Air fryer to replace oven

[whatswrongwivme]

I am thinking of removing my oven and replacing it with an air fryer. I also have a hob and microwave.

I have not used an air fryer yet.

Is there anything that MUST be cooked in an oven?

I started of with tin foil takeaway dishes but now air fryers are here to stay more and more manufacturers are making dishes to fit - Ikea is good so is home bargain/b&M ( Jane Asher range I think )

For removal, yes it can be tricky, Ive always worked in kitchens so I have asbestos fingers and can work with a pair of tongs and a tea towel. But make a sling if you are struggling, Tale a good length of tin foil and fold it - about 3/4 cm thick. Make two and put that in, dish on top and then make a wee handle

You can buy silicone slings to help ( I do had a dodgy arm with a trapped nerve so I do understand ) but I find the tin foil dishes are easy enough ( I wash and reuse till they are done )

What are the advantages of an air fryer over an oven?

Its a tiny oven that heats and cooks fast - so lower energy bills straight off

To be fair, I do most of my cooking on the hob - stir fries, curry, pasta, soups, risotto etc. Since we had a new kitchen installed with a new oven I find that everything cooks as quickly as some of the examples given upthread. It also heats up incredibly quickly.

Our solar panels mean that we have low utility bills BTW.

See that's how I look at them

I live where we aren't on mains gas, and electic is expensib=ve as we don't have a choice of providers , so for me, and the way I cook and my budget, the air fryer works.

Before the air fryer - microwave for small cooks - jacket spuds, sausage rolls etc - and they are minging. Now I thing nothing of throwing in some part baked rolls. doing a jacket spud, making a toastie - because Im not using the oven/grill . We as a family are enjoying more options without the bills flying

That makes perfect sense @suki1964

Recently When I was thinking of replacing our kitchen I wanted to get rid of the oven. This was met with horror by the designer. There are two of us, both retired and have not used the oven for three years. At first we would put it on when the kids came but as we have up graded our air fryers we stopped using it. I think this will be the way of future kitchens.

I’m also an air fryer newbie - had one for a few weeks - and it is great for battered or breaded fish and chips, scampi, chicken nuggets or burgers etc. Also a ready meal cottage pie.
But the jury is still out on meat. I had a gorgeous steak done in the air fryer a week or two ago, but the next steak was tough. Whether that was down to the steak itself or that I’d over cooked it, I’m not sure. Also chicken thighs seems to come out a bit tougher. Perhaps again I’m overcooking them. And sausages too.
Maybe just need to practice a bit more!

and it is great for battered or breaded fish and chips, scampi, chicken nuggets or burgers etc.

We don't eat this type of food.

I also do a lot of batch baking for fund raising events for charity - think 100 fairy cakes. I definitely need an oven for this kind of baking.

Definitely need to practice, although I agree about steak. I use a frying pan

It chargrills vegetables fantastically. I have never managed that in my main oven

I moved from a house with built in appliances to one without a year ago. I have a microwave, airfryer, slow cooker and a plug in hob. It is just me and my 6yo and we manage well. If I want pizza I cut it up and cook it in the airfryer and it tastes great (sourdough base pizza at least). I need to do it in batches, but we don't have pizza much.

I'm more likely to buy a bigger airfryer than an oven to be honest. I love that you don't need to preheat.

Thanks, I might have to see if I can find some silicon slings, it sounds like it could be a good option.

Part of the issue is that I have no feeling in my right hand and simultaneously hypersensitivity. So I have to be very careful not to cut or burn myself because I can't feel it, but suddenly I'll get a reaction to the heat and it's very painful even though I can touch the same thing with my left hand and it's warm but not hot. So the air fryer drawers are a bit of a risk when taking things out.🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

I might give half dozen tinfoil containers a go too, but really really struggling with washing things up at the moment but at the same time I don't want too many single use things for the environment. My glass dishes approving a bit of a nightmare, there are a lot heavier than foil or ready meal containers, so are more difficult to get out.

I think the silicon sling could be a good shout. I'm going to go and have a look and see if I can find any right now!!

I brought my air fryer, but the original oven was never getting used. It went and brought a small table top one with a hob. Works a treat

We don't eat that food either and our airfryer gets almost daily use.
I don't bake much as I am quite bad at it but if I do I use the main oven
I resisted getting an Airfryer for a while as we don't really fry much at all but its just a small oven really that we use if we are only cooking a small amount.
The main oven goes on about once a week
With regards to the silicon liners I threw ours away as I felt they made the food taste weird

Our oven broke 2 months ago, can’t afford to get it fixed right now. However I feed 2 vegetarians and a non vegetarian sulfite allergy sufferer and a carnivore DH with air fryers (need more than one with the cross contamination issues). But we bake everything from pavlovas, to celebration cakes for the DC, to pizzas (have to make our bases for Dds allergy) and casseroles, pasta bakes in them. I do roast chicken/beef/gammon for DH and Dd2 no problem and DH says they make fish better than any he’s ever had. I also do the basic roasties/chips/baked potatoes no problem. I won’t bother getting the oven fixed if we do gather up the pennies I just keep it there for the hob part.

I wouldn’t. I have an air fryer, and my oven stopped working a couple of months later. I haven’t replaced the oven as I’m planning a renovation next year, but I really miss it!

Things like lasagna, pizza, cakes, aren’t air fryer friendly :-(

You could also just put all the ingredients straight in the air fryer basket instead - no need for a tin.

If you're only feeding one or two people, you could definitely do without an oven.

Even pizza you just have to cut it into slices but most air fryers will fit one serving of pizza in, so you might have to run it twice, but that's probably the only downside I can think of, so hardly a bother unless you regularly eat large amounts of pizza.

You can now also get special cake tins for air fryers that have a handle if yours is a top loading version.

My mum did this and never looked back. She lives alone.

I know you are all trying to convince me to buy an air fryer, but the simple fact is that I don't have room for one.

I will always need an oven anyway, and cost isn't an issue, it's space.

I think that sometimes with chicken thighs, you have to turn the temperature down a bit more. I've done them once or twice and in mine, which is a Ninja and seems to run hot, I've learnt to rather put them in at a lower temp. I don't do steak in mine but if I did, I'd heat it up as hot as I could which would probably work well.

I think thi sis fine. I never understand why people think we all have to have the same stuff. I use the hob a LOT. If I ever redo my kitchen, I plan to get a much bigger one - a 5 or even 6 burner. Most people would not feel that is necessary or useful. It would be life changing for me.

Fifty-six new messages since I last looked. Don't have time to reply to everyone but just wanted to say THANKS for all the responses.

I have read all of them carefully.

My air fryer arrived and last night was used for the first time. Put six chicken thighs in each of the two drawers and they came out perfect! I am now convinced that getting rid of the old oven is the right thing to do.

It turns out that the ONLY thing the air fryer AF cannot do but which an oven can do, is cook a whole large pizza without cutting it up. Not worth keeping it just for that. Just cut it up and it goes in the AF.

I also have a large microwave, slow cooker and hob, and so there isn't anything I cannot cook once the oven is gone.

Lastly, if I were forced to sell, I could always have a workman take out the cupboard and insert a nice new cheap oven. Cost about £250 and would be a selling point that the oven was absolutely pristine and had never been used.