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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate my air fryer

179 replies

Champagneforeveryone · 02/04/2023 04:14

Ugly great bastarding thing that it is, taking up counter space and taunting me with its wasted potential 🧐

We bought a Ninja because everyone said they were the best. A man even accosted DH in John Lewis while we were carrying it out like our first born child to tell him how amazing it was.

Except it's not...

We don't eat a lot of freezer food so that's not been a benefit. I've tried things like chicken breasts but they just came out pale with a tough outer skin. I'm too scared to try bacon in case it's a similar travesty. Sausages were ok, but truthfully not any different to cooking them in the oven. I'm a little disillusioned, but perhaps I'm doing something wrong? Why is the feckless contraption supposed to be so much better than, you know... an actual oven?

OP posts:
Pippa12 · 02/04/2023 06:38

I love mine, I cook everything in it. My oven is pretty much redundant bar casseroles and pizza as they’re too big.

Turn the heat down for your chicken and as a general rule knock a 1/3 off suggested cooking time for things. Cook things on a cooler heat than suggested on packaging.

I use it for quick teas for kids (nuggets, fish fingers, chips) all meats, fish and seafood. I do ‘boiled eggs’, breakfast croissants/hot cross buns and cook my veg/potato accompaniments. Maybe search for a Facebook group/instagram to get some ideas?

I agree they are big cumbersome appliances. Mine is in my utility room, otherwise I likely wouldn’t have one either.

tobee · 02/04/2023 06:39

We've had ours for a few years now and use it every day. Tonight I made roasted onions, peppers, aubergine and courgettes together to go in the pasta. Took 7 minutes. Then it took me 3 minutes to heat my hot cross bun from cold!

If people's food is hard and dry they are not doing it right! You need to add about a teaspoon of oil at least to chicken etc.

However, the best thing is it turns itself off and stops cooking unlike an oven so things don't burn or dry out.

704703hey · 02/04/2023 06:40

Are slow cookers and air fryers usually integrated?

tobee · 02/04/2023 06:40

704703hey · 02/04/2023 06:40

Are slow cookers and air fryers usually integrated?

No.

Caspianberg · 02/04/2023 06:41

Boiled eggs take 7.5 mins? That’s not any quicker than a pan. Water in pan on induction hob boost will be boiling in 1 min, add eggs for 4-5 mins. Done.

I don’t get them. New ovens don’t really need preheating either now. Our oven is only a year old, it takes maybe 5 mins to heat to 220c ( quicker to lower temp), but there’s also a fast boost option if you really want it ready quicker.

BlueHeartMelody · 02/04/2023 06:43

That sounds amazing! Boiling eggs in an air fryer. Who would have thought? 🤔 It seems like the best ones are the multiple purpose ones instead of the simple air fryer devices. I’m at two minds in getting one. There seems to be two camps. Some who say they hardly use theirs and others who seem to get a daily use.

tobee · 02/04/2023 06:43

I think the world is divided into those that love their air fryer and those that think that those who have them have been duped by the latest craze.

I mean I bought an electric fruit and vegetable juicer that I really don't use.

tobee · 02/04/2023 06:44

Snap post

tobee · 02/04/2023 06:45

Mines a bog standard one @BlueHeartMelody . I can boil eggs in mine. And make cakes

GoodChat · 02/04/2023 06:45

OP roast a chicken in it. I promise you'll be impressed.

Tomkirkman · 02/04/2023 06:50

We use ours multiple times a day. We love it.

Yesterday I warmed up some pastries in it for breakfast. We had lunch out. But then I did a focaccia in it at dinner time.

Today I will do bacon in it (never had a problem with bacon) and batch cook some chicken souvlaki in it as I am not getting the BBQ out. Never had a problem with chicken having a thick outer layer or pale. Never had a problems with sausages. That usually happens if something is over cooked and or cooked on a high heat.

During the week I do eggs or baked oats for the kids, for breakfast in it most days. It’s great. Throw it in, walk away. Don’t have to forget something is in there. I have adhd so often forget something is in the oven.

I love chicken wings done in there. And did crispy chilli beef in there as well, last week and it was really nice. I still use my hob. But the oven only gets used a couple of times a week for things that won’t fit in, like a pizza.

It’s the same as any appliance. Works for some not for others. I use my ninja blender most days too, I know loads of people who don’t use theirs.

Tomkirkman · 02/04/2023 06:52

Oh and I grow loads of herbs so at the end of the summer I use it to dry out my herbs to store for winter. Loads better than having them hang all over the house.

Spottedsox · 02/04/2023 06:53

Are you using the correct cooking times and settings?
I am no cook but I love the airfryer I have.
It is compact, sausages do take 12mins in mine.
Roasted a chicken it was tender moist" and delicous.
No preheating, no need to use a oven.
Great for a pile of roasted vegetables after swirling in abit of oil.
Best hot chips, not soggy oven chips.
Someone has a larger model which is just as good but we are in another country differing products.

Creditcrunch2243 · 02/04/2023 07:01

I’m with you they are not for me at all! Bloody great big thing on my worktop and an absolute nightmare to clean. I had to go and do a shop specifically for freezer type food as that’s all I could cook in it. Also, even though it was huge, there just wasn’t enough food for all of us. Gave mine away in the end!

HamstersAreMyLife · 02/04/2023 07:02

I agree OP and sold ours. Lots on our Facebook selling page too. I'm going to consider a small one when the kids are teens if they become food bins but we don't eat much ready meal type food and if we do it fills my oven so the AF was more expensive!

HaroldTheStallion · 02/04/2023 07:08

Love my air fryer. Its the ninja foodi that also has a grill plus several other functions. There are 3 of us who cook in this household and we all use it for different things- and only one of us likes "freezer food." It saves money and time and the food tastes better than from the oven- what's not to like?

CrystalCoco · 02/04/2023 07:10

I hate the one DH bought and refuse to use it, touch it or even look at it.

He only ever seems to do chips in it so it seems like a giant waste.

I don't really like home cooked chips anyway and I definitely don't like the ones he produces from the air fryer 💩

Duidi123 · 02/04/2023 07:18

I adore ours. We don’t eat a lot of freezer food either, but I use mine almost daily. Home made meat balls in the airfryer for 10 minutes while I whip up a quick sauce and cook the pasta, burgers in for 12 minutes. Bacon when timed properly is lovely. I also use it for part baked rolls or croissants in the morning. For the best baked potatoes, prick them and microwave first for 7-8 minutes and then into the airfryer to finish!! I’ve even done cookies with dough I had made fresh and then frozen but I wouldn’t try cakes or buns in it.

I will say as it is only two of us it is perfect, saves the oven going on every day as well as being faster. Things seem to cook more evenly too but they may well because our oven is a bit crap.

ShiteInNiningArmour · 02/04/2023 07:18

Creditcrunch2243 · 02/04/2023 07:01

I’m with you they are not for me at all! Bloody great big thing on my worktop and an absolute nightmare to clean. I had to go and do a shop specifically for freezer type food as that’s all I could cook in it. Also, even though it was huge, there just wasn’t enough food for all of us. Gave mine away in the end!

Which model do you have? I have the basic one drawer ninja. Takes up very little room and you just put the whole drawer and handle straight in the dishwasher.

Re slow cookers. The instant pot has an air fryer attachment lid to turn it from a pressure cooker/slow cooker into an air fryer. I rather fancied it myself but I have the biggest instant pot and they only make them for the standard.

Longsight2019 · 02/04/2023 07:20

The term “air fryer” is marketing jargon. These are mini ovens with direct fan assisted convection blowing radiant heat at your food in a small chamber. But they could hardly market it as that could they. 😄

They’re more efficient at browning due to the smaller volume and proximity of food to the heating element. The added features that differentiate basic and higher end models just give a little more flexibility to their use, but only really dumb down what could be achieved by lowering temp anyway.

Granted the ninjas with sauté features etc do go beyond what I mention above.

I find ours smelly, a pain to clean, yet fast, handy, and a decent addition to the kitchen armoury.

MedievalMadness · 02/04/2023 07:29

I was tempted but wondered if it’s the sort of thing you need ‘the knack’ to get the best out if it. I’ve got friends who love theirs and use it all the time. They also have slow cookers, pressure cookers and other cooking gadgets. I bought a slow cooker and without fail everything I made in it was vile. Pressure cooker too. I feel sure that if I got an air fryer I would find just about everything I attempted was too dry, too tough, too burned etc, because I just seem to be crap at using these things.

Boymamabee · 02/04/2023 07:33

I love mine. It’s my slow cooker I can’t get on with. Everything seems to turn to flavourless mush.

lemonyellows · 02/04/2023 07:38

So much more than freezer food. This new book is full of ideas. Just got it and going to start on some today.

amzn.eu/d/bI2oaqg

autumnboys · 02/04/2023 07:43

@Boymamabee thats unfortunate because they’re so handy. Maybe have a look at the Bored of Lunch Instagram feed for his slow cooker recipes. He also does air fryer recipes as per the book recommended by the PP but his Insta is a good place to work out whether the books are worth it for you. We use both of them.

halfsiesonapotnoodle · 02/04/2023 07:45

I live alone and it's very good so far! Just had it a couple of weeks. I store it in the now unused oven. I specifically researched one that could fit in there, as I have a very small kitchen.