Is anyone else disappointed with the air fryer?

[NotElizabethBennet]

It's just too small to be of any use, and the temperatures seem to be a bit off ie everything gets done very well, very fast regardless of what heat I put it on.

It does things like nuggets ok, and chips have been fine, but again, you can only do such a tiny amount in it, I can't really see how it's any good for more than 1 person.

I have friends who swear by it and say they've not had the oven on since they got it, but I don't understand how. There's four of us and I can't see how I could do anything other than a side veg in it and it be enough.

Anyone else? Or is it just me? :D

I don’t get the love either, it’s just a little oven that cooks fast as it’s a little oven.

I have a salter one which is great but there are only 2 of us at home these days. I'm going to buy a bigger one though and give my son this one

If I need to get a much bigger and more expensive one then that's surely pointless as I already have an oven. Given the size of dishes that I use, it would have to be basically the same size!

I usually use the fan in the oven, so no waiting for it to heat up, and it has a timer so it's never on too long or burning things.

I guess we just don't eat a lot of the type of foods it would really be really useful for (the one I have I mean).

I’ll just leave this here…
www.theguardian.com/food/2022/oct/09/chips-in-an-air-fryer-they-are-dull-dry-and-very-sad-as-am-i

I keep banging on about this but the thing about an air fryer is that like a microwave: it allows you to cook certain things very quickly and conveniently (just different things to a microwave). But whether or not you will benefit massively depends on what and how you cook.

So for us, it's great because I tend to mostly cook on the hob and I always get a bit annoyed having to turn the whole oven on for the relatively small things I put in, plus I find the time required for those small things a bit pointless. This is especially true when we're all coming in and out for different activities etc.

So, for example, we had tacos last night - mince on hob and I just tossed the shells in the air fryer for 2 minutes. No pre-heating etc. For lunch yesterday I had roasted veg cooked in 15 minutes in air fryer and for breakfast this morning DD had a croissant cooked in 9 minutes. Last week I was out for dinner but relatively late, and DH was running around taking kids to their activities. He did nuggets and chips for DD and her buddy very early and I then did a satay curry sauce on the hob for him and DS and they just roasted off the cauliflower for their sauce when they got in - 15 minutes in air fryer - and cooked some instant rice in the microwave.

On the weekend I did a packet of sausages for DD and a friend's child as they didn't want the paella the rest of us were having. And last week when I was at ballet with DD, DH cooked a couple of chicken kievs for him and DS before they went to football and when I got home I shoved 2 more in there for me and DD - we were eating 15 minutes later.

I can also do salmon fillets for me, DS and DH which works as I refuse to cook them on the stove usually because of the smell b ut I like the texture of them fried vs in the oven.

But I still am quite happy to use my proper oven when I do a roast dinner, or to do a big plate of chicken thighs in a tray bake or whatever. I have no desire to have an air fryer big enough for those things.

They are alright for sausages, fishfingers and oven chips,

Reading this with interest, as I too have been really disappointed with my air fryer (Tefal Easyfry). I was tempted into buying it by the thought of lovely crispy chips , wedges etc, but in reality you can only fit enough for one person in so it is no use whatsoever for a family of 4/5. Reading this thread though it seems I've just gone for a too-small version. I bought it on a whim from B&M as it was £49 and I'd seen others for about £120, but it was definitely false economy. I think I might give it to my student son for his kitchen, and invest in a new, bigger one. What makes / models do others recommend for families?

I have the ninja air fryer and grill.
I can fry/ roast/ grill and bake in it.
It's big enough for all the family and cooks a whole chicken in 50 mins.
I bought it in the sales as it's really expensive otherwise

They are great for teens who want to cook themselves some beige food outside of meal times without putting the main oven on.

And salmon, chicken, roast veg, jacket potatoes, gammon joint and yeah it cooks freezer food shite too.

The larger ones are probably better, mine is one of those original Ninja ones which I bought on one of the Black Friday offers, it appears to be a Which Best Buy but not energy efficient according to Which

I hope mine is going to be ok. Just bought a ninja 400 and we are a family of 5. Hope it will be big enough

Ninja 400 looks huge, ours is just the Ninja 100, should be fine for five

I hate mine, the taste of everything is just wrong.

I love the fact it's small! I bought it because DD loves a hot breakfast and I don't want the oven on for two hash browns!

We make loads of home made chips so do use it to cook sides, also to cook garlic bread when we are having pasta so the oven doesn't need to go on.

We did asparagus the other day which would have been a waste to turn the oven on for.

For balance I have a large capacity one and I think it's massively overrated. Now I'm wondering to have another go with it due to all the love for them on here!

Mine doesn't. When I use it I start everything off the traditional way in a pan on the hob - frying onions, sealing meat etc before I transfer it to the slow cooker. I don't just throw a load of raw ingredients into it and hope for the best.

A lot of it though is because it is energy saving not the quality of the food, the quality of my chips is no better than 2 or 3 years ago but the fact that I am saving proportionately more money now makes it a bit more forgiving.

I mainly cook on the hop but like to cook a small amount of meat/fish/veg to add. For example blackened peppers, meat balls, bacon, salmon, aubergine, halloumi etc or it’s great for lunches when it’s just me when in WFH when I might cook veg sausages or fish.

@Evergreen82738 I just use mine like an oven.
So cook meat and fish on the grill attachment.
And lasagna and crumbles ect on bake mode.
I have used it to make chips but I always do flavoured chips .so would season them with Cajun spices or Chinese salt & pepper or rosemary & sea salt .

Does anyone use theirs for parts of a roast? I'm wondering if one will help on Christmas day, even if it's just for pigs in blankets and the parsnips to free up some oven space??

I've done a whole chicken
Roast veg
Roast potatoes
Pigs in blankets

Parsnips and pigs in blankets work well

Yes, SIL does this a lot. I plan on doing pigs in blankets in mine this Christmas. She usually does her roast potatoes in hers (but she has a bigger one than me).

I think they work really well with a modestly small one when there are 2 of you - and it's a small neat appliance on your worktop - or you have teens who randomly want say some hash browns or breadcrumbed chicken away from meal times etc-

I've used mine a fair bit and def cut down oven use but I'm not sure I would want one of those huge ones for a big family - unless I had masses of space. I find them a really handy addition rather than 'instead of'

One thing I have used them a lot for is 'roasting veg' -so I would say it's upped the variety of my 'sides' - I particularly like a handful of tiny vine/cherry tomatoes in for7 minutes.