Air fryer - worth it or hype?

[gerbo]

I'm 49, we are a family of 3 (or 4 if eldest is home!). Are aur fryers worth the money, if you're a pretty accomplished home cook?

I cook pretty much daily for my family, often batch cooking, and baking weekly. We have a 2 oven range but I guess this would be cheaper to run....

In my head,though,air fryers are for heating up frozen foods!

I'm using my slow cooker more at the moment to save money, and was wondering, are air fryers also economical? Would we need one with 2 drawers? And how do you use yours?

Thanks for any tips.

You can also get paper inserts so washing up is a breeze as you just throw the insert into the bin after use

Thank you for this tip @Wowthatwasabigstep, I didn't know these existed! I now have some winging their way to me.

I use mine a lot, I find it especially good for preparing veg and fish. I'm making fajitas tonight and all the chicken and veg etc will go in together. I use it a lot more than I thought I might.

@PosiePerkinPootleFlump which one did you get that fits in a cupboard? I have a 5 year old Tefal that fits in a cupboard but don’t like it. I fancy a 2 drawer one but don’t want it sitting out on the worktop.

We use it almost every day but there’s only two of us. I cook everything in it from meat to vegetables and yes, heating up frozen/chilled ready-made stuff sometimes. Brilliant for baked potatoes. Costs pennies to run and doesn’t heat up the kitchen. I have a two-drawer Ninja and I love the sync function so I can put things in that need different temperatures/timings and it’s all ready at the same time.

I recommend getting silicone liners for easy clean up if something has a sauce or whatever.

I use mine daily. I have a double drawer and you can sync 2 items. I currently have some seasoned chicken legs in it.

I was an air fryer sceptic but I used it loads! Chicken, fish, sausages, roasted veg, jacket potatoes, I don't buy much ready made food but sometimes get a lasagne or pie and they go in it too. I'm only cooking for 1 or 2 people so it saves a lot of time and no doubt energy compared to putting the oven on - a piece of salmon will be cooked before my oven would have even warmed up.

Thanks all, I'm tempted. There's a Tower one on my local Facebook marketplace, I may try it!

I’ve got two and only use the oven for cooking pizzas or at Christmas, lots of visitors.

I have the Tefal one with built in stirrer that I use daily for making chips for teen DS plus a 7ltr Tower brand pan air fryer that I use for chicken, burgers, roast veg etc.

I got fed up of having to cook separate meals for everyone and the two gadgets are used daily.

Today, I cooked some chicken pieces quickly in the pan air fryer then added them to the soup maker to make chicken soup for later whilst I got on with my sewing hobbies.

I hate domestic drudgery and really hate the chore of daily cooking!

I got a Ninja 2 drawer one in August 23. Two of us.
I’ve used my oven twice since then.

Like any other hype then we get bored of it and go to the next.

I no longer have an oven, only an air fryer. It is a Ninga multi drawer one. I cook everything in it that I used to cook in my oven.

I would nevermgo back to a normal oven.

Worth it, as long as you purchase a large one and use a little oil. We barely use our oven, just for larger meals and cakes.
I was skeptical years back, but eat my words. Coat in olive oil, drizzle or spray, and it cooks an amazing pizza, crispy chicken, chips, roast pots, quiche, parathas, spring rolls, I could go on. Costs so much less to run, heats up quicker than the oven, practically instant!
Highly recommend!

They are indeed little fan ovens, but the strength of the fan is higher than in a normal full size oven and there's no wasted/dead space meaning very even heating. It's the same as the super-expensive range cookers which have enormous fans, but a lot cheaper.

I was dismissive of them. Then my neighbour bought a Ninja. I tried it and bought a Ninja. My sister tried it and now has two Ninjas. My parents tried it and bought a Ninja. The basic model is £79 and worth every penny in my opinion.

if you have a lot of oven tray food and things like sausages it’s super handy. Also was massively useful on xmas day as like an extra oven. Im sometimes not convinced food is cooked through thoroughly- eg chicken nuggets look cooked on rhe outside after about 5 minutes!
i would struggle without mine for things like work night teas but the novelty has worn off a bit and i use the oven more as long as i have time

I have a ninja two drawer , you f I hady time again I would get the one that you can make into two baskets or one large one.
I never use my oven now it's brilliant

I’ve hardly used my oven since I got my air fryer.

Same. I love mine.

Love mine - use it constantly. If I were buying again I would buy one of the non-toxic versions - eg the Ninja glass one.

I wouldn’t buy an air fryer but I got a ninja 9 in 1 foodie. One of the best things I’ve ever bought, it does literally everything your kitchen appliances do and more. Go for the foodi if you batch cook, the pressure cooker and slow cooker would be good for a family the cooking pot is huge. They also roast/bake, make yoghurt and dehydrate. And chips come out delicious!

They only time we use ours now is if we have a roast otherwise it's all air fryer and hob

I use mine virtually every day. I hardly use my oven now, and I certainly do not live on frozen food. Mine is worth every penny.

We have a 2 drawer Ninja and use it almost daily. 2 adults, one vegetarian. Things I cook in it…
sausages / bacon
jacket spuds started in the microwave and crisped up in the AF
oven chips / hash browns
roasted vegetables eg tomatoes / peppers / broccoli / cauliflower
toasties
garlic bread
chicken
steak
pork steaks
gammon joints
home made soups
roast potatoes / carrots / parsnips

I also batch cook and portion things like lasagne / pies / pasta bake which I thaw and reheat in the AF

I just put a folded up piece of kitchen roll under the tray to soak up oil.

I use mine a lot- for anything oven-cooked really. Salmon, roast potatoes, even cakes.

made earlier reply, but, had forgotten that the fryer saved 2 sunday dinners, where my (still under guarantee🤨) electric oven decided it would short out & refuse to function halfway through cooking, fryer did a good job saving a roast chicken & leg of lamb + accompaniments.
2 criticisms= 1 for ninja, can be diff to find spare parts for older models (apparently).
1 for the fact that fryers can be larger than imagined so be sure to have ideal spare work surface space so it doesn’t have to live on floor at times 🤭 ( has permanent new area to reside now😆).