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?

For me the number one biggest appeal, more than costs/health/crispiness etc is that I rarely burn dinner anymore. Previously it was at about an every other day scenario. Now if I get distracted or totally forget then the food has stopped and I just need to put it back on for 1 or 2 minutes to warm back up.

i don’t think so, there are loads of recipe books for air fryers.

I suppose there is pre-heating time too? Which is lengthy for an oven. Air fryer says to pre-heat but I don't think anyone actually does. OTOH, running an oven probably means you can run your thermostat lower as it warms the whole room.

@Regularmumm
There are a lot of cookery books available for airfryer recipes, also websites.
I think years ago people associated them solely with nuggets and waffles - not any more.

Actually that’s not true. The term air fryer is a marketing ploy. They’ve actually been around a lot longer than we’ve been buying them on mass, but they were re-launched with the concept that cooking chips in them meant you were “frying” them, because it created the concept that you could cook exactly the same foods with less calories when actually this isn’t the case.

You’re not frying things with air. It’s a mini convection oven is all, a fan oven. But if you sold mini fan ovens you wouldn’t have the popularity, hence why the re-brand.

It’s great for doing just a few roasted veggies e.g for tomatoes on toast in the morning. Or mushrooms. We use it most days for something. Use the big oven for Sunday roast, cakes etc.

But I have an oven and loads of cookery books already.

I just don’t get the appeal. It seems like another fad aimed at making us consumers part with hard earned cash to replace something we already have, even though what we already have works fine 🤷🏻‍♀️

Oh well @Regularmumm - stick to your oven.

I would just use a pan for that.

We keep going round in circles about getting one of these too. We cook very little from the freezer, majority of meals made from scratch and more hob based than oven. We’re vegetarian so no meat/fish to cook. I use the oven predominately for sourdough loaves (bread maker for others), children’s baking eg biscuits, cakes from time to time and probably once a week doing some sort of potato and sausages/burgers meal. I just can’t see it being worth getting one, but happy to be told I’m wrong? Worktop space is also an issue…we have very little and I suspect it would just be another gadget taking up cupboard space.

@SErunner
If worktop space is an issue then I think maybe don’t bother getting one.
We have lots of space and it’s left out all the time- if we hadn’t space I wouldn’t have got one.
We cook very little from the freezer too.

I’ve just bought a simple one to see if I’m going to actually use it. Can anyone recommend a decent book/guide to the basics of using it?Just timings etc of simple foods : heating pies / croissants etc straight from freezer; how you do a cheesectlastie, how you can realistically cook something like a Bolognese /chilli in it etc? Mine doesn't have a solid pan ( it has air holes) so not sure how you would cook these ‘runny’ type of recipes. I think I need an idiotproof guide as I dom5 know where to start!

I might be swayed by oven being hump of crap, think mine also does other stuff, god knows what

That is the main reason why we don't have one TBH.

I held out for ages thinking it was a fad but it’s honestly very convenient.

It’s slightly faster and more convenient than the oven if you eat things like breaded chicken, baked potatoes, salmon or chicken breast, roast chicken, roast vegetables, fish fingers etc. They come out reliably crispy and it’s faster & easier for small portions.

Just stick to your oven. No point changing your ways if you’re happy as you are.

For some people they’re very convenient, you’re just not one of those people.

For us

• Quick: no long preheating and some things cook much faster
• no heating huge space to cook a small amount
• reduced energy use overall
• drawers go in dishwasher easily
• better for cooking some items
• safer for teenager to use as lower risk of burns and can’t forget to turn it off (!)
• can cook low and slow as well for stews etc

godsend for things like pre-baked rolls (type from supermarket)- they take 6 mins total for the same result as heating the oven for 10mins and then cooking for 8-10 mins and uses a fraction of the energy.

Still use oven for pizza, big traybakes like lasagne, most baking

I never understand why people who don't want an air fryer are so insistent it's a "con" or "a fad" or "making us consumers part with hard earned cash".

It's just a kitchen gadget. For a lot of people, as seen on this thread, it's really helpful. for others, less so. Personally, I love mine and find it very useful, but it's like a microwave for me really - I don't use it for full meals but it's very convenient for certain things to be done quickly and easily. As a cook, I do most of my cooking on the hob and if I had the chance to redesign my kitchen, I'd get a much bigger one with at least 5 plates. For most people, that's totally unnecessary and unhelpful.

You are right @JadziaD
The main reason I don't have one is lack of space, but I wanted to know what an air fryer does that the equipment and gadgets I have already can't do.

I love a kitchen gadget, but so far I can't justify getting one right now. I'm not time poor and the type of cooking I do wouldn't justify the loss of space and financial outlay to buy one.

yeah, I don't think it does anything you can't do in other ways. But it is quicker, and tihis can be especially helpful for smaller things and that's something SOME people value.

Like you, if I'm cooking a full meal in the oven, there's no need to do it a bit quicker and I'm using the full oven anyway so I'd never do a full roast in the air fryer. On the other hand, I send DD to school with a baguette every day and I cook those par-baked ones in my air fryer in 5 minutes every morning. For me, that's invaluable. Similarly, I often roast small amounts of tomatoes and onion for my lunch. Again, invaluable for me as I am not interested in an hour in a big oven for a single portion. I also do thinkgs like chicken thighs just for DD in 25 minutes when the rest of us are having something like curry that she won't eat. Again, invaluable for that specific purpose for me.

Honestly I was the same. I could live without it but it is handy. Salmon fillets cook really nicely and quickly as do chicken kebabs. Cod fillets with a Parmesan crumb topping were great too.

I didn't think I would like it. Gets used every single day, kids love it.

I've never used one and also never had a microwave either. I'm a keen and healthy cook. Just haven't found the need. Definitely not gadget averse either. Have kitchenaid, Magimix , bean to cup coffee maker.

As PP say it really depends on what and how you cook. I prefer to use the main oven for a roast, so wouldn’t buy a large airfryer, but love our small one for fish or meat cuts in summer. Add some herbs & flavour and it’s like a lazy barbecue. It’s also great for after school club nights when we end up eating at different times, and a convenient way to cook teenage snacks like bacon sandwiches and fish-finger wraps.

Jacket potatoes get a nice crispy skin. I do 5-10 mins in the microwave per potato then put them all in the Air Fryer for 15 minutes.

It all depends on how you cook.

I was skeptical - I’m now a convert. Quicker, cheaper.
Is it a panacea? No but I can even do pizza if I cut it in half first