Air fryers are an absolute godsend when it comes to quick and easy midweek cooking. They might take up room on your worktop, but if you're looking for fuss-free cooking that uses way less energy than your oven or hob, they're the piece of kitchen kit for you.

Of course, you might already know all of this if there's one sitting in your kitchen right now, but what you probably don't know is how they actually work. They've been used to dehydrate fruit for garnishes for cocktails, "fry" chicken for burgers and create the crispiest chips ever, all without oil. But how do they do it?

How do air fryers work?

Contrary to their name, air fryers don't actually fry things. Instead, they use hot air. Basically, the food goes into the basket and the air fryer blows hot air around the food to cook it. The rapid air circulation causes convection which browns the food, giving it that signature air fryer crisp without the use of oil.

While this might sound like the same way an oven cooks food, the two are quite different. An oven cooks things with still air, instead of the rapidly moving air in an air fryer. This results in less crispy food than an air fryer might produce, and it takes longer to cook things.

Well there you go. It's simple, but truly genius and we're very grateful for whoever invented it, especially when it comes to air fryer chips...