Knowledge Base > Dan Marek - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)
Dan Marek - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)
This event was on
Tuesday, April 09, 2024 at 2:00 pm Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern
Join Chef Dan Marek in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to cours… Read More.
Question:
Can you say a few words about roasting vegetables in an air fryer?
— WL Warren
Answer:
So, roasting vegetables in an air fryer, that's actually a great thing to be able to do. Um, air fryers are basically like, essentially think of it like a convection oven, but on a very small scale, right? So, um, a lot in a lot of American households, they don't have, uh, convection ovens. And what a convection oven does is it heats, but it also circulates air going through it. So the air is actually moving at all times versus a regular bake function on an oven, um, is basically just a heating element on the bottom. Either, uh, you know, an electric or a fire element that's on the bottom. And what it's doing is heating up and from the bottom and letting the heat rise. Um, and it just continues to basically do that where it's heating from the bottom. Um, and what you get is, um, I guess consistent to a point, but it's also pretty inconsistent if you actually have the air moving and circulating, it's actually going to cook it a lot faster. Um, and it's going to help to like have that caramelization that milot effect around the entire product instead of just on one side of it. Now that's the, what the air fryers, the air fryers really utilize is they have a working fan on the inside and heat up the entire thing to a very higher temperature, typically. Um, and that circulation of the air is what it's actually doing. The air fryer. Now, if you're on a whole food plant-based diet, you don't technically need to use oil in an air fryer, which most, you know, brands do recommend it, but it's not necessarily needed on them. So you can absolutely do a null oil cooking, um, in an air fryer and do the roasting process as well. Now that being said, I would definitely coat it with a little bit something to the moisture on the outside and season it as you're going into it, put it into it and check it. I would check it about halfway through, maybe, uh, you know, move the basket around a little bit to be able to loosen it up, um, and make sure that all sides are getting that, uh, cooked side and that caramelization that you're looking for.
