Air fryer which one to buy?

[Denim4ever]

So, family of 3 in the hols from uni but just the 2 of us most of the time. We are not veggie but like veggie meals a few times per week. I cook from scratch mostly.

I cook a lot of stove top meals and like one pan roasting tin meals.

Would like to buy a compact air fryer that would help us speed up weekday meals, avoid ovened chips (ie my own chips cooked in the oven) and maybe do roast potatoes.

Where should I start ?

NB do not own microwave or slow cooker

We have a Ninja. It’s been worth the money for the amount of use it’s got and I imagine it’s saved is quite a bit on electricity since we now no longer use the oven unless it’s for more elaborate meals.

I second a ninja. I got the speedi one so it’s also a slow cooker and does various other things too. Couldn’t live without it, and it saves a fortune on electricity compared to the oven.

We’ve got a 2 drawer Lakeland that cost £100.

perfect for family of 4 and we hardly used our oven now.

however we have a microwave and slow cooker so if you want those functions you need something fancier

We have the two drawer Ninja. It’s great as you can cook two different foods at once. We only use the oven now for pizzas, roasts, cakes and tray bake-type meals.

We have the two drawer ninja one. It’s hands down the best kitchen gadgety purchase I’ve ever made. It’s used virtually every day and has helped us eat better/healthier. I also work very long hours some days and knowing I can come home and do a decent meal so quickly is amazing. I wouldn’t know what to do without it these days.

We got a 15 in 1 Ninja and we’re on our THIRD due to faults which arose just after the two year warranty expired. We bought our second as we loved it so much and managed to argue for a replacement third. It we won’t replace it again. I use it every day and most functions and when we’ve been without it, we’re lost! So I’m not sure it’s a good advert for the longevity of the Foodi 15 in 1 - but we still love it.

I got a tefal. I have never used another so have nothing to compare it with but it seems complicated to use. It has a load of pictures of food so you can click on chips, fish, steak and it sets a default temperature and time. I can see why it would be easy to pop a salmon in and press the fish button but I find them unhelpful as any recipe I find has a different combination of temperature/ time to the default settings. Having said that I have cooked a really good roast beef in it, salmon, sweet potato fries etc

I have an Instant Versazone that can be used as one big drawer or two smaller drawers. I really like it and it's about half the price of a Ninja.

Thanks for replies so far.

Ninja seems to be coming up a lot. I was wondering about how people feel about dials versus buttons/electronic?

Re using oven for tray bakes - this is one of the things I thought an air fryer could do. An example of a traybake recipe I often do is salmon on broccoli, asparagus with a soy, honey, ginger glaze. Would that not be an ideal air fryer recipe?

Re not having a microwave or slow cooker. I say this to indicate I'm not much of a gadgets/additional appliances person

Again the Ninja we’ve got the 9in1 and would replace it in a minute when it finally dies!
We use it as an air fryer but I do like the saute functions and slow cooker as well as the pressure cooker all used pretty regularly.

We’ve got a Tefal XL which is a doddle to use and was much cheaper than Ninja (about £70)

It gets used 2-3 times a day. It is brilliant for breaded fish and meat, roast skinless chicken breasts, chips, roast veg and roast salmon.

I haven’t been impressed baking biscuits in it.

Even though it’s the XL version this most commonly refers to height not width x length of the basket. So unless you layer stuff, which I don’t find cooks well, or use a rack to create a second layer, there is a distinct limit to how much I can cook. The two drawer (side by side) fryers are largely the same issue.

Ninja/Tower and no doubt others do a two basket vertical air fryer which I would probably go for next time to maximise the horizontal cooking surface.

I bought the cheapest, simplest I could find. 2 dials, heat and temperature. It's great if there's just two people. it's a Tower T17021.
I have had it just over 2 years. My son has one too - I think his is about 3 years old now, still working fine, though the non-stick is getting a bit worn.

We had the 15in1 ninja but it broke after just over 3 years. Also had problems getting a replacement bowl for it. Replaced it with a 2 drawer ninja. They are great for cooking but not convinced they last well! Shop around for a deal if you can as the price can vary quite a bit.

I have a 2 drawer Ninja with touch screen.
It’s handy for chips, fish fingers, sausages, roast like potatoes and roasting chicken breasts.
I bought 2 rectangular silicone baskets to use in the drawers. This means the machine drawers need less cleaning. I bought a spare pair of silicone baskets for when one pair is in the dishwasher.

Ninja double drawer. I never use my oven now

I have a ninja 6 in 1 and use almost all the time. I think I’ve only used my oven for Yorkshire puddings since I got it. It steams, pressure cooks, slow cooks, bakes, roasts and air fries. Yesterday I cooked parmentier potatoes, pizza pie and onion rings in it at the same time (different amounts of time each item but all in at the same time).

I've had mine for years. It's like new and used several times every day

Another vote for the Ninja! I have the 2 drawer version and the single drawer was launched just after I bought mine, wish I had the larger single drawer. I also bought silicone drawer liners and second the suggestion to have a second set (yes, they get used that much!)

Another vote for the two drawer Ninja

I've got a Ninja one drawer, not the biggest one. I also bought a mini Tower one to take on holiday and the difference in quality is huge

I have the Ninja large single drawer. I love it and use it everyday

Ninja two drawer has been fantastic here. Worth its weight in gold.

I have a big ninja maxi I think? Not sure of the name but it’s the biggest they did. One big drawer with a top close lid. Does grill, air fry, bake and dehydrate. I only ever used bake tbh.

It’s old and bulky and I want a new one. I am getting a Ninja crispi for Christmas! Soooo cool. It’s basically an air fryer lid. You attach it to the glass bottom and can have multiple glass bottoms. Can prep and store in fridge or freeze. Serve from it. Utterly genius.

Another vote for ninja! We had a different brand before that, then paid the extra for a ninja when we decided to get a larger one. So glad we did, would definitely recommend.

I’ve got a ninja but hardly used it. Too complicated, noisy and food is dried out shit. I just can’t understand the hype.