Do I need an air fryer?

[Triceratopsrock]

We don’t do too baldly on electricity use. So far about £150 PCM for a 5 bed detached family home. Oil for heating at about £70 PCM.
electic price rises are going to cripple us on top of childcare.
looking at my smart meter over the past month of so, most of what turns it red is the oven. Children are fussy twats and we eat way too many nuggets etc cooked in the oven.
will the outlay of an air fryer save me money? Assuming I need a big one as er are a family of 5.
also fuck of grammar police, it’s Friday and I’m deep into my Lidl rosé!

We are a sucker for any kind of kitchen gadget, so I was very skeptical about buying an airfryer, thinking will it be something else taking up room in the cupboard!

No, the airfryer is the BEST electrical product we have bought in years. We use it at least once a day, to cook bacon, sausages, oven chips, chicken whole & pieces. We have the Corsori one from Amazon ours is 5lr one, I think it was around £80. So quick to cook, easy to clean, uses a lot less energy than our oven.

Any chicken goes in my AF400 - I buy just whatever average sized chicken is going. I don’t tend to get the massive ones but you could squash one in. A “medium” chicken certainly fits in easily.

@AtomicBlondeRose Does the airfyer need to have space above it ? I have space on my worktop but it has a cupboard above it.

Purchased a Ninja AF400 yesterday directly from Ninja they have an offer on this weekend. Getting it today. DH is looking forward to cooking in it. I have no interest I hate cooking.

@userxx No it’s fine under a cupboard. It vents at the back so you can just pull it out slightly when it’s in use (although I always forget and it’s ok!). Doesn’t affect the work surface either.

I'm considering buying the largest Ninja for our family of 4. Does anybody bake bread in in? How does it compare to the bread you can make in a proper bread machine? My kitchen is tiny and something has to go. Does it work the same as a bread machine or do I have to knead the bread first?

Fantastic! Thank you. That's clinched the deal - off to buy myself a ninja 🥷

@Hobele i bake small loaves or bread and rolls in mine. It’s just a little oven though, you still have to make the dough etc yourself!

I bought the ninja dual recently.

ive made quiche, salmon, roasted veg, fries, potato wedges, frozen croissants, toasted sandwiches, flap jacks, cookies, banana bread, cakes.

We don’t use the oven much in the summer anyway so expecting to use it a lot more in the winter for roasts, crumbles, cooked breakfasts etc.

Baking has been the biggest surprise for me it’s so quick not having to heat an oven up and because the drawers are small it doesn’t make a huge amount (that I feel pressured to eat!) and it’s lasts us a couple of days. It’s been great for making bits for the lunchbox.

I watched this video on qvc before getting mine great to see everything you can do (rack of lamb looks amazing!) www.qvcuk.com/Ninja-Dual-Zone-Air-Fryer-Max-95L-AF400UK.product.816258.html

It'll depend on your machine and size of potatoes etc but I read that they take 45 mins and taste much better than ones done in the oven.

So how do you bake in the air fryer? My Ninja has a fairly small drawer. Do you just put a small cake tin in the compartment?

Yea, I have a Jamie Oliver brand 1 litre loaf tin which does great loaf cakes (perfect size for us) and a 6inch round tin for £2 from B&M, again a lovely everyday sized cake. A basic 2-egg sponge mix with some chopped fruit in works well in those tins and is a great easy dessert.

I did some the other day - two fairly large potatoes. Ten mins in microwave. Twenty mins in air fryer. I then took them out, scooped and mashed the potato with grated cheese. Back in for 3 mins on high.

They were very nice, but I'm not saying better than oven baked. It would have taken much longer for potatoes that size in my oven.

I also pull mine out when using it but I felt all round and it doesn't actually seem to give off a lot of heat when in use. I feel it needs to be pulled out to allow good air intake though. DSs don't always remember to do this mind you.

The other day I peeled my potatoes into the basket, gave them a squirt with fry light and a bit of salt and pepper and air fryer them for 10 minutes. Delicious crispy snack while cooking the rest of dinner.

I have a Tefal with the rotator and it makes great chips.

I'm considering a Ninja and flitting between the dual basket one and the 15 in 1. What a tough decision.

The 15 in one offers far more options than the dual basket. Where the inner is twice the size than the two baskets(it is a whopping 7.5l) you can do so much more . You can cook a roast chicken in 40 minutes by pressure cooking it then setting it to bake mode to crisp and colour it. You can also batch cook casseroles and stews on the slow cooker for 1p an hour.

Follow this link and watch the video presentation.

www.qvcuk.com/Ninja-Foodi-SmartLid-75L-15-in-1-Multi-Cooker-OL750UK.product.816078.html?sc=PSCH&

Argos are doing the 15 in 1 for £250 at the moment. Or QVC have an offer this weekend where you can get all items in 3 easy pay.

I’ve had my instant pot duo crisp (air fryer and pressure cooker in one) for two years. I absolutely love it! I use it most days. Hardly ever use my oven. Even still I’ve realised from this thread I’m not using it to its full potential!
I saw a thing that shows a cost comparison and the cost is low for the air fryer.

Is £250 a good price? I'm wondering if it's worth waiting for a Prime Day. I'm not impressed that Ninja's offer is a free apron!

I might just suck up and get one.

I've been following all the AF threads of late and , much as I'd like one, I'm not sure how much I'd use it.
A lot of posters mention chips, 'kiddie food' as one poster said up thread, pies, pizzas, jacket potatoes and lots of cake/bread baking.

There's just the two of us and we rarely eat these types of food.

We don't bake. We eat sourdough bread and I'm not prepared to faff around making that.
We like stir fries , casseroles , goulash , curries ( we have a slow cooker) and rarely eat chops , steaks etc...

I make cottage/shepherds pie, pasta dishes, ragu ,
A whole chicken will go in the oven plus steamed veg but that's probably once a month.
Steamed/boiled veg doesn't take too long on a hob.

Am I missing out ?

I have never seen it for less than £250. Amazon also have it for £250 at the moment. I rarely use my oven now.

I also cook my salmon and veg at same time, using the rack.

I would probably get rid of my Tefal and replace it with a Ninja. The rotating arm is handy though!

@wherearebeefandonioncrisps it sounds like it's probably not worth it for you if most of your cooking is on the hob.

I totally forgot I’d started this thread!

thanks all for the replies. It does seem like we would get a lot of use out of one.

looking at 20l ones if anyone has a recommendation?