Do I want an air fryer?!

[SushiSheep]

I know, I know, really late to this party but I want to hear how all your air fryers have revolutionised your lives!
There's mostly just 3 of us in the house (though right now we've doubled in numbers as have family visiting).
DC10 is pretty hands on in the kitchen so will having one be beneficial to an aspiring foodie?
And as a cherry on top - please tell me which one to get 😂

I am a keen cook and have an AGA. However I switch the AGA off in the summer and then use my air fryer all the time. This is especially as there are now only 2 of us and DH had recently been diagnosed type 2 diabetic, so our diet has moved away from pasta/rice which have to be done on a hob. I cooked a small lamb joint in it this weekend and it was perfect. I also cooked a chocolate egg custard in ramekins - no water bath needed. I wouldn't be without it now. I currently have a smallish Instant Pot air fryer but if I changed it I would get a bigger dual one.

It's really handy. I use it every day. I hardly use oven anymore. You can cook everything you normally cook in oven in the airfryer.
It's quick, easy to clean.
It saves so much time, since you don't need preheating.

I find mine a complete waste of space and never use it. The only reason I've kept it is that my son likes to use it for a few things. No-one else in the house even looks at it. Oven, stove top and slow cooker all the way here.

I have had a ninja foodi dual zone for about 9 months. I am still not totally convinced with it. I eventually bought one after our toaster broke and so toasting bread is mainly what I use it for. The fish cooked well in it last week but I prefer chicken in the oven. I am totalling unconvinced about chips and roast potatoes. If I do them in the oven I parboil them first and then put in a deep tray with vegetable oil. Doing them in the air fryer they are not as nice. In fact there was a program on the TV where someone compared air fryer chips with the ones made in the same way as me and the oven ones won.
To be fair, I am retired so I don’t have to rush home and do a meal. I have the time for it to cook in the oven.

I really like mine BUT my DC are fussy and so I can't bang in chicken nuggets for a quick meal. They just want pasta as a quick meal 😑

It is amazing but is used for me mostly and cooking the dog's meat in

One ninja 2 drawer and one ninja multicooker (originally intended for the timed pressure and slow cooker functions).

They're great - especially if you have back issues or a less than optimally designed kitchen. Buying both was still cheaper than buying a cheap oven and the removal/installation/messing around with the units because they're so badly done costs.

My teen uses it all the time. He has learning disabilities. He cooks himself a chicken breast, hash browns, sausages. It's safer for him than using the oven. If he puts on the air fryer and forgets it switches itself off. If he uses the oven and forgets things would burn.

There was a pretty good BBC radio look at air fryers on the "Sliced Bread" programme.

Key takeaway was to consider how many people you're cooking for. If you have to start cooking in batches, you lose the economy. But for a small family (i.e. just 2 😀) it's perfect.

This is good to read - it's exactly the reason I've just ordered one.

We just got a Ninja dual zone air fryer. I always used to laugh at air fryer evangelists, but it's actually really good. We haven't used the main oven since we got it.

The time saved by not having to preheat and the cooking time itself being faster is amazing. Very handy on my working days or at lunch time when I can have meat and a side done in under 20 minutes.

Chips are also way better in it. In the oven I always have to cook them ages and find them a bit limp. In the air fryer they take 15 minutes and come out really crispy.

We only have a single oven, so I can tell it will be indispensable for things like Christmas or celebrations where we need to do multiple sides or types of party food.

I think it depends what you’re going to use it for. We have this air fryer oven and it works exactly like a smaller oven. So we use it for pizzas, baked potatoes, reheating batch cooked lasagne, enchiladas etc. Also heating up croissants, cheese on toast.

So fast and saves us money compared to our ancient gas oven that takes forever to heat up. Only use the big oven now for eg whole roast chicken, massive 8 person lasagna, etc.

uk.russellhobbs.com/express-air-fry-mini-oven-26680

Like some of you I was put off by the word “ fryer” as I never deep fry anything! Bought the 2 drawer largest ninja, although there are only 2 of us. I don’t think I’d use a smaller one as much.
I probably use it at least 5 times a week and stir fries the other 2 days.
Maybe use my main oven once every 2 weeks to do a batch cook for the freezer, heat up a big pizza or make a big cake - I haven’t really cracked cake making in the ninja. Scones are good though.
A typical weeks use of the ninja might be
A roasted chicken with veg and roast potatoes in the other drawer
Crispy duck for pancakes
Salmon fillets once or twice a week
Chicken pieces
If grandchildren want nuggets or sausages and chips that cooks in about 15 mins - oven chips and roast potatoes have never been so crispy!

The probe attachment in the big ninja hasn’t really proved useful so I don’t think I’d bother with buying one with that.
I needed to buy a couple of rectangular glass dishes that fitted , which saved the drawer having to be washed every time.
Remember to give the fan area a wipe every now and again as it does get a bit greasy.
I found it a bit heavy to keep pulling out from the wall so bought some small stick on castors from Amazon which makes life easier.
All of my family who have bought one use it more than their main oven, but we couldn’t do without our hobs and microwaves !

We bought one but found it just wasn’t big enough, we are vegetarians so I don’t know if thay makes a difference, but there just wasn’t room for example to make enough roast aubergine for us, thats before we even considered making the rest of the meal. We had the ninja with the flex drawer function, we’ve still got it but we only use it in the camper van.

Oh, we will. Problem is, she is not able to share so it will be in her room unless she uses it.

I like using a airfryer.

They make great chips, sausages,roast veges. Succulent roast chicken.
I rarely use the oven to cook a meal.
It is great for older children to cook quick meals on weekends.

I got an Actifry when they first came out. . Many years ago.. In fact had two.
Now l have the Duel Haden.
Similar to Ninja but was half the price and it's perfect .
I live alone.
Can't remember last time l had my oven on..
Between the slow cooker/ microwave and airfryer l can cook great meals .
The airfryer is actually a mini oven that cooks quicker and healthier.
I've made cakes/ scones/ Yorkshire puddings( from scratch).
Stirfries / tray bakes/ sausage rolls/ pasties etc.
As well as just popping a quiche or scampi etc
So anything you can put in an oven you can put in an airfryer and save time and money.

My teenage boys use it occasionally but no we don't really use ours very much - in fact I am sending it off with DS2 to Uni

Do a roast chicken and roast potatoes in mine often.
Maris Piper.. par boil for 7 mins.
Shake n dry.
Squirt of rapeseed oil.

I use mine most days. With it I can cook things from scratch in a fraction of the normal time, corn on the cob is a good example. Samosas can be cooked from frozen quickly and easily. The pans are also dishwashable so no post dinner scrubbing!

I have the Ninja dual zone one and use it all the time. It’s particularly good if you’re watching what you eat - you don’t need any oil at all (although most recipes will recommend using a little). I do wedges / thick chips which are beautiful, and my favourite snack is a tin of chickpeas, air fried and flavoured with salt/chilli/garlic

How do you fit everything in? My oven is often full.

Can you cook meat and vegetarian side by side?

A lot of the space in a standard oven is taken up by the tins/sheets/pans and a huge air gap between the sides and each shelf. A whole chicken will fit into a 4.5l drawer without an additional tin, and just think how much space there is in a 12 cake/Yorkshire Pudding tin.

It cuts out the dead space hugely.

Lurking really as I don't want another unused appliance on the worktop....

But if can do salmon fillets or chicken thighs and veg for the 2 of us that would be good....

We have a big Ninja dual drawer one for our family of 5. I absolutely love it and use it most days. Hardly use the oven any more. Roast veg in 20 minutes instead of an hour. We eat a lot of roast veg.

You can have mine - used it once, hated it.