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Original poster

I'm the last person in the universe to get an air fryer!

202 replies

Floofydawg · 31/12/2023 16:28

Please save me from wasting £150 and having a huge appliance on my worktop for no reason by helping me to get the best out of it. What are your top tips and recipes?

Ordered one on a whim yesterday, DH is grumbling that we don't need it so I need to prove him wrong with amazing recipes.

OP posts:
NotLactoseFree · 31/12/2023 18:28

doggiedude · 31/12/2023 18:19

Can you actually cook healthy food in one ?

Unless by "healthy" you mean salad, I think lots of people have offered suggestions for perfectly normal, nutritious meals that they cook (or par cook) in the air fryer. From jacket potatoes to roasted vegetables to fish.

It is true that a lot of people use them as a convenient way to heat up "beige" food like chicken nuggets and oven chips but that's not their only use, as has been highlighted on this thread.

Katypp · 31/12/2023 18:28

I mean people jumping to declare they haven't got one and have no intention of getting one.
It's the MN thing of looking down your nose ar something that's popular and indicating that you are far too clever to follow trends.
Maybe it's me but the first couple if pages strayed into that territory

BrutusMcDogface · 31/12/2023 18:29

Katypp · 31/12/2023 18:28

I mean people jumping to declare they haven't got one and have no intention of getting one.
It's the MN thing of looking down your nose ar something that's popular and indicating that you are far too clever to follow trends.
Maybe it's me but the first couple if pages strayed into that territory

Ah, ok! I get it now. Maybe there is! I don’t care if people are looking down on me though, as I love my air fryer so damn much! 😂😜

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General food
43ontherocksporfavor · 31/12/2023 18:32

@Katypp i came on to say I don’t have one because the thread title is : Am I the last person to get one? I’m answering.

saraclara · 31/12/2023 18:41

I'm planning to use mine for various types of roasted vegetables. Something I rarely make, because for one, putting a big oven on seems wasteful.

I don't eat much beige or similar processed stuff at all, nor do I fry much, so I thought one wouldn't be for me. But since I've researched them, I've discovered that I should get plenty of use out of one, based on what I eat already (or would like to eat more of)

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 31/12/2023 18:45

I haven't got one and have no intention of getting one. They're just another fad.

ParrotsAteThemAll · 31/12/2023 18:52

doggiedude · 31/12/2023 18:19

Can you actually cook healthy food in one ?

it cooks food, healthy or otherwise!

Comedycook · 31/12/2023 19:02

Sometimes I like to make myself just something small, like the other day I just wanted to cook the remaining pigs in blankets for a snack...there were only about six left. It's ridiculous to heat a whole oven for that

AllAroundMyCat · 31/12/2023 20:20

A lot of posts keep mentioning 'lovely , crispy...'

What if you don't want to eat crispy food?

We don't eat roast crispy veg.

We don't eat pies, pasties and pastries.
We don't bake things like brownies, cakes etc...

Chops are grilled, we like slowly cooked casseroles where flavours are allowed to develop.
Same with curries.
We hardly ever eat chips.

I feel like I'm missing out but can't think what I'd use it for other than convenience food which we hardly ever eat.

If I ate pies and chips every day then I could see the cost savings but I often stir fry or sauté or steam or slow cook.

43ontherocksporfavor · 31/12/2023 20:43

Pigs in blankets for a snack???? That’s not really reason to spend ££ on a new gadget. You could have fried them in a non Stick pan or freeze them until you next have a roast .

Leftleg · 31/12/2023 20:46

I don't cook anything different in it to what I would normally cook in the oven, it's just that it cooks things quicker without waiting to preheat the oven.

43ontherocksporfavor · 31/12/2023 20:48

See I don’t use the oven that much. Just cooked chilli and rice on the hob. Would an air fryer contain a chicken AND potatoes at once like an oven does?

bellac11 · 31/12/2023 20:51

I dont have a kitchen big enough but I am intersted

I have been looking at microwave and air fryer combis but the only ones I can find are far too big for the cupboard we have our current microwave in and theres no room on the work tops for a different one

Notthatcatagain · 31/12/2023 21:00

Had mine for a couple of months now. Ninja 11 in 1, I honestly don't knowhow I ever managed without it. Amazing gammon, roast pork to die for. Sausages, fish, chips, onion rings roast veg, stews intheslow cooker bit Very few days that I don't use it

christmaspawpaws · 31/12/2023 21:07

I don't use mine to its full extent but planning to start doing more in the NY
Mostly I use it for stuff to go with meals that I don't want to heat up an oven for as I live alone
Did do a gammon with glaze in it through and that was lovely. I use it for a few chips, a naan bread, a part baked roll, reheating pizza, bacon/sausages etc
Was batch cooking the other day and used it for sausages while I was making other stuff which saved putting the oven on

Ladybird69 · 31/12/2023 21:31

Thanks @ButteryBiscuitBaseBiscuitBase that’s interesting 😁

MrsTerryPratchett · 31/12/2023 21:33

ChocAuVin · 31/12/2023 16:49

You're literally my new best friend. Halloumi!!!

I converted DH from 'not in my fucking house' to 'what else can go in this thing' within a few days.

lto2019 · 31/12/2023 21:49

I have one and use it all the time. I bought a small one years ago to see if we would use it/like it - we did and do and bought a bigger one. We use it all the time,

Aquamarine1029 · 31/12/2023 21:50

I love mine and it's a rare day it's not used.

Sahara123 · 31/12/2023 21:50

Ugly, noisy, takes up space, don’t know what I’d use it for.
Not happening her !

Nachtvlinder · 31/12/2023 21:54

I got the Ninja Foodi 14-in-1 (7.5l) off Black Friday, and it's simply marvellous in every way possible. I was umming and arrhing for 4 long years before I took the plunge to get this. I wanted to pressure/steam/saute as well as airfry so went for this. I made a full roast dinner with this cooked in 2 stages (carrot, swede mash first, then taken out, cleaned, then grill rack on for potatoes, parsnips on Steam, then airfry with a pork chop in for about 10 mins. Everything was roasted beautifully. It's a lot healthier too as you're just using minimal oil that you spray and toss the vegetables about.

I made vegetable soup the other day for Saute, then Pressure for 30 mins. Took out and blended in a separate bowl (non-stick bowl wouldn't work with a stainless steel blender blades!)

All pastries turn out so well after 6-8 mins to crisp up.
Bacon and sausages brown and cook through very quickly with no added oil.

What turned my head was when I visited someone who had a Ninja Airfryer and he made airfried garlic mushrooms, toms, poached egg, beans all at the same time. I was so impressed. Another day, he made homemade chips and they were so good!

MrsTerryPratchett · 31/12/2023 22:01

AllAroundMyCat · 31/12/2023 20:20

A lot of posts keep mentioning 'lovely , crispy...'

What if you don't want to eat crispy food?

We don't eat roast crispy veg.

We don't eat pies, pasties and pastries.
We don't bake things like brownies, cakes etc...

Chops are grilled, we like slowly cooked casseroles where flavours are allowed to develop.
Same with curries.
We hardly ever eat chips.

I feel like I'm missing out but can't think what I'd use it for other than convenience food which we hardly ever eat.

If I ate pies and chips every day then I could see the cost savings but I often stir fry or sauté or steam or slow cook.

I think this is the whiff of snobbery @Katypp was referring. Grin

FWIW I have one that also pressure cooks and we do things like pasta sauce in it that would take 6 hours of simmering (on a school night, no) but take 30 minutes in the Ninja.

Yes, it's great for beige, battered food, but it's also good for other things. Grill those chops? Air fry them. And we do cauliflower, Brussels, other veg. Fish, all sorts.

Jewel1968 · 31/12/2023 22:03

I didn't see the point until I was at someone's house and saw they had one that looked like a mini oven with shelves. I was persuaded. I bought one about 6 weeks ago. I have hardly used the main oven since purchase but also have not used the toaster. So the air fryer oven has taken the space of the toaster. It makes better toast too.

So for me it is like a more energy efficient electric oven that also means we don't need a toaster.

Not sure if a drawer one has the same impact.

Bouncyball23 · 31/12/2023 22:22

NoTouch · 31/12/2023 16:35

I dont have one either, we dont have the worktop space to justify it when as far as I can see it is just a mini fan oven that in time, like most kitchen gadgets like it, will lose its non stickyness and be a bugger to clean.

Had my cheap one £45 for 2 years now no problems with it at all use it everyday still non stick etc.

christmaspawpaws · 31/12/2023 22:29

Jewel1968 · 31/12/2023 22:03

I didn't see the point until I was at someone's house and saw they had one that looked like a mini oven with shelves. I was persuaded. I bought one about 6 weeks ago. I have hardly used the main oven since purchase but also have not used the toaster. So the air fryer oven has taken the space of the toaster. It makes better toast too.

So for me it is like a more energy efficient electric oven that also means we don't need a toaster.

Not sure if a drawer one has the same impact.

That's like mine, with shelves
My dad was "hmmm" and reading the instructions and tinkering with it in a very dad like way
Then went online and bought himself one Grin he uses his way more than I do