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

[Floofydawg]

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.

@Madcats I got the Instant Vortex one in JL. I think there are some with more functions out there but as a starter it's working well. I think in future I might look for one that was a micro/air fryer combi.

Recommend getting a silicone liner - helps save the non-stick and they are easy to clean and you can use in the microwave too, eg if you want to cook something in there and just crisp it up in the air fryer.

I agree that an air fryer is a stupid name - once I'd got my head round it being just a mini fan oven I found it much easier to use! Good for cooking for one person - quicker and cheaper than putting my oven on.

No, I'm holding out, I have no plans to get one and dropped enough hints that I didn't get one as a Christmas present. 😁

@MargotMoon I've been looking at the disposable paper liners but I can't work out which size to get.

@Katypp I think there’s more than a whiff of snobbery - more a whole perfume shop of it 🙄.

”Oh we’d simply never use it dahling! Soooo common and Jemima demands all her food is made from scratch with not a crispy bit in sight! It’s purely for the proles that don’t know how to eat!” 🤷‍♀️🙄

I love those people dismissing them as fads and emperors new clothes when they don’t have one either.

We were very late to the party with an air fryer but now use it daily - my teens cook far more frequently and healthily now they have this to use, and we save money!

Enjoy your culinary adventures OP!

talk about seeing shadows @WhyMeWhyNowWhyNot

i don’t own one and not will i ever

because i don’t want more things using up my counter space, which is the majority reasoning.

id love you to quote some posts where there’s snobbery?

You made a statement

People are just pointing out its incorrect!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie
Right now roast veg. Done loads varieties.
Have done roast spuds, jackets, halloumi, mozzarella sticks, veggie sausages. Veg Kiev, burgers of various types, rice dishes. Roast sprouts. Eggs.
We have a ninja

Slice up some feta lengthways into strips... wrap in filo pasty and wash with egg. In the Air Fryer for about 15 mins at 200. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with sesame seeds... oh goodness, so damn good 😋

@SanFranBear have you never done that in the oven?

Well you could yes, but for me it's a waste of the big oven!
I'm cooking for myself so having a mini oven makes more sense, unless I'm batch cooking which is when I use the big one
It's like having a part baked roll with the soup, I would never bother to put the oven on just for that

I see yes I get that. DD23 has one as she lives with friends and cook separately lots of the time. But for me I’m trying to work out of its worth it.

At the weekend dh likes to eat hash browns and scrambled eggs for breakfast. It would be ridiculous to heat the whole oven to cook two hash browns. So I chuck them in the air fryer...it cooks them so much quicker.

I don't have one yet. I'm holding out for the time being as I'm not sure if they're going to be another one of these 5 minute wonder cooking appliances.

@Comedycook can they not be cooked in the pan with the sausage?

I wouldn't fry sausages anyway but he often has just hash browns and eggs on its own. If he has sausages I'd do them in the air fryer too. I just view it as a smaller, quicker oven which doesn't take so long to heat up.

I bought the Tower 2 drawer on offer for £98 in December.
Purchased the silicone liners and rack at the same time.
I've not used my oven since. The liners help keep it clean.
Everytime I read someone's receipe or what they cook
different I try and I've not had a bad choice yet.

I have a non stick pan and ‘fry’ sausage or grill them. See this is what I mean. I can’t see the point if you have a grill/ hob already.

I rarely use my oven now. I only use it for big dish meals like lasagne or shepherd's pie and if I'm cooking a roast. Everything else is done in the air fryer. Like today ds wanted some chicken drumsticks for lunch so I seasoned some up and did in af.

I don’t have one. I’ve used my sisters’ many times and I don’t feel any urge to buy one of my own. My microwave can do everything their air fryers can.

But even if I didn't have an air fryer if I wanted to cook sausages I'd do them in the oven. Air fryer is just a substitute for the oven. I find grilling or frying sausages very irritating as you have to watch it whereas in the oven or af you can get on with other things while it's cooking.

I went for silicone because they are reusable to reduce unnecessary wastage and can be put through the dishwasher.

I think if you search by brand name and capacity they should be easy enough to find - eg mine is a Tower 4 litre. I got these ones:

2pcs Air Fryer Silicone liner 7.8 inch/20cm Medium Reusable Airfryer Basket Non-Stick Replaces parchment paper compatible with Ninja Cosori Tower (Grey/Pink) amzn.eu/d/0rQsTdv

I don't have one and have no plans to get one.

I think the fact the name includes fryer' makes the more delicate ones among us shudder.
Others who have said they regard it as a small oven are spot-on - there's no frying involved.
That said, I do laugh at some of the posts on one iof the money-saving FB groups I am in who claim they are saving 'a fortune' by using three air fryers to cook a roast rather than turn on the oven.
Last year, everyone was air frying everything, this year's appliance of choice is a dehumidifier (or two or three at £299 a pop) and everyone is obsessively monitoring the humidity in their homes without I suspect any idea of what to aim for.
So in that respect, it was a fad last year I suppose but an air fryer remains a very useful gadget in my home.

No tips or recipes here but I contemplated it and decided against it.

I don't really use the oven much. Nor do I fry much. I can't see myself suddenly use an airfryer.