How does an air fryer work?

Here's a straightforward explanation of how an air fryer works, broken down into key points:

1. Core: High speed hot air circulation system
Top heating tube heats up: After being powered on, the heating tube quickly heats up (similar to an oven heating wire).
Powerful fan drive: The built-in fan blows the high-temperature hot air generated by the heating tube vertically downwards, forming a circulating vortex.

2.How does food become crispy?
Rapid surface dehydration: Hot air penetrates the surface of food at high speed, evaporating water to form a crispy outer layer.
Maillard reaction trigger: High temperature (usually above 180 ℃) causes caramelization reaction on the surface of food, resulting in a golden crispy feeling similar to frying.

3. Principle of low oil consumption
Oil substitution function: The food's own oil (such as chicken skin) or thin oil brushed is atomized by hot air, evenly wrapping the ingredients to simulate the frying effect.
Oil draining design: The bottom of the frying basket has holes, allowing excess oil to drip and separate, reducing food oil absorption.

4. The essential difference from traditional frying
Oil free soaking: Traditional frying relies on oil temperature to transfer heat; Air fryers rely on hot air to directly contact food.
Difference in thermal efficiency: Hot air circulation heats up faster, but its heat penetration is weaker than oil immersion, resulting in slightly less juicy food inside.

5. Example of operation process (taking French fries as an example)
Place a single layer of French fries in the frying basket → Set the temperature to 200 ℃ to start → Hot air runs through the fries from the top downwards → Fan pushes the airflow to circulate inside the frying basket → After 5 minutes, pull out the frying basket and shake it to flip over → Complete the process in a total of 12 minutes.