Which air fryer

[Myteeth23]

We are a family of 6. Thinking about getting an air fryer . Which type would you recommend?

with a big family look at the ones with the shelves we have the ninja two drawer one and the drawers are not very big but there is only two of us

We have the Ninja AF400 and I can feed the 5 of us with it (me, DH, 3 x teenage boys).

Everyone has a different opinion on the best one OP.
Maybe start with a cheap one, tower are good and see how you get on.
If you like it then you could buy a more expensive one later.
That's what I did.

They really are much of a muchness, they're basically just a small fan oven, nothing complicated! so the most important thing is getting one with a capacity that works for you.

Ninja Duel - I love mine

This is what I wounder. I already have a fan oven which does not take overly long to cook . But i have heard with air fryers the food taste better and cooks faster.

We started cheap/cheerful and after the very first go I regretted not getting a 2 drawer. Both for capacity as well as differing time/temps if I'm cooking more than 1 item.

We've got the huge ninja one (only two of us 😂) and it's massive! Can fit so much in. Tbh it's very tasty and the food tastes better in some cases, but I would say for £200 I wouldn't rush to get another one 🤷🏻‍♀️ my DH bought this and I'm happy to use it, it's easy to bung things in and get them ready at the same time so a win on that point too.

When I saw you were cooking for 6, I did wonder if there would be any advantage over a fan oven, especially if you need a larger, and hence more expensive one, so have a bigger outlay to recoup by saving on electricity costs.

Before buying a big one, compare the power rating to see if there might be a saving.

Although if any of the 6 people are teens who cook for themselves, it might be worth getting a small one so they can do themselves a single portion of chips or whatever, and also see if it might work for you.

We have a cheap one from Costco, and its great, but we only ever cook for one or two people.

We have the philips XL for 4 people (2 kids) and honestly it's barely enough. Anything smaller would be enough for just 2. Not even sure there is anything on the market big enough for 6.

www.mumsnet.com/swearsby/best-air-fryers

Although if any of the 6 people are teens who cook for themselves, it might be worth getting a small one so they can do themselves a single portion of chips or whatever, and also see if it might work for you.

That's a good point, air fryer would certainly be useful in case of teens who want to eat at odd hours.

Are you able to cook ready meals in an air fryer?
I have an elderly relative who has a lot of ready meals and wonder if one would be suitable for this? TIA

I’ve got a family of 5 and we use an instant pot mainly because I didn’t want another gadget and the instant pot is an air fryer, pressure cooker, slow cooker and dehydrator - all of which we use. It’s probably not as handy as having two drawers but it makes enough chips for 5! A small chicken should fit in it, but we tend to use the oven for that and put potatoes, Yorkshire pud and roast veg in too.

I love my Cosori one which has a heating element above and below the basket so no opening/shaking needed. I use it all the time. I do have the Instant Pot with Duo crisp so in effect have two air fryers.

If it can go in an oven it can go in an airfryer. So if the readymeals can be cooked in an oven, they can be cooked in an airfryer.

Only thing I've found you can't do in an airfryer is crumble because the air blasts all the crumble off the top

for ready meals and crumbles use the bake button it doesent blast the top like the air fry button but still does them quicker than a big oven

Hi @Myteeth23 - we've recently updated our best air fryer guide with plenty of options with a larger capacity for 6 people (as recommended by Mumsnetters) which might help you in your search. 💐

Do let us know if you have any feedback on the page, or if you've found something great you'd recommend to other Mumsnet users too.