How The First Air Fryer Was Invented

Air fryers just sort of appeared, didn't they? A few years ago, they existed but weren't necessarily on anyone's radar. Then, pop! Air fryer recipes and instruction manuals flooded the cultural mainstream.

However, the basic idea of air frying has existed for over 100 years, as can be seen in an article Technical World Magazine published in 1904. "An electric air-pressure cooker, which retains the most valuable food flavors and greatly lessens the shrinkage of meats in cooking, has been recently perfected," the article explained.

From there, the invention seemed to disappear until a William L. Maxson filed a patent for an electric oven in 1945, per Google Patents. Maxson was apparently one of those stereotypical inventors. New Air described how after growing an excessive amount of cauliflower in the '30s, Maxson decided to freeze some and cook it later. He was astounded that it still tasted fresh after reheating. According to New Air, this discovery excited him so much that he gave up on eating fresh food. 

Maxson's obsession with frozen food led him to the airline industry. At the time, transatlantic flights relied on pre-made sandwiches because they kept better than a pre-made steak. Maxson figured that if you froze pre-made meals, you could have nicer food and a greater variety. So, he invented the Maxson Whirlwind Oven, which evenly circulated air that was heated by a motor. Unfortunately, Maxson died in 1947 and in the '60s, microwaves became the tool to reheat frozen food.