Your Air Fryer Is Far Less Likely To Pollute The Inside Of Your Home As Opposed To Other Cooking Methods
The air fryer, a gadget that was recently introduced to the modern kitchen, is far less likely to pollute the inside of your home than cooking methods like boiling, stir-frying, pan frying, and deep frying.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany compared the different methods when cooking chicken breast in a kitchen they set up in their laboratory.
They measured levels of particulate matter (PM) between 0.18 and 26 microns, in addition to levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are chemical pollutants that evaporate into the air as gases from certain foods, cleaning materials, paints, and many other products.
Before conducting the experiment, the research team predicted that oil-based cooking methods would release significantly more pollutants than water-based methods because of the Maillard reaction, a process that occurs when amino acids and reducing sugars are heated and causes food to brown.
“The cooking temperature was found to be the key factor that positively correlated with both PM and VOC emission strength, while the oil weight was negatively correlated with the PM levels,” wrote the researchers in their study.
The measurements for PM were made in micrograms per cubic meter. For pan frying, levels peaked at 92.9, stir-frying was at 26.7, deep frying was at 7.7, boiling was at 0.7, and air frying was at 0.6, which is about 150 times less than pan frying.
The measurements for VOCs were taken in parts per billion. The peak levels were 260 for pan frying, 230 for deep frying, 110 for stir-frying, 30 for boiling, and 20 for air frying. Cooking chicken in a frying pan on the stovetop emitted 13 times the amount of VOCs than the air fryer.
For up to an hour after the 10-minute cooking session finished, high levels of indoor air pollution were recorded. The researchers noted that it is crucial to keep the kitchen well-ventilated during and after cooking food, regardless of the cooking method you are using.
Air fryers have seen a rise in popularity due to their quick cooking times, lower energy usage, and reduced oil. But the new findings have provided yet another reason that air fryers are favorable.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
They decrease the types of indoor pollutants that have been linked to health issues like heart failure, respiratory infections, and dementia.
“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,” said Christian Pfrang, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Birmingham.
“Particles will remain in the air for quite some time after you have finished cooking, so continue to ventilate, or keeping extractor fans turned on for a period of time will really help avoid the build-up of this indoor pollution.”
The study was published in the journal Indoor Air.
More About:News