I’m telling you, a bachelor probably designed the Aouball because it’s giving such ‘MacGyvering a kitchen appliance’ energy that I absolutely love it! To be absolutely frank, an air fryer is nothing more than an electric heating coil and a fan… so what if you just flipped the coil upwards and shut the fan down? You’d have an electric cooktop! The Aouball might just be the first ever product to actually implement this genius idea and I can’t wait for it to become the new kitchen standard.
It’s simple – if a product serves multiple purposes it should be allowed to serve both purposes. A toaster can easily work as a quick pizza-maker too, but nobody makes vertical pizzas, which is why the toaster feels so incredibly limiting – apart from the fact that it warms up pop tarts too. Aouball breaks the air fryer’s format by allowing the main unit to flip 180°. This simple flip lets you cook normally, without frying, making the Aouball perfect for tiny apartments, dorms, or even the kitchenette in your hotel room.
Designer: Zhongshan Aouball Electric Appliances
“To offer a comprehensive and efficient one stop solution, the design team has created this compact device that supports multiple cooking methods like air frying, roasting, baking, shallow frying, stir frying, steaming and boiling, able to meet diverse cooking needs,” says maker Zhongshan Aouball Electric Appliances. “Such a device avoids the purchase of several devices with only a single function to ease the economic burden on users and save kitchen space,” they add.
After all, just manipulating a few parameters allows the air fryer to do so much more than ‘air fry’. Turn the fan off and it’s perfect for roasting or baking. Flip the coils over and add a shallow pan and you can stir-fry, saute, or griddle. Make the container deeper and you can shallow or deep fry, boil, steam, etc. The heat just gets applied in a different way and the cooking transforms entirely.
The Aouball is designed slightly differently compared to your average air fryer. The main unit (with the electricals) sits on a rotating element that allows it to flip downwards or upwards. When flipped down, the thing works as an oven or broiler. Turn the fans on and you now have a convection oven or air fryer. This is accompanied by a clear glass basket that slots into the gap in the base, with a metal grille for aiding in air circulation.
Flip the entire thing upwards and the vents on the side for the air get blocked (for good reason, they’re not in use anymore). Lock the unit in its new position and you’ve got yourself a cooktop (with storage space at the bottom!) The Aouball comes with its own cooktop vessel too, a 3″ deep rectangular tray with a non-stick coatin, a glass lid, and handles. A control panel on the side gives you complete control over the Aouball’s functionality, allowing you to access all the different cooking modes, temperatures, fan speeds, etc.
This simple trick is frankly genius. I love my air fryer, but I barely use it. It literally only gets used for intense work like roasting veggies, frying wedges, crisping up things, or just some basic baking. The air fryer, given that it uses a heating coil that heats up super fast, is capable of so much more, and the Aouball harnesses that. A winner of the A’ Design Award, the game-changing air-fryer is currently even available in China, although Alibaba lists its wholesale price at roughly $36. Perfect for small homes and smaller budgets!
The post This Air Fryer Flips 180° To Transform Into An Electric Cooktop first appeared on Yanko Design.