Would I benefit from an air fryer?

[Featherfox]

Hi all.

Thinking of purchasing an air fryer as everyone is raving about them but I am wondering if it’s for me. On a lot of reviews, people mention they add oil etc. Must you add oil to every single dish? I currently oven cook things like salmon, sausages, oven chips, jacket potatoes etc with no oil and so I’m wary of buying something that will increase the amount of oil I’m using. I predominantly only use oil in a dish that I’m cooking on the hob for the meat / garlic / onions.

Any guidance or tips would be most welcome.

Thank you in advance

Following this. I've just bought the ninja foodi 15-1 and I'm so overwhelmed by it, it's still in the box on the kitchen bench 🤦🏼‍♀️

I don't add oil to mine. I'm relatively new to them myself having only got one in May, but a complete convert! I've cooked sausages and bacon without oil, oven chips, hand made scotch eggs with runny middles, warmed up Greggs sausage rolls and the best crispy chicken wings. I've not tried jacket potatoes yet, would probably put a tiny bit of oil on them to get the crispy skin, but think you would be fine without.

Posted too soon - I've also read about people using a spray oil, and I'm the same I really don't want to use more oil than I usually would. I've actually bought the ninja in the hopes of cooking healthier and loosing weight but how do you do that when you have to use oil on everything? Whatever you do don't use fry light.

I’m watching too as I would love one of these but I’m not sure if it’ll actually suit our cooking/eating tastes...

You don't actually need oil for the air fryer, although a very light drizzle improves the flavour and crispiness. It is amazing for roasted vegetables. I think you would use it.

I only add oil to jacket potatoes from what you have listed, but I would if I was using the oven too.

I absolutely love mine . Use it most days . Don't use oil for everything . Don't need it for jacket potatoes . Only time I use a little bit of spray oil is for homemade chips / wedges .
Ive made loooads of things . I cook whole chicken , brownies , chicken wings , belly pork , toasties , sausages , homemade chicken tenders . Perfect for your normal 'beige' food too. Cooks things much quicker than the oven .

I don't add oil. The name "fryer" is a bit of a misnomer though. It's basically a smaller, more efficient oven, and works exactly like an oven. It does tend to make things a bit crisper than a full-sized oven would for small items like oven chips, chicken nuggets etc.

You don't need oil at all.

I only add to potato dishes for crispyness.

So, if you'd add oil to things to cook them in the oven (e.g. roast veg/potatoes) then you'll need to add oil to cook them in the air fryer. But if you wouldn't add oil (oven chips) then you don't need to.

I often totally forget to add oil, things are crisper with oil.
It is basically a small fan oven, not a fryer.

Have any of you found that it’s cheaper/more energy efficient than using your conventional oven?

I bought a halogen oven instead of an air fryer. You can basically cook anything that you would usually put in an oven, no extra oil or anything else required. It cooks quicker than a conventional oven, uses less electricity and most things come out more crispy which I enjoy.

@DockOTheBay which one have you got?

I think it's cheaper but I can't be 100% sure as we made a few changes at the same time. But we used 1500 fewer KwH this last year than the year before, and the air fryer instead of full sized oven was one of the changes made.

I saw a youtube video where they measured it and it used about a third of the power of a normal oven.

Ok this sounds perfect, I am sold! Thank you for the helpful replies.

One further question, if fry light isn’t recommended, what spray oil do you use if you are wishing to use oil?

I'm not sure, we've had it a couple of years and my mum had it before that so I'm sure there are better ones available now.

Following as I’m tempted to buy one. I bake a lot of sweet potatoes. Do they come out okay? They can seep during cooking and I’m thinking of the clean up.

They are cheaper because the area being heated is much smaller. An oven is really big and mostly empty space so you're paying too heat that space as well as the food. Also they cook things more quickly so that uses less energy.

I don’t add oil unless I’m doing chips/potatoes from scratch. Everything else I prefer without oil.

Clean up is easier for my air fryer than the oven because the whole basket pulls out and can washed in the sink.

@DockOTheBay Thanks! Most of the time I’m only cooking for two, which is one reason why I think the smaller, more efficient oven might really work well for us.

@BertieBotts Thank you too.

The only thing I oil is raw root veg. If I'm making chips from a raw potato, it needs a bit of salt and oil on it.

There are excellent oil sprays that are pure oil. If you are lucky enough you may find a refillable one that will be useful for years. It's hit and miss though! I have an olive oil one at the moment that isn't.

Interestingly, the one cal spray bottles are brilliant, once you finish off the synthetic goop inside them!

I find an air fryer more efficient than hearing mu oven. For any premade foods I do not add oil. For roast veg or chicken wings I add a very small amount, much less than if I was roasting them in the oven.

There's a podcast on air fryers on BBC sounds. They are far more economical than using an oven. I really want one now!