Can Commercial Air Fryers Help Your Kitchen?

Initially made for the residential market, air fryers were released to much fanfare and have continued to grow in popularity among home cooks, but they have been slower to break into the commercial foodservice market. A main factor behind this lack of commercial use is the small size of the standard unit, which cannot produce the high volumes of food a traditional oven or fryer can.

However, foodservice providers shouldn't discount air fryers just yet, as they offer several advantages over other heating methods that you could use to benefit your establishment.

How Do Air Fryers Work?

Air fryers' heating method is closer to that of convection ovens than traditional oil fryers because it utilizes the concept of blowing heated air onto food product. The difference lies in how the air encounters the food. Most air fryers use a basket or tray featuring grooves or holes that allow the air to circulate around the sides and bottom of the food, mimicking how hot oil surrounds the food in a traditional fryer.¹ This forced, heated air also works like a high-speed oven, which uses impingement to cook food rapidly, blowing hot air on food as fast as five meters per second.²

The heated air blown by an air fryer aids in a process called the Maillard Reaction, which occurs when amino acids and sugars react to create melanoidins, yielding darker pigments, increased flavor, and the crispy outside fried foods are known for in the final product.³ Some foods in an air fryer can be coated with oil to aid in this cooking process.

Uses for Air Fryers

Air fryers can be used to cook anything from french fries to vegetables, though they shouldn't be used to cook anything overly wet, such as doughy items. Heated-air cooking excels with frozen foods, including fish, chicken, and pizza, so this makes commercial air fryers ideal for operations such as concession stands, entertainment centers, or hotels, which look to quickly fix smaller portions to order.

Most commercial air fryers have programmable timers for specific meals, reducing the amount of time operators must spend monitoring the food and easing the training process in the event of staff turnover.

Air fryers can also protect employees from severe oil burns. A 2015 study on fast food-related injuries found that more than 50 percent of recorded burn injuries were from oil fryers.⁴ Air fryers prevent this risk by cooking food in a contained space without scalding oil.

They also use much less oil than a conventional fryer, yielding lower calorie counts in the food being prepared. Over time, this also saves on the cost of buying and disposing cooking oil. These benefits can especially help with startups or restaurants catering to more health-conscious customers.

Pros and Cons of Commercial Air Fryers

Whether you're operating a fast-casual restaurant, snack shack in an entertainment venue, or a hospitality service, air fryers provide a mix of speed, food quality, and health benefits in a small footprint. Nevertheless, these heating machines aren't ideal for every concept; if not, more traditional cooking equipment may better suit your operation.

References

^{1. How do air fryers work? The science of everyone's favourite kitchen gadget. Science Focus. Accessed October 2024.}

^{2. Air Impingement. ScienceDirect. Accessed October 2024.}

^{3. Food Chemistry – The Maillard Reaction. Compound Interest. Accessed October 2024.}

^{4. Key Findings from a Survey on Fast Food Worker Safety. Hart Research Associates. Accessed October 2024.}