Will an air fryer change my life?

[Mlanket]

Pondering whether I should buy an air fryer, will I use it or will it take up space on the counter?

Me too I love mine! I've had it for a year and still learning all the different stuff it can do.

Join the cult. I haven't looked back since I got mine. I even gave serious consideration to whether I could fit it in my suitcase for holiday this year.

In all seriousness, I've used my oven about 4 times this year. Also I love the air fryer for my 12 yr old, it's much safer for her to use than the oven so she can cook things herself, she loves it.

Good for crispy bacon and sausages - doesn't fill the kitchen with smells like an oven for some reason

I've got one and meh. I think it depends what kind of food you eat. We are a very curry, chilli, spaghetti bolognaise, pasta bake kind of family. All of which is too saucy for air fryer.

Basically I use mine for chips, great chips they are too.

We've just got the Ninja combi 14 n 1, I am a convert. It sits on our hob (our hob has a lid). We have not used the main oven since at all and only used the hob once (we move it to the side when we want the hob)

Its not perfect and we are still practising with a number of experiments but I am very keen on it so far. I will be chucking out the slow cooking and toaster.

To add, I wouldnt have had an airfryer on its own, I wanted something with shelves which can do proper baking/roasting/frying/slow cooking/grill/rice cookign, I dont like the idea of the funny little drawers, awkward for me as I have problems with dexterity and it would be fiddly for me.

I've bought the one with shelves rather than drawers but how do you know temp or timings for cooking if it's different to a normal oven? I really have no idea so it's just sitting there getting dusty 😕

Also can you use metal trays in it (you can't in microwave but can in normal oven) or is it pyrex or silicone only?

We sold ours.
Everything we cooked seemed greasy despite not using oil. The smell was unpleasant too.
We have a built in microwave/mini oven which is far better

You have to practice. This is all we have been dong since ours arrived a couple of weeks ago. We find it massively hot. Cut times and temperatures right down.

Darling, you can fly to Paris in it!!!
They're wonderful.

😆😆

Game changer. I cook for 1 and do everything in it. But have put it in a cupboard as takes up a lot of space

I have a ninja air fryer. In the booklet, it says to cook chicken wings for 26/30 minutes but I find them overcooked. How long do you cook yours for?
Also how long for a full chicken?
Any ideas?

We keep looking but cannot work out if it would suit us. Typical meals a week at ours for 5 people are:

Stir fry (chicken or beef or prawn)
Chilli
Roast
Poached eggs
All.in one chicken and Mediterranean veg
Spaghetti bol
Lentil and carrot soup
Fajitas
Cottage pie
Steamed veg (with nearly every meal)

Would it be worth it?

I got my first ( The Tefal one that spins round) in 2010.. always had one.. l have a duel drawer now.. l had my oven professionally cleaned in 2010 and l think I've used it about once a year.
I make cakes/ scones/ Yorkshire puddings/ sausage rolls and pies in mine.. as well as the usual.. for heating things.. smoked haddock l put in a tin tray with butter on.
Chicken breasts in marinate.
Roasted onions and Mushrooms n tomatoes.
Basically anything you cook in an oven you can do in the airfryer.. it's just a mini oven.. but quicker and more convenient .
It's not just for Chicken nuggets and chips.
Go for it and enjoy.

Love mine, only used the oven about 3 times since we got it in July (for big stuff).

Got a big double drawer one (one small, one big) as gives you more options. You can double the cooking space with wire racks.

Don't have to wait ages for the oven chips anymore :D

Just make sure you turn the right drawer on though, and not the empty one ;-)

We have one as DH was desperate to get one. I have to admit that I thought it might be a gadget we didn’t really use but have to say I use my oven way less now. It’s brilliant and so much quicker and easier. We have a dual drawer one

No. Everyone on my house eats more ultra processed beige food because we have an air fryer,

Thin, healthy people don't use them.

I have the one with shelves too
I knock about 20c off the temp and then just rely on knowing when it's cooked really (I have a meat thermometer) as to if it's bubbling/browned etc

Great with my teenage son. He can heat up his bits of ultra processed foods.

Absolute nonsense. This week I have used mine every day to:
Cook half-baked Baguettes
Bake potatoes
Roast veg for soup
Roast veg for fajitas.
Cook a cottage pie
Cook baked oatmeal

As usual, there's a whiff of snobbery whenever air fryers are mentioned.

People who think they are only good for Nuggets and chips clearly are not imaginative cooks.

There is a woman on YouTube who did reviews of many of the airfryers. Including all the ninja ones and their pros and cons, especially the dual zone one (difficult to clean due to large size) and the stacked one (doesn't cook as evenly) , which is what made me go for for the large double drawers instead.

Everyone's needs are different so worth a watch before buying.

Airfyers are great for sausages, twenty minutes from frozen at 180c, turn once.
Bacon I do on the rack, the fat drips down and I chuck potatoes in it later for a roast (my family are from Yorkshire! ).
They are wonderful if you can't bend down, it really helped me after my illness. Ideal for aged parents.
I have cooked Yorkshire in mine but my DC like seeing the huge pud out of the oven.
It's fuss free and I find people help their selves.
I do spag bol in mine for my DD using a silicone liner. It's ideal for small portions like that. Less chance of burning.
You can use metal and foil. It's just a very hot mini oven.

Like pp's have already stated, I find mine invaluable.

Even though there are only the two of us at home now, I have 2 big Air fryers. A Ninja 15 in one - does just about everything and superb for cooking whole chickens. A medium chicken takes just 40 mins on steam roast.👍. However, I also have a Gourmet professional 12l oven style one as I find this one much better for baking.
Also my husband is always using the Ninja for making casseroles etc. The Ninja is also brilliant at grilling steaks
whereas I prefer the Gourmet for baked chicken portions.

I have a big Rangemaster range cooker which is little more than decoration these days as you can imagine.🤣