Will an air fryer help my elderly mum ?

[ooooohnoooooo]

Posting here for traffic (sorry)

My mum is mid 80s and lives alone, miles away. She's pretty independent and likes decent food but is increasingly struggling and using ready meals and stuff we batch cook for her. She's getting more clumsy too. I'm worried for her cooking safety.

Her oven is dangerous and low down - it has a massive heavy shelf that tips up and she can't bend easily.

I'm thinking of getting her a simple air fryer. I don't have one, so know nothing, have googled but still confused

Can anyone advise plse of a model that is

• easy to use (dials instead of electronic display?)
• easy to clean or dishwasher safe
• that can fit a ready meal - and that you can get it out safely when hot. I've seen videos where people create a silver foil sling thing but can't imagine she'd manage that faff.

Thanks vipers (especially the air frying ones 😬).

Any other hints or tips to help keep my mum happy and safe at home are also welcome.

Elderly parents, such a worry 😔

I purchased one for an elderly aunt and the best choice was a cheap one from b&m.It has two dials, one for temperature and one for time.The time switch actually ticked so that was great for her.
Carers coming into her home can now make her meals and she's requested simple things like sausage rolls, piece of fish etc.Previous to this the carers would have written in the book that Mary requested a fishcake but we couldn't provide it for her as the oven needed to be preheated, they may have given her a biscuit instead.It's made life so much easier, just keep it small and simple.

For veg a plastic (mine is sistema) steamer for microwave is perfect.

And ps i microwave the Charlie Bingham meals. I know it says not too but they taste better than oven baking at least the rice based ones do.

Ive just given my one to my mum (76) as she thought it would be simpler. Great for heating up stuff and basic cooking like sausages - saying that we're veggie so use veggie sausages but I imagine meat cooks fine too.

I like that, when my very cheap Tower gives up the ghost I will probably get something like this, I use mine a lot and I'm still fairly able but I find getting dishes out difficult when they're hot. One advantage of an air fryer which I've not seen mentioned is that if, like me, someone tends to puts stuff under the grill and forget about it until the smoke alarm goes off it's great, I can put a couple of sausages in it on Sunday, run down to collect the newspaper and they're done when I get home!

Table top oven is the best option I've always had one over a huge oven and can cook everything a big one can air fryer I would probably avoid

Me too.

In terms of the air fryer I'd go with one that has a door like a tabletop oven, as suggested by @Soontobe60 and others upthread. It should be easier to take things in and out, and looks more like a familiar appliance she's used to - which should help with the learning curve.

"Here's a little countertop oven which will save you bending down and cost less to run" is an easy message to understand and will hopefully lead to it being understood and used. "Here's an air fryer, it's a completely new category of appliance that's going to revolutionise the way you cook" is likely to lead to it wasting worktop space or being put away in a drawer! I've bought enough things for older relatives and seen them end up unused....

Incidentally, I think it might be worth looking more carefully at the amount of salt in things. The single portion Charlie Bigham fish pie contains 2.21 gramme of salt. Of the first dozen microwave ready meals for one on Sainsbury's website I looked at, only one (Taste the Difference cottage pie) contained significantly more salt (2.9 g) and the rest were roughly split 50:50 between those with a very similar salt content (2 to 2.3 g) and those containing significantly less (e.g., sweet and sour chicken and rice has 1.1 g, lamb moussaka 1.6 g, cod with parsley sauce, mash and veg 1.5g).

I wouldn't have let late MIL go anywhere near one.

The sistema rice cooker for the microwave is a total game changer of simple perfectly cooked rice EVERY time.

I have gifted several of them.

I was given a hallogen oven by a friend but returned it, hated it. Felt the food was dried out.

Love my large air fryer.

That wonder 6 in 1 over looks like a great option.

I can cook a Charlie Bigham's fish pie in our air fryer.

I would test a few times if it sets the the smoke alarm off. Ours does and havnt quite worked out the reason why! I would also invest in the silicone inserts that can go in the dishwasher

Both my mum and my MIL have had them this year and both use them a lot. They both have ones with dials that we got from Asda. Simple but robust designs. Both use them daily and can cook a whole meal in one go. We tried silicone inserts and my MIL likes them but my mum prefers to wash hers out.

Best thing we have bought them and has really improved their independence as cooking is so much easier.

I would get one like a mini oven rather than one with a basket as it would be hard to get a Bingham meal out of a basket without burning yourself.

such as https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/product/ninja-foodi-10-in-1-multifunction-oven-dt200uk-zidDT200UK

I got my 87 year old mum a Lakeland air fryer and it was a game changer. No more walking backwards and forwards to check the oven/grill as stuff could go in and stay until cooked. It was digital but not complicated and she just read the manual. I’d thoroughly recommend it as a way forward.

My nan (age 91) has this tower one and uses it a lot. It only has 2 dials, temperature and time so she finds it really easy to use. She wouldn't be able to use a digital one.

The draw itself is pretty light so stuff like chips she just tips the tray onto her plate to get them out. Anything that needs lifting out more gently she uses a silicone basket thing and glove style oven gloves like these. Or if you want to be extra safe the RNIB sells elbow length versions.

She does have pretty good hand mobility for her age though, not much arthritis. If your mum wouldn't be able to lift stuff up and out the oven style ones may be better like this.

Airfryers are great, however, its important that they understand that food usually cooks at a slightly lower temperature and needs less time.

So there's a small risk that they may cook something that's overcooked or burnt on the outside, but undercooked inside.

My Mum reluctantly got one, now she swears by it. She cooks everything in it, including ready meals. Her rule of thumb for most things is half the time it takes in the oven - it's usually pretty effective

It's great she doesn't have to bend down to get stuff out and doesn't need to worry about forgetting about something or not hearing the timer

An air fryer is just a small oven. I'd definitely recommend getting one for her

Is there the option of buying her a new oven?

When my mum was in her 80s, we bought her a new electric oven with 2 ovens- a small top one which is perfect for one-person meals and she even does casseroles in it (made from scratch.) The top oven is also a grill.

It was about £250. Far from top of the range but it does the job.

She does a lot of meals in her microwave which she learned to use, well into her 80s. She's been asking for an air fryer but I've not jumped!

My dad is 80 and has mastered an air fryer in the last year, more than he has his smartphone anyway. Worth a try, ideal for small portions.

I have the Tower one, already linked up thread. It's really easy to use and you can do anything in it that you can do in a conventional oven, just takes a bit less time. I recommended it to an elderly friend of mine, who is getting on very well with it.

There is no advice to add as everything has been covered. I just wanted to say that you sound so lovely, OP! Good luck finding the right solution for your mom. x

Get her an air fryer and a Crimpet.

She can add fillings and then air fry the Crimpet.

My 88 year old friend recently got a Ninja air fryer and is loving it.

Thankyou everyone. What a wonderful bunch of vipers you are 😍

I'll deffo look at the table top ones as I think she'll find them easier. Off to see her tomorrow and will see what she thinks 😬

I hate this distant-parent-needing care malarkey. It makes me feel so helpless