If you love cooking and baking, having an air fryer in the kitchen is necessary. Not only will it help you prepare delicious recipes within a short period of time, but it will also keep you from hardcore maintenance and cleaning at the end of the week.
While most people are aware of how air fryers work, not many are familiar with the componentry. This begs the question, what are the parts of an air fryer?
An air fryer has several core components, including the inner basket, outer basket, cake pan, heating element, fan, and timer mainly. All of these components work as a team to help you prepare dishes the right way.
So, this article will discuss the different parts of an air fryer in detail, how to care for them, and why they are important to consider before your next purchase.
Primary parts of an air fryer
Despite being a fully functioning machine consisting of tiny inner parts, the air fryer’s main cooking parts are probably the only ones you need to be thoroughly aware of. Considering that these parts are the ones you’ll be using often, we have detailed each of them below!
Inner basket
The inner basket is the main part of your air fryer. It holds food and comes with holes/slots that ensure hot air circulates to cook food evenly. Some air fryer baskets also come with holes in the bottom to allow heat to escape. This makes sure that the food cooks properly without burning.
Another reason the inner basket has holes is to allow pieces and bits to drop to the bottom of the air fryer. This prevents a mess from being created as the air fryer does its job. At the same time, this is also the part that needs the most maintenance.
Make sure to clean the inner basket after every use! You can use simple dish soap or even pop the basket into the dishwasher.
Outer basket
The outer basket is underneath the inner basket and holds all the liquids and leftover pieces falling to the bottom. Unlike the inner basket, the outer basket is leak-proof and does not have any holes.
The outer basket is an important component of the air fryer because if it is not securely in place, the fryer will not turn on.
If you were thinking about how often to clean the air fryer, consider the accumulations that can build up in the outer basket. If the outer basket is dirty, it probably means the entire air fryer also needs a thorough cleanup.
Cake pan
Cake pans are actually an alternative to the inner basket. Depending on the model and variant of your air fryer, the cake pan may or may not come with it. However, cake pans are designed for a different purpose than the inner basket.
These are mostly used by those who are passionate about baking items such as cakes, casseroles, etc. Cake pans come with a non-sticky outer layer, allowing you to easily clean them once you are done baking.
Heating element
Perhaps the most important part of an air fryer is the heating element. Without it, the air fryer will simply not be able to cook or bake food.
Even though there are several types of air fryers out there that use a variety of different ways to cook food, the majority come with heating elements.
For instance, some air fryers also use halogen bulbs, but they are not as reliable and consume more electricity.
The fan
Next is the fan. Once the heating element gets hot, the fan circulates hot air. This is what differentiates air fryers from traditional ovens. If the fan tends to malfunction, hot air won’t circulate inside the chamber, which will lead to uneven cooking.
LED display
The LED display allows the user to control the temperature, time, and mode and turn the air fryer on or off. You can adjust the display depending on the recipe, and the heating element and fan will work accordingly.
The LED display is crucial because it gives you full control of the result. Since steaks and other recipes require a different length of time to cook, the display ensures that you do not overcook or undercook.
Conclusion
We hope this article offers you a good understanding of air fryer components. This will enable you to maintain your air fryer, ultimately prolonging its lifespan. So, make sure to keep the components clean and handle the air fryer with care.