The Pros Of Air Frying Vs Deep Frying Onion Rings

There is just one question you should ask yourself before getting all the ingredients out to make homemade onion rings: Should you air fry or deep fry them? Both methods work perfectly well, but there might be some pros to each that you haven't considered that will help you decide which fry you want to use.

In case you're unclear, air fryers are small appliances that come with baskets, like this Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4-in-1, or the mini-oven variety, like the Ninja SP101 Digital Air Fry Countertop Oven. Hot air is circulated throughout the basket or chamber, removing moisture from the surface of the food — which is how food gets crispy.

Deep frying uses a heavy pot (like a dutch oven) filled with oil or a countertop deep fryer machine, which has a space for hot oil and a basket with which to submerge the food into the oil chamber. The oil forces any water content from the food out and up — that's how the exteriors get delicious and crunchy. Only you can decide which is the best frying method for you and your family, but there are some benefits of each to consider.

The small appliances became all the rage when they were marketed as a "less-fat" alternative to traditional frying, but there is so much more to them when air fryers are used to their fullest. While they may have sounded trendy, we doubt they'll lose their popularity any time soon. Indeed, they do use much less fat, where fat is represented by oil. All the oil you need when air frying onion rings is a spritz of the stuff (extra virgin olive oil spray or cooking spray will do the trick) before they go into the heat, and that's enough fat to help them get crispy and crunchy. In that respect, air fryer onion rings are much healthier than deep fried, even if the batter is the exact same.

There's also the clean-up involved. Because air fryers use hot air instead of oil, there is no greasy liquid to dispose of after you're done cooking, just the crumbs from whatever fell off the onion rings in transit to and from the basket. In fact, you can mitigate the clean-up even further in an air fryer by using basket liners, like Foopama's Air Fryer Paper Liners, or even placing aluminum foil on or under the basket.

Of course, deep frying has its pros, too, chief among them being the flavor that the oil imparts into the batter and onion. There is truly nothing like the taste of a freshly fried anything, but especially a delectably hot deep-fried onion ring, with its sweet interior and savory batter. There is also the texture. Try though an air fryer might, it comes close to a deep-fried onion ring, but doesn't quite get there. There is just something about the crisp outer layer, the soft inside, and that salty, oily/greasy bite that satisfies like no other. Additionally, the look of a deep-fried onion ring is more similar to those that you get in a restaurant.

In terms of technology, electric deep fryers have progressed by leaps and bounds in recent years. Some, like this 17-cup deep fryer from Elite Gourmet, come with not only a timer but also a temperature adjuster, so you can set how hot you want the oil to be and not have to worry about it dipping whenever you toss in the onion rings.