Asparagus can also be prepared in the hot air fryer. Not everyone is impressed by the way it is prepared – especially because of one detail.
Kassel – Spring is always asparagus season in Germany. Hardly any other crop is as popular from April as asparagus. To the delight of asparagus lovers and gourmets, it is also available relatively cheaply this year. An inn recently had to justify the pricing of its asparagus dishes.
Opinions differ not only when it comes to the price, but also when it comes to the method of preparation of asparagus. From cooking in water to frying in a pan to preparing it in the oven, there are a variety of ways to put asparagus on your plate. However, preparing asparagus using a hot air fryer (HFL) is still not very common. An amateur cook wanted to change that, so she shared her experience with this method on Facebook - and inadvertently sparked a heated discussion.
Asparagus prepared in the hot air fryer - “In my eyes it’s just great”
“My first attempt at asparagus in the HFL. Baskets made of aluminum foil, asparagus in the right size, salt and lots of butter,” begins the report from a user in the Facebook group “Hot air fryer recipes for all devices.” The user also posts photos of the dish.
What follows are precise cooking instructions in a device that has not been tried and tested for preparing asparagus. “Close the basket and set it at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. Because I had stacked the asparagus, I swapped it after 20 minutes and put it in again for another 20 minutes. However, I also like the asparagus very soft,” writes the author of the post. She concludes with the words: “But I'm so excited because it's not only nice and soft, but it's also got a slight tan. In my eyes it’s just great.”
Strong headwind for unconventional preparation of asparagus – “It takes far too long”
The community, in which users exchange recipes for the hot air fryer, has more than 240,000 members. The interest in the article is correspondingly high. More than 230 comments and a similar number of “likes” were collected within less than 24 hours. "Why not. Looks good and if you like it! “Everything was done right,” said one of the countless comments. But not all commenters share the enthusiasm for the asparagus recipe.
“Asparagus is being cooked! And certainly not in aluminum foil,” is the comment of one user, who alone is the stumbling block for almost a hundred replicas. Another comment takes issue with the relatively long preparation time: “Twice twenty minutes. Electricity not saved. Asparagus in the pot yesterday – just twenty minutes and perfect,” writes one user. Another person echoes the same sentiment: “It takes way too long in the air fryer. Once and never again. And then baking paper or aluminum foil. What an environmental sin.”
Users advise against using aluminum foil for preparing asparagus - consumer advice centers also warn
The use of aluminum foil actually causes a lack of understanding among many commentators, but not primarily for environmental reasons. “Looks very good… I think everyone should make their asparagus the way they like it. I would just leave out the aluminum foil and replace it with baking paper. Simply for health reasons,” says one user.
Another user immediately provides an explanation for this: “Salt and aluminum foil is not a good mix, it creates harmful toxins. It is better to pack the food in a casserole dish or baking paper.” The consumer advice center also warns against combining aluminum foil with salty and acidic products, as contact could cause aluminum to detach from the foil and pass into the food. It is also advised to use aluminum foil “as rarely as possible for cooking food”.
What is also not very common is the fact that asparagus can also be eaten raw. Other foods are also often hotly discussed in Facebook groups, especially vegan foods. Vegan “chicken” from Kaufland recently caused a stir in a group.