Air fryers are all the rage, but one place you likely won’t see them is your local restaurant. Do you have any idea why? Despite its benefits in home life, there are many downsides to using air fryers in your restaurant. It’s simply not a good fit, and we’ll dive into why air fryers are a terrible choice for restaurants.

It Doesn’t Taste the Same

Air fryers are supposed to be healthier than deep fryers, making them fine for residential homes. However, your customers might look for authentic comfort food that tastes a certain way at your restaurant. When your customers are looking for mozzarella sticks and fried chicken, a professional deep fryer is a far better choice than an air fryer. You have to give the customers what they want, and if you only have an air fryer available, you’ll come up short every time.

They Have Limitations

Another reason why air fryers are terrible for restaurants is that they have many limitations on what they can cook. They can’t cook fried foods or foods with wet batter. For instance, if you wanted a piece of garlic bread with heaps of cheese on top, the cheese would melt off the sides and potentially ruin your air fryer. This would also make your air fryer more difficult to clean and mess up the garlic bread because the cheese is burnt. So many foods aren’t a good fit for air fryers, like corn dogs, broccoli, and large and thick meats. These limitations make it far less likely that you’ll use it in your restaurant.

Very Little Demand

When was the last time you saw a menu that boasted air-fried foods? When have you seen someone ask one of your waiters or chefs if you can air-fry their food? You likely haven’t, and given how business-savvy restaurant owners are, you can guess there isn’t nearly as much demand for air-fried food. While we’re sure that the air fryer has a huge fan base, it’s not showing up at restaurants. Customers are far less likely to ask for their food to be prepared this way, as it’s a relatively popular cooking method that almost everyone enjoys at home.

Air fryers aren’t good fits for restaurants for many reasons. However, if you want to get equipment that is the right fit, check out our products at Pro Restaurant Equipment. We have commercial appliances for everything you could need. Shop Pro Restaurant Equipment today!