McCain, Aldi and other big brands are updating their packaging with advice on how to use an airfryer – appliances are growing in popularity
- Chip manufacturers add air-frying cooking instructions to their products
- Millions of homeowners have purchased air fryers to deal with the cost of living crisis
Air fryers have become so popular that brands like McCain are adding instructions on the packaging to show them how to cook their food in them.
This follows an increasing number of families getting confused about how to use the deep fryers, which cook much faster and require a slightly lower temperature than ovens.
Shoppers will begin to see an Airfryer logo below the cooking instructions on the package, along with more familiar logos for microwaves, ovens, grills, and skillets.
McCain, the UK’s largest retailer of frozen chips, and Waitrose are among those introducing the additional information. Other supermarkets are following suit.
Mark Hodge, McCain’s director of marketing, said: ‘When we saw how popular cooking our fries in air fryers had become, it was a good idea to take quick action to put air fryer instructions on our packaging.’
McCain, the UK’s largest retailer of frozen chips, and Waitrose are among those introducing the additional information. Other supermarkets are following suit
But McCain’s homemade fries take 24 to 26 minutes at 220C in a normal oven – when an air fryer will crisp them up in 15 minutes at 200C
With no printed instructions, users set their air fryers to the temperature and time specified for a normal oven.
But McCain’s homemade fries take 24 to 26 minutes at 220C in a normal oven – while an air fryer will crisp them up in 15 minutes at 200C.
Julie Ashfield, Head of Purchasing at Aldi, said: “We will soon begin rolling out the ‘Airfryer Suitable’ label on all our new products.”
The last time cooking instructions were significantly changed in this way was when microwaves became commonplace in the 1980s. Some experts thought that air fryer would be a fad. But sales are still strong and customers are bombarding supermarkets and food companies for advice on how to use their gadgets.
More than 30 percent of households now have an airfryer.
Chips are the top food to cook with chicken wings and drumsticks also popular. Airfryer can also make roasts, stir fries and brownies.
Lakeland, which introduced air fryers in Britain in 2010, said sales are rising even after a peak year in 2021. Kathryn Farrell, her cooking buyer, said: ‘Customers tell us they haven’t used their ovens since they got air fryers. ‘
The fryers use hot air instead of oil, although a few drops of oil are recommended for some dishes.
They make food healthier than frying, but still give favorites such as French fries a crispy, ‘fried’ aftertaste. But the health benefits were trumped by their cost-cutting benefits, as electricity prices more than doubled after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.