Deep fried food has always been delicious but since air frying hit the scene a few years ago, the debate between the two methods has been heating up. Jessica Teich, GH Deputy Editor, and Nicole Papantoniou, GH Director of the Kitchen Appliances & Innovation Lab, are putting air fryers and deep fryers in a head-to-head test to see which is worth the investment. Watch to find out everything you should consider before buying either appliance and which you should “Add to Cart.”
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00So good.
00:01I feel like I should take another bite of each,
00:02to be sure.
00:03Air frying has become so popular,
00:05but whatever happened to deep frying?
00:06Today, we are gonna put air fryers
00:08and deep fryers head to head.
00:10This is Add to Cart.
00:15I'm Jess Teich, Deputy Editor at Good Housekeeping,
00:17and I am joined by Nicole Papantonio,
00:20Director of the Kitchen Appliance and Innovations Lab
00:22at Good Housekeeping.
00:23Hello.
00:24Hi.
00:25Thank you for joining me today.
00:26Thanks.
00:26Okay, tell me,
00:27the difference between air frying and deep frying.
00:30The main difference is the way that they cook.
00:33Air frying barely uses any oil whatsoever,
00:36and deep frying submerges your food in oil completely,
00:40so it makes something even crispier and juicier
00:42than you can imagine.
00:43Oh my gosh, that sounds delish.
00:45Okay, let's put this to the test with french fries.
00:50Tell me why we love this air fryer.
00:52This is the Instant Vortex Plus,
00:54one of our test kitchen's favorite air fryers,
00:56and it's $130.
00:58It has a square basket,
01:00which has more surface area than some of the round ones,
01:03and that's really good,
01:04because the more air has to circulate
01:07around different foods,
01:08the crispier and browner things will get.
01:10So we have these delicious crinkle cut fries.
01:13What kind of prep work do we have to do
01:14before air frying these?
01:15So when you're using frozen foods or processed foods,
01:18you actually don't need to do a whole lot.
01:20We actually already preheated this air fryer.
01:24The whole thing fits in there, okay.
01:25And we're just gonna spread it out a little bit.
01:27Okay, that surface area really is impressive.
01:29And now we're gonna cook them at 400.
01:32Let's talk about the cooking time
01:33for air fryers versus deep fryers.
01:35Air fryers cook very quickly,
01:37and then for a deep fryer, it actually cooks quicker,
01:40but the thing is, deep fryers really need to heat up
01:43before you start using them,
01:44and that could take up to 15, 20 minutes sometimes.
01:48So check these out.
01:49Oh, those look so good.
01:50So you can check out that these are already golden brown.
01:53If you want them crispier,
01:55you can actually just keep them in longer.
01:56It really depends on your preference.
01:57Those look great.
01:58I like when they're a little bit soft on the inside,
02:00and I don't like when they're dried out and too crispy,
02:02so these are perfect for me.
02:04Now we're gonna walk through the same process
02:06for deep frying, and then we'll try both
02:08to see if you can tell the difference.
02:09This unit is a mechanical deep fryer.
02:12It's one of our easiest to use deep fryers.
02:14All right, how do I actually work this thing?
02:17So we have this handle here that we'll place to the side.
02:20Ooh, smells like a fair.
02:22And I'll actually put them in the basket,
02:23and then we'll lower it in very gently
02:24so this way it doesn't splatter.
02:26We'll put the lid back on, and we'll let them cook.
02:28Deep fryers cycle on and off to maintain the temperature.
02:32So it'll probably go back on
02:33when you add your food to the oil
02:35because the temperature drops.
02:37It's working to get it back to the right temperature,
02:39and that's actually one of the really neat things
02:41about electric deep fryers versus cooking on the stove.
02:46They just cook so much faster
02:48in that small little capacity.
02:49So are you ready to try some fries?
02:51Am I ever.
02:54We're going to have you taste the deep fried ones
02:57and the air fried ones,
02:57and see if you can taste the difference.
02:59You'll see that they actually look very, very similar.
03:01But try it, and I think you'll be able
03:03to see the difference when you taste it.
03:05Okay, I'm gonna take a crispy-looking one from here
03:08and an equally crispy-looking one from here.
03:10Let's see.
03:13So good.
03:14I'm gonna follow your lead.
03:15Yeah, yeah, try it with me.
03:18I feel like I should take another bite of each to be sure.
03:20Mm-hmm.
03:22Deep fryer.
03:23Yeah? Mm-hmm.
03:25So what gave it away?
03:25What makes you think that this is the deep fryer?
03:27Because it tastes like I'm at a bar,
03:29and this one tastes like I'm at a vegan bar.
03:33Okay.
03:34I can see that.
03:35One thing that we noticed during testing
03:37is these are really creamy and almost like mashed potato-y.
03:40They are, yeah.
03:41And these are still crispy, but a little bit drier.
03:44Mm-hmm, yeah, I taste that.
03:45Like, you'd be really happy eating these at home.
03:48This is if you really want to indulge, basically.
03:51But also, if I did not have these side-by-side,
03:53I would not be disappointed in these.
03:54Yeah.
03:55These are still delicious.
03:56So that's actually the really great thing about air fryers
03:58is that they give you those crispy results really quickly
04:02and for not as many calories as you would
04:05if you were deep frying.
04:06So this is like quick and easy at home.
04:08This is a little bit more work.
04:09Yeah, and very indulgent.
04:13So what do you think?
04:14Are you team air fryer or team deep fryer?
04:16Okay, so results-wise, I'm team deep fryer.
04:18You can't replicate those juicy, crispy results.
04:22But for me, as a home cook, I think I'm team air fryer.
04:25Now, what about you?
04:25Air fryer or deep fryer?
04:27So I've been air frying forever,
04:29like more than 10 years, I would say.
04:31I do find it to be really quick and efficient
04:33to cook a really quick dinner.
04:34I do bring it out to reheat food.
04:37I'm never really going to deep fry just for myself at home,
04:40but if I want to impress my friends,
04:41if I want to have something special for the holidays,
04:44that's when my deep fryer comes in.
04:45Your deep fryer is your party trick,
04:46your air fryer is your everyday.
04:47Oh, absolutely.
04:48Whether you're team air fryer or team deep fryer,
04:51any day can be Friday.