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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:
Lovelyring · 02/04/2023 09:13

I don't have one but I was similarly tricked in to buying a slow cooker! Gave it away after using it about five times in 8 years. The food was always horrible.

Changeau · 02/04/2023 09:13

I wonder how many oven hours 200 would buy you?

tuesday2am · 02/04/2023 09:13

Don’t have a Ninja but do have an air fryer (had it since Dec) and have used our oven 4 times since getting it! It’s amazing. We’ve done roast chicken, which came out deliciously moist with a lovely crispy skin, we’ve done other roasting joints in it, pork belly, gammon steaks, all different kinds of veg, pastries, etc. I recommend looking up YouTube videos for different things you can cook in an air fryer, we found that helpful.

I also have an InstantPot that I’ve had for years now and do so much of my cooking in it. I promise these gadgets aren’t just a fad; they’re so time and money saving and food tastes amazing. Wouldn’t be without them now.

MoonOverBroadway · 02/04/2023 09:14

I’ve seriously considered getting one as teen DD keeps giving me the ‘chips take 10 minutes’ spiel.

But then I look at the bread maker, Foreman grill, slow cooker, waffle maker, Ninja etc gathering dust and think…nah! Grin

An oven/hob and microwave will do me fine!

Trumpton · 02/04/2023 09:14

Bought ours in January (Ninja 300). Mostly only use one side at a time. But only two of us.
Yesterday I roasted aubergines for a Nigel Slater recipe. Today it’s roast veg.
Other meals are from Ottolenghi or The Roasting Tin Book.
Frittata was brilliant. We use very little frozen food mostly as ingredients.
The main oven has been on 3 times since we bought it, 2 birthday cakes and a Mother’s Day cake but have cooked Brownies in there that were successful.
I have just checked electric meter and this quarter bill will be £40 less so should pay for itself in less than 2 years. ( Our price per unit is set to rise by 50% after this bill so actually less time than that) We have been paying 22p a unit.

liveforsummer · 02/04/2023 09:14

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!

Dd has been confidently using it since age 8. I often now get lunches made for me as she experiments with various toasties and pizzas made from wraps, pitas breads etc no need to wait for teenage years

SoupDragon · 02/04/2023 09:15

Changeau · 02/04/2023 09:12

This! My MIL has a really expensive one and it's really crap. Maybe if you eat a lot of chips they are worth it?

Show quote history

Or, the air fryer owner is crap at using it...

tabulahrasa · 02/04/2023 09:18

GCWorkNightmare · 02/04/2023 08:54

If you don’t factor in the time it takes to pay off the capital expenditure.

Show quote history

There’s 3 of us and DS is an adult, we all work at different times, the oven used to be on 2 or 3 times a day, it was 50p cheaper a day straight away on my smart meter and my electricity rate has gone up twice since then.

It paid for itself on my electric bill pretty quickly tbh, though it wasn’t as expensive as a ninja one.

Changeau · 02/04/2023 09:22

SoupDragon · 02/04/2023 09:15

Or, the air fryer owner is crap at using it...

Show quote history

It's not mandatory to like them! You like yours, that's great. Chill.

Obki · 02/04/2023 09:24

At the risk of sounding sniffy, all the food upthread sounds unappetising.

KnittingNeedles · 02/04/2023 09:29

Obki · 02/04/2023 09:24

At the risk of sounding sniffy, all the food upthread sounds unappetising.

Gosh I agree, roast chicken, roasted vegetable wraps, potato wedges, frittata, sausages - all just "vile" or "grim". 🙄

2023issucky · 02/04/2023 09:37

I use mine a lot. Cook a whole chicken in mine (hint cook it upside down.
Pasta bake is nice, roast potatoes and chips. Cheese toastie.
It's not as good as my oven but can't afford to run the oven anymore.

Baldieheid · 02/04/2023 09:43

It's just a small, very intense oven, isn't it?

I have one of those, as my top oven takes about 3 mins to heat up and cooks beautifully and quickly, plus there's only 2 of us and we eat together. If I had teenagers wanting food at different times, I'd have an airfryer for sure. I think they sound priceless if that's your situation.

Gincan · 02/04/2023 09:45

Is it actually possible to cook dinner for four people in one though? As in meat, potatoes and veg for example? They don't look big enough

Changeau · 02/04/2023 09:45

Baldieheid · 02/04/2023 09:43

It's just a small, very intense oven, isn't it?

I have one of those, as my top oven takes about 3 mins to heat up and cooks beautifully and quickly, plus there's only 2 of us and we eat together. If I had teenagers wanting food at different times, I'd have an airfryer for sure. I think they sound priceless if that's your situation.

Yes same here. Small top oven which I use all the time even for a full roast for 5 people. I don't need an air fryer. I do have a plug in induction hob though which I use all the time instead of my slow electric solid rings

Baldieheid · 02/04/2023 09:53

Some hob top meals I do in my instant pot. I can make a decent chicken curry with brown rice just in the instant pot. I'd guess prepping and sautéing time to be 10 mins, then I set it on pressure cook for 10 mins, leave to depressure for another 10 and dinner's ready. Its still 30 mins but its faster than I can get takeaway here.

RitzyGlitzy · 02/04/2023 09:57

Why is the feckless contraption supposed to be so much better than, you know... an actual oven?

I don't think they are better than an oven, just a bit quicker and use less energy.
DD and her university housemates all chipped in for one as they have an energy cap and were putting the oven on frequently for one portion meals.
I don't have those issues so just use the oven.

liveforsummer · 02/04/2023 09:58

Gincan · 02/04/2023 09:45

Is it actually possible to cook dinner for four people in one though? As in meat, potatoes and veg for example? They don't look big enough

Probably not but I do potatoes and meat for 3 - I'd do veg separately but then usually do that if using oven too. You could if you had the dual style ones as mine is just a single

liveforsummer · 02/04/2023 09:59

RitzyGlitzy · 02/04/2023 09:57

Why is the feckless contraption supposed to be so much better than, you know... an actual oven?

I don't think they are better than an oven, just a bit quicker and use less energy.
DD and her university housemates all chipped in for one as they have an energy cap and were putting the oven on frequently for one portion meals.
I don't have those issues so just use the oven.

Also way easier to clean, no more oven cleaner or scrubbing baking trays

Tomkirkman · 02/04/2023 10:03

Obki · 02/04/2023 09:24

At the risk of sounding sniffy, all the food upthread sounds unappetising.

Which foods in particular?

Snugglemonkey · 02/04/2023 10:10

Idontgiveagriffindamn · 02/04/2023 06:26

We don’t eat much freezer food but I bloody love my ninja.
Jacket potatoes are amazing in it, we do whole chickens in no time and they are so juicy. Made goulash and stews. I’ve done bread a couple of times. And rice pudding.
chips are way better than the oven - both homemade and oven chips.
My friends says the toasties she does in it are great but I’ve not tried that yet.
I purposefully got a 9 in 1 ninja rather than just an air fryer and I think that was definitely the right choice for us.

I have this too. It enabled me to get rid of my pressure cooker and slow cooker. I make soup all the time, stews, currys, roast chicken, lots of meats. I use it most days.

JudgeJ · 02/04/2023 10:11

Tyrozet · 02/04/2023 06:25

I bought a small basic one in a sale for £30 - only two of us in the house. It's brilliant for things like chips, roast potatoes, toasties etc. And I've cooked fish and chicken in it wrapped in foil. I actually can't cook a full meal in it so wish I'd bought a bigger one. I definitely prefer it to the oven and if I had the counter space I'd upgrade it to a bigger one.

I did that, a cheap Tower one from Sainsbury's and since December I've not used my grill or over. There's only me and I use it for frozen stuff like chips but also part-baked bread rolls where the oven would be a waste for just one. I throw a couple of sausages and hash browns in then go out for my paper, something I could never do with a grill. I've also done chicken breasts, salmon and so on, wrapping them in foil first, opening it to brown near the end. I like my £36 one but wouldn't spend £200+ for one person.

RitzyGlitzy · 02/04/2023 10:11

Also way easier to clean, no more oven cleaner or scrubbing baking trays

I don't know about that, DD uses liners for hers as they found cleaning it a pain.
My ovens are self cleaning and I put the baking trays in the dishwasher.

slowquickstep · 02/04/2023 10:15

I use mine to cook everything but casseroles. I have cooked beef, veal, lamb, pork, chicken, partridge and pheasant in it, nothing has been tough or dry. I can't imagine not having one now.

BeretRaspberry · 02/04/2023 10:17

I honestly think it depends what sort of foods you normally eat. We have a Ninja foodi and love it.

It’s handy for me because I can’t always prep/cook due to illness so it’s safer. I/we do ‘boiled’ eggs in it, jacket spuds, sausages (not bacon as much though as I do find that goes a bit tought compared with frying). It’s great for oven stuff like nuggets and chips.

We’ve also done casseroles in the pressure cooker bit, most of the time they were lovely, but once was a bit meh. Then we’ve done panackalty and fajitas and I’ve started doing my mash in the pressure cooker too.

I don’t use the slow cook function because I always think electric slow cookers make everything taste the same and bland. Instead, our oven has a slow cook setting so I use that instead.