If you can't take the heat (or indoor air pollution), then get out of the kitchen. Luckily, with air fryers, that could be a problem of the past. According to a new study by the University of Birmingham's School of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, air fryers are the least polluting cooking method available.
According to the American Lung Association, cooking is a key producer of indoor air pollution. This can decrease the air quality in your home and exacerbate symptoms such as asthma and lung disease. When you spend 80% of your time indoors, mitigating air pollution risks is important.
The University of Birmingham's research shows great promise for how to cook while keeping air pollutants in mind. In the experiment, researchers cooked a chicken breast five ways: pan-frying, stir-frying, deep-fat frying, boiling, and air-frying. With each technique, they measured the matter and volatile organic compounds emitted.
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All the time 💯 While pan-frying was consistently at the top of the list, air-frying was at the bottom for each measurement. For comparison, pan-frying emitted 92.9 micrograms per cubic meter of air and 260 parts per billion of VOC. Air-frying produced significantly less air pollution, with just 0.6 micrograms per cubic meter of air and 20 parts per billion of VOC.
In recent years, air-frying has been hailed as an easy, effective, and efficient way to cook everything ranging from meat to produce to french fries. And since the technique works by "circulating hot air rapidly throughout [the air fryer's] interior," it uses minimal oil to produce a healthier, crispier meal.
Air-frying evidently has benefits for both the environment and your health, but other practices coupled with cooking can further mitigate the risk of air pollution in your home.
Professor Christian Pfrang, a senior author of the study, noted, per Phys.org: "There are a number of factors that will affect the levels of pollution from cooking alongside the method used, including the amount of oil used, and the temperature of the stove. What we can say with certainty, however, is that improving the ventilation in kitchens by opening windows or using extractor fans, will help to disperse polluting particles and reduce personal exposure."
Marisa Moore, a culinary dietitian, said, per Health: "Air frying achieves the crunch and crispiness of frying without the excess oil or messy clean-up. Compared to deep frying, air frying usually results in lower-calorie foods (due to less oil) and lower levels of potentially inflammatory compounds released when oil is heated to high temperatures."
Why take the heat in the kitchen when air fryers offer a healthier alternative for both you and the planet?
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