Air Fryer

[Ikeasucks]

Aibu to buy another kitchen gadget they might sit unused? Why should i buy one and which one?

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MNHQ

I love my air fryer - we are recent converts. My son does a ton of chicken every day and it takes next to no time. It is definitely cheaper to run than a conventional oven and very quick. You can do more in it than you would expect and there is no need whatsoever for any oil - the 'fryer' part is a bit of a misnomer, really. Works best for freezer food or meats in my opinion, but the baked potatos are really good and ready in next to no time.

Buy one! :)
We are a family of 4 and bought the Ninja AF400 a couple of weeks ago and haven’t looked back. It takes some getting used to with the timings etc but honestly such a good buy. Just for the very basics I am cooking sausages and nuggets in the time it would usually take my oven to preheat! You just cook everything at a bit lower temp and probably a third off the stated time. So nuggets that were 200 for 18 mins are now 170 for 12/13 mins and no preheat time. At the weekend I cooked two whole chickens absolutely perfectly in 50 mins from switch on to finish! Winner winner! :)

Halogen Ovens don't get much of a mention but they really are good.

“Halogen ovens work with halogen light which is stronger than the infrared light that convection ovens use. The basics are still the same though since both ovens produce heat and then distribute it around the inside with the help of a fan, ”.
An air fryer but also uses infra red radiant heat.

The first one I bought lasted years and years and cost £32.
I have just bought a new one which cost £40.
No need to use the ovens on my range cooker for a few sausages…..And I have not had to pay double the price for an “Air Frier”.
It is big enough to cook a large chicken in.
It cleans itself too……
Save money and buy a Halogen oven.
Glad I did.

I had to buy one when our oven broke.

We got a reasonably fancy oven (under 900).and a Which best buy.

It seems like rubbish compared to the little air fryer!!

Absolutely cumbersome and crap unless doing roast!

Air fryer is misleading, it has lots of functions and it's fast,seems to have a more presice heat.

Ours is 50 from cost co and I would instantly replace it!

Love it

Also you can use as much or little oil as you want.

We have a Ninja Dual Zone which is great. Big enough for us to cook enough to feed 2 adults and 3 kids.

I find things sizzling by the end of a pre heat.
If something is 20 mins,with mine it cooks usually under 10 including the pre heat.

Mostly 5 or 6 mins I put stuff on for that usually requires 20.

@Augend23

I pile them into mine when I’m lazy . Sometimes it’s easier to do two separate batches and then combine them and do a reheat for a minute or two .

When I do pile then in I tend to turn the temperature down a bit and toss them around a few times . Then I might do a few minutes on higher temperature to get then a bit more crispy .

DP's just ordered the big dual one because it's £179 on Amazon today (been tracking the prices for a while and it's the lowest for months).

A friend has the pot type one and is going to give me a load of recipes she's come up with since getting hers a year ago.

First on the list will be spicy fried GF chicken and chilli sweet potato wedges, though. Priorities.

I couldn’t live without mine. We it nearly every day, and use it a lot more than the oven. I only use the oven now when I’m cooking more than one thing that needs to be ready at the same time, or if something is too big for the air fryer. I use it more than the microwave as well.

It’s honestly great. Worth every penny.

I've had the ninja foodi 14-1 for a few weeks now. Yes it was pricy at £200 and takes up lots of counter space but it is great, use it most days. It seemed utterly complicated to start with but not at all. The pressure cooker is so good we no longer use the slow cooker. The steam bread and prove function makes a delicious loaf. The airfryer is great for oven foods and meat (I still prefer my chips deep fried though).

I've not yet roasted a chicken but that is supposed to be delicious on the steam roast function. I'd like to try the dehydrate but doesn't seem worth it for the 3-6hrs needed.

I barely use the hob and oven now.

I resisted for a while but I love mine and use it all the time, so do the kids. Really cut down on oven use too. I’m not sure of the make as I’m out but I got it from curry’s and it was about £70. It’s a basket style one which comes with a plate thing to cook things on too. My daughter uses it with another device we bought called a crimpit and she has toasted crimpits done in there at least 3 days a week.

Everyone's got money to burn with their swish Ninjas!
I couldn’t afford one so have a Tower one and it’s been brilliant. My oven broke for the third time and no way was I paying for another repair so the air fryer has completely replaced my oven!

Mine has 3 shelves and I just move the shelves around so everything cooks evenly.

We bought a 9L Salter one at Christmas and use it every day, at least once. Wedges, jackets, roasted veg. I'm obsessed with spring onions cooked in it. Chicken in every form, including whole. Marinaded salmon, Lidl frozen crocettas, in fact all freezer food, garlic bread, roasted stuffed mushrooms. Frozen strudel, warmed brownies or cookies or pastries. Part baked baguettes take 3 minutes. Chicken wings are fab. Crisp and done in minutes. We started with a small cheapo, then used it so much during building work it became indispensable.

Has anyone measured energy use for cooking items in a air fryer vs a better insulated oven?

They checked Vs a normal fan assisted oven in the BBC sliced bread programme listed earlier. I think it depends on the volumes you need to do as well.

We love ours and it gets used almost every day.

We got a Cosori XL. Big basket with a removable inner mesh type basket. This is important as you don't want any oil to tip out when you tip out the food, or the alternative is faffing around with tongs.

I have a actifry genius, I very rarely turn my oven on. I cook everything in it from chips, to chicken, garlic bread, fish… full English breakfasts and Sunday roasts. I even take it camping 😂

When im done I bung it all in the dishwasher, couldn’t be easier.

An indication of how much I love it, my sister dropped it on concrete after borrowing it and the lid snapped off, I cried, couldn’t help it! Thank god for handy Dads and new parts!

Got one yesterday in a Tefal outlet store got the XXL model for £50!!

Used our old one loads really handy for a quick meal fort the kids etc...

I bought one a couple of weeks ago - Gourmia from Costco, wish I hadn't bothered. It dried out my garlic bread & I cant get timings right on chips, raw or half burnt, half raw.
I'm reticent to try anything else as I can't really justify wasting food or cooking something else when it goes to shit again..
How are you supposed to know how long to cook anything for?
When I go to cook now everyone runs to put the oven on so I don't use the air fryer 😂

I bought one after seeing a thread about it on here. Mine is not very big but I live alone and it is been fine for my needs. I have only put my main oven once since I got it (for a pizza).
It started a domino affect of friends/family buying one once I had sung the praises of mine.

I have the Ninja Foodi AF400UK 9.5L Dual-Zone Air Fryer (£199 at John Lewis). Only had it a few weeks but impressed with the speed it can cook stuff. Still experimenting, but I don't remember putting the oven on since we got it.

We have had this one for a couple of months and it's great. We cooked a lamb roast dinner in 30 mins at the weekend. It has just opened up a greater range of week night dinners for us, as some things were off the menu as they took too long to cook, but with this contraption things are so quick. It was a pricey outlay, but DH got a unexpected £250 bonus from work, so it was kind of free as in it didn't come out of our regular budget :)

This is what I'm after as our kitchen is really small and we already have an instant pot on the side. Does it work as an airfryer?

Got one a couple of weeks ago. I've used it almost daily.

If you have a kitchen that tends to get very hot, the air fryer is your friend.

If you have a family that likes meat and potatoes, same, though it does roast veggies nicely too.