We gathered here a quick list of what you should know. Note it down as this might possibly make your purchase even more worthwhile.

1. Preheat your air fryer

Just like any cooking appliances at home, preheating is important to ensure an even cooking. One might think that just because air fryers are mostly designed with auto features, preheating isn’t needed. That couldn’t be any more wrong, especially when you want to cook meat or poultry.

Some air fryers come with preheat feature. If yours do not have any, you may manually set to your desired temperature and let it run for about 3 minutes.

2. They all come with different shapes and sizes

The shape may not be as crucial as it is only there for aesthetic reason. Some may appear to be rounded, while some are rectangular.

Size, on the other hand, will affect your cooking productivity. With the capacity of up to 7 litres for home-use, you can choose whichever size that suits your needs. Compact size if you live alone or constantly cooking for one pax, while XL or XXL size if you want to cook for an entire family.

3. Suitable for healthier diet

Did you know that an air fryer is designed with multiple layers of basket? This is to ensure enough rooms for hot air to circulate all around, while keeping the food properly hung on mid air.

Apart from this purpose, the design also allows fat to drip off the food and down to the lower basket. Along with correct temperature setting, you can get yourself a crispy fried food with zero presence of fat or oil. Now that is some healthy eating.

4. Some foods don’t work well with air fryer

Although known for its versatility, some of these foods won’t taste good if you cook them using air fryer (some might even ruin it).

• Fresh greens – with high speed air, it is very easy to burn food that is too light.
• Battered foods – wet batter is a recipe for disaster. You may pre-fried or coat it with bread crumbs.
• Cheese – air fry your cheese without any coating will only serve you a puddle of melted cheese.
• Whole roasts – an oven will do a better job for even cooking due to the size.

5. What can you use it for?

As we covered earlier, air fryer is indeed a versatile appliance that can cook almost anything. Here are some ideas for you to try on.

• Marinated chicken wings
• Cauliflower nuggets
• Air fried brocolli
• Seasoned tofu
• Marinated beef & lamb steaks
• Curry puffs
• Baked potatoes
• Brownies & donuts
• Pizzas & pastries
• Banana chips

6. Don’t overcrowd the basket

Your air fryer works by circulating hot air all around its basket, while slowly browning the food inside. If the space is too compact and crowded, it might defeat the entire purpose (and not to mention the extra energy it consumes).

It is best to scatter the food within the basket. If they are too big and chunky, consider chopping them down to smaller pieces. Or even better, invest on a larger air fryer. At this point, you should be able to tell how much food you normally serve.

7. Reheat your leftovers

You can now use your air fryer as an alternative to reheat your leftovers, instead of solely depending on microwave. Foods such fries or egg rolls turn out well when reheated using air fryer. On the other hand, microwave migh turn these foods soggy. Just be sure you don’t use high heat for too long.

All in all, an air fryer will definitely bring your cooking productivity to a different level. With only a few buttons and everything is done. If you wish to browse for more options, click here and sart shopping with us – Air Fryers @ DSHome2u.

Many described this piece of appliance as handy and useful. In the past, its invention has created an entire new industry, while reshaping our society and food preparation. With its help, foods are now able to last longer and get transported all over the globe. Craving for a salmon slice from Alaska? No worries on that.

However, let’s take a look at a smaller scale – the refrigerator at your home. How much do you know about it? Or at least, how much do you know to properly take care of it?

1. Empty and overstuffed refrigerators are equally bad

We always heard of the trick to save energy with your refrigerator is to maintain a certain amount of food in it. But why?

A normal functioning refrigerator requires some rooms inside for air circulation. When the items are stocked till little to no space left, the air circulation is not only hindered, but the air vent could also be blocked. This will make the fridge to work harder to push the air through, hence, consuming more energy.

On the contrary, an empty refrigerator or the one with only a couple of items could be bad as well. The food inside absorbs cold and it helps to chill the other food next to it. It is a chain reaction that helps to chill the entire refrigerator, while reducing the need to pump in more cold air. However, this can only happen if you have a certain amount of food placed next to each other.

2. Food stored under 0 °F (-18 °C) is safe forever

According to US Department of Agriculture, food that is kept under 0 °F (-18 °C) can be safely consumed forever. This is mainly because it slows down the movement of molecules, causing any microbe in the food to enter dormant stage. Nonetheless, only certain types of parasite can be killed by freezing, while the rest will still continue to thrive upon taken out from freezer.

Freezing a food does not change the nutrient contents and quality by large, but slight change of taste and discoloration can still be visible. To avoid this, it is advisable to freeze food that you need for later while they are still at peak quality.

3. Never place your fridge too close to wall or heat source

Your refrigerator’s compressor is one of the most important part and the main cooling component. Without it, the refrigerator will simply stop doing its job. Having that in mind, where do you place the refrigerator must suit the component perfectly.

One of the few reason for these compressors to stop working sometimes is due to coils or fans problem. They are likely to build up dirt when left unchecked for far too long, making them harder to diffuse heat properly. You can avoid this by cleaning up the tight area using vacuum or special long-handled brush.

Air ventilation, too, play a big part at resolving this problem. To achieve best result, you shouldn’t place anything on top of the fridge, back it too near to the wall, or place it near to any heat source such as oven or stove. This will obstruct the heat distribution and causing severe damage in a long run.

4. Inverter vs non-inverter

For those of you who weren’t sure of this, most refrigerators are divided into two types – the inverter and non-inverter. The terms are actually used to signify the compressor that is built within it.

An inverter refrigerator, in general, possesses a smart feature where it adapts the power consumption according to your usage habit. For instance, when the door is open, the compressor will work harder to ensure cool air is sufficiently supplied. This helps to ensure your food is well kept at the right temperature. However, if the door is remained close, the compressor will slow down its operation as not much work is needed at the moment. Due to this factor, inverter refrigerator helps to save tons of electricity bills in a long run.

On the contrary, a non-inverter fridge does not offer this feature. The compressor will only shift around when you manually change the temperature setting. It also remains the same despite the door is being opened regularly. All in all, non-inverter refrigerator offers a lower price but might consume a bit more energy depending on your usage.

5. One of the longest lasting appliances

This is a good news for those who plan to buy a new refrigerator, because it will stay with you for the next 13 years (averagely). Some even reported to last up to 29 years. This, of course, is backed up by good maintenance, such as cleaning the inside, dusting the outside, and stocking a proper amount of food.

The refrigerators available in the market may be varied, ranging from a 3-digit price to 4-digit. Even so, it is great to know that the money you’re spending will stay with you for up to three decades. Now that’s a good investment.