I don't understand why so many people are raving about air fryers!

[BorisJohnsonsHair]

So many people I know have them, and keep trying to tell me how marvellous they are.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't actually see what I would cook in one. We eat a lot of curries, stir-fries and then things like sausage and mash, lasagne etc.

I have a combination microwave/grill/oven, plus a normal oven and gas hob. Also use a slow cooker. Why would I need to add another gadget? I honestly can't see when I'd use it.

And please don't say chips are as good as proper chips! We only have chips maybe once every couple of months, so like them deep-fried.

I only really got to grips with ours when we moved into a new house which had an AGA (electric) in the middle of this years heatwave. We switched it off immediately as it was making the kitchen so hot. So for approx two months before we felt brave enough to switch it back on we had no cooker. We had a microwave and the air fryer and managed to cook loads in there, mainly I would say meat is good, a whole chicken was amazing, sausages, steaks and stuff. But yes, like you we do lots of stew type dishes/curries/lasagne and I don't think they are any good for that. I would stick with what you have and live without one.

Air fryers blast hot air and cook much faster than an oven. Combis don’t and the one I have is basically a smaller version of a non fan assisted conventional oven with a microwave function added in.

@BorisJohnsonsHair Ah & there you have it!!

I don't have one, I'm still on the fence, but my friends have one & use it most nights for dinner for 4 of them. (Fabulous 'roast' potatoes) but the RAVING about it making THE BEST EVER... FRIED BREAD could be heard on the moon!

i think. the raving is mostly because they're much quicker, do 'as good' a job as a big oven & if you're not cooking for lots of people they save energy. But yeah, I'm not sure I want to give one worktop
space or have something that's a pain in the arse to clean.

Listening to the Kitchen Cabinet on R4 a couple of weeks ago, it was a resounding no to air fryers.

@Chasingsquirrels and although you're no longer in the need of one, they're GREAT for sterilising bottles ...until you forget to switch it to microwave mode, and it just melts them 😵‍💫😵

I have an air fryer and a two hob travel ring. There’s nothing much I can’t cook bar a full roast.

Stirfrys obviously on the hob
Curries on the hob but you can do your naans and Bhaji bits in minutes.

Lasagne I do in it.

Sausages etc.

It’s basically just a tiny oven.

Where it really comes into its own when used in a normal kitchen setting is when you just want to heat crisp small items which you CBS’s to put a whole oven on for. Like croissants in the morning, or warming sausage rolls / mini quiche for lunch etc.

Same. I don't fry food anyway and we eat lots of veggie dishes.

They are quicker and cheaper to use than an oven. They crisp up things like oven chips, fish fingers, bacon etc better than an oven.

It roasts, more than fries.

Ours mostly gets used the once or twice a week I'd rather not turn the oven on for just autistic ds2's regulation crispy brown potatoes and it's great for fish fingers for a sarnie. We'd had an actifry for donkeys years but that could only do the potatoes, which is a pain when it's hot in summer and I really can't face putting the big oven on.

I agree entirely that chips should only be cooked in a deep fryer!
However I have found my air fryer useful. Think of it like a mini oven or grill that cooks a bit quicker than a big oven.
It's nothing miraculous but I have rarely used my big oven since I got it and it used to be on daily.

I am with you OP, my brother and folks have been raving about them and I have been resisting. My partner is a professional chef too and she turns her nose up at the idea of another 'fad gadget' taking up room in the house. I was staying over to babysit my niece and nephew in my brothers place while he and SIL were at a wedding last weekend, so I bit the bullet and figured I would use this wonder device.

I found it underwhelming.

The sausages for breakfast were kind of hard and dry on the exterior as though partially roasted.

The chicken for dinner cooked a little bit quicker that evening than if I had done them it in the oven or on the pan, but I think it would have tasted better if I had prepped it and just left it to cook in the slow cooker.

The next day I did homemade chips and they were the last straw. Terrible. More like dry, carboard wedges than proper chips.

I just don't see the utility. I have an oven/grill, a slow cooker, sous vide and a deep fat fryer at home and so don't see how the air fryer would cook anything better so as to warrant the cost and taking up more space at home.

There really is no comparison to proper deep fat fried chips, pan fried sausages, sous vide and torched steak, slow cooked chicken, or oven done lasagne. I know air fryers are healthier compared to other forms of cooking (deep fat and pan frying) or more energy efficient (oven) and use less oil etc etc...but I place a higher primum on taste.

Thanks for all your responses. I think the types of things we eat are mostly cooked on the hob or in the combi oven, so there's not much point.

We rarely eat things like pizza, fish fingers etc and never have oven chips, waffles, hash browns.

I think it's probably not for me.

We have an Esse (like an aga) which I only bring up to a high temp if I am doing lots of stuff (and then often shove in a casserole or curry for the freezer at the same time. The Esse cooks a lot of stuff brilliantly, keeps things moist an succulent - but not always great at crisping stuff. Air fryer helps for just a side dish or one-offs - or, as above for crispy stuff.

Have had mine a year or so, so still learning. But utter winners?

Halloumi Fries. To die for. Dip in egg. Dip in panko (with some seasoning if you can be faffed). 4 mins, turn, 4 mins. Awesome.

And like PP - fishfinger sarnie in 5 mins. Wedges/chips without putting the oven on. Miso corn on the cob.

I also do "oven baked" risottos and the like in it. Quiche yesterday.

It can depend a lot on the type/shape you have what you can do in it.

According to the smart meter monitor my airfryer uses less than half the power of the oven. For two it’s great.

I use mine for peppers/aubergines and mushrooms

(No oil added)

It basically roasts them in 25 minutes so you can use them in lasagnes etc

MUCH cheaper to run than an oven as it's so much quicker

Baked potatoes are 10-15 minutes but crucially are roasted rather than soft in the microwave - so it's just like 2 hours in a conventional oven

Do you know me? I might need to sterilise bottles (haha, no chance 🤣).

Sounds very much like an opps moment!

Same here.
Last week l did a rice pudding, a chicken, a gammon joint and jacket potatoes in the oven all at once

@fourquenelles I've got one of these
www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=balsang+air+fryer+silicone+pot&crid=1K5344UZO8490&sprefix=balsang%2Caps%2C80&ref=nb_sb_ss_deep-retrain-10-ops-acceptance_1_7

And also use these
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08HV6BL1Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Makes life easier for DH !

The biggest problem with air fryers is the name. They aren’t fryers. They are tiny ovens that heat really quickly and cheaper to run.

Jumping on the band wagon and sheep come to mind

I'm with you OP.

I have a microwave combo. I batch cook twice a month for the freezer, freeze it in foil trays so I don't have to cook every evening and cook most things at 180 for 25 mins in the small convection oven bit.

I would imagine they are quite useful if you had little kids.

We had a combo microwave and it was absolutely not an oven, it lied. We used to try and cook pizzas in it on the stupid "crusty cook plate" and they were shit and soggy. It just about managed oven chips and chicken nuggets but they would still be burned in one place and anaemic in another.

The air fryer is brilliant if you do a lot of cooking individual/small things in an oven and we do, so it's great because it uses much less electricity and it seems to crisp things up much better.

Because it's a small space it does seem to circulate the evaporated oil within the oven itself which is how you can use less fat but it still is crispy I think. It's nothing like a deep fryer though and I think the name is misleading.

If you already have a deep fat fryer you probably don't need an air fryer as well.

I don’t get the love TBH, I’ve tried both the sage smart oven air fryer and the Philips one,
its really not the same as cooking in a normal oven .
everything tasted so dry and bland.

It's not big and black

It doesn't deep fry it bakes/roasts

You can do lots of veggies in it.

Who cares if you're a sheep? Why would you not do something that makes your life easier and saves money because "ooh I like to be different"?

"everything tasted so dry and bland."

Sounds like you're not bothering to add spices and herbs. There's nothing quintessentially more bland about the air fryer. And nothing I've done in mine is dry.