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Air Fryer

  • Aldi have them in this week. £30. I've got one. Last night I roasted potato wedges, parsnips and carrots with sausages. It's basically a small oven.
 
Thw biggest question with all kitchen gadgets is "where will it go/be stored?".

Mabe not a hassle if you aren't obsessively tidy and you are going to use something every day, or clsoe to, and you have the space on a worktop, but otherwise........

They must surely need to be under an extract hood anyway?
 
Been thinking about getting one for years.
Do you use yours enough ? Which one is best ?
We got one since a few weeks. My wife and I disagreed, I was and am principally against it since ‘air fryer’ is an oxymoron.

I did agree on getting one since this puts me in a stronger position regarding hifi and it is not that bad actually.
 
Never used one, but a couple of friends that eat a lot of fried stuff use a Tefal Genius and say they’re fabulous.
 
Thw biggest question with all kitchen gadgets is "where will it go/be stored?".

Mabe not a hassle if you aren't obsessively tidy and you are going to use something every day, or clsoe to, and you have the space on a worktop, but otherwise........

They must surely need to be under an extract hood anyway?

SiL designed her kitchen with cupboards at the back of the worktop which works really well for appliance storage.

Didn't delve into the back of the lower cupboards to see what you can do with 90cm depth below worktop.

It's a custom prefab so maybe services run there.
 
We have the Ninja Foodi which air fry’s, roasts, grills and dehydrates. There are a few models but our is the one with a meat thermometer. It is not cheap but it is brilliant, hardly use the main oven. Takes a while to get used to for example I reduce the roast temperature by 20c for the best results. Has auto or manual modes. However as already mentioned if you can’t leave them out they are big beasts and difficult to store.
 
They must surely need to be under an extract hood anyway?
No. Mine isn't, It just gets hot and does its thing. Any drippings go in the bottom of the appliance, the lid is closed and the heater turns on and off on a thermostat. The fan circulates the hot air inside, nothing escapes. You can have it running for an hour and it produces less steam than a kettle used once. Maybe a joint of meat might generate some smoke, it's an oven after all, but my pound of sausages, onion, potatoes, carrots and parsnips didn't. It's a damn sight easier to clean than a fan oven.
 
I thought it was a two horse race between Phillips and Tefal so good to see other options.
Any comments about taste ?
Used frequently after the first month ?
 
Is this synonymous with or distinct from a halogen cooker? We have one of those to do a couple of baked potatoes (for the crisp skin) or a small chicken rather than heat up the 90cm oven.
 
Taste wise the Foodi is as good as the main oven. It is also a lot quicker. Oven chips take about 8 mins, sausages about the same and roasts are about two thirds the time. I bought it as a stop gap for when we have an extension built when we won’t have a functional kitchen for 3 or 4 months. Better than a stop gap by far.
 
We have an air fryer but haven't used it much. We also have a Romoska, which we got to use in the motorhome but my wife loves it and uses it a lot at home too.
 
Is this synonymous with or distinct from a halogen cooker? We have one of those to do a couple of baked potatoes (for the crisp skin) or a small chicken rather than heat up the 90cm oven.
I think they are the same thing. Mine has a halogen heating elenent, a fan and the whole thing is controlled by a thermostat. It goes hotter than a domestic oven, hence "fryer". You can of course make chips in an oven if it goes hot enough. Domestic ovens top out about 230C so it's a struggle to get the rate of heat transfer compared to immersion in oil at 200+. A air fryer is just a small oven, it can't be anything else.
 
I have an actifry. Bought with the intention of using it more widely, it is now a chip machine.

But that’s actually fine - it makes oven chips come out much nicer than doing them in the oven. Tip in some of Aldi’s frozen finest (the ones that come in the black bag are nice) and stick it on for 35ish minutes, done.

I’ve tried doing stuff like chicken (not appropriate because of the paddle) and even risotto (followed the instructions that came with the machine - took forever and was terrible compared to doing it properly).

So now, barring a potential hubristic outbreak of ambition, it’s just the thing I do my oven chips in. But it’s really good at the job, so that’s fine.
 
We use a Philip airfryer exclusively for chips. If you get the potatoes right (Maris Piper work well), soak in water for 5 minutes to get some of the starch out and dry really well then shake in less than a tablespoon of oil, 25 minutes in the Philips gives excellent low fat chips. We are on our second one, having worn the first one out! Before you ask - that was over 6 or 7 years...

Edit - give the chips a shake in the airfryer a couple of times to cook evenly.
 
I've got a Tefal Actifry, I used it about three times then never bothered. Been sat in a drawer ever since!
 
Thanks, @stevec67 . I read the thread with great interest (I love to cook) but was struggling to see what the more modern device did that the halogen cooker didn’t. We only eat chips at the chippy and I can’t think what else I’d use it for. The halogen does perfect, crisp jacket spuds in an hour with no 20 minute pre-heat of our main oven so I’ll stick with what we have.
Thanks again.
 


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