Read Mumsnet users feedback on the Tefal Actifry

[EllieMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 25 testers who tried out the Tefal Actifry Genius XL (RRP: £269.99). Testers used the Actifry in their normal cooking routine and could also try out some of the recipes that came with the product.

Here’s what Tefal have to say about the product: “The latest air fryer, ActiFry Genius XL has 9 automatic programmes that adjust the temperature, cooking time and stirring motion accordingly. The 9 programmes include chips, rolls, breaded snacks, meat & vegetable balls, battered snacks, chicken, desserts, a world cuisine and ‘1-meal-in-1 go’ programme, where you can add all the ingredients at the same time and let ActiFry Genius XL do the work. Using only 1 spoon of oil, enjoy various delicious meals with little to no oil. As UK’s leading low-fat fryer brand. ActiFry uses revolutionary Dual Motion technology to circulate hot air while continuously stirring the food, achieving perfect results without the need to stop or shake. Thanks to its non-stick and dishwasher safe parts, it is a breeze to clean.”

Testers please answer the following questions:

• What were your initial thoughts on the product (design, size, quality, documental guidance)?
• Did you use the recipe book or app and if so which recipes were your favourite?
• Did you face any issues using the product or do you think anything could be improved?
• What type of meals did you cook in your Actifry?
• Where did you store the product when you weren’t using it?
• Would you recommend the product to your family and/or friends?

Selected testers will be required to leave their feedback on a thread on Mumsnet and on the Tefal website. All testers who leave the required feedback will be entered into a prize draw where 3 MNers will win a £100 voucher (each) of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

[AgentPeggyCarter]

Ooops, I missed seeing this thread hit, sorry for the delay in replying!

First of all thank you so much for the opportunity to try this - I honestly never in a million years would have spent £270 on one of these before but now I've had one I'd get one without hesitation, it's genuinely boggled my mind how much I've been able to do with it.

- What were your initial thoughts on the product (design, size, quality, documental guidance)?
Initially I was just agog at how massive it was. It looked shiny and very swish, although I found the help guide a bit sparse in terms of advice and info - more pictures would have been welcome and some of the recipes didn't make sense. Also, the first time I made chips I didn't know to put the paddle in (although I appreciate that might be user error at my end, maybe it was blindingly obvious to everyone else but I'd never used anything like this before and it didn't occur to me I'd need it).

- Did you use the recipe book or app and if so which recipes were your favourite?
We tried a lot of different things from the recipe book and the app. First up (and repeated regularly since) was fried chicken and chips which was a massive hit with everyone in the family (I was thrilled how much the DC loved the chips - no rubbish in them, virtually no oil, and they turned out brilliantly fluffy and delicious). The only thing that was a bit weird was the fact to make chicken and chips for a family of four we had to batch cook - so chicken first and then keep that warm in the oven while the chips cooked. We tried salt and pepper chicken (delicious), the chicken nuggets (big hit), aubergine with feta (which made my DH eat aubergine happily for the first time ever - no slimy veg here!) and the roast potatoes and roasted carrots which have completely changed our roast routine. No more parboiling now! I haven't tried anything sweet yet (we're on a bit of a health kick, another reason we were so happy to get this to try) but I've got my eye on a churros recipe I found on the Actifry Facebook group. I also found a recipe for roasted chickpeas on there - I'd been making them in the oven as a healthier snack to crisps and the faff of doing that had really put me off even though they were delicious. Now we're having paprika and honey roasted chickpeas a lot in the Actifry!

- Did you face any issues using the product or do you think anything could be improved?
I think the booklet could be better written - as well as some of the recipes being unclear I'd love a bit more info on the different settings and how to use them. The quick settings are fine but when you branch out into your own thing it's a bit trial and error - I'm hazy about whether the different settings are different temperatures etc and how to manually set it.

For me the main barrier to using it initially was feeling like everythnig took AAAGES because of having to batch cook it. Once I started doing one pot things I was happier but then I found out about the Actifry snack basket accessory and that cemented my love for it. We ordered one on Amazon for about £20 and suddenly we could cook chips/veg in the bottom and nuggets/chicken thighs/protein etc in the top. Not only was the food healthy but it was being cooked in less time than it would have normally. Total gamechanger for how I felt about it and, for me, the thing that moved the ActiFry from being a 'nice to have' gadget to something that's fast becoming a kitchen essential.

- What type of meals did you cook in your Actifry?
What surprised me was that while the roast potatoes, nuggets, chips and chicken were all solid family favourites, we're actually using it more as a midweek way of cooking for DH and I once the kids are in bed. Tonight I chucked cubed potatoes in the bottom of it for 20 minutes and have now put the snack basket with fresh chicken thighs sprinkled with a bit of paprika on the top and turned it on for 25 minutes while I sort bedtime. Dinner sorted with no fuss and virtually no intervention at all. Last night I chucked frozen mediterranean veg into the bottom and then put sliced lemon on the bottom of the snack basket and two salmon fillets in the top. Twenty minutes later DH and I both had crispy skinned salmon with veg. Virtually no washing up because everything goes into the dishwasher and I can chuck it in and leave it. It's meaning we're eating a lot more 'real' food during the week with minimal fuss and faff. I did get a bit obsessed with trying loads of different bits in it though. The only fail was broccoli. It went a bit acrid when deep fried. But at least I tried!

- Where did you store the product when you weren’t using it?
In our utility room. It's so massive it wouldn't fit on a worktop in our kitchen as a permanent home and we'd have to give up a cupboard for it virtually which just seemed impractical. Initially we thought we'd keep it in a plastic box in the garage, but it hasn't made it that far as we've used it at least every other night since it's arrived. It'd take up way too much room on the kitchen counter though!

- Would you recommend the product to your family and/or friends?
I have already (we've done fried chicken and chips a couple of time for family friends when they've visited, one of whom went straight out and got one when she saw her DC's reaction to the chips) and MIL has bought one after tasting the roasted veg - she regularly cooks massive roasts and is thrilled to be freeing up her oven space!

[speakfriendandenter]

• What were your initial thoughts on the product (design, size, quality, documental guidance)?

The Actifry is quite big at first glance, however after clearing some space in the cupboard it wasn't as big as I first thought. It sat well on my surface when in use and looked good. Friends of mine had told me good things about their Actifry machines and I was excited to see mine in the flesh.

• Did you use the recipe book or app and if so which recipes were your favourite?

I used the recipe book for the chips and I downloaded the app to look for other recipes. There were a few good ideas on there but I did find the variety a little lacking. However, I found the app really easy to use. You can mark off the steps you have completed, go back up to check the ingredients list. There was also a really useful timer on the app, meaning I was able to walk away from Actifry and get on with my day, whilst keeping an eye on how long my meal had left to cook. My favourite recipe was the 'Pork Country Stir Fry'. It used diced pork, potatoes and parsley. It was really simple to prepare and cook. The whole family really enjoyed the meal, even my 9month old. It was a really tasty dish using minimal ingredients. I have made it a few times already in the last few weeks.

• Did you face any issues using the product or do you think anything could be improved?

I think there needs to be more recipes added to the app. I didn't really have any issues with the Actifry. It was easy to set up & clean. I think in the future, the Actifry could be made lighter/smaller. However, this isn't a huge issue.

• What type of meals did you cook in your Actifry?

We used the Actifry to make chips several times. I made peeled and skin on chips. I loved that these were healthier than the chips we usually eat and they cooked surprisingly quickly. I made some stews and stir fries too. I'm looking forward to branching out and trying some recipes that take longer to cook and using the time delay function.

• Where did you store the product when you weren’t using it?

I cleared a space in the cupboard for the Actifry. It did need a large space, but luckily I have plenty of space in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I think many people could struggle to fit the machine into their cupboards. My cupboards are old and were made to be very spacious.

• Would you recommend the product to your family and/or friends?

I would definitely recommend the product. Lots of my friends with young children were very interested as the Actifry is a healthier way of cooking. My inlaws are interested in purchasing a machine and they enjoyed sampling some of the recipes that I had made. I even shared the app with a friend of mine that has had an Actifry for several years.

[Shuggas]

@AgentPeggyCarter ooooh a snack basket! I'm off to google! thanks for sharing about that!

[Sooner]

• What were your initial thoughts on the product (design, size, quality, documental guidance)?

Can't lie it is huge! But don't mind as it's more important that it's able to cater for large meals. Looks sleek and modern. Instructions could have been better.

• Did you use the recipe book or app and if so which recipes were your favourite?

Yes used both. Honestly chips are the favourite! Also liked meatballs.

• Did you face any issues using the product or do you think anything could be improved?

Takes a bit of getting used to and imagine I'll use more and more as I get more familiar with it.

• What type of meals did you cook in your Actifry?

Chips, meatballs and egg rice. So a mix really. Also made tortilla chips which worked really well!

• Where did you store the product when you weren’t using it? Luckily have a large utility so in a cupboard like I do with slow cooker.
• Would you recommend the product to your family and/or friends?

Yes I would if they have space for it storage wise.

[AgentPeggyCarter]

@Shuggas Really recommend it. The only thing is when it goes in the rotating bit has to come out so I have to sporadically shuffle chips about to have them cook evenly but it’s totally worth it (and the basket itself rotates instead so the chicken or whatever cooks evenly).

[minisoksmakehardwork]

• What were your initial thoughts on the product (design, size, quality, documental guidance)?

Initially I looked at it and thought the genius xl was huge. But it doesn't dominate the worktop, probably because of the lower height and flatter top than older or other brand versions I've seen. It felt very plasticky and like it would break easily initially but using it was fine. I'm still not convinced the handle is entirely stable enough over time though. Documental guidance was limited but clear and enough for us to get started.

• Did you use the recipe book or app and if so which recipes were your favourite?

We used both. But the app didn't appear to be fully set up for this product yet as the various different programmes didn't feature on any of the app recipes. This was really disappointing.

• Did you face any issues using the product or do you think anything could be improved?

I would like recipes aimed specifically at the model we were using to be available more, rather than having to guess and hope for the best. I don't think we really got the full experience we could have had.

• What type of meals did you cook in your Actifry?

We have done a lot of chips! (They're really tasty). I did nuggets for the children and stir fry type recipes for us to try the one meal in one go function. Which was quite successful. Much better than standing over the wok and adding ingredients bit by bit. I was able to get on with other things.

• Where did you store the product when you weren’t using it? It is stored on our worktop, in a corner. I don't feel it dominates and it was much easier than finding cupboard space for it. Ours is white and tbh it's quite nice that it doesn't seem to be dusty like so many black appliances.
• Would you recommend the product to your family and/or friends?

Absolutely yes I would. I would still like more recipes specific to the functions of the genius xl but ours easily coped with chips for a family of 6. The food wasn't greasy and once we had played around with it, crisp food was lovely and crisp too.

[buckeejit]

Has anyone compared it to the 2nd generation actifry? My first one was great so replaced with 2nd when it broke but there's a big air gap & it spews stuff out all around, well annoying.

Great for granola

[EllieMumsnet]

Congratulations to Redbook, Crochetcrochetcrochet and Shuggas for winning the £100 voucher each