It’s a cult kitchen item that costs a fraction of the price of other brands, but one woman shared an urgent warning for anyone using a Kmart air fryer.
They’ve become the cult item in kitchens across Australia but you might want to think twice the next time you set up your air fryer for cooking on your kitchen bench.
A woman has shared a warning online to others after her Kmart air fryer allegedly cracked her stone bench top.
In a post shared in the Kmart Hacks & Decor group she said the damage had left her husband “quietly rocking in the corner”.
“Just an FYI and warning!” she wrote, according to 7news.com.au.
“Bought the big air fryer and have been loving it … till I noticed a big crack in my bench top.
“I didn’t realise the heat the air fryer made underneath and has now cracked my stone bench top!”
While it’s recommended that air fryer users also put a heat-resistant pad underneath the appliance while using it, it turned out the woman wasn’t alone in not knowing this.
“I had no idea this could happen,” one person commented.
Others said they used a chopping board to protect their bench top, with one person advising: “We have a tile under ours, I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
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“To prevent heat damage, place the appliance on a heat-resistant surface only. Not recommended to use directly on laminated / Vinyl bench top,” Kmart’s instruction manual for the appliance states.
“Placing the air fryer on an insulated heat pad is recommended.”
News.com.au has contacted Kmart for comment.
At a fraction of the cost of other brands and with prices starting at $49, Kmart’s air fryers have attracted a cult like following.
There’s even a Facebook group, Share Kmart Air Fryer Recipes Australia, dedicated to the appliance with more than 398,000 members.
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WHAT IS AN AIR FRYER?
Air fryers cook meals by circulating hot air around food, creating a crispy outside similar to deep-fried food.
They’re popular for cooking some foods faster than a conventional oven as well as not heating up an entire room – a must when cooking during summer.
According to Healthline, you can use just one teaspoon of oil to make fries in an air fryer that taste almost identical to the much less healthy deep-fried version.
Because of this the cooking gadget has been labelled as a sneaky way to lose weight – however, one dietitian has warned that it won’t magically make unhealthy foods suddenly better.
“But if you’re using your air fryer to whip up treats all day long, I’ve got some bad news. You see, a brownie is still a brownie, regardless of how it’s cooked,” Melissa Meier wrote for Body and Soul.
“My suggestion is to simply exercise a little common sense with your air fryer if good health is on your radar – veg, wholegrains and lean proteins are good-for-you everyday foods that can form the basis of a healthy meal, while chocolate, pastry and butter are not.”
