Halogen heaters for aerogrill: pros and cons

The advent of air grills for many housewives was a real discovery, because with this device you can cook perfectly baked vegetables and meat. Recently, halogen aerogrill heaters have become popular. We will understand how they differ from halogen heating elements.

Model with halogen heating element

What is the difference between halogen heater grills?

Halogen air grill is a convenient device with which you can cook almost any dish.

In devices with a halogen heater, in order for the food to reach the required readiness, streams of hot air are used, which blow products from all sides. Such a process leads to uniform heating of the dish, in addition, all useful substances are preserved in food.

Using the appliance for cooking

The main components of a halogen aerogrill include the following:

• a transparent flask from a glass base, where the product is heat treated;
• special stand on which the bulb is placed;
• flask cap;
• halogen heater, which is located on the inside of the air grill;
• a fan for blowing food during cooking, located inside the device;
• on the outer surface there is a control panel with which you can select the cooking mode, temperature level.

Cooking fish in an air grill

The workflow occurs by heating the halogen element. The temperature range is from 20 to 250 degrees Celsius. In this case, the fan begins to evenly inflate the air flows around the perimeter of the bulb.

A variety of dishes can be cooked in the air grill

Inside the device there is a thermostat, which works in automatic mode. When the temperature reaches the selected value, an automatic shutdown is triggered. When the temperature drops, the halogen element turns on again.

Characteristics of halogen heating elements

Halogen heating elements are often installed in air grills due to their low cost in comparison with other heating devices.

Halogen glass heater

However, the heating elements have a number of disadvantages:

• high fragility - the device is made of glass, it can easily be damaged even with a small impact;
• hypersensitivity to pollution: during cooking, the heater will accumulate fat, juice from vegetables and other dirt, which will later be difficult to wash;
• high heat dissipation, which can lead to burning food during cooking;
• short service life - two years.

A tubular electric heater made of metal material with a two-turn device can act as a replacement. But preference should be given to stainless steel elements. It does not corrode and can last more than ten years. It also has high resistance to various mechanical damages.

TEN from stainless steel

The power of the halogen heater is no more than 1200-1300 watts. If this indicator is higher, it will lead to uneven heating of the food, and as a result, the dish will burn. Also, increased power will cause excessive power consumption.

To select the ideal and high-quality halogen heater, the following points must be considered:

• the coating should be stainless steel. It has high mechanical strength, as well as a long service life, more than ten years;
• type of heating element - two-turn;
• the heating element for the air grill should have a diameter of at least ten millimeters;
• power level - no more than 1200-1300 W, which will ensure uniform heating of food.

Advantages and disadvantages of halogen hot air grills

Before purchasing devices with a halogen element, it is worth considering the pros and cons of these devices.

Tiered appliance

Even the simplest devices can have a standard set of functions:

• cooking various soups (vegetable, mashed potatoes, with meat);
• stewing meat (pork, beef, chicken, lamb);
• baking pies and bread.

More expensive models may have more features, among which are:

• defrosting foods;
• cooking grilled chicken;
• toasting meat and vegetables;
• drying fruits;
• cooking fish - stewing, smoking, frying;
• smoked pork;
• sterilization of dishes.

Electronically controlled model

Cons and pros of appliances with a halogen heating element

The advantages of these devices include the following:

• cooking without the addition of vegetable oil and fats;
• thanks to the multi-tiered system, the ability to cook several types of food at once (vegetables, meat, soup, fish). During cooking, the smells do not mix;
• high tightness, so the smells do not go outside, and the food is juicy, soft and aromatic;
• The halogen heater, which is integrated in the air grill, has high safety. Outside there is a protective coating that prevents halogen from entering the environment;
• when cooking in devices with electric heating elements, the products do not dry out, preserving the juiciness and crisp;
• Stainless steel heating elements have high strength, their service life can exceed ten years;
• in a device with a halogen heater it is possible to use several cooking methods: stewing, baking, cooking, smoking;
• uniform heating temperature allows you to save all the nutritious, healthy and palatability of the products.

Air grill Hilton CGO 0912

The disadvantages of the devices include:

• halogen glass heaters are fragile, afraid of shocks and strong shocks. For this reason, the question arises: is it possible to replace these elements? You can replace them with a stainless steel product, but it will cost a lot;
• high waste of electricity;
• glass heating elements have a low service life, a maximum of five years;
• afraid of pollution. If dirt gets on the surface of the element, this will lead to overheating of the product, which ultimately reduces the life of the product.

Additional elements of the device

In general, these devices do an excellent job with their functions. When cooking, they evenly warm the products, do not cause them to burn out and overdry. The main thing is that you need to choose the right mode and follow the cooking process.