Why Cooking Sausages in the Air Fryer Is a Terribly Bad Idea
There are many things you can prepare perfectly well in an Air Fryer, and it can be more economical than firing up an entire oven to cook a single salmon fillet. But some foods are not recommended for preparation in an Air Fryer, such as sausages. And this is why.
We are fans of sausage, especially when it concerns good, fresh, high-quality sausages such as those from Brandt en Levie. A perfectly golden-brown exterior, a well-cooked, juicy interior; mmmm. I also like using the filling from fennel sausage in a sauce for pasta, following Jamie Oliver’s excellent example. However, I almost always cook sausages in a pan, and these are a few reasons why it is better not to prepare sausages in an Air Fryer:
Convection oven
An Air Fryer is essentially just a small convection oven, which can preheat more quickly and, in many cases, also cook food faster because the heat circulation is concentrated in a smaller space than in an oven. So there is not necessarily anything strictly wrong with cooking sausages in it, but there are some disadvantages.
Fat (tasty, but fatty)
Because the space in an Air Fryer is limited, the amount of fat in sausages can cause problems. Excessive amounts of fat can drip onto the heating element and cause smoke. The fat can also run out if the sausages burst, meaning you lose the flavor that fat provides, as well as the juiciness it contributes. The result: dry, crumbly sausage.
It takes a long time
If you want to cook sausages not just for yourself but for several people, you will probably be faster using a large frying pan. Sausages need space to cook gently at a not-too-high temperature without the casing burning, but also without them being too close together and preventing the heat from circulating properly. Of course, Air Fryers come in different sizes, but even then there is a major advantage to cooking them in a pan: you can easily turn them regularly with kitchen tongs for perfect browning all around.
All together in one pan
Another major advantage of cooking sausages in a pan: if you use a spacious pan, you can also cook other things in it at the same time that may require a different cooking time. You probably do not feel like constantly opening the Air Fryer to add something else or checking when one part of your meal is ready. In a pan, this happens much more quickly.
In that delicious sausage fat, you can fry an egg, some mushrooms, halved tomatoes, and, if you still have a corner left, warm some white beans in tomato sauce in it—and voilà: English Breakfast!
Read also:
- What exactly is fresh about fresh smoked sausage?
- 6 common Air Fryer mistakes (and how to prevent them
- 7 Air Fryer tricks not everyone knows
