Air fryers bring the heat without all the fat

Many people are trying to be healthier, and air fryers are becoming a popular way to eliminate excess fat from your diet.

But are the new-age fryers worth it, or are the claims just hot air?

Chicken nuggets and fries are a family favorite at Jillian Pacella's house. She makes them for her kids four times a week with her air fryer.

“It does not require a lot of oil to cook the food," Pacella said, adding that her family was looking to eat healthier.

An air fryer works by circulating hot air around food that’s suspended in a basket. It’s essentially a countertop convection oven, according to Consumer Reports. Many recipes call for foods to be tossed with a bit of oil, rather than being fully immersed when you use a traditional fryer.

“One big difference you’ll see is basket size," said Consumer Reports Home Editor Sara Morrow. "Some are so small they require you to cook in batches, and that’s not as good when you’re cooking for a whole family.”

This Nu-Wave 6-quart 37001 is the largest fryer tested, with a 5.8 quart capacity. At $140, the controls are easy, but it's a little noisy, similar to a microwave.

The magazine calls the Farberware HF-919B a "Best Buy." At $70, it's one of the quietest tested. It holds 3.2 quarts, but testers said the food basket is a little tough to clean.

The Black+Decker Purify HF100WD fryer has temperature settings printed so small that they’re hard to read, and the basket is just two quarts. Testers said the small basket is fine if you’re not cooking very much, but you’ll have to do multiple batches if the kids bring their friends for nuggets.

Consumer Reports found that none of the fryers replicated deep-fried results, but they all turned out nicely cooked food in short order. The magazine points out that since its really a small convection oven, air fryers can be used for cooking meats and even baking.