to consider an airfryer for teenage snacks

[babystep]

We're a family of five with a not-massive kitchen (it's not poky but surface and storage space pretty full). Have sometimes been tempted by an airfryer but felt that one big enough to feed us all would be too big for the kitchen.

Eldest is nearly 13, always after a snack especially after school and after sports on weekends (random timings so not always near a meal when he gets nack from a match). Middle is not far behind in age and a massive grazer anyway. Currently they resort to toast and cereal, plus toasties and somtimes yogurt but too often sweets too so am trying to give them healthier options (as well as stopping having too many sweet bits in house)

I've heard people talking positively about air fryers to quickly cook single chicken fillets, reheat leftovers, other quick but interesting snack options. I'm often WFH in this snacking time of day so I can be there to half supervise or to point them towards stuff, but ideally want them to be getting it on their own without me.

People with airfyers and teenagers, do you find they are useful for this sort of thing? I'm thinking we wouldn't need something massive if it was just for one or two snacks? Or should I just stop being swayed by trends and make them use the oven/microwave?

You can deffo do whole chickens in these. Put it in upside down. Delicious

Buy the greaseproof disposable liners from Amazon, they save having to wash the drawers out so often & are brilliant if you are cooking anything like roast veg or portions of something like salmon or chicken, keep the juices around whatever you are cooking.

We have a small cheap one. It gets used all the time by my young adults who still live at home and often eat at different times or want a midnight snack. I have just made a mini pizza for lunch in it - there is no way I would have turned on my large oven for that. When it dies I will get a better one but right now it does the job. Would highly recommend for what you want.

Agree, these are essential for slovenly teens.

I do love the oven-style ones with shelves though, DP has one and you can fit so much more in. It's big - about the size and shape of a microwave - but you can store things on top of it.

I have a small kitchen with limited space (low cupboards over the work tops) I have a small air fryer and it is fabulous.

Iceland have started putting air fryer instructions on lots of their food so sausage rolls, chicken nuggets.

They have less processed food such as sweet potato fries, meatballs and steak (you might not want to encourage the eating of steak) quite a lot of fish and chicken.

Mine is too small for the disposable liners but I got a set of silicone ones in different sizes.

I would say get a small one for the teens, I know someone has mentioned the liners but will your children use them?

If they don't then the drawer needs to be cleaned if they have cooked something fatty.

I also agree with getting tongs.

yes definitely helpful for that kind of thing. My teen DD uses the air fryer a lot, she cooks a chicken breast in there a lot as she likes to make a creamy chicken pasta. It really has been used a lot, I wouldn’t be without one now

This is the reason we got ours OP. It seemed nuts to have the oven on preheating and then cooking for eg 12 mini spring rolls. Space is at a bit of a premium for us too, so although we went bigger, we picked a multi-function model with a slow cooker so we were essentially swapping the bulk of one kitchen item for another, not adding to the collection. Ours has a pressure cooker too, which I've never owned before, but now use more than the slow cooker function.
We still use the oven for bigger meals and pizzas, but things like pasta bakes and hotpots are cooked in the big pot of the air fryer.

Ah that's a good idea @SkankingWombat , do you mind sharing which one you got? Our slow cooker is old and slightly broken (works but not as effective as it used to be) so I could dispose of that and make a bit of space.

That's pretty much the reason I got mine - I was fed up with my DSs heating up the whole oven for a tray of chicken fillets. Usually at different times to each other.

It's turned out to be so good at all sorts of things that I rarely use the main oven now.

Exactly the same here!

They are basically just a small, enclosed, much more intensely hot oven really, rather than a fryer I think?

We had young adults visiting last night and I did a fakeaway of crispy chicken (chicken had been cut up, seasoned, and lightly coated in corn flour and spices) and I whacked that in the air fryer along with some greens in other compartment. And then cooked some udon noodles and sauce on the stove top and it was all so quick and easy!

Get a big one I use mine nearly daily , different family members come in starving at different times and it's quick and easy to use to cook a quick meal.

I resisted a while as I am a cook-from-scratch person and we don't do a lot of beige food. But the oven barely gets turned on - great for chicken portions, sausages , crisping up leftovers , toasted wraps , roasted veg, home made meatballs / koftas , fishfillets ( actually quarter side of salmon fits in) an on a Friday it fit a whole frozen pizza. The 10 year old can use it .

This one looks like a good multicooker option and on sale, but I kind of worry everything would end up with a slight hint of slow cooker stew once you'd done that in it

I have the older version of this.

I have done stews, shepherds pies, bolognaise in it as well as chips, bacon, sausages, roast potatoes and a whole roast chicken.

As long as you clean the bowl, your food won't taste of anything else

Go for it. We got a small one specifically so the older kids could make themselves snacks or hot food if they were not going to be about for meal time. It is also fab if they want to heat a croissant or a scone rather than heating the whole oven and as it has a timer they cannot forget to turn it off!

I really want to get one but can only afford one of the cheaper ranges, which dont have as good reviews. Can anyone recommend a cheaper one that is still pretty decent?

I'm thinking of getting one after reading this thread. Have 2 teenagers and it sounds ideal for after school snacks.
Thinking of getting this https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSORI-Cookbook-1700-Watt-Touchscreen-Nonstick/dp/B07N8QY3YH?th=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=mnairfryers-21&linkId=571f885eb47744ea16052aabdf0931b1&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&ascsubtag=swearsby%2Fbest-air-fryers_amcid--PnVwLI_5~17286405~0~denm1t~15zqkwr

anyone got this?

We also have the older version of this. There definitely isn't a lingering taste of dishes past, even when we've cooked things like beef rendang or curry goat in it.

Buy the best you can afford because after a few months with a inexpensive small one you will upgrade

I have this one, it is on Amazon for bout £35/36.

https://www.techradar.com/reviews/tower-t17025-compact-15l-air-fryer-review

It is too small for a family meal but is fine for me on my own. In fact I got my dad the same one as he lives alone too.

If you are using it purely for teens then it should be fine and caould be packed off to uni.

This could be a game changer for the whole family. I would get one with two compartments. They also sell food liners for the food in the air fryer so that is easy to clean. We do chips and most things you would fry there. Better also than the oven for sausages and salmon.

I love it for all sorts although generally unhealthy stuff - bacon, hash browns, potato faces, fries, chicken burgers

My only concern about the one you linked to is whether it's a bit fiddly for impatient teens. I got this one; Daewoo which is like a small oven with a rotisserie feature. It's simple to do all the snacky food mentioned, an extra portion of sides when cooking a big meal and the rotisserie chicken/potato basket thing is fun.

We put off buying an air flyer for ages and couldn’t see what all the hype was about but eventually gave in and got a duel ninja which has become the most used appliance in our house 🤣 everything gets cooked in it from kids snacks to roast dinners, I only turn my oven on nowerdays if I’m cooking a pizzas.

if I were remodelling my kitchen I’d have to have a serious think about if I could even justify buying an oven!

I have this one. It's fabulous, and after getting over my initial fear, I use the pressure cooker all the time. No more soaking pulses!

My oven blew up just before Christmas last year and I've not bothered replacing it. I'm a cook from scratch person, and not found anything I can't whack in the Ninja.