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Explain air fryers to me


Silver Girl

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I read somewhere that air fryers were the most purchased appliance type in 2020.


My MIL and DH’s aunt were raving about their air fryers at the family Christmas dinner. MIL said it’s great for cooking her fish & chips without much oil. I have to admit, I was thinking, “isn’t that what an oven’s for?” (She has a large kitchen with an oven.)


It seems like a gimmick, an unnecessary expense that takes up space. But maybe I’m a Luddite who would have shunned early ATMs, microwaves etc (I love my microwave).


So, WDYT EB? Please enlighten me!

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We are getting one for the sole reason DH heard they are easier to clean than an oven, we are tossing up between a Ninja and a Phillips, that is the extent of our knowledge yet on them

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Hills Mum Bec

Like PP said, an air fryer is pretty much like a mini bench top oven. Benefits of an air fryer over an oven is that it cooks a lot quicker than an oven and does a better job of crisping than an oven with similar results to deep frying. In most cases there is no need to preheat so that saves a lot of time too. We bought one about 3 months ago and I love it. We don't keep ours on the bench but it is quite light so easy enough to get in and out of the cupboard. I can cook a 2kg chicken with super crispy skin in 50 minutes. You can cook frozen convenience type foods like nuggets, fish fingers, spring rolls etc in a fraction of the time it takes to heat up the oven and it doesn't dry the food out like the oven does. Oven chips cook really well compared to the oven. Crackling on roast pork is amazing. I find the air fryer really easy to use and clean.


We have this one from Kmart: https://www.kmart.com.au/product/7-litre-air-fryer/3204801

There has been a lot of media lately about air fryers cracking stone bench tops, splashbacks etc. The bench under our air fryer does not get hot at all when we use it (we have stone and it still felt cool after using air fryer for half hour at 200C). it does have vents at back that expels warm air so I would probably use it away from a wall but we have an island bench so there is no wall behind it when we use it.

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I bought a Kmart one as well and love it for fried chicken, sausage rolls, dim sims etc. The kids hate chips in it. I’ve tried a few different brand frozen chips and they hate them all. I love home made chips but they won’t eat them because they taste to potatoey 🙄

I was an idiot when we first got ours, didn’t even think about the hot air venting out the back and had it positioned in front of the power point...it melted the plastic cover and thank god I was in the kitchen when it happened because it burnt the wires and they started shorting. Sparks and black smoke started billowing out of the power point! I’ve since moved it and had no issues since.

I actually find mine hard to clean. The drawer/tray was covered in oil and no matter how I wash it, it doesn’t look clean. I’ve soaked it, scrubbed it, put in the dishwasher....it still has a film of oil that won’t come off

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Yes, they're like a mini benchtop oven. It blasts very hot air all around the food so things crisp up a lot more than when they're sitting on a tray in an oven.


They don't have the pre-heating time of an oven which is a huge plus for me, and don't hear up the kitchen like an oven does.


For a quick dinner on Monday night I "cooked" some pre made frozen lentil & sweet potato patties for 8 minutes, then "roasted" some broccolini for 4 minutes. We had it on a bed of salad leaves topped with a tzatziki dip and that was dinner made.


And yes, frozen chips are much crispier than an oven, roast veggies are much faster. I did smashed potatoes in it on the weekend - microwaved them first till soft, smashed them, drizzled with oil and into the air fryer for 20 - 15 minutes. Sausages only take about 10 minutes to cook.

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Captain Tightpants

I have the 5.5L Kmart Air Fryer, cost me $89.


We are a family of 6 and when I renovated our kitchen, I put in a massive 900wide oven.


The airfryer does frozen chips way better than the oven, in a fraction of the time. I also use it for when I don't want to turn the big oven on - last night we had homemade pizzas done in the pizza maker so used the air fryer to cook the garlic bread (in 7 minutes!). It mainly gets used to cook/reheat frozen or previously cooked foods.


I don't use it to cook roasts as meat plus veges for my family wouldn't fit so I am better off turning the oven on.

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They are more energy efficient than an oven, and make things crispier than an oven too.


Rather than comparing to an oven I would compare to a deep fryer, as healthier version. I didnt eat deep fried food or even oven fries enough to justify one (and didnt want another appliance).


I recently got the microwave/combi/ airfryer from aldi. As I have always wanted a combi oven microwave. The air fryer was a bonus. However I have used the air fryer option multiple times. Yet to use the combi feature! LOL

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I understand how airfryers are better and have faster cooking time than large conventional ovens. But in what way are they better than the bench top halogen convention ovens, such as the Flavorwave Turbo? We use our Flavorwave all the time and can put the bowl in the dishwasher, which is awesome.

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I understand how airfryers are better and have faster cooking time than large conventional ovens. But in what way are they better than the bench top halogen convention ovens, such as the Flavorwave Turbo? We use our Flavorwave all the time and can put the bowl in the dishwasher, which is awesome.

As I said above, think of it like a healthy deep fryer.


convection is more like an oven. Which is why it a seperate feature on the aldi microwave. (combi is convection)

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HS air fryer I ended up buying this one as a new shop was opening and there was a big sale for $100 and i figured I wouldn't waste much if i didn't like it.


Well i'm amazed that it's so good! I had one of those halogen ones and wasn't that impressed.

  • chips are amazing, best way i've ever cooked them

    I like the shelves in mine in 6 mins i have cooked a pizza. Just put loads of vegies and a tiny bit of meat and it's wonderful

    Now i'm obsessed with cooking chicken legs. So juicy and tender and yummy.

 

I ignored all the hype but it was for real.

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I have a cheapo Kmart one and its perfect for us. I mostly use it for chicken nuggets, chips, etc for the kid. Its quicker and easier than the oven. About 10mins usually.

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I have a cheapo Kmart one and its perfect for us. I mostly use it for chicken nuggets, chips, etc for the kid. Its quicker and easier than the oven. About 10mins usually.

 

And less heat in the house for summer!

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We use the oven lesser since getting air fryer. We hv the Philips xxL. It was a toss up between Philips and ninja. I wanted to Get one large enough.


Some things we have done


-scones take 11 mins and come out perfect.


- pizzas


-anything puff pastry comes out amazing


- kebabs, wings, meat


- veggies plain or battered


- pies


- cheesy toast - actually any toast


- tofu


- dumplings


- salmon steaks


- anything frozen


The best thing about an air fryer is just how quick it is. I can cook something in there in the the time it takes my oven to preheat. I do have a crappy one at the moment though.


I was wondering if the bench top toaster ovens are the same as air fryers? Do they work the same way?

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Not So Retro

I received an 8 litre air fryer for Christmas, after being given a much smaller one last year. Certainly saved dinner tonight when I realised the fan element had blown on my oven and dinner wasn't going to get warm in there anytime soon

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Thanks all, very interesting. I can see the value of having one after reading the replies. Especially the speed. I’ve forgotten to preheat the oven for the kids’ dinner many times, so an air fryer would be great then.

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Hills Mum Bec



I was wondering if the bench top toaster ovens are the same as air fryers? Do they work the same way?

 

We have an old Breville bench top toaster oven and it's nothing like an air fryer, It has a top and bottom element but no fan function. One of the main features that make an air fryer an air fryer is the big fan that circulates the hot air. Our air fryer is the basket type one but you can get ones that do look like the traditional toaster ovens with trays that pull out.

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we have done heaps and love ours and use 2-3 times a week:



lamb rack

roast (all kinds)

any roast veg

pies

frozen foods - pies, spring rolls, etc

steak is amazing i was surprised how perfect it was

chicken wings

schitzels


and on and on - heaps online :)

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nom_de_plume

I don't understand the hype (that probably belongs in another thread!)


We don't eat much fried or convenience food. The things we cook in our oven tend to be large meals like roasts and tray bakes as well as actual baking (bread and cakes/muffins), that wouldn't fit in an air fryer for a family of 5. We use the grill function in our oven probably just as often for omelettes and meat.


Preheating doesn't take long. I turn mine on, prep the meal and by the time it's ready to go in the oven is heated up.

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We use the grill function in our oven probably just as often for omelettes.

 

 

This sentence just floored me. How do you use the grill element to make omelettes? I can't visualise this at all?

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Hills Mum Bec

I don't understand the hype (that probably belongs in another thread!)


We don't eat much fried or convenience food. The things we cook in our oven tend to be large meals like roasts and tray bakes as well as actual baking (bread and cakes/muffins), that wouldn't fit in an air fryer for a family of 5. We use the grill function in our oven probably just as often for omelettes and meat.


Preheating doesn't take long. I turn mine on, prep the meal and by the time it's ready to go in the oven is heated up.

 

If you're not cooking a lot of convenience type food then an air fryer probably isn't for you. DH & I both work full time and I have found the air fryer cuts down a lot of my cooking time with great results for quick mid week meals or like a PP mentioned, cooking those small things where it's not worth heating up the big oven for like garlic bread to go with a pan of pasta or to roast some veg as a side dish to something that is cooked on the BBQ. I have a 900mm wide oven and it generally takes about 20 minutes to heat up which is fine if I'm doing a large batch of baking, cooking a roast with roast veg etc or cooking multiple things at the same time. I can cook enough frozen crumbed fish in the air fryer for the whole family in the time it takes for my oven just to heat up. I find that heating up the oven to cook some garlic bread to go with my pasta to be a huge waste of electricity and time. The other day I roasted some pumpkin pieces to put in a salad. It took 10 minutes in the air fryer, this would normally take about 40 minutes in the oven if you include the time it takes to heat up the oven. Pumpkin salad was relegated to a weekend meal but now it is easy & quick to have it mid week too.

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Ohhhh I want to make a pumpkin salad for dinner tonight!


We have the Phillip’s unit, interesting to hear the more economical priced units are highly recommended, the Phillips wasn’t cheap hmmmm


Fried chicken, oversized wedges covered in olive oil, S&P and herbs are a hit and loads of baked potatoes, depending of the size only takes 15-20 minutes, not bad hey.


Apparently you can cook a whole chicken in the air fryer and the skin is super crispy (if you eat the skin of course)

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I've been mostly cooking real food - not frozen and so impressed with how nice it is. It gets cooked all around - no heating on one side. I couldn't see the need but now i'm impressed with how well it cooks.

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