JUNE 30  — I used to joke that you would know an air fryer owner because they would let you know.

Now I am that air fryer owner as I've spent a lot of time through lockdown and semi-lockdowns talking about what I've been making with the device.

What to look for in an air fryer

I will give you the same advice I gave a friend of mine: Buy the largest one you can afford.

Generally 5.5 litres is the sweet spot; big enough for every air fryer recipe while not taking up too much table space.

That capacity can safely cook up dishes that would feed two to three people.

You can get a decent air fryer for a little less than RM200 or less than RM250 for bigger, fancier models.

There isn't much point in a small air fryer because it will limit your options and in general, larger ones heat up a lot faster thanks to their larger heating instruments.

A smaller than 4 litre model means that instead of cooking up a big batch of fries, you will have to make a few batches which would use up more electricity.

If price isn't a consideration, just go with a Philips. The brand is pretty much the gold standard of air fryers but their prices are not for the faint of heart and thin of wallet.

Were money no object I'd probably be eyeing Philips' 7.3 litre model but as I am unlikely to host dinner parties anytime soon, it would be overkill.

Comb every single review, compare prices across multiple platforms once you've set your heart on a particular model.

On that note I think there should be a special tier of purgatory for people who give reviews without actually trying a purchase, "Five stars for quick delivery! Hope it works, haven't tried it yet hee hee” is distressingly common.

A digital display is nice though not necessary but it's a great help at making sure your readings are accurate.

What about air fryer ovens? You'd be better off just getting a proper oven or convection oven ― if what you want is an oven in the first place.

Simple air fryer mastery

What manuals don't often tell you is that for best results you need to preheat your air fryer.

The idiot-proof way is to just set your air fryer to the highest temperature (usually 200 Celsius) for about three minutes (for uncomplicated food such as frozen fries) and five minutes for anything you need to cook for a little longer.

One bit of advice I got was just to cook everything at 200 Celsius and it has served pretty handy for most things.

Certain things need a little more time and finesse ― a frozen pie for instance needs about 18-20 minutes at 160 Celsius and an extra 2-3 minutes at 180 to properly heat the filling while not charring the top.

Do not be afraid of checking the progress of your air frying. Unlike with a toaster oven the heat won't dissipate as quickly.

Essential accessories

No matter what the ad copy tells you though, for some things, you will still need oil just instead of the huge amounts you'd use in a deep fryer, you only need a light spritz for a crisp texture.

Don't waste money on a fancy cooking spray either. Just find a decent oil spray bottle, I'd suggest two, and fill it with your oil of choice.

I don't like the smell of palm oil so I keep two spray bottles with one holding canola oil and the other, olive oil.

Despite the non-stick coating the standard air fryer basket comes with, it's still annoying to wash and it can be too easy to accidentally scrub the coating off.

Invest instead in a silicon basket. It prevents oil from running over and unlike the air fryer basket, you can soak it to wash later if you're in a hurry.

Personally I prefer to don gloves and immediately give it a rinse in the sink as it's easier to wash pots and the like when they're still hot.

Make sure to prop the silicon basket on top of your air fryer's grill attachment to give it more height ― the closer it is to the heating element, the faster it will cook.

Why air fryers rock

While reheating food on the stove is superior flavour-wise in most cases, the air fryer is a lot more convenient and needs less oil.

At first I was afraid of energy consumption but monitoring my power usage on my TNB app, there was little to no difference to my daily usage.

That's likely because air fryers heat up really quickly and the enclosed area means the heat is concentrated in such a way you won't need as much time or electricity as you would with an oven.

Leftover soggy fries taste almost freshly made when air fried, as does leftover fried chicken. — Reuters pic

Leftover soggy fries taste almost freshly made when air fried, as does leftover fried chicken.

Tip: if you took it from the fridge, give the food about 10 minutes to get to room temperature for more even cooking else you might end up needing longer to reheat it.

Fried chicken is pretty much idiot-proof with an air fryer. While some people like marinating it, I usually just spray the meat with oil , season with salt and pepper then rub in 5-spice powder, smoked paprika and, if I'm not too lazy, powdered belacan.

Pre-heat at 200 Celsius, place in the basket skin-side down for 15 minutes, flip over and cook for another 5 minutes.

What you can cook in the air fryer is anything you can cook by, well, frying.

Apparently air fryer baking is also a thing but for the time being I'm perfectly happy to have my favourite greasy things with a lot less grease.

Here"s to many years trying to not give myself a heart attack without eschewing fried chicken wing.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.