By John Salak –
There may be yet another reason to embrace air fryers. Apparently, they produce a tiny fraction of the indoor air pollution that is generated by pan and deep frying. Truly, air fryers are an environmental dream.
Air frying is already popular for all sorts of reasons, including the belief that it is heart-healthy because it eliminates added oils when cooking but still manages to produce crispy meats and vegetables.
These devices have already been identified as being energy efficient compared to other cooking methods, but now research has surfaced to show they help chefs and homebodies avoid the effects of indoor pollutants. Kitchen emissions, after all, can become a major health concern that leads to a range of acute symptoms and chronic conditions such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and respiratory diseases.
The researchers at Britain’s University of Birmingham’s School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences proclaimed air fryers the environmental winner after using a campus-based research kitchen to ensure accurate competitive readings on various cooking options. Their research involved using five different methods for chicken breast: pan-frying, stir-frying, deep-fat frying, boiling and air-frying.
The team measured the levels of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds emitted by each method. Measurements focused on peak concentrations in micrograms per cubic meter of air for particulate matter.
Air fryers were clearly ahead issuing a peak concentration of 0.6 compared to 92.9 for pan frying, 26.7 for stir-frying, 7.7 for deep frying 7.7 and 0.7 for boiling 0.7. The relative levels of pollution were in a similar order across the different cooking methods for the particulate matter emissions.
“There are a number of factors that will affect the levels of pollution from cooking alongside the method used, including the amount of oil used, and the temperature of the stove. What we can say with certainty, however, is that improving the ventilation in kitchens by opening windows or using extractor fans, will help to disperse polluting particles and reduce personal exposure,” noted lead author Professor Christian Pfrang.
The researchers did note that regardless of the cooking method, pollutants will remain in a kitchen for well over an hour after the food has been cooked.
“It’s also really important to understand that particles will remain in the air for quite some time after you have finished cooking, so continuing to ventilate, or keeping extractor fans turned on for a period of time will really help to avoid the build-up of this indoor pollution and reduce the potential for the pollutants to be transported and distributed throughout the house with the associated higher personal exposures,” Pfrang added.
It is also worth noting that while air frying has its benefits, it has its limitations. The Cleveland Clinic, however, notes that personal health is still dependent on the particular food cooked. This method, for example, can’t remove saturated fat or trans-saturated fat from foods that are already rich in them. Gaining the full benefits of air frying requires moving to vegetables and lean proteins, the clinic suggests.
