Why are air fryers so great? Are they worth the hype?

[Shufflebumnessie]

I see so many posts on social media about air fryers but I still don't quite understand the hype as they seem to do exactly what an oven does. Is it mainly down to the fact they cost less to run than a conventional oven? Am I missing something?
We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children - 11 & 6) and I hate cooking. Does an air fryer simplify the cooking process? Would I be more inclined to cook if I had one? 😂
Are they really that amazing and I'm completely missing out by not having one, or are they a current craze that will soon be languishing unloved in the back of a cupboard?

I bought one for a fiver years ago and haven't upgraded it and use it every day , use the oven probably twice a month now . Last night son had a late night cheese toastie ,DH did fish & chips in it and I cooked sausage and hash browns in it this morning , apart from the dog it's my favourite thing in the house 😀

I haven't used my oven since Boxing Day.

My electricity bill is very happy.

I have a Ninja dual and can fit a whole (obviously not MN size) chicken in one drawer to roast in 35 minutes.

Joint of pork with crackling 45 minutes.

Plus it doesn't dry the meat out.

You'd have to prize mine out of my cold, dead hands.

I wanted the Ninja dual for ages but they were out of stock. The Aldi dupe was on for €99 and we got one last month. I haven’t used my oven since. Everything is lovely from it….cooks quicker, more evenly, and seems to keep hotter for longer. I love it.

Air fryer is doing the roast chicken/pork in 35/45 mins all well and good but do the roast potatoes fit in there as well?

And the yorkshire puds?

I love mine. My AGA is now used for storing the air fryers bits and bobs.

I have a Cuisenart, which works differently from a Ninja in that you can't use it as an instapot or a slow cooker (but I have a slow cooker anyway and I hate pressure cooking). You can use mine as a small oven or as an air fryer or as a grill or as a toaster. There are only two of us and it works brilliantly for us, especially for anything most people would deep fry since I don't deep fry.

I mean it depends what you expect from it
If you hate cooking then it's not going to plan meals, buy ingredients and prep them for you.
It mainly just cooks things slightly faster and (for some things that benefit from frying) healthier and better.

Shamelessly following, about to buy one…..

The Ninja Dual the poster mentions has two drawers so chicken in one, potatoes in the other, Yorkshires whilst chicken is resting/being carved.

Ooh i adore my quite basic one-

We got the Aldi dupe of the Ninja Dual.

Love it, use it pretty much every day now. Our oven is absolutely crap though, so it’s an unfair comparison.

Are they? I worried that greasy steam would build up in the crevices and hinges.

I don’t think they are that great. And they take up a lot of kitchen worktop space!

They're shit.

I sometimes think that maybe I should get one, but honestly, I turn my oven on all the time for just one thing and my power bills are not at all large, and I don't cook in fat so the oven rarely needs cleaning, and I never deep fry. Also, I don't have enough bench space so would have to keep getting it out and putting it away - just like the other wonder kitchen gadgets I fell into the trap of buying years ago (before I became a bit more discerning!). I think I will stick to my trusty oven, until someone gives me an exceptionally good reason otherwise.

In what way?

What that poster means is that they haven't worked out how to use one to get the full potential out of it.

I have a multi function one and it's great. We use the air fryer for quick one person meals as don't always eat together, reheats things v quickly and we use the pressure cooker function a lot too.

I wouldn't be without mine. I use it almost every day.
My oven is a split level double oven, so I removed the racks from the main oven and put my fryer in there.
On the very rare occasions that I use my oven, I just remove it and pop it on the side.

Makes little to no difference to my life because the kind of meals we like are sauce based (chilli, curries, spaghetti bolognaise, pasta bakes etc) so it rarely gets used, same as my oven.

The slow cooker, on the other hand, couldn't live without.

I have a ninja 11 in 1 and a ninja single drawer. I use the 11 in 1 all the time as it has pressure cooker, steam, air fry and slow cook functions. I can make a cottage pie in half an hour and a roast chicken in 40 minutes.

The single drawer ninja is great for quick freezer based teas and the chips are lovely. But if I was only buying one I would buy the multi function option because of the versatility.

I’ve got one but I don’t love it and feel I must be missing something.

I think if I had a fan oven - I don’t - I’d rarely use it. It comes into its own when I need to cook things really quickly and don’t have time to wait 20 minutes for the oven to heat up.

From my limited experience, most things taste better cooked in a normal oven and I find it noisy and keep burning myself when I try to remove things.

I have this one, I live alone and it is perfect for things like croquet potatoes or as someone else said onion rings. Things you do not want to put the oven on for.

I lent it to my carer and he has now bought himself a bigger one and I have mine back.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tower-Circulation-Technology-Adjustable-Temperature/dp/B077BBDLJF/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=best+small+air+fryer&qid=1684570722&sr=8-12

I use mine to cook the meat part of a stir fry or the filling for fajitas. It does a far better job than a pan on the hob and with minimal effort. Great for the puff pastry top of a "deconstructed pie" (I cook the filling on the hob and the puff pastry top in the air fryer - I've never managed to make a proper pie without the pastry going soggy 😂). I've made lasagne for 2, cooked salmon fillets, sausages, DS2 has made quesadillas....

Stuffed peppers also work well.