Help me understand the appeal of air fryers

[labracockapoodle]

I've never had one. I've never felt like I needed one as everything that can be cooked in an air fryer, I can already cook in the oven or in a pan. Are they really healthier or cheaper? What makes them so popular?

Our airfryer is multi functional
Airfry, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate and max crisp
We use the roast and bake the most

Mine has one large drawer with a removable divider (you can cook in each half independently too). I wouldn't buy one with smaller drawers.

I’m currently making onion bhajis in mine which makes them healthier than frying, and crispier than if I baked them. Love mine!

I think this is more about what people cook in them as they are an easy way to heat up chicken nuggets and UPF foods. But they are also brilliant for fish, grilled meat and anything else you would grill, fry, bake or roast from scratch - but quicker.

See, that's where we disagree. I don't think it tastes fried at all. It tastes like it's been cooked in a convection oven.

Which it has, really.

I still fry the things that benefit from being fried. I almost never grill anything, though, as the air fryer does a reasonable job of that.

I won't have one because of the plastic/non stick aspect. I know some have stainless baskets but they're all housed in plastic and a lot of the baskets/inners claim to be "ceramic" rather than non stick which I don't think is any less toxic tbh, we just don't know about it yet!

I also won't use a plastic kettle, or non stick pans.

Cast iron or stainless steel only in my kitchen.

I was skeptical after everyone at work was raving but DMIL bought us one and honestly it's brilliant! Quick, easy to use, much easier to clean than the oven. I barely use our actual oven now!

I've just got a cheapo asda one but it's good cos it heats up in a couple of minutes vs oven which takes about 10. Food cooks quicker than in oven. Easier to clean.

Downsides are I think food tastes better in oven, maybe its less drying?? As mine is small I can only cook portions for 1 or 2 people in the airfryer.

So if I need convenience and speed I choose the airfryer eg freezer tea for DC

I was sceptical, then about 18 months ago my main fan oven broke. We bought the largest ninja 2 drawer ( there’s just the two of us now) and I haven’t yet replaced the broken oven! Still use the top small oven /grill for a few things but can do most things in the ninja. If i’m batch cooking a lasagne i’ll do it in the small top oven though.
The only thing i’ve not had success with is baking whole cakes, small ones and scones are fine but can’t get the temp right for whole cakes.
We’ve also bought a single one for the camper van.
So if I’m doing Christmas dinner still don’t need the big oven.
Wont replace it until we have a new kitchen in a couple of years time so it’s currently an extra store cupboard for pits and pans! When I redesign the new kitchen I shall go for an eye level single oven as I’ve appreciated not having to bend down to get hot heavy stuff out of the oven.

You're right, standard pizzas are a bit too big (at least for mine). Though you can fit in two pitta breads, which work really well covered with tomato puree and cheese as a substitute. But we tend to do pizza in the oven.

yes if i’m doing a big round pizza it goes in my top small oven

I was always under the impression that they’re aimed at people who mainly eat beige pre-prepared food eg fishfingers, fries, pies etc. We don’t buy food like this and always cook from scratch so they’ve never appealed.

This…

so here’s a list of our recent meals and how they were cooked to give you an idea of what was utisef
Salmon and pasta with a stir through ready made sauce ( ninja and hob
Duck pancakes and salad ( ninja)
Spag bol ( hob)
Chilli and rice ( hob)
Roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings ( ninja both drawers and hob)
Lamb shanks ( ready prepared) and roast potatoes and veg ( ninja both drawers and hob)
Turkey roast ( ninja and hob)
Turkey wraps and salad
Oven bake haddock fillets oven chips and peas ( ninja both drawers and hob)
Lasagne ( a portion from batch cook) (ninja)
chilli ( from freezer batch cooked)and jacket potatoes with melted mozzarella ( ninja and microwave)
Fish pie and veg ( hob and grill)
Some mussel concoction my husband makes ( hob)
Frozen pizzas and veg ( top oven and hob)
Cod fillets with sauce and roasted veg ( ninja both drawers and microwave)
Chicken stir fry ( hob)

We're converts. We got a small one when fuse box issues meant our oven wasn't working for a few days.

We were starting to be curious as many packets now had air fyer times and temps but IL who had one siad they only did chips though it was given as a gift to them.

It's great - we may now get a bigger one. It's useful as we're down to three people but often it's two or just one people due to different times.

Do like how crisp some things come out and the quicker cooking times.

Interesting discussion. I enjoy cooking and am neither time nor cash poor, luckily.

It seems crispiness is a main benefit. Flavour and texture are probably more important to me but I am keeping an open mind, although I already have enough kitchen gadgets to sink a ship...

I never eat chips at home as dripping is the only way to go imho. Those who do use it for chip frying, do you put the chipped potatoes in with no oil at all and they turn out well?

Re roast chicken, is the breast still moist as well as the skin crispy?

@Tryingtokeepgoing that is exactly how I cook a salmon fillet, or in an oven bag with butter lemon and s and p. I am so sorry to hear about your husband.

@Words
Yes re chicken. Moist meat and crispy skin.
Roast veg cook to perfection as do roast potatoes - I parboil the potatoes first as I would do if using the oven.
Salmon fillets are delicious.
Have 5 apples baking as I type - they will be ready in half the time it takes in an oven.

I was sceptical and I was right to be. We have one and it's a useful addition for cooking the occasional oven food and luckily we can keep it in the utility room otherwise it would just be an annoying thing taking up valuable room on the worktop.

I was a cynic but DS sold them to me. I thought it would be like microwaving, I’m a good cook so prefer to cook from scratch, but I’m now a convert. And now with only two of us at home, DS is at uni, it is far more economical than using a normal oven. You have to experiment a little but it’s no different than getting used to a new oven. Much easier to clean and it switches itself off.

Thanks @padronpepper. I parboil roast pots too, drain then shake up with pan lid on to fluff. Then cook in goose or duck fat. They are legendary! I just can't see how the taste would be the same.

What about chips? Or will it just do oven chips?

I was skeptical until DH brought one home. I ignored it. Then we had some soggy takeaway chips. I through them in the air fryer for 2 minutes and they were perfect, absolutely perfect.

I mostly use it for vegetables. If you want them soft in the middle with that bit of crisp on the outside that normally takes forever in the oven, it is a great shortcut and doesn’t heat up the whole kitchen.

I was the same until I got one, now wouldn't be without it! What nobody explained to me is you don't have to wait for it to heat up like a normal oven! 🙄
So much quicker and so easy to use and I have a bog standard cheap one, keep thinking about upgrading but I don't think I need too.

Why veg do you normally eat @Ponderingwindow ?

I'm not keen on the sweeter veg like carrots and parsnip but love in season asparagus, broccoli kale corn on the cob (ok that is sweet) . Celeriac yes, fennel not so much.

What about roast toms and peppers and nd aubergine?

I'm curious about the 'paid for itself' claims.

A ninja foodie is something like 2400 W versus a single oven which is 3000 W. Looking at something I've got it gives a time of 20 mins for an air fryer v 30 for a fan oven which means a 0.5 KWH difference which equates to about 13p

I’ve got a 15 in 1 model, which pressure cooks, bakes and air fries. It’s got a function which air fries and steams at the same time which is great because it keeps food moist. I probably use the air fry mode followed by the pressure cooker the most.