Air-fryer

[Glint]

I haven't used mine a huge amount. I've made a nice lentil soup (with hough) quickly - I've no Instant Pot to compare the PC element. Chips are still an experiment - I'm finding setting for 5 minutes, moving then about and a spray of oil, another 5 minutes and then checking every few minutes after that. The bacon I did was lovely, but it took ages compared to the foreman because of the cooking rack area. I'm planning a roast at some point with it, and also a steam chicken breast with veg, but not got round to it.

[nineseven]

The air fryer my parents bought me for Christmas (I asked for one) finally arrived. They had to redirect it to their house as it took five months to arrive and I’m not actually living in my house now

I am very much looking forward to finally trying my Christmas air fryer this summer.

[Lola]

Good luck, Nine

I am unsure about mine. It seems to dry food out, the basket is big & heavy & a pain in the arse to clean out after every use.

So yeah, I’ll keep experimenting

[kiwi]

I'm really liking my air fryer. Tonight I roasted butternut squash for lunch in a fraction of the time of the oven, I've cooked tofu and sausages and hash browns for breakfast. Tomorrow I'm going to try fish which I'm a bit more wary of drying out.

[nineseven]

After a mere seven-month wait, my festive air fryer (ordered by my parents in November) arrived. I just cooked frozen chips in it and they were bloody brilliant.

[Topcat]

Has anyone successfully cooked a roast in one?

I keep circling these (especially from an energy saving point of view) but can't work out if it would actually be any use to me or not if it isn't much more than an expensive cooker of chips.

[Lily]

I would give it a go if I had enough room for a roast.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0018 ... are-mobile

[Morganna]

I got a Tower one for the caravan, and I think I prefer it to the Ninja I've got at home. It has three shelves, which are removable so you can put a casserole or joint of meat in the cavity or spread things on the shelves. There is also a rotisserie for cooking a chicken, and you can buy extras like rotating kebab skewers (although they look like a faff, and I'd probably cook chinks of things on the shelves and skewer them later if I wanted to). Anyway, they are lots cheaper than the Ninja, but don't have a pressure cooker function, which I doubt I would use in a caravan because of all the steam. I got mine for £30 as someone was selling it on the park's FB page, but they are about £80 on Amazon. Mine is the 5 in 1 Manual - there is also a digital version, and a 10 in 1, but remember that most of the functions are the same thing - ie bake, roast and air fry only differ in the amount of fat you use - and the 10 in 1 does the same as the 5, except you get things like kebab skewers included and they count that as a function.

They are bound to save on fuel as they are a lot smaller to heat than an oven, and they take about 3 minutes to come to temperature. The only way an oven would be cheaper would be if you filled every shelf with things every time it was on, which I am rubbish at doing. Oh, and they don't heat the kitchen, which is good in this weather.

I haven't cooked a roast as M wouldn't eat it, but I did a small chicken on the rotisserie for the fun of it, and froze most of it to eat when he's not there and I'm cooking for myself. It was really good, and I don't see why a roast wouldn't be good too. You could rotisserie that if you wanted, and put potatoes under it to catch the juices.

[Morganna]

This is mine, and it's £90, but I've seen it cheaper. I looked it up when I saw the ad for mine, to see if I'd like it.

Screenshot 2022-06-24 at 21.11.41.png

They are dead easy to use - the knobs on the top are for temperature and time, and the only other buttons are one for the rotisserie, and one put the light on. They only take a small chicken, but you can fit quite a lot on the shelves.

[Lily]

That chicken looks like it's praying.

[Squirrel]

LILY!!

[Lily]

It does though! It brings to mind Thomas a Becket.

[Morganna]

It does a bit - or doing some sort of extreme exercising. Poor thing. Mine did taste good though .

[Estrella]

That’s the type of air fryer I have too, Morgs (but mine is the Instant brand) I use it so much!

[Morganna]

With the benefit of hindsight I would get one of these for home too, instead of the Ninja. I have an IP for pressure cooking (and IMO the pc works a lot better on that than on the Ninja) and the Tower one isn’t as huge or heavy. I have to leave the Ninja out, whereas if I managed to clear cupboard space for the Tower I could put it away between uses if I wanted to.

[Lola]

I have the instant pot one & it’s a bit of a beast so I have to leave it out. I do use it a lot more than I thought I would though. I still think it dries food out but it’s very quick & handy. I will keep it until we’ve had the kitchen done as it’ll be very useful through that.

[Morganna]

Does it have a steam crisp function, Lola? My Ninja does, although I haven’t used it. I think that’s meant to keep the moisture in whilst crisping the outside.

[Lola]

No but it’s just an air fryer, not a pressure cooker too. The Ninja does everything, doesn’t it?

[Morganna]

It does lots of things, but none particularly well, IMO. The Tower one air fries better and the IP pressure cooks better.

Wendy might be amused to hear that both have a dehydrate function that I have never used .

[nineseven]

Air frying leftover roast chicken is amazing. It goes really crispy