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?

5 pages of really helpful advice, but @labracockapoodle hasn't responded.

I have one but I could take or leave it. I find it handy to cook something small, having the timer is good if I'm wanting to make some lunch but do some tidying etc no risk of it burning. But cost wise I don't really notice a difference as I have a gas oven which doesn't cost much anyway. I find them a pain to cook a full meal in and you can only really do it with the two drawer ones which take up quite a bit of space.

I use mine a lot to do roasted veg to go in other things, e.g. roast butternut squash for risotto, roast peppers to go in a salad. You can't do that in a pan and get the same result and it feels like a massive waste to put on the oven for it. I made baba ganoush yesterday and being able to do the aubergines in the air fryer rather than the oven (baba ganoush is best with barbequed aubergines, but that really isn't practical if you're not having a barbecue anyway!) was very helpful. We very rarely have a meal where every part is done in the air fryer, but I use it a lot to do a bit of it.

Also on the timer, does no one have a timer on their oven?

My oven timer doesn't turn the oven off - it's just an alarm. I know you do get ovens where the timer turns it off, though.

I wondered that. If I'm baking I set the timer on my phone, so that I don't need to stay in the kitchen.

@Regularmumm I thought it was for beige food too, but it's proved much more useful than that. It's mostly just the two of us so being able to cook a couple of fillets of frozen salmon in it while I'm doing a stirfry is helpful - other fish is good in it too. If I want some roasted veg it's great for that. I did a half a chicken in ours the other day and saved heating up the whole oven.

I think it’s speed and cheapness. Rather than preheating the oven for ten minutes and chucking them in it works instantly so you can have some skinny fries in ten minutes. Whereas big oven would just have gotten up to temperature. I’m having quiche for lunch microwave would give it a soggy bottom, five minutes in the air fryer.

You absolutely could use oven/pan but it just takes longer and will cost more in a big oven.

They don't do anything that an oven can't do, but they do it quicker and using less energy and less oil. I can't say it's enough to notice a big difference in my energy bills but every little helps the planet. It's also handy if you're making a meal with requires lots of oven space, like a roast dinner, and you need a bit of extra space. You can put the cauliflower cheese in the air fryer and save a bit of shelf space.

I have the Ninja one which supposedly does pretty much everything except wash the dishes afterwards, but thus far, I've used Air Fry, Bake/Roast, Grill, and nothing else. I keep saying I'll use the steam or slow cook function but I don't.

I actually bake muffins 2 at a time in the air fryer if one of my teens fancies a sweet treat. It's better than baking 6 or 12 cakes , using the full oven, plus having extra cake lying around afterwards....

Oh yes. I have a recipe that makes 3 banana muffins and it works so well. I must actually haul that out and do it again as I haven't for a while.

I can’t see the pre heat time being a thing now with new ovens

Sure our old oven that was ancient took ages to warm up. But our new one we added 3 years ago doenst really need pre heating. If you turn oven on, by the time you have food out the fridge or freezer and prepped/ seasoned food the oven is hot. 2-3 mins maximum.

Example of meat and roast veg taking only 45mins in air fryer? That’s how long it takes in my oven? I can’t see how that saves time?

Only the smallest air fryers save much kw per hr. If your using a multi drawer etc it’s the same.

People must have large kitchens to be able to take up lots of extra worktop space.

We have lots of work top space and are going from a large family to cooking for one or two people - it's a small oven on side surprisingly useful.

Ours is too small to cook a whole meal in - but when tend to use hobs/rings quite a bit. Speed is the main advantage and we now prefer some food done in it.

I don't think it for everyone it's a useful gadget for us at this point in our lives but we still use the main oven when that's size is more appropriate I'm just surpised how much we are using it.

I hate our oven - it was a bad purchase - but it's only 5 years old and absolutely does not pre-heat in 2-3 minutes. If I want it at 180 it's a good 10-15 mins.

I’d like that recipe if you find it.

Oh, it's in my head @Tiredofwhataboutery:

I usually do mix it all in a pasta eating plate - allows me to mix it all together and weigh as I go.

First, 1 mashed banana - medium size.

Then, 100g of dry ingredients. I usually go with roughly 65g SR flour, then use a combination of wholemeal flour, oats and almond meal for the rest. I've also used bran flakes crushed up! The less SR flour you use, the more dense they are so if your DC are the types who want a cupcake style muffin, stick to a higher ratio of SR flour.

Then roughly 3 tablespoons of wet ingredients to add flavour/sweet and fat. My preference is about 1.5 tbsp of greek yoghurt, 1/2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp honey. Play with that to get to what you like.
PLUS 1 egg, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. If using a lower ratio of SR flour, I add 1/2 tsp of baking powder.

Mix it all together. Don't get over excited - just until all the flour is absorbed.

I have these aluminimum cupcake things so I just butter those and put the mix in but I've also used ramekins lined with a cookie paper. Makes 3-4. Top with a nut.

In airfryer. My airfryer is HOT. So I do 180 for 12-13 minutes but I suspect most air fryers would be more like 14-15 minutes.

They come out well but don't last - go stale very quickly. So perfect for the morning to toss to a child as they walk out the door etc. They also do not come out looking as perfectly shaped as a traditional cupcake or muffin. I assume because of the extra heat?

If you do it a few times, you'll figure out how to adjust it for your personal preference. eg if banana is a bit small, maybe more yoghurt. Perhaps you like it sweeter so less yoghurt and more honey. Or if you're avoiding fat, more yoghurt and honey and no oil at all - just the fat from the yoghurt.

I supect it could be adapted too for basic muffins just using more egg/yoghurt to replace the banana? But I haven't ried. I do keep meaning to toss a few blueberries in to make blueberry and banana muffins but keep forgetting or not having any when I do it.

@TheRealMagic - that’s a shame. Ours is Bosch, mid range not the most expensive option and it’s at 200-200c really fast

I’ve thought about getting one but having read this thread I probably don’t need to bother, as I have 2 small ovens instead of 1 big one anyway and one of them has a mesh grill shelf that is great for chips and pizza etc. I like things cooked with oil/ butter anyway, so not trying to reduce fat really. I’d rather have the counter top space.

Yeah, if you won’t use it you won’t use it. All I know is when we were without ours for a while we were surprisingly put out. Very relieved to have it back. There are just some things it does really well (we always cook from scratch, y the way!).

I think if I had the space I might consider getting one and then making sure I found ways to use it, but lack of space means I shan't.

Not fussy.

what on earth do you mean??

I love mine, I have 3 (for some reason) but I use and have out the ninja flex drawer, it’s fab really big compartment, which can be divided, so I can cook big portions as I have a big family. I hardly use the oven now. Things also takes less time to cook

It is just easier and more convenient IMO. I've got a silicone air fryer liner, which is so easy to clean. You don't need to wait for it to pre-heat. You don't need much oil. You can stick stuff in and it pings off when it's run the timer down, no risk of food being burnt if you don't set a timer and check on it. It cooks quicker, and more evenly than my oven (I'll admit the evenness is a quirky problem of my oven). I can cook for one without feeling guilty for turning on the oven for a long time just for one meal. It somehow manages more crispy and more succulent than the oven.

And I woukdnt buy a single draw ine as for ME they're much more difficult to wash up.

(limited use if one arm after the stroke)

Same. I do roasted veg in mine a few times a week. Tofu with a quick marinade. vegetable stews and casseroles. I'm not a beige food type of person, unless you count home made chips.