My Story of Buying An Air Fryer Made in The United States from US marketplace 

Several years ago, when I first stepped onto American soil as a nervous young man, I was completely unaware of what the future held for me. Gradually, I settled into my new job and my small one-room apartment. Life took on a completely new direction for me, changing everything from my social circle to my lifestyle, and from my eating habits to my wardrobe. Cooking was never my strong suit, especially since it’s traditionally seen as a women’s role in the country of my ancestors, leading me to frequent local diners instead. I began with popular fast-food chains, moved on to street food, and eventually started trying out local eateries that mainly served local or Western cuisine. However, after a few months, I grew tired of the oily food and found myself longing for biryani and even a simple meal of chapati with chicken curry. A friend recommended a desi restaurant at the far end of downtown. The following weekend evening, I went there hoping for a good meal, but the food was terrible, and the bill was exorbitantly high for just one meal. That experience was the last straw, and I never went back to that restaurant.

Cooking at my Kitchenette

A friend suggested me to start cooking on my own.  I never cooked anything serious in my life except making coffee for me or boiling an egg occasionally. But, circumstanced forced me to do it for my own betterment and I decided to take this challenge squarely.   YouTube became my mentor and slowly my cooked items started making sense.  However, I was not much happy about cooking oil splatters while frying frozen food like hash browns for my breakfast.  Cleaning my kitchenette was an essential but unpleasant part of my bachelor’s life.

The idea of Buying an Air Fryer

To avoid all the mess in the kitchen, I was suggested to have an air fryer that could fry anything seamlessly.   I considered it as a good idea and started my usual research to select the best from various options available.

Research

As a methodical person, I listed “must-have”, “should have” and “could have” qualities for my, yet to be acquired, air fryer.  One “must-have” was about technology and I wanted not only American Brand but wanted a “made in the USA” air fryer.

My intense search revealed that major brands were:

• GoWISE USA.
• NuWAVE.
• Ninja.
• Cosori.
• Instant Vortex.

After shortlisting the major brands, I started searching online and later visited local malls to have a look at the item and read the packaging as well.   To my utter surprise, none of the major selling brands was manufacturing their products in the USA.   Every item sold by them was “made in China”.   I have nothing against China but while on American soil, it was unbelievable for me to buy anything “made in China” as I consider American technology much superior to the rest of the world.  I kept looking but I could not find a single air fryer which had a tag “made in the USA”.

Why everything is Made in China?

It is an undeniable fact that most of the things we owned back home were made in China but that was understandable as China has better technological know-how and mass production facilities comparing third-world counties but taking over the production of US companies really surprised me.  If it is true, then, China is undoubtedly deserving to be called a “global production house”.  I asked a fellow Chinese working with me about it and he proudly confirmed that now most of the American brands are getting their product made from China. According to him, now China was producing quality stuff due to various reasons including:

• Stable and Positive Policies of the Chinese Government.
• Availability of millions of trained engineers and technical workers.
• Good Communications Network.
• Cheap Electrical Energy.

Discovery of Chefman Brand

During my search, a salesman at a local mall told me that at least one American brand is producing air fryers at their plant located in the USA.  Hence, I found out that a band named “Chefman” is manufacturing their products on US soil.  My happiness remained short-lived as further research revealed that the Chefman brand is only assembling air fryers on US soil but they are getting the stuff in CKD or completely knockdown shape from elsewhere presumably from China.  So, I finally concluded that a whole world of air fryers belongs to China.

Chefman Digital 6.5 L Air Fryer

Being obsessed with the idea of buying an American air fryer, I checked the details of the Chefman Digital 6.5 L Air Fryer model and the following I could gather:

• Adjustable: Temperature range from 175-400 degrees allows to cook at the desired temperature, achieving a healthy, crispy, fried finish using at least 80% less oil than traditional fryers.
• Extra-Large Capacity: the flat basket design allows for a higher capacity to fry delicious food, increasing space by 40%.
• Versatility: Digital temperature control & a 60-minute integrated timer permits frying everything from frozen vegetables to pizza rolls, chicken, or fries.
• Easy Clean: The 6. 5L fryer non-stick basket is removable and dishwasher safe.
• Recipes: Club Chefman provides tailor-made step-by-step recipes and tutorial videos.
• Warranty: 1 -year.

Non-Availability of Chefman Digital 6.5 L Air Fryer

I decided to place an online order for the Chefman air fryer but was denied due to the remarks “Out of Stock”.   I decided to visit the electronic section of the local mall the next day and slept with undeterred determination.   The next evening, once I reached the mall, I was briefed by the salesman that due to some unknown reason, Chefman air fryers are not available, and he tried to persuade me to look for alternatives.   I once again asked him to show me some “made in USA” air fryer but he nodded in disagreement and told me that they have made in China stuff.  At the same time, he assured me that all the items are strictly manufactured as per American standards so there is no difference.  I wanted to end this quest, so I sat with him and started deliberations to select an alternatives air fryer for my kitchen.

Final Selection of Air Fryer

After a lot of pondering, I selected the NuWave BRIO Air Fryer for my kitchen.  It is a large one having a capacity of 15.5 quarts. It has an oven as well as a grill and even a Rotisserie kit.   I am using it happily ever since I purchased it.

Conclusion

Americans might be making many things stating from nano-technology gadgets to spacecraft but, surely, they are not making air fryers anymore on their soil.  Almost 99% of air fryers are made in China and whosoever claims to make it on US soil is just assembling their product after receiving those in CKD form again from China.