TikToker Goes Viral After Revealing How An Air Fryer Actually Works—And People Are Low-Key Devastated

With the promise of versatility, quick cook times, and healthier options, air fryers have had us in a chokehold for the past few years. We've been hypnotized by the idea of food quickly and crisply being cooked with fresh, circulated air that eliminates the need for excess oils and fats, allowing us to cook healthier meals in a variety of ways.

But it turns out that may have been a marketing ploy all along.

Curious about how the air fryer actually works, TikToker @welcometheekidd explored their appliance by pulling out the large drawer and looking inside, only to realize that there was something very familiar on the ceiling of their air fryer: a spiral metal plate often found on stovetops.

Lamenting what they believed about their air fryer, they shared on TikTok:

"POV: You just found out the inside of an air fryer is just one stove plate."

You can watch the video here:

Some TikTokers were so strongly against the idea, they had to check it out for themselves.

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

A few TikTokers were surprised that people didn't already know this.

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

It's understandable where the misunderstanding about air fryers came from. They were advertised as a healthier cooking appliance because of how they supposedly cook the food quickly with cycled, fresh air.

Being able to hear the fan was enough for most consumers, leading them to not need to investigate their product.

But, technically, an air fryer is a glorified, small, relatively portable convection oven. A hot coil is at the top to heat the space and the air, and air is forced into a cyclical motion, which causes the small, tightly-sealed space to heat up and cook food very quickly.

Because of the forced air and the way the product is made, less oil is needed, but the product otherwise cooks very similarly to an oven or even a microwave.

Most TikTokers were devastated by the news.

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

@welcometheekidd/TikTok

This is one of those discoveries that feels like a betrayal because of how believable and seemingly common sense the marketing is, leading us to believe that air fryers are this entirely new, healthier concept.

But as it turns out, it's nothing that our kitchens haven't already seen before.