Air fryers have been popular for a while now, and for good reason. They offer an easy way to cook food without needing to use copious amounts of oil or butter, resulting in meals that have both great texture and better health benefits.
But it isn’t always practical to purchase another appliance for your home, especially if you’re working with a tight budget or limited kitchen space. While I would love to have room on my countertop for every kitchen gadget that captures my attention, the realities of my New York apartment say otherwise.
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The Air Fryer Basket: How it works
(Image credit: Future / Millie Fender)
The Air Fryer Basket from OPENICE has been a game changer for me on days where I just don’t have the energy to put together an elaborate dinner. Although it looks very simple in design — and has an equally minimal price point of just $33 at full price — it turns out that you don’t need all the bells and whistles of a full appliance to get pretty comparable cooking effects.
The Air Fryer Basket accessory for the oven can’t change the way that your oven functions, so you won’t be able to recreate the same intensity of airflow and the resulting crisp texture. However, it does allow you to reduce the amount of oil you use and cook food evenly, which are two of the main benefits of air fryer cooking.
The product consists of a drip tray, to catch any oil or juices that are released during cooking, and a mesh basket to hold the food. This basket is raised above the tray on small feet, meaning that hot air is able to surround the ingredients and cook the food from all sides — just like inside an air fryer.
Both the basket and the tray are made of stainless steel, for more efficient heat conduction and therefore more efficient cooking. They’re also nonstick, so you can skip the cooking oil altogether, and dishwasher safe, making even clean-up a breeze.
You can buy the product in various sizes, to suit whatever size oven you have and the number of people you are cooking for. I like to use the smallest tray (12.8” x 9.6”) for cooking vegetable side dishes, the medium tray (15.6” x 11.6”) for main proteins, and the largest tray (18.7” x 12.8”) for when I’m cooking for a crowd. All of them function the exact same way and you can buy them in sets for extra convenience.
Why Do People Love Air Fryers so much?
(Image credit: Future /Camilla Sharman)
Traditional air fryers work by combining a few different elements: high temperature, powerful airflow and 360 degree cooking. The fan circulates the hot air around the interior, cooking the food evenly but also drawing away any moisture that forms on the surface; this is what helps the food get so crispy. Since the ingredients are placed in a mesh basket, the heat can penetrate from all angles, ensuring they are cooked through without the need for flipping.
The result? Crisp textures and even cooking, in quicker time and with minimal intervention.
Sure, convection ovens also use a fan to circulate air for more even cooking, but they tend to move the air slower across a larger environment. This results in longer cook times and less crispy food, since moisture isn’t wicked away as effectively. And unlike a deep fryer, which can achieve that perfectly crisp exterior, air fryers don’t need nearly as much oil (or any oil at all) to work, which makes them the healthier option.
Things to Know
(Image credit: Future / Millie Fender)
OPENICE includes a pack of pre-cut parchment paper, which is a nice bonus for the price point. You can use this paper for cooking en papillote, which is the French term for “in paper.” When you wrap food in parchment paper before placing it in the oven, this pocket traps the moisture and steam that’s released during cooking. While you won’t get crispy exteriors as you would with air frying, this technique is great for creating really tender textures. I love to use it for cooking fish, but it can be equally effective on vegetables.
Still, the included parchment paper is not the highest quality. I’ll happily use the supply while it’s there, but I’d recommend purchasing your own stock for a more premium experience. Note: if you place the paper in the basket itself, you’ll block the air from being able to get to the food from underneath. This might impede the evenness of cooking and leave the bottom of your food a little soggy, rather than crisp.
Dining and Cooking