Will an air fryer change my life?

I'll be honest, we have the Ninja combi and I find the pans too big for 2 of us particularly if we are cooking separately which we normally do, so have a think about what you actuallly do eat and cook, do you have a lot of waste or left overs

😂

Wow...I hadn't even considered this was a class issue?! How bizarre.

I’m guilty of thinking they’re a bit working class. Therefore, I don’t have one.

I do think there is an element of snobbishness at play on this thread, as I have said upthread.
I have no idea why the opinion persists that air fryers are only good for beige or freezer food and, as some posters are at pains to point out, they don't eat 'that kind of food' so an air fryer is not for them.
Also a bit 🙄at those who can't wrap their heads around the fact that is it just a small oven. so you can only cook what you would be able to cook in an oven. You can't cook eg lasagne from scratch in an oven, you need to use a hob first to make it, then layer it and cook it in the oven. That's what you do with an air fryer, so the fact you can't make it entirely in the air fryer isn't a failing.
I have concluded that the 'oh no, it's not for us' mentality comes from three things:

1. It has the word 'fryer' in its name;
2. Air fryers were massively embraced during the cost of living crisis, so many common people bought them
3. Following on from 2, the retailer Iceland (faint) was the first to include air fryer instructions on its packaging.

We are a family on four, two adults and two young kids. We bought a dual basket air fryer which has a removable partition so you can cook with either two seperate drawers or one big one. https://www.costco.co.uk/Appliances/Small-Kitchen-Appliances/Cooking-Specialty/Sur-La-Table-Digital-Air-Fryer-Dual-Basket-104L/p/6898

I was very hesitant as most of my cooking is bolognaise, curry, chilli, etc., and so i thought i wouldn't use it much. I was wrong.

We regularly do:
Garlic bread (quicker and not heating a full oven for a wee bit)
part bake baguettes/rolls
baked potatoes (microwave first)
roast vegetables for cous cous dish
roast aubergine for curry
roast baby potatoes
Halloumi (to add to salad)
croissants (shop bought dough)
puff pastry pinwheels
Chips, burgers, nuggets, etc

I have also done cookies and cupcakes but i find figuring out the timing on those a bit trickier.

@soupfiend I completely missed that it said 11L on the box!
Now wondering if that is big enough? 🤔

You can't do that in a standalone AF. You need a multicooker. I have a Ninja Speedi which you brown off onion, mince on the the sear/saute function.

With mine you could cook a cottage pie in it. Sear/saute a mince mix, top with mash potato and a bit of cheese if you wish. Close lid, put onto bake/roast for 15 mins.

You think it would actually say what the 9 functions are.

It says on the front of the box 11l

That looks a really nice one, I like the ones with shelves and it seems to have varying functions which is important

My mum lives abroad in a hot country and has one similar to this. Its large enough to cook a whole chicken! I'm off to aldi to check the capacity of this one, because it doesn't say online.
https://www.aldi.co.uk/9-in-1-air-fryer-oven/p/839897820808900

I considered buying one but realised that my combination microwave does much the same thing, and more.

Yes I like the fact that its much cheaper than running the oven for OH's obligatory chips and breaded fish. Everything is much quicker/lower temperature to cheaper to cook.

We've got one, they're ok but absolutely not life changing.

I wouldn't buy a Ninja personally - I ordered one directly from them and when it arrived it was scratched inside and smelt of chips. It was clearly a return and the more I thought about it, they must have been selling returned items as new, otherwise how on earth could a used unit end up mixed in with new stock.

I've got an Instant Pot versazone now. It's better than having 2 fixed smaller drawers as you can use it with it without a divider, so can fit larger items in. Each side can still operate independently if you want to divide it in half.

I'm ambivalent about ours. It's great for baking, pizza, oven chips, baking potatoes/sweet potatoes. For roasting veg I prefer the oven - I like to use a really large flat tray and spread the veg out, you can't do as much in the air fryer, even using the whole big drawer. We don't eat meat, so no need to cook a chicken, chops, sausages etc. Chips and pizza only once in a while and only have roast potatoes on Christmas day, so not much use there either!

In terms of cleaning, our is really easy - take out the drawer, half fill with hot water and washing up liquid, soak for a few minutes and then any mess just slides off. Quick brush and rinse, it's done

Overall, I would say it's quite useful, but not at all essential.

This is incorrect.

An air fryer is not "in your opinion" a small fan oven.

An air fryer "in actual factual fact" is a small fan oven.

So, yes, no good for big meals. But brilliant for small tasks/small portions.

I forgot a couple of things to add to my list
Jamies korean chicken and cabbage tray bake thing
also a home made chicken curry

Yes I admit I was one of these. My OH eats a beige diet so had been going on about this for ages but I didnt want something else cluttering up the worktops and resisted, Im trying to get rid of stuff not bring more stuff in!

But I eat a lot of roasted veg and proteins so this is what we have done so far, still getting to know the thing

Oven chips
Oven battered fish
Fresh chicken wings
Frozen burgers
Bacon
Spam
Fresh chicken thighs
Puff pastry treats, home made
Frozen croissants
Rice (ours has a rice function)
Smoked haddock
Kedgeree (ours has a fry function)
Roasted cauliflower with varying flavours
Roasted aubergine with varying flavours
Roasted brocolli
Roasted asparagus
Slow cooked Ottelenghis chickea dish but I used green beans instead
half baked baguettes, steam baked and normal baked
fresh noodles with veg and a sauce
roasted sweetcorn
toast
cheese on toast
stuffed bagels

Not all of the above are on the airfryer function but as I say, I wouldnt get one that is just an airfryer but most of the above you can just do on airfryer

This weekend we are going to roast beetroot to see how that comes out and Im going to be doing a cabbage and onion stew/mixture thing

I use mine but with a family of 5 I probably need two as I’ll often do some in there and other bits in the oven. I’ve hidden it in the utility room because I didn’t want clutter on the work surface. I’m keeping it as I think it’ll be handy for when dc are out more and it’s just dh and I but currently their teenage friends are always here so I’m cooking for 8 most nights. It’s just a mini oven. I don’t quite get the love.

Only use our oven a handful of times a year now. The benchtop air fryer oven gets used multiple times daily. We need the big one (30L) as most of the kids cook homemade pizza frequently so it needs to fit large pizza’s. It also does a really large chook or piece of meat on rotisserie function in addition to the option to the rotisserie basket which is great for ‘naughty’ stuff like chips, homemade chicken nuggets etc. Also fits 10 rotisserie skewers, done in no time. Takes up a truck tonne of bench space but so worth it.

We do chicken wings in our combi, I put oil and herbs on them for about an hour before putting them in, I think I put them on quite a low temp, about 170-180, I think the first time I did them it was 160, but OH likes theskin very well done so I cook them low then either put them on the grill (ours has a grill function) or just cook them really high for the last 5 mins

I think it was about 20-25 mins from memory

We use ours most days. Depends what type of food you eat I guess in how often you’d use it, but it saves putting the oven on for small things.

I bought a 2 drawer ninja. It OK as there's just 2 of us. Dh uses it to cook fish fingers for a wrap at lunchtime. We've done very good chips in it. But it is just a small oven. So whereas you could do a big tray of roasted veg with chicken thighs in the oven you'd be messing around swapping drawers around etc for anything more than 4 chicken thighs I think.

It's fine but I'm still not convinced it's worth the counter space unless you eat a lot of food from the freezer....

The tray type ones might be more versatile.

For cleaning I use liners in them, then wash the drawers once a week. It might depend what you cook, but I don't find it a huge faff, similar to I dont find washing a baking tray that has been in the oven a huge faff.

I've got one that looks like a mini oven rather than the drawer type. It's great. I only use my big oven when all the family are comung over for a roast. i think the oven type is more versatile. I use it like a faster, cheaper to run mini oven. I make lasagna, moussaka, tray bakes, mac and cheese, quiches, pies and baking in it. It also has a rotisserie.

My friend has the drawer type & would get an oven shape next time.