Air Fryer practicalities for family of six?

[theoldapplebarrel]

Just this really. We're thinking about getting an Air Fryer but with a family of two parents and four young adult children all of whom are still at home for at least some of the time (when home from uni) we are wondering how practical it is or would we still need to use our conventional oven alongside it?

I loved the idea of it, we bought a 5.5l cosori one from Amazon and it is good. However, realistically, we don't eat a lot of "beige" food which tends to be what air frying seems to be geared towards. We do whole chickens in ours which do come out really well, but if you're wanting roast potatoes too, you'd need a bigger/dual basket one. We don't have a lot of kitchen space and a couple of months ago we moved ours into the garage. I think the general rule of thumb is that you reduce the cooking time by 20% and for what we cook, it's not really been worth it.

@Totallyaddictedtoshoes Thanks for your feedback. It's much appreciated. We do a lot of green stuff - stir fries, steamed veg etc not least because two of us are veggies, which I'm guessing wouldn't really be compatible with an air fryer but are just looking to lower energy costs, maybe to do a tiny bit to help the environment etc. but maybe it wouldn't be worth it on balance esp with family numbers. And I wouldn't want it to go the way of the toasted sandwich maker et al, which ended up, never really used at the back of the cupboard!

It would be really handy if teens often cook for themselves, so that the oven isn't switched on several times a day for smaller portions.

If just for whole family meals, the oven is probably more economical.

I've used for roasting a chicken/ joint of meat, but decided the oven is often better overall as I can utilise the other shelves at the same time for the rest of the meal. Also useful for things not necessarily needed immediately, but that can benefit from oven cooking and be reheated quickly another time in microwave/ airfryer - sausages, baked potatoes, etc.