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Bought an air fryer

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Mark Parrott

Mark Parrott

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Experimenting with our new toy tonight. Trying celeriac chips in our new air fryer.🙂
 
The title of this thread was making me wonder how (& why) you would fry air! Think I'm having a "slow" day today - brain definitely not in gear 😛
 
No carbs in air.:D
 
Just had ours. Really impressed!
 
Mark, try chicken drumsticks in there... They are so yummy!!! I do a batch for the week for snacks/lunch
 
Greg and Mark,

I know my mum has one of these ... is it really worth the hundred quid or so required for one of there?

Along with this, my space for additional kitchen gadgets - sandwich maker and toaster is pretty limited, so it needs to be good to be worthwhile.

Should I?
 
Superheavy said:
Greg and Mark,

I know my mum has one of these ... is it really worth the hundred quid or so required for one of there?

Along with this, my space for additional kitchen gadgets - sandwich maker and toaster is pretty limited, so it needs to be good to be worthwhile.

Should I?
Click to expand...
You get more space in a halogen oven and can do a lot more besides fry things in a halogen oven oh and it's a lot cheaper. 🙂
 
Mark Parrott said:
Just had ours. Really impressed!
Click to expand...
Glad you like it Mark. Steak cooks lovely in mine. Steak flat mushroom and spinach for tea last night. No fuss - chucked both steak and mushroom in fryer for15 mins whilst I got on with life. Post things you find cook nice please.
 
Superheavy said:
Greg and Mark,

I know my mum has one of these ... is it really worth the hundred quid or so required for one of there?

Along with this, my space for additional kitchen gadgets - sandwich maker and toaster is pretty limited, so it needs to be good to be worthwhile.

Should I?
Click to expand...
I only paid £40 for ours off eBay. It's quite a small one so doesnt take up too much room.
 
Mine is a Philips and got mine for about 40 pounds too but actually paid nothing as I boosted my club card points.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
You get more space in a halogen oven and can do a lot more besides fry things in a halogen oven oh and it's a lot cheaper. 🙂
Click to expand...
@Pumper_Sue
I’ve been thinking of a halogenair fryer as I don’t like the idea of the coated teflon fryers. Does it really crisp food using air? I’m thinking swede chips instead of potatoes
 
Sally W said:
Does it really crisp food using air?
Click to expand...

Radiation, I think (light, specifically infra-red). The air temperature is also significantly increased, but if I understand correctly air's not that good for transmitting heat (heat capacity is too low). Which is partly why some ovens offer steam (since water's much better at holding heat energy), and why sous vide mostly uses water (sometimes oil or other liquids).

I find (or found, since my oven bulb died and can't be replaced, so I'll have to buy another one) that a halogen oven isn't that good for crisping things. Works OK for things like chips, but less good for (for example) pizza. The issue is that moisture is fairly well retained (which is good for some things, not for others).

I imagine an air fryer has some better way to get rid of moisture. Maybe they're more like a grill (where you're really relying on radiation more than air temperature) than an oven (which is deliberately retaining the hot air (and moisture), which is great for the inside of a baked potato since you're generally heating everything). But I'm guessing a bit.
 
I don't know about all air fryers, but ours have a vortex-style "wind in it. Just as example of how I know is if I choose to do bacon, to replicate the M&S Crispy Bacon Strips, once it gets to the finished stage, it can be seen flying around the gadget cavity.

Our is slightly less usual in that it has a chamber/cavity and a drop down door, with shelves, a rotisserie or tumbling basket, depending on what is being cooked, so we can watch the magic happen, if really desperate!

Like all gadgets or utensils, it isn't perfect for everything, but were ours to break down, we'd have another in a heartbeat.
 
I have a Tefal Actifry which is really quite old now - I was told when I ordered some spare parts for it a few months ago - one advantage of buying a brand name I suppose.
The chicken thighs alone are worth the money. I keep a couple of packs in the freezer, take one out the previous day, then just drop them into the pan set the timer and wait for the smell to come wafting through from the kitchen. I can put the pan and stirrer into the dishwasher, ready for next time, and it can do a Kg of thighs easily, so I usually do the whole pack and save some for next day - minus the skins which mysteriously evaporate whilst they wait for the mushroom stirfry to cook in the juices. <G>
 
I have both air fryer and a Halogen oven - they don't do the same things in my kitchen - though I believe that there have been bits aded to make them more capable of doing what the other thing does.
I use the Halogen oven for roasting whole chickens or joints of meat, making cheese on toast (for my husband) defrosting in a hurry, and it is a safer option for cooking chestnuts - I tried some in the Actifry and they exploded....
 
Thanks all for your very helpful comments. I think from what you’ve all said & the helpful link @Pumper_Sue that a halogen isn’t the way to go. I haven’t found an air fryer that has no Teflon coating sadly, but I’ll keep looking now I’ve an idea.
 
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