What’s cooking?
If you’re like most people, you don’t have a lot of space in your kitchen. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have the latest and greatest small kitchen appliances. In fact, there are plenty of great options out there for those who want to downsize without sacrificing functionality. Here are some of the best small kitchen appliances for your home:
#5 – Air Fryers
How Do They Work?
These have become so popular over the last few years, and for good reason. Air fryers are really awesome miniature convection ovens that circulate hot air around the food using a fan so that it evenly roasts or crisps to near perfection. They’re perfect for heating up fun frozen foods like egg rolls, jalapeño poppers, mozzarella sticks, and French fries. They are especially good at reheating foods that have been previously fried.
They’ll also quickly roast up some broccoli or cauliflower, and they’ll cook various proteins to give them a nice crispy exterior that is perfect for coating with your favorite sauce like General Tso’s or Sweet & Sour. For most things you make in an air fryer, cooking time is reduced almost in half compared to baking.
Are There Any Drawbacks?
While most air fryers are great and do their job very well, the only drawback in design is that with most air fryers, it’s only hot air that moves around inside.
While not a drawback in itself, if you crowd your air fryer, food can have a difficult time cooking evenly if you have something like fresh-cut potatoes stacked on top of one another for making French fries.
However, one company considered this problem when designing their air fryer. They included a rotating basket that tosses your food as it cooks for perfectly even cooking, which is why I recommend the Instant Vortex Plus Pro with the Tumble-Fry basket.
My Recommendation: Instant® Vortex Plus Pro 10-Quart Air Fryer with Tumble-Fry
A brand that has only been on the market since 2009 with the introduction of the Instant® Pot, Instant’s products are hugely popular. This air fryer has 9-in-1 functionality: air fry, bake, broil, dehydrate, roast, proof, toast, reheat, and rotisserie. With the tumble-fry basket, your food cooks evenly and you don’t have to worry about overcrowding. From a few cut potatoes, you can quickly and easily have crispy golden French fries at home in minutes. You even get to watch them spin as they cook through the little window in the front. So fun!
However, my favorite feature is the proofing function. It makes making fresh pizza dough and various types of bread dough so much easier, allowing you to set the environment inside to the perfect temperature for proofing so the dough will rise faster. Homemade sourdough, anyone?
Spiced Palate 