Air fryers , whats you opinion ?

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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Hello all,

Years ago we had an air fryer as Mrs Badger wanted to go healthy due to medical concerns, Potatoes chips were my main test bed you had two choices with the one we had , Burnt black on the out side and cooked on the inside or cooked on the outside raw on the inside it soon ended as electronic waste. But everyone seems to rant about them now , are they any better than they were ?
 
They are still just a small fan oven, like they were before. The issue you describe is probably down to too high a temperature. No reason not to try again though, but they're far from essential.
 
Wouldn't be without ours, haven't used the main oven for over 2 years, saved a fortune and in most cases the grub is tastier due to the decreased cooking time meaning the flavour is better.
 
chrism8 said:
Wouldn't be without ours, haven't used the main oven for over 2 years, saved a fortune and in most cases the grub is tastier due to the decreased cooking time meaning the flavour is better.
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Same here - we actually got an 'Instant Pot', which doubles as air fryer etc and pressure cooker.
 
I thought about one after reading all the hype but decided to stick with what we have.
It's a Panasonic combination microwave, with grill, fan oven, steamer and it does all we need.
I fact I have not used the main oven for cooking for ages, just for warming plates and keeping food hot.
It also cooks oven chips quicker than my pals Air Fryer
 
Had ours for almost 6 months, hardly use the oven.

ancient_mariner said:
They are still just a small fan oven
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They're a little more than that as the different settings control fan speeds which makes the more versatile. We do crumpets in hours, so much less faff than under the grill. Also made croutons with it last night. Fantastic for crispy chicken wings as well.

There's another recent thread HERE
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
Hello all,

Years ago we had an air fryer as Mrs Badger wanted to go healthy due to medical concerns, Potatoes chips were my main test bed you had two choices with the one we had , Burnt black on the out side and cooked on the inside or cooked on the outside raw on the inside it soon ended as electronic waste. But everyone seems to rant about them now , are they any better than they were ?
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The big thing with chips is shaking. We do frozen chips in 20minutes but you have to open and shake the chips every 3-5 mins. Otherwise you get burned on top and uncooked on the bottom.
Typically running at 200C


We got one when the price of cooking oils got higher and higher to replace the deep fat fryer; and we've not used the deep fat since.
Ours is mostly sized for things like chips and so forth so its not a massive "replaces the oven" style that some go with.

The only downside is that you have to watch the baskets - the model we have has this wonderful metal basket which, I kid you not, is screwed with 4 tiny screws to a plastic handle. No tang. So when I shake it we have to use oven mittens to hold the red hot basket itself to shake. Otherwise the handle breaks off eventually at the screwplate (because its all plastic...)
 
We got ours primarily for it’s convenience when getting in late and wanting a quick meal without the hassle of preheating the oven. As has been said before they’re just a small fan oven of the type that has been used in the catering industry for some years before being ‘discovered’.
 
I no longer have a main oven, do everything I need to in the air fryer. It's quick, uses less power and is easier to clean.
 
We have the dual-basket Ninja one, it's very good and indeed does cook quicker and cheaper than in the oven for certain things. However for us is just one of the options, I wouldn't consider not using the oven at all as sometimes I want the longer cooking time for certain foods and dishes.
 
lindsay said:
We have the dual-basket Ninja one, it's very good and indeed does cook quicker and cheaper than in the oven for certain things. However for us is just one of the options, I wouldn't consider not using the oven at all as sometimes I want the longer cooking time for certain foods and dishes.
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We’ve got the same one. We use it all the time, although the oven still does get used for certain things like lasagna.
 
@Marc No, that's exactly what I don't want if I'm cooking fish in a foil pouch, I want to keep the moisture in the fish whilst the herbs infuse into it.
 
lindsay said:
@Marc No, that's exactly what I don't want if I'm cooking fish in a foil pouch, I want to keep the moisture in the fish whilst the herbs infuse into it.
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The term is misleading. I've seen people cook meats on dehydrate for 6 hours and they aren't dry at all.
ancient_mariner said:
Takes just 2 minutes under the grill. ;)
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2 minutes? Are you just warming them up? Anyway, I don't have to keep an eye on them or turn them over in the air fryer.
 
they are pretty good, see my thread as linked up there somwhere.
only thing i would do is not buy the one i bought due to it being a bugger to clean
 
About 15 mins @180 in a folded over pouch with a small knob of butter and a pile of Dill and Tarragon, sometimes with a teaspoon of Harissa paste or similar.
 
my wife loves a kebab in the air fryer lots of med veggies and some nice lean pork i even had to snip some metal skewers down so they would fit in.
 
As we don't have an air fyer I can't comment on them, but its clear many like them a lot. Another alternative for cheaper than oven cooking is a halogen oven.

Between the halogen oven and the remoskas we have rarely used(as in the fingers on one hand) the conventional oven at all this year.

Dave
 
Thanks you everyone for the replies , I think we are going to try another one probably the Ninga of some type !
 
I love my Air Fryer, bought it the Christmas before last and I think I've only used the main oven maybe 4-5 times since! Obviously if I'm cooking a larger dish like a good sized home-made lasagne or a large cut of meat, I'd opt for the oven but I love the simplicity of the AF. The one I got is pretty much like a mini fan oven, it's just a cheap Tower 11ltr with 3 trays. Big enough to do meat, veg and chips/wedges etf for 4 people.
andya700 said:
Has anyone baked a really good loaf of bread in one?
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Not tried traditional bread but I have baked an almond flour/cheese bread that I used to love when I was on keto, I've also baked pizza base using a similar mixture. I bake banana bread too in the AF, turned out the very same as you'd get from your oven, but a bit quicker.

Here's a handy conversion guide for temps and times, oven converted to AF -

 
lindsay said:
About 15 mins @180 in a folded over pouch with a small knob of butter and a pile of Dill and Tarragon, sometimes with a teaspoon of Harissa paste or similar.
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I don't eat fish and have never cooked it, but I thought all the cool kids were cooking it in the dishwasher these days......

As for air fryers - we bought an instant pot for cooking beans etc. The model with the best price had an air fryer lid. We use the air fryer *way* more than we ever thought we would.
 
andya700 said:
Has anyone baked a really good loaf of bread in one?
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I'd be surprised. When I was baking regularly my rule of thumb was if you're not scared when you open the oven, it's not hot enough.

IMO no way an AF could get hot enough for decent bread.
 
andya700 said:
Has anyone baked a really good loaf of bread in one?
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Yes! We have a small air fryer and total time from start to finish is 1.75 hours - much less than the standard recipe in a standard oven. You still have to knead the dough, of course.

Had a bit of a mishap yesterday though. The recipe I found uses the airfryer (warm but switched off) to rise the bread in. You leave the bread in but turn the temp up to max to cook it. I didn't realise the bread had risen so well that it had spread out around the heating element! A few minutes later the plasterer who is working in the house came over and said "Er are you cooking anything at the moment because.........." The kitchen was full of smoke. Fortunately all the dough that was stuck to the element came off in one piece. the rest of the bread was fine when cooked.
 
Marc said:
What temp do you consider hot enough?
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As hot as it goes. My gas oven doesn't get very hot and more to the point has is quite damp so I can't get a decent crust.

When I had a fan oven, I would turn up to max (maybe 240?) with a brick in it. Leave to heat for half an hour or so then put the bread in really fast to avoid losing heat. A minute of so later throw a cup of boiling water into the bottom and close the door really fast. After 20 mins or so, drop the temperature to 200 and bake.

The high heat keeps the shape nicely and the sudden blast of steam gives a lovely crust.
 
Interesting. I bake bread in a fan oven at about 170, and put a tray of water in the bottom to help transfer the heat to the bread.
 
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