In this article, we are going to discuss can you fry an egg in an air fryer along with various other things. These days, air fryers are used as mini ovens to cook almost all types of foods in all types of cooking styles including frying, grilling, and baking, etc.
Air fryers are very versatile cooking devices and one of the most frequent foods in our diets are eggs! Yes, those tasty and nutritional little white and yellow edible foods that comes from the beloved chicken.
Can you fry an egg in an air fryer?
Yes, an egg can be fried easily in an air fryer within a few minutes. An air fryer can be a good option for frying 2-4 eggs at a time but for a larger number of eggs, we can either use an air fryer repeatedly or use traditional methods.
Not only can you fry them, you can also scramble them and hard boil them. So besides frying them you can do quite a bit with eggs in your air fryer.
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Tips to Air Fry Eggs
To air-fry eggs, in my air fryer, I have used spread aluminum foil in the air fryer basket and curled it in between to hold eggs separately as well as allow the air to circulate throughout the air fryer.
After adjusting the foil n the air fryer I have cracked the eggs on the foil. The number of eggs cracked on the foil can depend upon the size of your air fryer.
Then I set the air fryer at 390 degrees F to get them done in 5-6 minutes. You can check in-between to cook them as per your liking.
It may take 6-8 minutes to complete the task depending upon the type of your air fryer as some of them can heat up differently. To avoid the eggs sticking on the foil you should spray some olive oil on the eggs in between cooking them.
What happens if you put an egg in a fryer?
If you like to eat hard-boiled eggs like me and have no time to boil them in water then you can put them in a fryer to get them boiled in 15-20 minutes without using any water.
Actually, an air fryer can cook most of the foods faster as basically, it is a convection oven with a mesh basket and a heated coil as well as a fan to circulate the heat around the food to cook it evenly from all the sides at a faster rate than other cooking styles.
I have boiled eggs in my air fryer many times and it took 15 minutes to cook at 250 degrees F even if I have taken it out of my refrigerator and put it in the fryer.
My air fryer provides hard-boiled eggs with a bit softer yolk within 15 minutes even without preheating it. Some of the fryers may take 15-20minutes to complete the task due to the difference in their heating potential.
After you have boiled your eggs in the fryer you will have to rinse them with cold water before peeling them.
What cannot be cooked in air fryer?
Though you can cook almost any food in an air fryer to make them crispy from outside and juicy from inside even without using any oil or very little oil but still there are certain food items that you should not cook in the air fryer.
According to experts, you should not cook broccoli in the air fryer as it can dry out and give a sandpaper-like feel while chewing.
Similarly, you should avoid cooking a whole or large chicken in the air fryer as it will not cook your chicken evenly from all sides. While cooking the farthest part of your chicken perfectly it will dry out or burn its part closest to the source of heat.
If you are going to cook a whole chicken, ensure that it is smaller than usual so that it can be cooked thoroughly.
Moreover, you should avoid putting any food item with wet batter in your air fryer as the batter will not set properly and get crispy with a proper oil bath.
According to experts, you should avoid putting cheese in the air fryer as it can create a mess instead of giving it an outer crest instantly. Similarly, medium-rare burgers are not right to be out in an air fryer.
The exterior of the burger will become brown in not time but the entire burger may take a longer time to get the required doneness.
Likewise, green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, etc are not fryer friendly as they will not be cooked evenly but they will fly all over the place. You should also avoid cooking over-seasoned vegetable sand proteins in your air fryer.
Are air fryers safe for health?
According to experts, an air fryer offers several health benefits like:
- Promote weight loss: The risk of obesity increases by consuming deep-fried foods in large quantities as it can increase their calories and fat levels.
An air fryer can considerably reduce the intake of unhealthy oils as it fries foods in no or very little oil.
- Safer than deep fryers: The foods fried deeply in large containers full of extremely hot oil can increase the risk for your health. But these risks can be voided by frying them in an air fryer as it does not get too hot.
Moreover, the risk of touching or spilling hot oil can be avoided by using an air fryer.
- Reduce the risk of various fatal diseases: Certain dangerous compounds like Acrylamide etc. can develop in certain foods deep-fried in oil.
This compound can cause various types of cancers like ovarian, endometrial, breast, esophageal, kidney, or pancreatic cancer. The risk of these cancers and other health conditions can be avoided by switching to an air fryer.
But along with several health benefits, the use of an air fryer can also cause certain adverse effects like:
- No guarantee to get a healthy diet: Though an air fryer can reduce the intake of harmful elements by reducing deep fried foods in a routine diet but it does not guarantee to provide you a healthy diet every time.
- An air fryer can form certain harmful compounds: According to the National Cancer Institute, though an air fryer reduces the risk of formation of acrylamides but cooking meat in it can result in the formation of heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which can increase the risk of cancer
Final Thoughts
Thus, an air fryer can be used to cook and fry various types of foods quickly and evenly even without using too much or any oil still you should use it carefully to cook your food in it.
An air fryer offers several health benefits but certain drawbacks are also associated with it.
