Air Fryers….honest opinions!

Thanks for all this info, specially about the actual size.

I'm worried about ending up with a dust collector sitting taking up room in my small kitchen.

I like to hear from real people before making a decision.

nanasam

I wouldn't''t be without my Tower double drawer and very rarely use my oven. However, when it's time to change, I'll get the Ninja double stack which takes up less space on the counter and cooks at a higher temperature. My Tower only cooks to 200C, the Ninja to 240C

yes the max crisp option is really good

Last year I bought a Ninja 15 in 1 air fryer. I use it for Picard frozen bread rolls, croissants and chips. I made excellent dahl in it which would have taken hours on the hob. I tried cooking Chinese crispy duck and pork belly; both were a disaster. I’ve lost confidence in it. It mostly just sits there taking up space. Think it was an expensive mistake for us. I also hate the fact that all Ninja cookbooks are American.

I've had, and got rid of, 2.

mine is a Tower with wire shelves and drip tray I've baked cakes,,,roast chicken, which cooks lovely and soft,crispy bacon
pizza sausage rolls...I love it,,,chips and roast potatoes...

My Ninja dual drawer is almost three years old. Since having the Ninja I have only used my main oven once.
The Ninja is the best thing I ever bought. Meat, fish and poultry cook to perfection in it. I roast potatoes and mixed vegetables, also parmentier potatoes. Bread and butter pudding is amazing. I could go on, there's no end to what can be done in the Ninja. It's fast, healthy and economical. Very versatile.

Oh yes I like to hear the not so good experiences, too.

My neighbour was overjoyed with hers, but has recently started saying the roasties are lovely, ut not exactly the same as the traditionally cooked ones..

I'm waiting to see if she ends up going back to oven cooking the.

roast potatoes are nicer in the oven as you cook them in more oil!

I have a Ninja 14 in 1 air fryer. If it stops working, I will be replacing it immediately! That is all I will say.

We have just had minestrone soup made in it for lunch. It was delicious.
No chance of burning it, which I usually do if it is in a saucepan!

Can anyone recommend a good cookbook that isn’t American?

I just google recipes. I know that is boring
pinch of nom have bought out an air fryer one i noticed

not worth it for me. I have two small ones but they really are small, will go into an undercounter cupboard. I also have a small oven as well as the big oven and quite honestly prefer the small oven.

Good for those without small ovens but small ovens are better

glammagran

Can anyone recommend a good cookbook that isn’t American?

Join some of the Ninja groups on Facebook - there are plenty of UK-based ones with great recipes on there. Pinch of Nom have just brought out a new air fryer cookbook too.

We first had a Tower with shelves, a rotisserie and a drip tray. Great for biscuits, chips, pizza, salmon, small joints of meat on the spit, oven roast vegetables- cheese on toast, macaroni cheese etc.
Really, whatever I used the oven for.
You can roast chicken on the spit, but that was a lot of faff!
Only downside is it’s not that easy to keep the inside clean, but Orange Magique does the job and the shelves/drip tray go in the dishwasher.

I bought a Ninja 2Drawer at Christmas when it was on offer and that made life so easy. Hot buffet stuff done in such a short time, bread crisped up, roast potatoes, roast veg etc. I love the synchronise function so that everything’s ready at the same time.

I did need my main oven for the turkey, but the beef cooked perfectly.
Chicken does better in the Ninja, moussaka, banana bread, cakes and even scones come out well.
Jacket potatoes -lovely crispy skins, but I do cook them in the microwave first to save on time and fuel.
I’ve never used it to dehydrate anything, but I never did that before.

My favourite use is bacon for sandwiches.
Cooked, even slightly crispy in less than 10 minutes and no spitting. I put it in a liner as mentioned below for even less mess.
The drawers are easy to clean, but
I bought some silicon coated paper liners £1 for 12 which are great for anything greasy or that drips-the bacon, meat, chips etc.

I still use the oven top for stir fry veg, which we like, and custard and gravy if I’m making it from scratch.

Biggest benefit-no waiting 10-15 minutes for the oven to heat up.
My gas bill dropped straight away.

I’ve been using my two draw air fryer now for four months, I haven’t used the oven more than three times.I compared my electricity use for the same time last year and it has gone down by 21%.My daughter was also telling me how much I would like an airfryer and I resisted for ages, finally giving in, so happy I did. At first I kept it in the bottom of a cupboard but found I was using it so much it finally got its own place on the counter.

I have a small one, ideal for chips, wedges and crisping baked potatoes which have first been in the microwave for 6 minutes.

Croissants and rolls can also be warmed successfully and sausages brown beautifully.

However I could never do without my main electric oven for a proper roast dinner. Three shelves fully utilised with meat, four veggies and roast potatoes, stuffing and plates warmed alongside a fruit pie or crumble. Gravy on the hob of course.

All the above ready in 90 minutes, at the same time and, as importantly to me, served piping hot.

I have a ninja double drawer which has a separator so can use as one big or two smaller drawers. It air fries, bakes, roasts, dehydrates, maximum crisp, reheat and proves. I got this as I found the double drawer was also great but I was restricted by the size of each drawer when baking cakes and using a dish say for lasagne or a crumble etc. So I do have two ninja’s now. The bigger one is treat I gave myself as I managed most things for two of us in first one. However, nice to bake cakes of a normal size without putting the oven on.

No cooking smells when I use my air fryer. The fat and spluttering of sausages are contained inside it.

You should not switch it on if under a cupboard and the worktop surface base should be protected from heat.

I am fortunate I have a big kitchen and have space between cooker and sink so I can easily move something very hot onto the cooker.

Mine is normal in size, I have not used the oven for 4 years + so it has paid for itself several times.

I do use bought paper liners especially if liquids are in the machine.

I love mine.

Complementary to a full oven. Good for some meals for the two of us but useless for a turkey or large joint.

Good for those without small ovens but small ovens are better.

I have a range with two ovens. I barely use them now.
My Ninja is out permanently. It is so versatile.

Had mine for 18 months now. Rarely use the main oven. Last time was for the Turkey last Christmas!

I'm in the same position as OP (but with limited worktop space), but I'm veggie so wouldn't cook joints or chops, or other things that need lots of cooking. (A nut roast or Quorn roast us just for special occasions) I like veggie pies, sausages, samosas, bhajis, and batch cooked cottage pies/veg stews from freezer.
Is it worth the outlay for me?

I’ve compared fuel usage between oven and air fryer and the air fryer uses a fraction. It cooks baked potatoes, burgers, chips, bacon beautifully.

kittylester

I've had, and got rid of, 2.

Why’s that, kittylester?

I don’t know Chardy. I did need to buy dishes that would fit the 2drawer Ninja when I was making dishes for freezing, because I didn’t have the right size containers, but using the Tower with shelves I just used what I had.