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?

Ooh @SoupDragon I don't suppose you have a recipe for your air fryer lasagne do you? Would be a great addition to our menu!

Completely depends on what you like to cook and eat.

It is a very efficient mini oven. ‘Air fryer’ is a misnomer. If you currently use your oven a lot you will get a lot of use out of an air fryer.

If you do most of your cooking on the hob then you probably won’t.

Sooo which one would posters recommend to buy? I've been thinking about getting one for ages but this post has swayed me in to thinking I must get one!

Personally, I like the dual drawer models (I’ve got the large Ninja). Can roast a whole chicken in one drawer, do the roast potatoes in the other. You select different temperature/time for each drawer and then Synch them so that both finish cooking at the same time. While the chicken rests, chuck the Yorkshires in. Veg gets done on the hob.

As others have said, sausages come out perfectly - no fighting with the buggers rolling around and always ending up with a pale strip! 8 minutes and they’re cooked perfectly. Part-baked roll in the other drawer and it’s a quick and easy lunch.

it was basically the vegetable lasagne from BBC Good Food but I do tend to wing it! I have a Pyrex type dish that fits neatly in my air fryer drawer. Any lasagne recipe would work.

I still need to perfect the timings and temperature. 20 minutes left it perfect on top but the pasta was slightly undercooked.

My halogen oven cost me only £40. It is both an oven and an air fryer. There is nothing it cannot cook. So why pay more?

The thing I always say on these threads that people don't mention is they turn themselves off ! So if you're cooking whatever and you've wandered off into the other room, doorbell goes, phone rings, kid distracts you etc. the food doesn't burn. Unlike in the oven.

You can pay all kinds of prices for an air fryer tbf. Halogen ovens are great too. Are they easy to clean? Can you stick parts in the dishwasher? Probably you can.

I’ve been experimenting with mine for a few weeks now. The greatest success has been frozen croissants. Puffed up and brown in 10 minutes (last two minutes on their points to get maximum roundness).
Sausages, great. Lasagne worse than the microwave w/grill for the same length of time. Whole roast chicken cooked for the expected time still had a red ribcage when I got down to it, which put me off in retrospect. Next time I’ll spatchcock it.
Frozen crinkle-cut chips came out better than smooth. Home made farmhouse potatoes had to be cut smaller than on the hob but were a good compromise for the shorter time.
Roasted veg were fantastic- carrots, zucchini, Brussels sprouts with just a spray of oil. I think this will be my most frequent use.
Breaded nuggets, chicken Kiev, scampi and fish fingers were bought for novelty value. They came out fine, slightly dry but certainly healthier than frying. Unfortunately they’re not welcome here at Casa Major and I can only face the “fish finger rant” so many times…

All the hype reminds me of when everyone was buying George Foreman grills or slow cookers. Just the latest fad.

Ah slow cookers. I had such high hopes for ours but everything I make in the slow cooker tastes like everything I make in the slow cooker. I mean it's nice enough and edible, it just all tastes the same and same texture. Air fryer though, we bought ours maybe six months ago and it is used almost every single day. DH and DD1 have just this minute made some cupcakes in it! It is one of the appliances I would replace instantly if it broke.

To a PP, the way our drawers are designed means there aren't any crevices or hinges that get dirty. They are non-stick and just very easily cleaned in hot soapy water.

@tobee
It's easy to clean a Halogen cooker You just part fill the large glass bowl with soapy water and switch on "clean" and it all whizzes round inside. You can put the racks in the dishwater but no trouble to clean by hand - (however the racks do not seem to need cleaning that often).. I use mine every day and would not be without it. I'm making a lemon drizzle cake this afternoon!!

I have two - a large Actifry with a paddle. That's great for home made chips etc as the paddle turns them. Then I also have a small one which my daughter will often use if she wants an early dinner. It has a drawer so we might put chicken strips in it or a pie or fishcakes etc. I wouldn't do chips in that.

The small one was only about £30 on Black Friday last year. Impulse buy but probably use it more than big one.

I have a bad habit of buying new appliances and not using them but it definitely hasn’t been the case with the Cosori air fryer since I got it last summer.

I use it daily or at least a few times a week. I find salmon, which I eat a lot of, comes out better in my air fryer and I love that pancakes and waffles are so easy to make in them - it avoids all the mess and faff of frying it on a stove and I find the food is less greasier/oily so it seems a bit healthier too.