to think that air-fryers are just a passing fad?

[EeesandWhizz]

I know that they are everywhere do everything right now, but I'm sure that they'll soon join the steamers, breadmakers and George Foreman grills living in the back of the kitchen cupboard. The slow-cookers can stay on the worktop.

I bought a second hand Ninja Foodie, and to be honest I don't really get it. Do many people that cook from scratch really use them instead of the oven and hob? Or is it more like Pampered Chef that produced a lot of things for people that are not confident cooks that they didn't really need?

I am going to try cooking a 40 minute meringue in it later today though, so that might make me change my mind - I usually leave mine overnight in the oven for maximum crispy gooeyness, but an almost instant pavlova sounds fab!

I consider myself an advanced cook. We are foodies in this house. I love my ninja though. It is 11 in 1 so I can pressure cook, slow cook, sauté etc. I often make fresh stock for soup, empty it, straining into a jug. Sauté veg, add stock back in, pressure cook. Whole thing done within an hour, completely from scratch. I also bake potatoes and fish, roast veg, roast chicken. It is perfect for bacon sandwiches, soufflés, quick mini muffins for the children. Mussels and clams etc are done super fast, bouillabaisse is so speedy!

It is an unusual day when I do not ninja something. I can quickly sort out mini muffins, chicken and veggie nuggets or pinwheels that I do in big batches and freeze when dinner is too salty or spicy for my baby.

It is very rarely anything breaded or beige from a supermarket. Not going to lie though, if dc is turning his nose up at dinner, I sometimes throwin a goodfellas stone baked mini pizza and I do sometimes bread my own fish, chicken etc so I can have goujons ready in no time.

I was sceptical, but I use it multiple times a week.. either for breaded type things (scampi and chips in less than 15 minutes!) or for cooking pieces of fish / chicken quicker than the oven (I had marinated drumsticks last week done in 25 minutes) or for smallish amounts of roasted veg. I also like air fried hash browns for lunch with some scrambled eggs and beans.. I wouldn’t bother turning the oven on for that, but it means I can have a hot lunch on my days at home.

We have two - at least one is used daily, if we're batch cooking for the freezer, both will be used.

We have fewer takeaways, waste less food as its far superior at reheating than any other option we have available, we cook from scratch more as its quicker.

We do not eat more beige food than we used to, if anything less, as we batch cook and freeze in airfryer safe containers, and because scratch cooking is faster we turn to 'freezer surprise' less often.

The oven won't be replaced when the kitchen is (eventually!) done!

Definitely a fad. I can't wait to get back to taking twice as long to cook my food

We were given ours and probably the only thing I would like is an even bigger one!
it’s even encouraged my kids to cook for themselves as for some reason they feel more comfortable with it than the oven (no idea why) and my cooking averse 13 year old was rustling up his “pesto cheese bread” in it the other day without even prompting.

If I wanted to cook a curry, or make a moussaka, can it deal with that? Or are we saying it does the baking bit? I don’t see the need, but I like a gadget if it’s good!

Mine wouldn’t - I’d do a curry on the hob anyway and mine wouldn’t do a bake type thing (lasagne etc) but we don’t tend to eat things like stews and bakes anyway much.
This is my SILs reason for not getting one, she says they have stews and casseroles about 3/4 nights a week and it wouldn’t be worth it.
This is why I think a bigger one would be even better.

So the last few days we’ve had:
fish cakes and home made wedges all air fried
salmon fillets and rice (salmon in air fryer)
chicken stir fry (on hob)
pork chops, roast pots and veg (pork and pots in air fryer)
pasta (hob)
roast beef, pots, yorkshires, veg (beef in slow cooker, pots and yorks in fryer)
omelette and chips (chips in fryer)

My kids often have hash browns, a sausage and egg for breakfast as well and it takes 15 mins. I love sending them off with a cooked brekky.

So you can make Yorkshire puddings in them? Are they puffy?!

25 minutes?! You like your chicken dry, then?

Saved me a fortune! Rather than replace an old electric cooker, I got a 3 shelf air fryer and a ceramic hob
Got my son a drawer type air fryer and it is used daily also

Never again will I be willingly without the air fryer. If I had to I'd give up the microwave, kettle, oven and the toaster first. I usually reheat in the airfryer as it's less soggy a result. I can toast in it. It's as good as the oven which I only use in a Sunday and Christmas now. I use it too much to not heat water on the hob if I had to. It costs less than a quarter to use than the oven. The two essential items in a kitchen are a hob and an airfryer IMO

YABU
They are basically a mini oven. They are not as specific as something like a bread maker, or a PITA to clean like a juicer.
I have only used my main oven for pizza since I got my air fryer over a year ago. I live alone, so my air fryer is perfect for me.
I think they are here to stay.

We have the large Ninja Flex drawer (one big oven that can turn into two compartments) and it’s replaced our oven for the most part. Of course when doing a roast or batch cooking the big oven is used but not every night. It’s quicker to cook food, more of an even cook and is saving us about £1 of electric per hour va the big oven.

So no, I don’t believe it’s a fad for most who are trying to cut down electric costs and who want to save time.

Instant pot is my top kitchen appliance. Airfryer is very handy too. Heats up much faster than the oven so saves energy.

Use it regularly but then we also use our bread maker on an almost daily basis and our Instant pot also gets plenty of use.

I’m tempted to get one. I live alone and often don’t use the oven on the basis it’s so expensive unless I’m cooking lots of meals for the freezer, which I don’t often do. When I have people round to eat it tends to be just one other person. I think with the price of electricity (block of flats is entirely electric), anything that shortens cooking time and handles things that arent suitable for the microwave, would be appreciated.

A lot of things marketed as air fryer utensils are to make money. I use normal baking tins in mine that fit. It’s just a small oven ultimately.

I bloody love mine and I no longer use my oven for anything. I don’t quite get the concept of the ones with drawers - I like to be able to see the food as it’s cooking, so I have two that have front opening doors and glass at the front to see the food inside. My newer one is big enough for a 12” pizza. Cooked a full roast between the two tonight, and it’s fab for quick lunches as there’s no dicking around waiting for the oven to heat up.

@madaboutmad I make Yorkshire's in mine. They come out well risen and fluffy.

@IdleAnimations I don't have any special utensils either, like you I use metal loaf tins etc. I don't see the need to buy into that market.

We use ours all the time. I've really noticed the difference in the electric used when I've had my oven on a couple of times this week.

We roast chicken in it, do roasted veg, roast potatoes, baked potatoes, it's great for a quick tea between school and clubs when kids are all eating at different times.

Microwaves were once a fad.

electric kettles. What’s wrong with a kettle on the hob?

toasters.. I mean you have a grill in the oven. Why do you need a separate machine just to toast bread?

my ninja thingy has a lift up lid and is a grill/flat plate/ air fryer etc in one thing and since we got it last summer - we have rarely used the oven and hob and I cook from scratch a lot. Boiling pasta/rice is not something I do in it (yet…).

it heats up faster, cooks faster etc and as it’s at worktop height it’s easier for me to manage than the oven.

my elderly parents now have one as fhey weren’t convinced until they saw what I can do in mine.

my partner now has one at his house and loves it for the spring rolls and all sorts that he makes.

it’s fabulous for some cakes, tea loafs, breads and brownies.

im making tahini cookies in mine tomorrow.

What type do you have? I cook loads, but ‘make’ things - sauces, curry, risotto, pizza, bread, katsu curry etc. I’m not baking that much stuff, but do make cakes and biscuits regularly.
If I make a roast I have 2 ovens going: cauliflower cheese, roast meat, potatoes, yorkshires, stuffing. Am I missing a trick? … my bills are huge!

I've just tried this, eggs turned out perfectly soft boiled.
Much more convenient than boiling on the stove.

I don’t think so because they can be used to cook so many foods unlike soup maker, bread maker etc

I rarely use my oven now it’s great for storage of pans

like the microwave it’s become a multi use item in many kitchens