How to solve the problem of uneven heating of ingredients in mechanical air fryer

In modern kitchens, mechanical air fryers are popular for their efficient and healthy cooking methods. One of its core technologies is the design of the air duct system, which directly affects the uniformity of hot air distribution. The system works with high-speed fans through the top or bottom heating tubes to deliver hot air to the inside of the cavity in a spiral manner, thereby achieving all-round three-dimensional heating of the ingredients. However, if the air duct design is unreasonable, such as asymmetric air outlet layout, insufficient air volume or unclear wind direction guidance, the heat may be too concentrated in a certain area of ​​the cavity, causing local overheating while other parts are not hot enough. Therefore, manufacturers need to optimize the hot air path during the design stage and model and analyze the heat flow inside the cavity through simulation software to ensure that the heat can evenly cover the entire frying basket. At the same time, the selection of high-efficiency, low-noise and high-temperature resistant fan components will significantly improve the hot air circulation efficiency and wind pressure stability.

The layout and power matching of the heating element are also important factors affecting heating uniformity. Many low-end mechanical air fryers use a single-sided heating tube. This design leads to uneven heat source distribution, making the food close to the heating tube easy to burn, while the food far from the heating tube is difficult to cook thoroughly. Therefore, it is recommended to adopt a multi-point heating structure in product design, such as combining the main heating tube on the top with the auxiliary heating element in the middle or bottom of the cavity to achieve multi-directional temperature coverage. In addition, by feeding back temperature information to the temperature control device through thermistors, real-time temperature regulation and overheating protection can be achieved. At the same time, the power of the electric heating tube should match the volume and wind speed capacity of the cavity to avoid the problem of local excessive heating or overall slow heating due to excessive or insufficient heat load.

In terms of structural design, the shape and material of the frying basket also play a decisive role in heating uniformity. The frying basket of a mechanical air fryer is usually made of metal mesh or non-stick material to support and expose the food to the hot air flow. However, if the ventilation aperture of the frying basket is too small, the arrangement is unreasonable, or it is blocked due to long-term use, it will significantly affect the penetration efficiency of hot air, resulting in insufficient heating of the bottom or internal food. Therefore, manufacturers should reasonably design the density of the grid and the arrangement of the holes to ensure that the air can fully penetrate the surface of all ingredients. At the same time, it is recommended that users clean the frying basket and the inner pot regularly to keep the airflow unobstructed. In addition, the volume control of the frying basket is also a factor that cannot be ignored. Overfilling will cause the ingredients to stack and block the heat flow channel. It is recommended that the ingredients should not exceed 70% of the capacity of the frying basket each time, and the ingredients should be laid flat as much as possible to avoid thick stacking.

The user's operation behavior is one of the direct variables that lead to uneven heating. During use, some users may mix and cook ingredients of different types or thicknesses, such as placing meat and vegetables at the same time, ignoring the differences in the absorption of heat by various ingredients, which eventually leads to some ingredients being burnt while others are not yet cooked. Therefore, it is recommended that users use ingredients of the same type and similar size in combination, and set the corresponding temperature and time according to the cooking characteristics of different ingredients. For example, heavy meat can be preheated first, and then light ingredients such as vegetables can be added. In addition, some mechanical air fryers lack an automatic stirring function during the cooking process, so users should open the lid and stir the ingredients at the right time in the middle of the cooking process so that the ingredients on the upper and lower layers can be exchanged, thereby further improving the overall uniformity.