enjoy!
Ravioli
As you might have guessed, you can’t cook dried pasta in an air fryer because it must be cooked in boiling water. However, you can cook fresh ravioli to a wonderful crispness in this appliance and serve it as a quick and easy starter at your dinner party or simply as a delicious snack.
All you have to do is dip the raviolis in beaten eggs and breadcrumbs and bake them at 175 degrees for 10 minutes. Don’t forget to turn your ravioli after 5 minutes of cooking time. When they come out of the air fryer, your ravioli should be crispy on the outside and soft and melty on the inside!
Hellim cheese
It’s okay to cook frozen cheese products in an air fryer, but it’s best to avoid using fresh cheese.
This is because most fresh cheeses have a low melting point, which means they can burn quickly.
The only exception to this rule is halloumi, which can be safely cooked in an air fryer thanks to its high melting point.
“The high heat of the air fryer crisps the halloumi perfectly on the outside while keeping it deliciously soft on the inside,” says Liana Green.
“Drizzle some honey on it to get that wonderful taste of the Mediterranean. I fry the halloumi at 200 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.”
Steak
Those who are conservative eaters may not be keen on the idea of cooking steak in an air fryer.
But Liana Green says air fryers do an impressive job of cooking steak, although not as well as your skillet or grill.
“The hot air circulating inside the device preserves the taste and juices of the meat, providing you with a cooked and aromatic steak,” says Green, reminding you that you should pre-heat your air fryer and not fill it too much.
How long you need to cook the steak depends on how it was cut and how cooked you want it.
Green’s recommendation is to preheat your air fryer to 200 degrees. Cooking for three or four minutes on each side will give you a medium-rare steak, while four or five minutes will give you a medium doneness.
If you don’t want to see any pinkness in your meat, you should cook each side separately for five or six minutes.
Garlic
If you need to prepare baked garlic on pasta or alongside vegetables, you do not need to turn on the oven.
While cooking garlic in an air fryer takes half the time as an oven, it requires almost no preparation.
Cut the garlic root and place it on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle olive oil on it, wrap it in aluminum foil and close it. Place it in the air fryer set at 200 degrees and check after 20 minutes, your garlic should have turned golden yellow!
Fried Rice
You need water to make rice, so an air fryer won’t work for you. However, if you have leftover rice or cooked rice from the previous meal, you can make delicious fried rice using an air fryer.
For best results, mix your rice with a cooked omelette, frozen vegetables, soy sauce and oil. Set your air fryer to 175 degrees and cook for 10 to 15 minutes!