10 Things to Know Before Buying a PowerXL Air Fryer

Thinking about getting an air fryer but not sure whether an air fryer is the right appliance for you? We can help. Already decided on getting an Air Fryer and trying to decide if PowerXL is the right brand? 

Here are the things you should be thinking about before you get an Air Fryer, and the specific considerations to think about before getting a power XL air fryer. 

We’re going to go over a combination of things to know about yourself, your cooking style, and your kitchen, and things you really need to know to make the most out of your air fryer. 

Do You Have Space Without Sacrificing Prep Space?

One of the big things you need to consider any time you are thinking about getting a new kitchen appliance is whether you have the space for that appliance without giving up the useful space you need in your kitchen. Cooking prep doesn’t always need a ton of room, but it isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do a lot of prep in a limited space. 

Think about the amount of space on your counter and the size of the air fryers you are considering PowerXL has some smaller footprint air fryer options, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t need enough dedicated space to make a difference in your kitchen. 

Also think about how often you are going to use the air fryer. The more often you think you’re going to use it, the more the lost space is likely to be worth it. 

Are You Comfortable Cooking In Non-Stick? 

Almost all air fryers use non-stick coatings somewhere in their systems, usually in the main cooking trays and baskets. 

A lot of people already know that non-stick coatings aren’t great for your health. It’s not considered harmful to cook with Teflon or non-stick coatings, but plenty of people worry about the minor effects anyway. Ingesting flakes of the coating is also a consideration, especially since the non-stick tends to wear down relatively quickly over time. 

Any air fryer with non-stick coatings is likely to have a shorter life as those coatings wear out over time. 

Non-stick coatings will also wear out much faster if they are washed in the dishwasher instead of being hand-washed. 

You Will Still Need To Add Some Oil

One of the biggest reasons a lot of people want to switch to using an air fryer for their cooking needs is to get rid of some of the excess cooking oil, and the calories that come with that oil. 

You will be able to eliminate some of the oil in your meals. After all, you won’t have to deep fry things, and you can even skip some sauteing and otherwise reduce your oil consumption. 

However, if you want great flavor and a crisp outer texture, a light layer of oil is a must. You can add it in your ingredients, spray on a limited amount for more calorie control, or use a little bit of the oil in your basket, depending on the effect you’re going for. 

Just don’t expect to eliminate oil entirely and remember that a little bit of cooking fat can actually be important for absorbing all of the nutrients in your meal! 

Air Fryers Tend To Be One Of The Fastest Cooking Methods

One of the biggest advantages of switching to this kind of cooking appliance is that you get a lot of your time back because air fryers are fast. Remember that this is high-heat cooking to help replicate deep frying foods. 

Cooking in an air fryer should significantly reduce the amount of time you need to spend in the kitchen, at least when you are using it. 

Of course, one of the downsides is that not all foods work well in an air fryer. Obviously, you won’t be cooking soups or stews in your air fryer, but even foods like steaks don’t tend to work as well in this appliance as they would on your stove or in your oven. 

Are Air Fryers Actually Healthier? 

A lot of people are skeptical about the health benefits from the latest appliances and with good reason. But since Air Fryers are a little older now, there’s a lot more information available about them. 

There are actually a lot of health benefits from air fryers, including reducing your oil use, making vegetables tastier and making it easier to add them to your diet, and the fact that the high heat means less cooking time, which can actually preserve some heat-altered nutrients in their original form. 

Not Everything Cooks Well In Air Fryers

If you’re planning on doing most of your cooking in your air fryer you should be prepared that your cooking might have to change to be able to do that. 

Air fryers can handle a lot, including meat and veg, some fruits and even some bread and grain products depending on your setup. But there are some things that are never going to work well in a regular air fryer. For instance, steaks, and almost all large cuts of meat, aren’t a good option. They’ll either dry out too much, or they won’t get cooked all the way through. 

You also miss out on Maillard reactions and some of the other ways that you can build flavor in a dish based on how you are cooking it. 

The PowerXL Maxx Air Fryer Does Better With Crowded Baskets Than Other Air Fryers

One of the advantages of choosing some PowerXL air fryers is that they have been designed to overcome some of the biggest problems with air fryers, including that air fryers only tend to work on smaller servings or cooking in multiple batches. 

That’s because you need to have a high percentage of exposed surface area to cook food in an air fryer effectively. So most people recommend having food well-spaced out, minimizing crowding, and to never double-layer foods. 

However, in some PowerXL air fryers, those problems are a lot less significant. In fact, some of them are explicitly designed to work with additional crowding, up to a second layer of food on a tray, depending on what you’re cooking. 

That additional option of cooking more at once makes it a lot easier to serve larger families, visitors, or to food prep in your air fryer. 

Will You Use All 8 Functions Of A PowerXL Air Fryer Grill? 

One of the advantages of potentially buying from PowerXl, in particular, is that one of their models, the Air Fryer Grill combo, serves 8 different functions and works well in a wider range of cooking types. 

It gives you air fry, air fry/grill, grill, broil, bake/pizza, toast/bagel, reheat, and rotisserie modes. 

That’s a lot more versatile than you can expect from an average air fryer, though it doesn’t always do the best job of all of those functions. 

However, the added price of the additional functions makes it more of an investment if you want to get a combo appliance. So, it’s worth thinking carefully about how often you’re going to use it, and how many of those functions are useful, before you decide that that PowerXL air fryer model is the right one for you. 

PowerXL Air Fryers Are A Little Pricier Than Competitors

Another thing to consider is that you can often get Air Fryers a little cheaper from other manufacturers. That means that you can potentially save if you’re going with a different company, but there are some advantages, including that this company tends to be better with multi-purpose appliances. 

Cheaper isn’t always better though. So, it’s a good idea to look at and compare different models, different brands, and different functions to see what people think of their air fryers, and how well they are reviewed by consumers. 

Do You Have Other Appliances You Can Replace With Your New Air Fryer? 

Another important consideration when you’re thinking about getting an air fryer is if this new appliance is likely to let you replace another appliance with this one. That’s important to think about because it can significantly cut down on the amount of counter space you need to dedicate to different appliances if you have one that is pulling double duty. 

Air fryers can often be used in place of toasters and toaster ovens, fryers, and sometimes even other appliances like your microwave. 

Thinking about this can help with organization, and stop you from having appliances sitting around and gathering dust later on.

It’s also important to think about what won’t be replaced with a new air fryer, because not everything will, and you want to make sure you have enough space for all of your most important kitchen appliances. 
That’s it! Those are the 10 things you need to know before getting PowerXL Air Fryers. Thinking about getting a Ninja Air Fryer instead, here’s what you need to know about them. Excited to try your new air fryer and want to have more recipes to try? Here are 25 easy Keto-friendly Air Fryer Recipes. Or, if you want to impress your guests, this recipe makes it easy to make custom quesadillas with your air fryer!