to ask what is the point of an air fryer?

[SnippedYerBarbour]

I've had an air fryer for a few months and I really think I must be doing something wrong because I don't see the point of it.

I've used it a few times to heat up frozen food, just to get the hang of how it works. Despite following all the instructions carefully, including batch size, I'm finding that things take up to four times as long to heat up as I'm told they should. And nothing's actually crispy, just warmed up.

What am I doing wrong? Or should I charity shop it?

About as pointless as an air guitar imo!!
Proper chips or none at all!!
Sorry no help at all!!

I use it for anything I would normally fry! Bacon, burgers, pork chops, garlic mushrooms. I've never used it to reheat but I get the feeling it wouldn't come out great (and take ages like you say). I love mine. I use it pretty much every day.

I love mine, but have not tried it with frozen food.

I have made chips, chicken legs (delicious crispy skin), chicken breasts, salmon, roast veg, homemade fish fingers and chicken nuggets etc.

I monitor my fat intake closely so I am enjoying eating dishes that would normally be off limits most of the time because of their macronutrient profile

I only really use it for frozen French fries or home made chips. I prefer it to the deep fat fryer as there is much less smell.

Do you find that it works ok though @dementedpixie?

Last night I followed instructions (as usual) for 600g batches, preheat to 200 degrees, cook for 12 minutes. It ended up taking more than half an hour to be hot!

What one do you have? You dont preheat mine to a temperature, you just put the food in with a little bit of oil if necessary and then switch it on.

I think there's something wrong with your airfryer, because stuff normally takes a little less time in mine, and I don't preheat it at all.

I use mine for roast chicken (moist, crispy, just have to stick to a medium bird or it's a bit of a squeeze) - anything frozen like fishfingers or nuggets, most meat like lamb chops or sausages, and it makes a very good cake too, and naans worked pretty well. Not had any success with yorkshires, but apart from that actually prefer cooking in it for the things I've listed as it's so much quicker and easier to clean than the main oven or a frying pan (and stuff seems to stay moister).

We have a few gadgets, and I'd say this was the only genuinely useful one in fact.

I was starting to wonder that, treestumps. As I understand it, it's meant to work like a mini convection oven. It just doesn't seem that hot to me (though not obviously faulty). I thought I'd try it a few times to get the hang of it but after last night I thought no, something's not right here.

Will have to figure out where I've put the receipt.

Can you say which one it is?

Sorry, I wasn't being cagey, just spending ages trying to look for a link . It's a Brabantia BBEK1133, as far as I can see it isn't available in the UK. It's a reputable brand though and gets good reviews.

There's got to be something wrong with it then - mistakes happen in every brand - if I put frozen fishfingers in, no preheat on 180 or 200 (I forget which), they're cooked in about 8 minutes.

I just roasted all the pumpkin seeds from the kids pumpkin carving, it took about 30 minutes and was so easy because I just pulled out the drawer and shook it every now and then (rather than trying to shake an oven tray and losing them everywhere).

If you pull the tray out mid-cook is everything sizzling?

If you pull the tray out mid-cook is everything sizzling?

Nope.

Sounds like it's definitely faulty! I just had nothing to compare it to and you know, cooking times vary, so I did wonder. Will dig out that receipt and hopefully the shop will be helpful.

If I get curious I might try my cooking thermometer on it later. I suppose it's just not getting that hot.

if I put frozen fishfingers in, no preheat on 180 or 200 (I forget which), they're cooked in about 8 minutes.

I tried them about a month ago, it took forever and they ended up being horrible!

I have a Tefal actifry and it actually does really nice chips. Not really tried much else in it though it mushes frozen onion rings.

I use mine most days as I normally need to cook small portions and find my main oven too big/wasteful and too slow. It's also handy to cook quick snacks or even when you have guests (spring rolls, pastries, samosas etc).
I also use a multicooker (electric pressure cooker & slow cooker in one) so I actually don't use my gas hob or main oven much at all. I've found that I spend very little time in the kitchen cooking since getting both appliances.

Yep. Take it back if you can (or call up Brabantia if not - even without a receipt they might be able to help, they're a premium company I'd have said).

We have the philips XL. Unlike the slow cooker and the instapot languishing at the back of the cupboard, it sits out on the side in the kitchen and gets used most days - I'm kicking myself for buying one of those mini ovens when I had a small flat, rather than one of these.

I can't agree on the chips - oven chips are fine, but from scratch, following the instructions in the recipe book, they came out chewy and awful rather than crispy and soft

Hi jumping on post, how can you cook a chicken in an air dryer? X

Sorry to hijack the thread, but those of you who love them, which one do you have?
I've fancied one for ages.

Sorry air fryer! I'm really eager to see how it works for other foods. I'm trying to lose weight but I do love the occasional fried food x

I get a medium chicken (a 2.5 kilo bird sometimes fits, but a 1.5kg is better). I put salt on it, and I whack it in for an hour and a half (or whatever the cooking time is).

If I'm feeling fancy I'll cook it breast down for the first half, then breast up for the second half, but TBH I don't see much difference whichever way I cook it. Crispy skin, moist breast, have it once a week (and then curry if there's leftover - since this is mumsnet)

DP prefers to spatchcock it, but I don't see the point, it's fine without. And you could get fancy with herbs and stuff, but it's generally moist tasty enough that it doesn't need more than salt (and the kids aren't up for mucked about with chicken anyhow)

ibleed - I think air fryer is a bit of a misleading name - it's basically a mini fan oven I'd say.

@Spaceprincess

I have a Phillips Airfryer but after knowing how good it is and if I had the work space I would have got an XL one like a pp above.

@Spaceprincess

Just to add also, for liquid based foods like stews, casseroles, soups, curries etc I would recommend the Sage Fast Slo Pro. You just put the ingredients in and it cooks/releases the steam by itself.