Heard a nutritionist say air fryers are just mini deep fryers and I had to bite my tongue

Last week at my sister's dinner party in Portland, this lady with a certification on her wall claimed air fryers don't actually make food healthier because the oil just gets trapped differently from the circulating heat. She said the difference in calories between air fried and deep fried foods is like 10% at best according to some study she read in 2019. I didn't argue, but my homemade chicken tenders come out crispy with maybe a tablespoon of oil versus the quart I'd use in a pot. Am I wrong for thinking the health gain is way bigger than she made it sound?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.kevin1mo ago

Actually I just read something about this in Cook's Illustrated (you know, the ones with the test kitchen) and they did a head-to-head comparison. They found that air fried chicken had about 75% less fat than deep fried chicken, not the 10% that nutritionist claimed. The thing is, with an air fryer that oil isn't getting absorbed into the food the same way, it's mostly just coating the surface for crispiness. Some of that oil does drip down into the bottom basket too, so it's not all staying on the food. I think she was probably confusing "similar texture" with "similar nutrition" because honestly they're worlds apart. Your homemade chicken tenders with a tablespoon of oil are absolutely healthier than the deep fried version, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

piper_dixon451mo ago

Oh great, so now we're supposed to trust the nutritionists who can't even get the numbers straight? That's like asking a dentist if you should eat candy for breakfast. 75% less fat is a huge difference, not some tiny 10% thing. Sounds like she was just trying to make herself feel better about her deep fryer or something. But hey, at least now I can tell my mom that my air fryer chicken is basically health food compared to the greasy stuff she used to make. Maybe I should forward her that Cook's Illustrated article, but she'd probably just say it's fake news from "the internet people." The whole "similar texture" argument is just a convenient excuse to keep eating fried food without guilt.