To ask if you have an air fryer..

[Murphs1]

Do you use it much and can you cook family meals in it quicker than using your oven?
Im looking at the dual max ninja but it is a big investment and I’m not 100 percent sure I’ll use it enough. Need some inspiration!!

This is one of my questions as I don't understand how you could make a casserole or stew? That's why I got the Instapot - you can saute, brown and pressure or slow cook.

Maybe I'm just missing something with the fryer. I'm happy with my diddy one though.

I think the way to think of them if you are trying to decide, is that it is just a small oven.
So rather than pre heat a huge oven, then cook 4 fishfingers in it for however long, heat a tiny oven and cook in there.
All food that you would normally put in an oven goes in the small oven aka airfryer.

I've got a two drawer one, and used my big oven today for the first time in yonks, to make a huge cheesecake.

@LittleDrops Yes you can cook from frozen, same way as you can with a normal oven. Getting the timing/temp right can be a little bit trial and error but you adapt quickly. With mine I find I get the best results if I reduce the temperature by @ 25% and the cooking time by 25/30% compared to the normal oven. Because it doesn’t take any time to get up to temperature it’s easy to check at a certain point and then if needed add another couple of minutes cooking time.

I have the dual ninja and I regularly cook full roast chickens in it.

I now only use my oven for pizza

Is it good for vegi food ....sorry yo sound dump but I'm not a fan off fried food so it put me off.
Definitely like the idea of anything needing less cooking

I think it depends on what you like. People are often raving about making halloumi in the air fryer, although I tend to just fry mine. And lots of people make fajitas in it.

For me, jacket potatoes and roasted vegetables are regulars and I love how they come out in the air fryer, as well as the speed and convenience so I'd say yes.

Probably NOT what you meant, but I also sometimes buy/make things like veggie tarts - spanakopita style - and they come out brilliantly in the airfare and I love it because I can cook just one for me at lunch.

Really revolutionises use of leftovers. I would never heat oil to deep fry arancini made from leftover risotto or little pastries filled with leftover curry or aloo tiki made from leftover mash but I'm always making this sort of thing in the air fryer for lunch. It's also great for chicken wings and chip shop chips re-heated in the air fryer are a revelation. There's an Indian recipe called "Cauliflower Manchurian" for which an air fryer can be used and it is delicious. Bacon is excellent, as are grilled mushrooms and tomatoes.

@AbsolutelyNebulous I agree with you re rule of thumb for timing and temperatures although mine is quite small so I often find I actually drop the time by about half. I had chips in mine the other day (frozen oven chips) and it recommended air fryer for about 20 minutes I think and regular oven for about 25 but I only felt they needed about 15.

In answer to ur questions.Yes and Yes! It gets used pretty much daily and mainly for dinner sometimes lunches/breakfast (sausages cook lovely and quickly in it) and it's great for reheating food especially pizza!

I had a small one to begin with but wasn't big enough for family of 4 and was constantly having to wait on it finishing to cook something else or still using the oven. So I got the twin tray ninja and it's fabulous.

The only thing I really use my oven for now is big pizzas.

I've even done a roast chicken in it only took about an hour. Homemade chips, roast potatoes and veg. Everything is much quicker in it and I find often need to put the temp down a little from what packaging states. Honestly it is a big investment money wise but it's more than worth it. I wish I'd got the twin one a lot sooner!

We also have the ninja duel. I wouldn't say I've monitored it for cost savings, but I do like the way it cooks. I'm not a great cook I have to say, but steaks come out perfectly as does anything else I've cooked in it. Usually any grilling or frying smells in the house, but it seems to keep this to a minimum too. I love mine.

Apologies if it’s been missed and this is definitely a silly question, but how do you do jacket potatoes in it? I have one and use it all the time but never tried a jacket potato

We are a family of 6 - 4 adults plus dc of 13 and 9. Would we benefit? And if so what should we get?

I have a Tefal Actifry which is an air fryer but which you can put liquids in so make curries etc.

This does very nice home made chips. It has a paddle in the middle that constantly turns the food so you don't need to shake the chips and you use a little oil more oil than with a standard air fryer so perhaps not quite as healthy. The chips are really good though.

I also want to get a Ninja dual drawer airfryer so I can cook a full meal. However I have just bought a Panda mini rice cooker and as I've already got an Instant Pot pressure cooker and Tefal Actifry airfryer, getting a Ninja as well might be gadget overload.

Love mine. Would rather get rid of the oven than the airfryer. I only use the oven for pizza and cakes.

Love mine and sometimes use it twice a day. Hash browns in it are amazing and like loads of people have said its so much quicker than the oven.

However it is shocking for snacks. If I'm doing online training I'll often have chips for my lunch or chilli cheese bites for a snack as its so quick.

The benefit of doing them in the air fryer as opposed to the oven is it's faster and cheaper.
I use my slow cooker for stews, but the air fryer for casseroles.
It takes literally half the time that an oven takes.
I put everything in a pan that has small steel handles on the side, cover in foil, take the tray out of the fryer, put the pan in and set it going.
Comes out lovely.

I'm going to treat myself to one for my birthday. Family of four - 2 adults and 2 teens. What size should I get?

It would be for baked potatoes, chips, and freezer food for the teens like fish fingers etc.

We got solar panels recently and I couldn't believe the electricity that the oven uses! Hoping one of these will help if we're just heating garlic bread etc but slightly confused by all the different makes and sizes!

We got one... liked it... got a second!

We have not really used our oven since getting them .

We have the ninja dual drawer jobby, and the instant pot duo lid thing with the pressure cook lid and the air fryer lid.

Between those, for two adults, there is never a need to use the oven and when my kitchen is re-done, we won't replace the oven (but we might get a combi microwave).

We do a lot of frozen stuff - however also a lot of from scratch and then batch cooked and frozen things.

Speed - not reallllllly an issue, it is a bit quicker in most cases, but i got them as it seems frivolous to put the whole oven on to cook half a tray of something!

Think about how often you actually use the whole oven - if thats most meals and you're almost never heating up the oven for one tray or half a tray of something, then no they probably won't be the miracle kitchen gadget many say they are.

Having the ability to pressure cook and airfry (either two lots at the same temp or two different things) across the two gadgets, plus a microwave and hob, we can cook anything you could cook with an oven.

It does take a bit of getting used to vs oven cooking, the order you might do things in - but I think that would be the same as learning to get the best out of any new gizmo.

Love mine. Saves time & money. Kids use it to make kebabs, chips, chicken, mini pizzas etc. you can quickly bake partly baked bread rolls, ciabatta too & baked potatoes or basically anything you’d put in the oven. Highly recommended, rarely use the oven now.

We have the Ninja 15 in 1. I can honestly say that it is the most used bit of kitchen equipment we have. I make chilli con carne, casseroles, varying types of potatoes, roast veg, soup, poached eggs, cakes...I could go on. I hardly ever use the main oven now except when I make a roast as not everything will fit in.

I have a Tefal 9 litre one with 2 cooking pockets. It's supposed to cook a whole chicken but I just use it for chips which it is really good for and hash browns. Quicker than oven so cheaper

If my ninja broke tomorrow morning I'd have a new one ordered by 10am!

The oven had been on twice since I bought it 7 months ago (obviously still use the hob)

I make everything in it. Mince and dumplings is a favourite, cauliflower cheese, belly pork..

You would need a 9 ltr one at least.
Try a dual drawer one with each drawer being 4.5 ltr. It doesn't have to be a ninja, cheaper ones are just as good if you just want it for what you said.

I have the cossori dual zone. I think it's 6.4l. use it most days. Have got accessories like a rack, cake tin etc. Love it. I cook our roast dinner in it. Roast chicken 45 mins, roast potatoes 20. Less mess. Good for quick lunches like panini/toasties. Lots of great recipes on Instagram. Hardly use the oven.