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If you’ve recently jumped on the air fryer bandwagon, you’re probably looking for creative and delicious recipes to try out. Why not purchase an air fryer cookbook to guide you along the way? Cookbooks like these are written by professional chefs and nutritionists alike, so they contain all sorts of recipes, tips, and suggestions to help you cook with an air fryer. With a cookbook like our #1 choice, the Laurie Fleming's Essential Air Fryer Cookbook, you’ll be able to learn about endless possibilities when it comes to air fryer recipes.
Buying Guide: The Best Air Fryer Cookbooks
Once you get your hands on a top-rated air fryer, you’re going to be searching for easy recipes to try out with your new appliance. While an air fryer cookbook does help you with recipes, not all cookbooks are easy to follow or cater to your personal taste buds. So, how does one pick out the perfect air fryer cookbook? Well, that’s exactly why we’ve prepared a comprehensive buying guide, ensuring that you’re able to find the perfect guide to aid in your culinary journey.
Factors To Consider When Buying an Air Fryer Cookbook
Here are some factors you need to take into account when buying an air fryer cookbook:
Variety of recipes
In general, when you are looking to buy a cookbook, you should always look for one that has a large variety of recipes. Not only will it allow you to find new meals that suit your tastes but also equips you with mouth-watering recipes for special occasions or family gatherings to impress your guests. That is why you should buy an air fryer cookbook that features a good variety of recipes you can cook on your air fryer, whether for quick dinners, parties, or elaborate dinners. Typically, it is great to look for cookbooks that have more than 75 recipes to help you out in the kitchen.
Functions
Most air fryers are equipped with additional features that allow you to bake, roast, grill, and steam while cooking your meal. That is why you should look to buy a cookbook that contains recipes that can utilize these functions. If you have an air fryer with these additional features, it would be a waste to be stuck with a book that only has recipes for fried foods.With that being said, if your air fryer is only capable of air frying, you should get a cookbook that only has recipes for fried foods.
Main ingredients
When it comes to ingredients, you must take into account whether the ingredients commonly used in the cookbook are available in your nearest supermarket or not. It would be incredibly disappointing to own a cookbook that features recipes whose ingredients are not accessible to you. That is why you should avoid buying cookbooks that commonly uses hard-to-find or unfamiliar ingredients. With that being said, one or two unique ingredients can be exciting to use, but they can be a waste of money if you end up not liking their taste. You should also avoid purchasing cookbooks with extensive recipes requiring a number of different ingredients to use. Gathering different food items after a long day at work will become pretty exhausting, especially when your stomach’s growling with hunger.
Quality of the book
Since a cookbook is meant to be used in a kitchen, it must be equipped to handle the occasional oil splashes and water spillings. That is why you should make sure to buy a cookbook that can stand its ground against oil and food debris, rather than getting torn apart. Plus, ensure the book features high-quality paper with printing that does not fade away after it is wiped with a wet cloth.
What To Avoid Cooking in an Air Fryer
Although the air fryer has opened up a completely new and healthy world of cooking, there are some food items that are strictly off-limits for your air fryer. We’ve listed them below:
Cheese
An air fryer operates at pretty high temperatures and pressure, so if you’re looking to add a cube of cheese encased in some sort of coating, then you’ll probably be met with a yellow puddle when you’re done. The same is true for grilled cheese, since the high pressure will cause it to burn inside, creating an ugly mess for you to clean.
Battered food
Food items that are coated in any sort of batter don’t fare well in an air fryer, since the batter doesn’t stick to the food as well as it does when cooked in oil. You can try using frozen battered food items, but they still don’t have the same texture that you’ll get with an oil-fried, crispy chicken wing.
Leafy produce
Frying up fresh greens like spinach, kale, and cabbage in an air fryer isn’t a good idea since they’ll be cooked unevenly. Therefore, you should be careful with the greens you choose and try ones that are thicker, like zucchini and broccoli. If you really want to cook leafy greens in your air fryer, a way around the problem is to freeze your product before placing them in the air fryer, as it’ll help them to retain some moisture and cook evenly. However, we can’t comment on the taste you’ll end up with.
Uncooked grains
An air fryer dry cooks your food, so it’s only logical that food items like rice which require being immersed in water to cook, won’t produce a good result with an air fryer. You can, however, cook them on the stovetop first and toss them in the air fryer to get your food nice and crispy!
Top Picks
Best Overall:
Laurie Fleming's Essential Air Fryer Cookbook
Best Fried Recipes:
Linda Larsen's Official Ninja Air Fryer Cookbook
Best For A Mediterranean Diet:
Katie Hale's Mediterranean Air Fryer Cookbook
Best For Couples:
Gina Kleinworth's Rockridge Press Essential Air Fryer Cookbook
Best For Vegans:
Janet And Maddie Dockery's Plant-Based Air Fryer Cookbook
Best Value For Money:
Linda Larsen's Complete Air Fryer Cookbook
How many recipes are there in an air fryer cookbook?
Generally speaking, most cookbooks contain over 100 recipes, though some cookbooks have fewer options. Ultimately, there is no hard and fast rule that a cookbook must have a certain number of recipes. That said, cookbooks that focus on a specific cuisine tend to have a lower number of recipes than more generalized cookbooks.
Can I reheat a fried meal in my air fryer?
Yes! In fact, an air fryer will do a much better job reheating fried food than an oven or a microwave. Set the air fryer around 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cook your food for three or four minutes.
Do I need to use oil when cooking my food in an air fryer?
Although an air fryer does not require as much oil as deep frying, you should still add at least one teaspoon of oil to your food. Otherwise, the food will dry out.
