To buy an air fryer instead of a new oven?

[Alanisadick]

You may remember my previous thread about how my dick cat, Alan, and his equally useless sister had caused a mouse infestation in the kitchen.

The good news is that KM (kitchen mouse) is dead. Alan took great pleasure in murdering it on my bedroom carpet a few nights ago, before immediately jumping onto my bed for a snuggle (thankfully leaving the mouse on the carpet), like a proper little psycho. The reason I know that it was KM and not some other random rodent, is because there were clear signs of a struggle in the kitchen when I went down. And since then I haven’t heard a mouse or seen any evidence of one in the kitchen, so I’m hoping KM was a Lone Ranger.

The bad news is that during KM’s glorious reign in the kitchen, it must have gnawed through whatever makes the bottom oven work, because now it doesn’t. So now I have a top oven, which is a lot smaller, and that’s it. That’s sad for the DC because they do like a roast dinner, and I haven’t been able to cook one for months.

I’m wondering if I could manage with an air fryer and the small top oven? I don’t know much about them, even though I used to own one. My DM bought me one a few years back, but I never really understood what I could do with it, so it sat on the worktop until one day a large jar of mushrooms crashed down from the top of the fridge and completely smashed the lid, so I binned it. Would I be able to cook a roast (for 3/4 people depending on whether we have a guest) with just the air fryer and small top oven?

Funds are limited so am I better investing in a new oven or joining the air fryer movement?

Also how do you know how long to cook things in an air frye

Trial £ error! I'm making notes in my recipe notebook each time we cook something new, it seems to be less than standard oven cookie time so far

I haven’t used my oven once since getting my air fryer 3 weeks ago. Family of 4. Also cuts down on the washing up hugely. Electric use according to the smart meter now down 10 percent this month 😃

I'd agree with getting an electrician to look at the bottom oven, to make sure it's safe.

For the airfryer vs a big oven I guess it depends what and on what scale you cook. I normally cook for 5 plus enough to have leftovers towards another meal - we couldn't get that much in my airfryer. I think shuffling batches of various different bits of a meal through might get tedious if you had to do it a lot.

Sorry, had missed your update you had had an electrician out!

For cooking times, the rule of thumb I've seen is take about 20C off the cooking temperature and 20% off the cooking time. I've only had mine a week, my experience has definitely been that at least 20C wants to come off the oven cooking time, and check and stir much much earlier than you would with an oven!

Ring an appliance repair place perhaps. See if they have someone who can come out and have a look, even if just to make it safe rather than repair.

Air fryer will save you money.

I think that for safety reasons you still need your wiring fixing.

Dont have an air fryer so can’t help with that

Thanks -now ordered!!!

Get an air fryer and start roasting those chickens for Alan. More chicken and maybe he’ll stop bringing in his own live take away 😂

JangolinaPitt. Hope it works now lol. They are good too for chops etc. Saves on washing up too.

Chips not chops

That’s odd, an electrician looked at our oven despite it being gas, obviously they just didn’t do any gas work. I would get someone else out, we’ve had lots of trouble with mice gnawing through wires and an electrician had just replaced them.

Love the air fryer but it’s not big enough for large family meals.

I've got a cheap halogen air fryer (the type with the glass bowl). It will cook a medium chicken without using the extension ring. I can reduce the cost of cooking with it even further if I use the microwave first. If anything happens to it I'll be replacing it, and we haven't used the oven since I bought it.

I've just done a roast dinner in my halogen/air fryer thingy. I've not used my oven since I got it. I do use the hob occasionally but not the main oven. It's saved me a fortune and I wouldn't be without it.

Will this it turning into an obsession now! Just did some bacon -loving the convenience and speed. Just need to nail the pizza conundrum

Energy expert Chap on Radio 4 Broadcasting House was saying yesterday that gas ovens are still lower cost to cook a roast in than an airfryer. Gas is still that cheap (& prices falling).

I love my fairly new air fryer and try to use it wherever possible. But I wouldn’t actually go without an oven for it, there are on,y two of us and it still has limitations.

We barely use the oven now since buying an air fryer.
We only use the oven for pies, pizza, baked stuff. And we use the hob to boil.
DH has just discovered he can cook sausage rolls and pastry wrapped items in the air fryer.

I am also of that age bracket that puts everything in at 200c and adjusts the time accordingly 😂

What do you eat for Christmas dinner?
Will that fit in your top oven?

I think an air fryer is a good short term solution if you already have one but is too expensive as an oven replacement as you will want to cook something bigger /taller at some point.

Have you looked into the Breville Smart oven - air fryer pro. Bench top oven with air fry feature amonst other features.

Big enough to do a medium pizza and a large roast (obviously not both at the same time)

Wondering if a slow cooker is an option. I have one but mainly use for casseroles. I read on MN that you can roast a chicken in it too. Although if you want crispy skin you have to either finish in oven for 10mins or fry in frying pan before. Anyway just a thought.

Spatchcock the chicken for even greater speed! Depending on the shape of your air fryer.

I've roasted my chickens in the slow cooker for years, the end up so tender you can get every scrap of meat off the carcass, you just have to be careful getting it out because it falls apart. We aren't fussed about the skin so just bin it

I had chips done in a ninja the other day and they were horrible- all plasticky .

I have the two bucket airfryer. To stop the chicken burning on the top, place jt upside down when you start, then turn it over for the last 30 mins.