Duncan Bell is air frying tonight

Air fryers are quite literally the hottest gadgets of 2022 - but what exactly are they?

- Duncan Bell

Imagine if, instead of calling it a smartphone, Microsoft and later Apple had decided to call phones with computers and internet connectivity built in 'outer space super communicators'. Sure, it's a much zappier name, but people would have soon realised you couldn't actually use them to talk to space aliens, Star Trek style. 

That's pretty much what the inventor of the air fryer did, though. You might think, not unreasonably, that they 'fry' using 'air' - the clue, after all, is in the name. Clearly, they do not. How could they? It's a physical impossibility.

Despite that, air fryers are hugely popular. People love their convenience and affordability. Their running costs are low too - very important now electricity costs slightly more than platinum. But with the best will in the world, they still can't 'fry' using 'air'.