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?

This was why I didn’t want one. We have nothing utilitarian or ugly on any kitchen surface. Our kids bought one for my husband but only on the proviso it would be living in the utility room.

It gets used as far as I can tell, but I don’t think it’s changed anyone’s life.

TBH I dont think there is one

Loads of celeb ones, but tbh using an air fryer is very intuitive. If you can cook without instructions on the outside of a pack, you will be grand with the rule of thumb, reduce the temp my 10% and the cook time by 20% or whatever it is

My advice it dont set timers and walk away, be there, open a drawer, look what is happening and adjust accordingly. Usually it the temp needs adjusting

DH is constructing an outbuilding for ours, I can’t risk scaring the dc 🙄

ROTFLMAO

I don't really understand why it's so much easier than just using an oven or a frying pan?

Um, just put it in without the drawer divider. A tiny bit of one edge of a pizza will be a bit curved if it's a big round one, the oblong ones fit perfectly.

It's not particularly easier...I'm not a complete convert but for some things it saves putting the big oven on for.

We had beef burgers chips and salad last night. In the airfyer oven chips for 2 come out quicker and crispier, the burgers weren't as nice as on a bbq but they were nice and cooked with no extra fat, I put some onions I. With them and they were nice too. We cook burgers once in a blue moon.

I've used it to do big baked mushrooms, nice as a side and not worth putting the big oven on for and they come out well.

I cooked chicken thighs with cider and mushrooms on the hob, probably could have done something similar in the airfyer but didn't as I wanted that slow cooked down sauce...had to be the hob.

Not particularly 'easier' although Im not clear what you mean by that. In my case becuse its eye level its much easier for me, no more bending down to the oven but then we have one like a small oven so there is space inside

Quicker and cheaper, food more crispy, more functions for different things

Bored of lunch on Instagram is all air fryer or slow cooker meals

@downwindofyou

When a fresh baguette or loaf is a few days old and has lost that nice crunch, you slice it and put a few drops of water on the bread areas.

Bake in the oven for a bit and the middle goes nice and soft and outside goes crispy again as if it's been freshly baked.

Chicken skin side down or it burns too much

Jamie Oliver is on channel 4 cooking with air fryers now I expect there's a series on demand

I was an air fryer sceptic but got a massive one after my teenagers put pressure on. I'm a good cook who loves cooking and didn't think I'd like it BUT...

It's amazing. It's just so much easier eg to roast a chicken breast fast and cheaply while I'm wfh so I can have a chicken salad for lunch with zero fuss. Quick and easy to wash up, and economical to run. No heating up required, unlike the oven, or fat spitting and needing to be watched like using a frying pan.

My rugby playing son uses it all the time to cook himself great hunks of protein, and I use it as an extra mini oven when cooking for all the family (there are five of us at home).

I honestly cannot recommend it more.

Also I love it for roasting veg - I throw a handful of tomatoes in and have roast tomatoes in about five minutes. Or I throw loads of veg in to roast then make them into ratatouille.

And it cooks sausages so quickly.

Very convenient.
Chips, fish, fish fingers, bacon, burgers, all done in 10 mins.
Get a 2 drawer.

It's a really useful addition. It's not a gadget you buy and don't use. Ours is used every day. I love that the pan goes in the dishwasher. I also love that liners are inexpensive and go in the bin. Minimal mess, minimal clean up. Good results.

Our neighbour gave us one he never used, we hardly used it so have it someone else...l don't get the whole air fryer love. I have an oven, it works fine.
Although maybe if l had kids abd had to cook quickly it might be an advantage

Mine has it's uses as I live alone, so don't need to put the oven on for one small thing. But even my two drawer one would barely cook enough for two. I have no idea how families of four could be fed from one.

Also it's a complete pain to get stuff out of the drawer, which is deep. I have to wrestle with tongs. Standard size foil trays don't fit in it either so I kind of have to scrunch then a bit. And then wrestle them with tongs at the end to try to get them out without accidentally tipping everything out.

I like not having to wait for the oven to get hot and I like that it's quick. But the other benefits are only a bonus if you live alone, imo.

Oh, and they're a pain to clean properly. You think you've cleaned the drawer, but after a few uses you realise that there's hard baked on fat that you've missed. Basically the drawer is an oven, and the fan makes sure that the whole thing's covered in tiny drops of fat which bakes on in the same way that makes your oven hard to clean.

I was similarly sceptical, got by one a week ago and have used my oven once in the last week! (For home made pizza ) so many things that were so-so in the oven came out great - home made croquettes, breaded chicken, potatoes, meatballs it’s great

Oh, and another weird thing. You have to turn stuff over that wouldn't need turning over on a baking sheet in the oven. If you don't, the top gets brown and the underside stays pale and flabby looking.
I cooked some thick fishcakes yesterday and forgot to turn them. The top was crispy and appetising, the underneath damp and feeling barely hot.

And of course it's hard to turn things over because of the aforementioned depth and shortage of space.

Has anyone got a Lakeland one? My in laws swear by theirs but have nothing to compare it to, and I don’t know anyone else with one. Some good Black Friday deals though, and they look nice!

For me, yes, it's juggling kids meals when they're eating something different. But also I don't done things the rest of the family do (eg sausages, some meats) so it's handy for that.

Baked salmon is definitely better in the air fryer.

@saraclara all good points. I think if I'd used one before buying I'd have bought one that took trays. They aren't an intuitive shape with the drawers.

Mine is tiny, I live alone so I don't need a big one. It cost about £30.

Unless your children are cooking full meals then a small one works for oven chips, sausage rolls etc. Basically anything you get from Iceland will go in an air fryer as will fresh meat.

I would suggest you get liners though, either paper disposable or silicone reusable as children / teens are not known for the propensity of washing up.

@saraclara is right about needing to turn things but a decent pair of kitchen tongs sorts that problem.

How do you get things out of them? I really struggle if I put in a dish I can't get the blinking thing back out again because the drawer is deep and small.

@Puddypuds I use the tongs. I normally have a silicone liner and I can pick that up with tongs or oven gloves.

These are the ones I use.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQVJ821C?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&tag=snxgb274-21&th=1