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?

We bought ours to improve our diets as, for various reasons, we were all now eating at different times.

Much easier and nicer to marinade 3-4 chicken breast/salmon fillet etc with a few spices or a marinade, and chop up some veg to roast and leave in the fridge ready to use. Then each person can stick their own portion in the airfryer when they get home/are ready to eat and get freshly cooked food in 20m.

We eat less white pasta and white rice because it is easier to do meat and veg (including some potatoes/sweet potatoes along with other mixed veg). dh/ds also enjoy a burger most weeks and in the airfryer a lot of the excess fat drains away compared to pan frying. Oven chips are much nicer in the airfryer and they do use them but only once/twice a week, they now prefer potato wedges as they cook much easier than on a tray in the oven.

I agree it is "lazy" cooking, but lazy doesn't mean unhealthy.

My Ninja 15 in 1 has broken and I'm bereft. Didn't realise how much we used it.

Im not sure what is lazy about cooking with a particular piece of equipment or appliance, what on earth does that mean?

@Cyclingmummy1 what is the 15 in 1?

If it's the 'best bolognaise ever', the pp must have had some pretty dire bolognaise

Probably a really daft question, but doesn't a silicone liner defeat the point? I thought the air was supposed to flow through.

Ok you have a point. It is the best bolognaise for a mid-week meal with no effort and very healthy. Obviously a ‘gourmet’ bolognaise made by Marcus waring that was simmered gently over an open wood smoke fire in an Italian chateau with reduced Rioja and Parmesan from La Rinascente may taste even better.
I loved my version though.

I was going to give the recipe for the ‘best prawn curry’ ever in the ninja speedi. But I’m not sure it would be appreciated.

I personally don’t think that an air fryer changes your life but I do think that a multi-functional cooker like the ninja speedi (other brands are available) certainly can improve life quality. Air frying is just the least that it can do.

@soupfiend it's an air fryer/pressure cooker/ multi cooker.

I've got a Cosori pressure cooker, it cooks a stew or a gammon joint in less than 40mins it's can excellent piece of kit. I have 2 air fryers the first single basket one (retired also Cosori) and the ninja double drawer with meat thermometer, that didn't really work as was demonstrated. Tbh the Cosori would probably be better for me because the one basket it more roomy (and I rarely use the 2 together)

I thought it just blew it over the top.

I have this one and love it. I’ve used my actual oven about 5 times in 1 1/2 years 😆 easy to clean and everything cooks quickly. I love the rotisserie function and the chip basket as it can evenly cook chips but also smaller things like nuggets. Perfect for those nights where you just need to heat something quickly. Edit to add that because it doesn’t have drawers I use 9” square baking tins for stuff like pasta bake, lasagne, Sheperds pie etc. also handy for chicken fillets etc or smaller portions of food.

https://www.daewooelectricals.com/kitchen-c54/air-fryers-c24/daewoo-12l-rotisserie-air-fryer-oven-p191

I would certainly appreciate the recipe please!

I'm a big ninja fan!
I just went from xl grill to the one you are talking about
9.5 litres. Perfect for us a family of 5 and when we have a few guest!
Can cook 4 separate things at once

Big game changer

Please bear in mind that you could use ninja speedi to do a prawn curry in normal way with long slow sauté etc. this is just a quicker ninja speedi way and my way for a nice mid week dinner.
Mix raw king prawns (cleaned) with onions, mushrooms, garlic, chilli and any other curry spices e.g. garam masala etc.Marinate for a little while. Then put rice in bottom of pot with half coconut milk and water. Put the top crisper tray on and put the marinated ingredients there. Run speedi meals setting for 10 minutes. Once 10 minutes is up mix everything together and steam for 10 mins. 20 MINUTES IN TOTAL! Just to save confusion as the bolognaise was also 20 minutes in total and very similar to this recipe. Just different ingredients. You can obviously add some grated coconut and other ingredients before the final 10 minutes steaming. Because of the raw prawns I would turn them over after 5 mins on speedi meals setting,

a good thing is that you don’t need to watch it or stand over it as it won’t stick to the bottom with this method. The onions prawns etc. are crisped up nicely before being mixed in and so saves sautéing them.

From previous feedback it’s obviously not for everyone. And it’s about experimenting with the equipment. To get what suits yourselves.

Mine was acquired from a colleague three years ago for a tenner (expat...people sell their stuff when they move on, which is excellent for long stayers like me!).

It's a basic, older model with one drawer & I absolutely love it.

When I first bought it I had 3 teenage dc at home & it was super handy for them cooking beige snacks.

It was also a useful bit of kit for family cooking - roasting a chicken to have with salad, or doing chips to go with something on the hob, or garlic bread or samosas etc etc.

I still used my oven quite a bit when cooking for four, but the AF was really useful when only part of the meal needed an oven.

Now down to me & dd2 at home & I'd say I seldom need the oven.

Tomorrow I'm doing roast salmon with tapenade (AF) alongside lemon mash with broccoli steamed over the potatoes. Less faff than panfrying the salmon & quicker than the oven.

Would I buy a fancier model when this one packs up? Probably not. I'd buy another 2nd hand one.

So it might be worth considering how much you want to spend on bells & whistles - but yes, absolutely great piece of kit.

So lets all agree, air fryer means tiny oven/grill/fry pan. If you can cook in those methods, you can cook it in an air fryer

Lets all agree that air fryer ( tiny oven ) can, and does (bove the most basic of models ), a lot more then "air fry"

Lets also agree that its a great help in the kitchen and it doesn't just cook "beige food"

Some even do sous vide , Im pretty sure "commoners" wouldn't have a clue what that is but hey its a function :)

No an air fryer is not going to change your life or make you a better cook. However if like myself Im a busy person, come home from work tired, have often forgotten to get something out of the freezer, they are a brilliant bit of kit

This!

Whats your ratio of liquid to rice in that situation. We have the combi and still trying to get rice right. Tonight was perfect but other times I have done the exact same thing and its not cooked it on 'cook' but has by the time its been on keep warm for a while, bizarre.

I cook rice a lot even on its own. Ratio i use is 1 in 2 i.e 1 part rice 2 parts liquid. I generally add another 1/4 liquid. Stops anything sticking. E.g. 1 cup rice 2.25 cups liquid.

Speedi on speedi meals for the default 10 mins (plus preheating which it does automatically) does rice perfectly at that ratio

I looked at the one I was interested in today & have ordered it online. So thank you all.

Now can I ask for a good cookbook to go alongside?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Air-Fryer-Cookbook-super-easy/dp/0711287597/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1MDELP3GDNBJC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.BLbo_AVJw5kktP0Sz1BPMwlejdJM6e5FT36wAyADwXlfJM_dVEz2CTv4-LmhRZ1i9Tg2qe9t_wndofhz9vbSQ6n3A7uZk7p0fH0QifyPwNONhKZd57ATM_sMYR4DPhTYHnQYZIZUtz9f0UakWsESBNse3Eo62PH13o4CHwbIQD8Ucqpg9Eh1gXCTOaE-pZQsFSEOcz3ysvAECFGA7tTgL1UXvsTMoXVUDue1w8Qa0_I.LY35r-U8vxt2fPBaJkKII4yLUE3BLlTYYRDyh-MzZiI&dib_tag=se&keywords=airfryer+cookbook&qid=1731189238&sprefix=airfry%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-9

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Air-Fryer-Easy-Everyday-super-simple/dp/0711298130/ref=pd_bxgy_d_sccl_2/258-4141663-6965616?pd_rd_w=8xJau&content-id=amzn1.sym.02820c73-8608-4218-9735-1554b4beb596&pf_rd_p=02820c73-8608-4218-9735-1554b4beb596&pf_rd_r=WGPE8M6WY0C55R83XRKP&pd_rd_wg=vei5H&pd_rd_r=3492d242-0a2d-41e3-887e-18d4e87ebc5f&pd_rd_i=0711298130&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Air-Fryer-Recipe-Book/dp/0578259133/ref=sr_1_1?crid=AHER85PHN59C&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Oxa-HffknugiiRlZ8dt7dw.LGDRPK9ePAfFKX2jXec4rHHApMub3NyEzLwWbCCo8oU&dib_tag=se&keywords=yoder+cathy&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1731189313&s=books&sprefix=yoder+cathy%2Cstripbooks%2C100&sr=1-1

Plus countless youtube videos and channels, plus the series Jamie Oliver did

Sorry I dont know why those links come up like that

@soupfiend thank you I will check them out.

I've had mine a few weeks and I'm definitely a convert. I've used if for really good jacket potatoes (I do microwave them for a bit first), halloumi, roast broccoli, sausages (take ten mins and come out perfect, nice and brown), homemade chips, paneer cubes, roast cabbage. Homemade fish cakes too - always need loads of oil to get them to fry crispy and could never get them crispy in the oven, but the airfryer did it and with no oil.

Yes, it's also handy for fish fingers, chicken nuggets etc but I use it far more for other stuff. Agree it's not a replacement oven due to size but it does do a lot. I haven't bought any of the sort of attachmenty bits you can use to expand the use even more yet either