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 😂

Why?

A pan is easier to manage.
Still took ages to cook.
Didn't taste great.
Pain to clean.
Kept having to get up to respond to various beeps to do next thing.
Massive waste of space!

It’s slowly winning me round. The standard size ones aren’t big enough for more than a side, and the bigger ones require me to rearrange my kitchen.

I don’t love the cooking smells in the house if I forget to position it near the extractor fan, or to turn on the fan - I’m perimenopausal so forgetting is the only thing I do reliably anymore

Ours is used daily and I've barely used the big oven since getting my Ninja.

We do a roast every week in it - meat on one side and pots and Yorkshires on the other.

DS11 uses it to cook various things too.

Easy to clean, doesn't have the house too hot like the oven does and doesn't fill the house with food smells the same.

No.

It's healthier too using no cooking oil.

Yes, you do. They make oven chips and veggie nuggets really crispy.

In laws bought us a great big one. Didn't want it.
Now? If it broke i'd replace it 😂

It's a big basic hole with a basket. No shelves or drawers.

I cook:
oven chips/potato wedges (enough for 4 adults) really crispy and nice
seasoned chicken wings (12 at a time) DELICIOUS
tenderstem garlic broccoli (enough for 4 adults at a time) yum
bacon (10 bits at a time) crispy
chicken nuggets (12 at a time) crispy and nice

older kids reheat pizza/chinese ect. in it

I don't like pork chops or steak cooked in it. Or pork belly strips. Tried them a couple of nights ago and the 'crackling' stayed spongy.

Oh meant to add:

90% of stuff cooks from raw/cold/frozen in just under or just over 20 mins with a shake half way through. It's very simple.

Frozen roast potatoes:
Quicker, but just not quite as nice as in oven. No idea why.

No, it’s not just another gadget.You’re missing out!

I've got the dual 9.5l ninja. I'm a 'foodie' and a traditional, cook from scratch type of person. We have used the oven about 5 times since we got it 18 months ago. Between the ninja, hob and the Actifry (for brilliant, pretty healthy, goose fat roast potatoes (that don't need par boiling)) we do Sunday roasts for 4, 6 or more. It's brilliant. My DH does cakes and things in it. We've done joints of beef using the probe and a 2kg chicken. We also now do steaks in it too. I never thought i would be as impressed as I am but all four of us use it all the time. Myself, DH and two DS 16 & 19.

Really useful. It's great to do cheese on toast - mine is small so can fit two slices in. This morning I just fancied one spring roll for breakfast: done in 5 mins. Perfect.

Personally I think they're overrated

We got a cheapie Costco one but now I want it to break because Costco now have one that's the size and shape of a microwave oven, so it's a genuine mini oven so much more practical/easy to use for 2 or 3 types of food for 1-2 people rather than the drawer arrangement of traditional air fryers.

Wow, thanks for all your replies, been at work all day and am only just catching up.
So the overall majority opinion is that I do need one in my life 😅
I will read each of your posts again to gauge which model to go for, but I’m guessing it’s a go big or go home situation?

We were late to the party too and eventually got the instant pot as it’s a pressure cooker too plus a few other functions. We absolutely love it as we are a small family of 3 and I think they work really well for small families. Our son is obsessed with risotto and I can cook risotto in the pressure cooker in 6 minutes which is a major game changer for us.

Steak in the air fryer is the best I've ever had - it's worth getting one for that reason alone !

I got a air fryer last year for my birthday 😳😳 this year I got rid of the oven as it wasn't being used. Now have an air fryer and a mini oven to cook pizza and cakes. We cook a roast dinner in the air fryer, family of 3 (two very hungry teenagers) lol. My boys can cook using the air fryer too

I’ve just upgraded from the Ninja Max ( single drawer) to the new Ninja Stack, two drawers on top of each other so it does not take up more worktop space than a single one. I’m ever lucky that my daughter works for Ninja so gets a huge discount!

I live alone but still struggle to cook a complete meal in a single air fryer without a lot of juggling. Tonite I’m having a salmon fillet, cooked on the extra grill in one basket, smashed new potatoes cooked in the same basket in the bottom layer and corn on the cob cooked in the second basket. I’m going to experiment with the synch option so both my baskets will finish at the same time!

Later in the week I might have a chicken breast with home made chips and Mediterranean style vegetables - again cooked using both baskets with the optional grill to create an extra layer.

Im giving my old air fryer to my daughter to use in her caravan.

I only have one because I have a lot of worktops in my new kitchen, if it had to be kept in a cupboard I don5 think I would bother getting it out as it is rather heavy.

Are the dual baskets one totally worth the money?

@Ihateslugs I was just looking at the stacking one!

With two baskets you can cook different things at different temperatures at the same time. At least the Ninja has a sync function so you can set both drawers to finish cooking at the same time, sure other two drawer types will have too.

I think dual ones are the way forward to be able to cook complete meals. I just need to familiarise myself with the instructions, I put some fish on the grill in the top basket for 5 minutes with the intention of adding some pre cooked potatoes to the lower crisper plate for the final 5 minutes - only to find I had been cooking the empty lower basket so my fish was still raw!

I love mine. It is tiny and I think it came from Lidl.

Lots of frozen foods now come with airfryer instructions.

There was a channel 4 programme that tells you a lot about them.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/air-fryers-are-they-worth-it

I use it for bacon (5 mins 1 side, 4 mins the other) while I'm doing something else which I like because if you are cooking or grilling bacon you really need to stand and watch it.

Steak is good too.

We bought one before a kitchen renovation and loved it, but now we have our lovely bosch oven which has a fantastic air fryer mode, the air fryer hasn't come off the shelf! I much prefer it as you can do more food in it, but it's just as fast and makes lovely crispy sweet potato fries etc.