Air fryers have taken the world of countertop cooking by storm. The push for healthier food has led people to frown upon traditional frying, but they still crave that delicious crispy fried taste. Air fryers are supposed to be the best of both worlds, but do they deliver? Let’s find out with my PowerXL Air Fryer Pro review.
What Is An Air Fryer?
I guess we should start at the beginning. What is an air fryer? What does an air fryer do? Is there a difference between an air fryer and a convection oven?
To start, an air fryer is a type of convection oven. That should answer all three of those questions upfront. An air fryer uses a heating element to cook food. Like all convection ovens, it also has a fan to move the air around inside the device to cook food more quickly and evenly. The name air fryer came into use around 2010.
Having a fan move the air around inside the “fryer” offers a few advantages. One huge benefit is that it reduces cooking time by up to 20% compared to regular ovens. If you do a lot of cooking, I don’t have to tell you how beneficial that extra time is.
Another benefit of an air fryer is that it cooks food more evenly. An oven without a fan is liable to brown some sides of the food more than others. With air moving around constantly, this is less of an issue with an air fryer.
All this being said, an air fryer is not a fryer. Don’t let other reviews fool you, it’s not the same thing. The food that comes out of it will not taste deep-fried. However, it is a good appliance and that warrants consideration. Its why I listed air fryers as one of 5 appliances you need in your kitchen.
PowerXL Air Fryer Review
So we’ve now established what an air fryer is and what it isn’t. Now let’s look at the PowerXL Air Fryer Pro. This model is a 7-in-1 multi-cooker that claims it can replace a convection oven, toaster oven, pizza grill, dehydrator, rotisserie, and deep fryer. It also boasts 8 digital pre-set programs with one-touch buttons.
The PowerXL features a digital timer with automatic shutoff. You can also manually adjust both time and temperature. It is rated at 1700 watts.
This air fryer has a 6-quart capacity. According to its tech specs, you should be able to fit up to a 4-pound chicken into it. I’d say it’s plenty big for most family meals, just don’t plan on using it for the Thanksgiving turkey.
The PowerXL is easy to use. More importantly, it’s easy to clean. My convection toaster ovens were always a pain to keep clean, so this is a nice improvement. The fan placement seems to really improve how evenly things cook compared to my convection toaster oven.
Overall, I am quite happy with this model compared to a traditional toaster oven. While not as revolutionary as the microwave was when it burst onto the scene, it is a nice upgrade over the previous technology.
What To Cook With A PowerXL Air Fryer
Some people will claim that you can cook anything that you usually deep fry in an air fryer, but I disagree. I am not a fan of cooking frozen french fries in the thing, and probably never will be. Tater tots, on the other hand, come out amazing.
One thing that has been surprisingly good in the air fryer is chicken wings. Traditional buffalo wings require no flour and no batter, and the air fryer does a good job of crisping up the outside. Tossed in some good buffalo sauce, and you have a real treat.
Anything that has been pre-fried and frozen will come out really good in the PowerXL. Frozen chicken tenders are a perfect example. Hashbrowns are another. You just have to realize that you are losing the health benefit if the product has been pre-fried.
A lot of people wonder whether you can put aluminum foil in an air fryer. Yes, you can put aluminum foil in virtually any air fryer. Air fryers create heat via electricity like a toaster oven. There is nothing in an air fryer that will react negatively with aluminum foil like a microwave.
You might also be wondering what should you not put into an air fryer? While you can cook pre-fried foods like frozen chicken tenders and french fries, you should not put anything with a wet batter into an air fryer. Unlike a traditional fryer with grease, the wet batter won’t be sealed fast enough before it comes off and makes a mess. A dry flour breading should be fine though.
The Verdict
Air fryers are good appliances to have, and the PowerXL Air Fryer Pro is a quality model. I would say if all you have is a normal toaster oven, it is a worthy upgrade. However, if you already own a convection toaster oven, I don’t think it is a necessary upgrade. It is better in some ways, but probably not enough to just randomly upgrade. If you are in the market for a new countertop oven, definitely give this one a look.
