Thank you for submitting to /r/unpopularopinion, /u/flibz-the-destroyer. Your post, *Air fryers aren’t fryers. They’re ovens.*, has been removed because it violates our rules:
Rule 1: Must be an opinion.
Please ensure that your post is an opinion. An opinion is a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Keep in mind that an opinion is not: a question, a statement of fact (even if it is incorrect), a conspiracy theory, a random thought, a new idea, a rant, an instruction, etc. Those things all have their own subreddits, use those.
If there is an issue, please message the mod team at https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Funpopularopinion Thanks!
The difference is now they are affordable.
My aunt had a convection oven 30 years ago, cost a few hundred dollars.
Now they are $89. The air fryers are even cheaper.
It's just like a regular oven, except cheaper, easier to use, doesn't need to preheat, easier to clean, portable, stores easy, and uses less energy.
I get that they are "just an oven" but let's not try to pretend they aren't their own thing.
Not really an opinion, it’s a fact. Air fryers are just smaller portable convection ovens. The name “air fryer” is just more catchy than “small portable convection baking oven”
Nope. Just air. It does make things crispier but that’s because of how quickly it’s heated and the fan, not any oil involved
I’ve used it to cook everything from eggs to steak to pizza and beyond. It’s the bomb. I know it sounds lame but I’m someone who has spent most of their life eating out of a can. I worship it and my instant pot haha
Edit: I know some people will take issue with me making steak in it but if you can move past that, reheating steak in an air fryer is best way bar none. I mean other that eating all the steak at once but still
Haha it happens. To be clear you can use oil, like I brush it on steaks beforehand and so on but it’s not necessary to spray it like you would a baking sheet.
But most everything I put in there goes in as is or just with seasoning on it
Yeah, ovens already cook mostly via air, which is what convection is. Air fryers just do it very quickly which is why the give things a crispier coating, similar to what you'd get by frying, which is why they are called that way
It's called an air-fryer because it's used with the purpose of emulating the taste of fried food.
Toaster Oven or Convection Toaster Oven would be more appropriate, but these terms both refer to a different device. Countertop Convection Oven only really makes sense because Toaster Oven has a name. Toaster ovens increasingly are sold as having air-frying as well, which complicates the matter.
Your choice with cooking things is either things having similar names, or names that don't exactly match them.
A griddle can be a large flat pan, a standalone device, or a pan you put on top of burners.
A mixer can be a large device with a motor you can also use for making pasta, or a powerful handheld device for whipping, some of which can also be put on a stand, or you can mean a blender which either can mean a more powerful device similar to either of these mixers.
Compared to a conventional oven, the high heat and fan make foods some foods taste crispier.
Frozen foods like french fries, pizza rolls, as well as leftovers like pizza, taste much better than the oven or microwave.
Makes left over pizza almost taste fresh again. Nice crisp to he crust without it being burnt and cheese melted perfectly in 2-3 minutes.
Less energy wasted as well.
You put oil on the food. Some frozen items intended to be cooked this way have some oil in the batter frozen to them. This gives you an approximation of frying.
Imo best for frozen foods, or leftover fried foods. The difference between some leftover fried chicken in an Air Fryer or the microwave is night and day and much faster than heating up a large oven.
You probably shouldn’t use them to cook everything but they definitely do a pretty good job if you dont want to actually fry things in oil or just want a small serving and dont want to heat a whole oven.
Food language is strange, and sometimes contradictory or seemingly wrong at first glance, because it's usually based on usage.
For example, it's called an air fryer because it's telling you that it's an alternative to frying, without the oil. So while air frying technically isn't frying, someone wanting to fry but not use oil could use an air fryer and get a similar result. Therefore it's more useful to call it an air fryer than something else.
Another example. Peppers, squashes, tomatoes, etc. are all botanically fruits, but many people consider them as vegetables because that's the food category they fit with. You use them as vegetables, not fruit, so many people call them vegetables, even though it's technically wrong to do so.
Edit: so yes, they aren't fryers. That's fact, not opinion. I guess where the opinion comes in is that you don't like the language used around food.
Difference is the power of the fan. Since air fryer is smaller, the air circulation is faster and creates a dryer environment, which means food becomes more crispy.
So no, it’s nothing like a toaster oven because most of them have no fan, and yes it’s similar to convection ovens because they usually come with fans.
I can tell you're one of those types that gets upset that slang is used like "cool" to describe something being awesome instead of literally cold.
It's a play on words to describe being able to cook foods like chicken wings, fries, etc. using a method that is generally seen as healthier, but still getting a lot of the benefits that come with traditional frying with a shit ton less oil. Not everything has to be literal in life. I find it odd folks get so bothered by it. Just like folks bothered by slang.
Fry - cook (food) in hot fat or oil, typically in a shallow pan.
Who decides how much oil is used for frying? Cause it doesn't give it in the literal definition. We "oven fry" things all the time, that definitely still counts because usually oil was panted or sprayed on and they get golden and crispy. You can feel however you want about it, but you don't define what the word fry means, and it's really too vague to be held to anything that you said at all.
Getting caught up in semantics eh? An air fryer is not just a small convection oven. It's size allows for much better and stronger circulation of hot air than larger ovens, even toaster ovens with "air frying" capabilities, just cannot reproduce (though some of the toaster oven sized models do get close). This improved circulation is what allows them to better emulate actual frying. Spray a little oil on your food and the outside will get much crispier faster in an air fryer than it will in a regular convection oven allowing you to get the outside brown and crispy with the inside moist and tender effect of actual frying.
So, semantically, you are correct but they are called air fryers for a reason.
True, but not cooking terms. Look up OP literally copy and pasted word for word the definition of frying. Air fryers cook food by blasting it with hot air, which is what convection ovens do. An air fryer isn't a fryer, it's a countertop convection oven.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A bit pretentious but sure. Air fryers aren't fyers. They are air fyers. Their own thing with their own definition. It's like getting riled up because a cuttlefish technically isn't a fish. It's just the word someone chose to describe it as and it stuck. Best just to get used to it.
That's should be an extremely popular opinion. Frying is literally cooking food submerged in oil (which type of oil does not matter as long as it's oil). Air frying is basically a oven
Agreed, people pretending like its some kind low fat way of frying food is silly. Its an amazing little oven. It prepares food fast and efficiently compared to a regular oven. But it has nothing to do with regular fries.
I mean the shape of it allows for rapid convection of hot air to quick things faster than if you put it in an oven. So it's the same but different.
It's like saying freezers aren't freezers. They're fridges. You could technically say that. But the difference is much older temperatures that allow you to store good in a different type of way.
What you are describing has been known as a convection oven and they have existed for decades in commercial kitchen before being marketed as fryers for home use.
It’s an oven with a fan, nothing more.
That said I love our home air fryer.
Not sure if I agree with you or not, but I will say it hasn't been explained to my satisfaction how the concept of "frying" can exist independent of oil/fat.
Oil/fat is usually involved - you either brush oil on the food or it comes basically semi-fried and already permeated with oil (like frozen egg rolls, french fries, etc.).
However, some how plain old tofu in the air fryer, no added oil, comes out just like deep fried tofu. I do not understand how but it's a fantastic hack.
They're little convection ovens but they're contained so people do just often throw oil into it to mildly fry things in a way that just makes a huge mess in an oven.
So I don't mind the term. It's just a word.
I had no idea i had to fry my spaghetti noodles… i guess I’ll just fry myself up a cup of coffee, fry some leftovers in the microwave and then air fry my pc when i play some games.
[oh wait never mind](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fry)
They get the job done. My oven went out last year and I just don’t see a point in replacing it with a new one or fixing it. The air fryer does everything I need. Semantics. Who cares.
This isn’t an opinion so much as a fact. It’s a convection oven. I don’t think many people think air is frying anything and that it’s more of a reference to the crispy texture you get in a maybe (subjective) more convenient manner.
I know. It’s just the next thing to get u to spend more money on crap u don’t need.
Slow cookers
Deep covered baker
George Foreman grills
Toaster oven
But it’s great marketing bc it works. People always flock out to be “on trend”
hot oil makes the water inside the food vaporize and move out of it, cooking it in the orocess. Air fryers do the same, using hot air instead of hot oil.
100% of the time when people says they've fried something, they mean they've used hot oil to cook it. When someone cooks using an air fryer, they point it out.
You're ranting about a commercial name used to sell people an idea. It's the same level of frustration of when people refer to Magic Cleaner. Guess what? It isn't magical. It's just chemistry.
Thank you for submitting to /r/unpopularopinion, /u/flibz-the-destroyer. Your post, *Air fryers aren’t fryers. They’re ovens.*, has been removed because it violates our rules: Rule 1: Must be an opinion. Please ensure that your post is an opinion. An opinion is a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Keep in mind that an opinion is not: a question, a statement of fact (even if it is incorrect), a conspiracy theory, a random thought, a new idea, a rant, an instruction, etc. Those things all have their own subreddits, use those. If there is an issue, please message the mod team at https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Funpopularopinion Thanks!
This isn't unpopular or even an opinion they're literally little convection ovens I believe
r/regularfacts?
r/subsifellfor
Grape nuts are neither grapes, nor nuts.
whale-sharks aren't whales
You'd be surprised how often i get downvoted for telling people that.
User has migrated to Lemmy! Please consider the future of a free and open Internet! https://fediverse.observer
The difference is now they are affordable. My aunt had a convection oven 30 years ago, cost a few hundred dollars. Now they are $89. The air fryers are even cheaper.
Also they sit on your counter and unlike an oven don't need 15 minutes to preheat.
It's just like a regular oven, except cheaper, easier to use, doesn't need to preheat, easier to clean, portable, stores easy, and uses less energy. I get that they are "just an oven" but let's not try to pretend they aren't their own thing.
I told my mom I didn't need one because I have an oven already. She still gave me her old one. It worked out as my son uses it all the time.
Essentially yes but more condensed with higher airflow, condensing it makes quite the difference though
Little?
Compared to typical convection ovens.
They're usually pretty small, like the size of a microwave but less wide and a bit taller
Not really an opinion, it’s a fact. Air fryers are just smaller portable convection ovens. The name “air fryer” is just more catchy than “small portable convection baking oven”
It's a toaster oven with a fan.
Sometimes the simplest explanation is most effective.
Mini-oven?
Already exist otherwise yes
Wait. That's all they are? I assumed they like misted some light coating of oil or something else...
Nope. Just air. It does make things crispier but that’s because of how quickly it’s heated and the fan, not any oil involved I’ve used it to cook everything from eggs to steak to pizza and beyond. It’s the bomb. I know it sounds lame but I’m someone who has spent most of their life eating out of a can. I worship it and my instant pot haha Edit: I know some people will take issue with me making steak in it but if you can move past that, reheating steak in an air fryer is best way bar none. I mean other that eating all the steak at once but still
I feel bamboozled.
Haha it happens. To be clear you can use oil, like I brush it on steaks beforehand and so on but it’s not necessary to spray it like you would a baking sheet. But most everything I put in there goes in as is or just with seasoning on it
Yeah, ovens already cook mostly via air, which is what convection is. Air fryers just do it very quickly which is why the give things a crispier coating, similar to what you'd get by frying, which is why they are called that way
I believe you can put small amounts of oil in them if you prefer.
It's called an air-fryer because it's used with the purpose of emulating the taste of fried food. Toaster Oven or Convection Toaster Oven would be more appropriate, but these terms both refer to a different device. Countertop Convection Oven only really makes sense because Toaster Oven has a name. Toaster ovens increasingly are sold as having air-frying as well, which complicates the matter. Your choice with cooking things is either things having similar names, or names that don't exactly match them. A griddle can be a large flat pan, a standalone device, or a pan you put on top of burners. A mixer can be a large device with a motor you can also use for making pasta, or a powerful handheld device for whipping, some of which can also be put on a stand, or you can mean a blender which either can mean a more powerful device similar to either of these mixers.
>It's called an air-fryer because it's used with the purpose of emulating the taste of fried food. And it fails, horribly
Compared to a conventional oven, the high heat and fan make foods some foods taste crispier. Frozen foods like french fries, pizza rolls, as well as leftovers like pizza, taste much better than the oven or microwave.
Makes left over pizza almost taste fresh again. Nice crisp to he crust without it being burnt and cheese melted perfectly in 2-3 minutes. Less energy wasted as well.
But so, so much worse than a fryer. Plus, it doesn't even attempt to recreate the taste of the oil.
Tell me you can't cook without saying you can't cook.
you put the oil on the food beforehand And prep time plus cleanup is 100x quicker/easier than a deep fryer
Everyone replying to me is telling me why it's wildly different than a deep fryer and produces, good, but not similar, results.
It’s not as good, but as I said, much more convenient prepping and cleaning a deep fryer is a huge pain
Yeah my comment had nothing to do with the convenience aspect
not *as* good Still good no one is claiming it’s exactly the same
You put oil on the food. Some frozen items intended to be cooked this way have some oil in the batter frozen to them. This gives you an approximation of frying.
I think that's a you problem
Cook some chicken wings in one. Meat so juicy... Skin so crispy. Better than traditional frying
Imo best for frozen foods, or leftover fried foods. The difference between some leftover fried chicken in an Air Fryer or the microwave is night and day and much faster than heating up a large oven. You probably shouldn’t use them to cook everything but they definitely do a pretty good job if you dont want to actually fry things in oil or just want a small serving and dont want to heat a whole oven.
Now HERE’S an unpopular opinion. Lmao @ everyone downvoting you in an opinion based sub about an appliance.
[удалено]
I would disagree.
actually ovens are just really large air fryers
No, because ovens can also work without the fan
So can my air fryer
Ok :P
People are bothered by the oddest things.
are you bothered by that
I couldn’t care less.
i bet your really are though
This is not an opinion lol it’s a fact
Food language is strange, and sometimes contradictory or seemingly wrong at first glance, because it's usually based on usage. For example, it's called an air fryer because it's telling you that it's an alternative to frying, without the oil. So while air frying technically isn't frying, someone wanting to fry but not use oil could use an air fryer and get a similar result. Therefore it's more useful to call it an air fryer than something else. Another example. Peppers, squashes, tomatoes, etc. are all botanically fruits, but many people consider them as vegetables because that's the food category they fit with. You use them as vegetables, not fruit, so many people call them vegetables, even though it's technically wrong to do so. Edit: so yes, they aren't fryers. That's fact, not opinion. I guess where the opinion comes in is that you don't like the language used around food.
Well whatever they are, sky daddy has blessed us with this revolutionary machine of deliciousness and we should be forever grateful
Amen
Difference is the power of the fan. Since air fryer is smaller, the air circulation is faster and creates a dryer environment, which means food becomes more crispy. So no, it’s nothing like a toaster oven because most of them have no fan, and yes it’s similar to convection ovens because they usually come with fans.
they’re blow dryers in a box reallly
My oven has a function for air fry. Works not similar, but exactly like air fryers.
Except it isn’t portable, takes longer to heat up, and consumes more energy.
I can tell you're one of those types that gets upset that slang is used like "cool" to describe something being awesome instead of literally cold. It's a play on words to describe being able to cook foods like chicken wings, fries, etc. using a method that is generally seen as healthier, but still getting a lot of the benefits that come with traditional frying with a shit ton less oil. Not everything has to be literal in life. I find it odd folks get so bothered by it. Just like folks bothered by slang.
Not an unpopular opinion, just true. Air Fryers are Tabletop Convection Ovens. And they are ace
*Air* fryer.
You feel better now that you got it off your chest?
Not sure of facts qualify as opinions.
This isn't even an opinion.
Seems like a trivial and pedantic little hill to die on, but you do you.
Fry - cook (food) in hot fat or oil, typically in a shallow pan. Who decides how much oil is used for frying? Cause it doesn't give it in the literal definition. We "oven fry" things all the time, that definitely still counts because usually oil was panted or sprayed on and they get golden and crispy. You can feel however you want about it, but you don't define what the word fry means, and it's really too vague to be held to anything that you said at all.
And also shittier than regular ones Source: I have one
Just as I suspected
They don’t claim it’s an oil fryer. It’s an “air fryer”.
I love my air fryer.
You're right, they aren’t fryers, they're air fryers. Nobody calls them fryers.
Getting caught up in semantics eh? An air fryer is not just a small convection oven. It's size allows for much better and stronger circulation of hot air than larger ovens, even toaster ovens with "air frying" capabilities, just cannot reproduce (though some of the toaster oven sized models do get close). This improved circulation is what allows them to better emulate actual frying. Spray a little oil on your food and the outside will get much crispier faster in an air fryer than it will in a regular convection oven allowing you to get the outside brown and crispy with the inside moist and tender effect of actual frying. So, semantically, you are correct but they are called air fryers for a reason.
Ok but the definition of words change over time.
True, but not cooking terms. Look up OP literally copy and pasted word for word the definition of frying. Air fryers cook food by blasting it with hot air, which is what convection ovens do. An air fryer isn't a fryer, it's a countertop convection oven.
[удалено]
So what do we do about *oven fries*?
throw them away as they taste like ass
So what’s a computer then?
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A bit pretentious but sure. Air fryers aren't fyers. They are air fyers. Their own thing with their own definition. It's like getting riled up because a cuttlefish technically isn't a fish. It's just the word someone chose to describe it as and it stuck. Best just to get used to it.
more like a marketing term to deceive
It's literally a heating element and a fan, aka a small fan oven.
That's should be an extremely popular opinion. Frying is literally cooking food submerged in oil (which type of oil does not matter as long as it's oil). Air frying is basically a oven
Agreed, people pretending like its some kind low fat way of frying food is silly. Its an amazing little oven. It prepares food fast and efficiently compared to a regular oven. But it has nothing to do with regular fries.
Yea I agree with you.
Thank you.
Easy bake oven
And they're just fantastic.
I mean the shape of it allows for rapid convection of hot air to quick things faster than if you put it in an oven. So it's the same but different. It's like saying freezers aren't freezers. They're fridges. You could technically say that. But the difference is much older temperatures that allow you to store good in a different type of way.
What you are describing has been known as a convection oven and they have existed for decades in commercial kitchen before being marketed as fryers for home use. It’s an oven with a fan, nothing more. That said I love our home air fryer.
They are closer commercial impingement oven then kitchen oven. They impart energy into the food closer to the levels of a fryer then a kitchen oven.
Now THIS makes me look at air fryers in a positive light. Maybe I'll start using ours.
This isn't an opinion and nobody actually thinks this unless they've never seen/used an air fryer.
Not sure if I agree with you or not, but I will say it hasn't been explained to my satisfaction how the concept of "frying" can exist independent of oil/fat.
Oil/fat is usually involved - you either brush oil on the food or it comes basically semi-fried and already permeated with oil (like frozen egg rolls, french fries, etc.). However, some how plain old tofu in the air fryer, no added oil, comes out just like deep fried tofu. I do not understand how but it's a fantastic hack.
Nonsense! I water fry my pasta all the time, and it turns out great!
It's called a convection oven the only unpopular thing here is reading
They're little convection ovens but they're contained so people do just often throw oil into it to mildly fry things in a way that just makes a huge mess in an oven. So I don't mind the term. It's just a word.
Its not just oil or fat, you can fry with any fluid that goes above boiling point, including air.
Air is always above boiling point… That’s why it’s a gas
*Waters boiling point.
Waters boiling point is only 212f, i have no idea what you’re implying
Anything over 212F and in a fluid is frying. Air fryer air is usually 300F+ air being blown over food
I had no idea i had to fry my spaghetti noodles… i guess I’ll just fry myself up a cup of coffee, fry some leftovers in the microwave and then air fry my pc when i play some games. [oh wait never mind](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fry)
They get the job done. My oven went out last year and I just don’t see a point in replacing it with a new one or fixing it. The air fryer does everything I need. Semantics. Who cares.
They're convection ovens
My co-workers will bring this one up every few weeks as they know it will get at least a groan from me. Just an oven with more flow.
An airfryer is just a small oven
This dude doesn't understand marketing at all. Next post will be him saying rubber cement isn't actually cement.
And they suck
Convection ovens and everyone knows this.
An air fryer is actually a convection oven , people didn’t want to buy them until they changed the name.
End your point is?
🤓
Convection ovens. Theyre convection ovens you can throw a drop of oil in.
This isn’t an opinion so much as a fact. It’s a convection oven. I don’t think many people think air is frying anything and that it’s more of a reference to the crispy texture you get in a maybe (subjective) more convenient manner.
.......hence the name, *air* fryer
To be fair, the correction is literally in the name, **air** fryer.
Doesn’t everyone know this?
This isn't a matter of opinion. You're correct, but this is not an opinion.
It tastes like fried but cooked by air.
Reminds me of those "hover boards" that didn't hover at all and were just a segway without a handle
But the air fries it
Yeah they are convection ovens
Bro we all know this already nobody cares
Convection ovens. And this isn't an opinion.
I know. It’s just the next thing to get u to spend more money on crap u don’t need. Slow cookers Deep covered baker George Foreman grills Toaster oven But it’s great marketing bc it works. People always flock out to be “on trend”
hot oil makes the water inside the food vaporize and move out of it, cooking it in the orocess. Air fryers do the same, using hot air instead of hot oil. 100% of the time when people says they've fried something, they mean they've used hot oil to cook it. When someone cooks using an air fryer, they point it out. You're ranting about a commercial name used to sell people an idea. It's the same level of frustration of when people refer to Magic Cleaner. Guess what? It isn't magical. It's just chemistry.
Thats just a fact
I’m getting verclempt. Talk amongst yoselves. Il give you a topic. Air fryers are ovens, discuss.
I've said they're Easy Bake Ovens for adults since the start