Air Fryers….honest opinions!

I plan to dehydrate the chillies I've grown in my Ninja air fryer today. I have no idea if it will work!

It should do, Marydoll. I've dehydrated various things in mine and they've worked well.

I get annoyed with all the buttons on my Tower dual drawer. Roast, grill, bake etc of different foods are all exactly the same heating method with different temperature and times. I would rather have temp and time buttons only, as some of the small cheaper models do. I keep an indexed book in the kitchen in which I make a note of the settings for my usual meals.
Don't get me wrong, I love my air fryer. I used to use a Remoska but it died so the time was right, at the end of last year. I have only used my oven a couple of times since.

Wouldn’t be without ours. I have a Tower air fryer oven. Rarely use the main oven now. Living in an all electric property, it’s been well worth having!

After much procrastinating but having been encouraged by friends and family and keeping an eye on this thread, I finally took the plunge and bought a Lakeland dual drawer last week.

I packed up my much loved and very well used halogen oven.

It's been a disaster. The first time I used it it set off the smoke alarm - no smoke coming from the air fryer and plenty of space around it.

I've only recently moved and I was completely panicked - I couldn't think where there would be a broom or anything to jab the smoke alarm. It was 7pm and this is the quietest road ever, and I reckon everyone within a 10 mile radius heard it!

It was just a couple of bits of chicken with a dry rub - no oil.

I don't understand the settings - what are they for? If you've set the temperature and the time what else would you need to do?

I put off cooking anything in it for a few days until I managed to cook some oven chips which were ok. But yesterday I made some croutons with half a tspn of oil and off went the smoke alarm again.

I'm now thinking of every excuse not to use the damn thing but I'm not stupid and I can cook so I'm guessing it must be something I'm doing or not doing, but no idea what that might be.

Such a disappointment.

ferry23 : maybe you should get your smoke alarm checked. Could be it's too sensitive or located in the wrong place where the slightest air movement will trigger it?

Smoke alarm checked by Fire Service when I moved in. It's not in the kitchen, it's in the hall with the dining room separating it from the kitchen.

No problem with cooking on the hob or with any other appliance.

I have one and use the pressure cooking and slow cooking quite often. I also use the air fryer for chips etc. Having said that we recently had a party here and it got put in the garage and is still there. They take up a lot of room!

Ferry23, I had the same issue with the first fryer I bought, the house was full of smoke. I returned it. The store owner reckoned it was a fault with the machine. The next one I bought worked fine, never smokes not even cooking when cooking bacon.

ferry23, it sounds as if there might be a fault, as mine is a Lakeland dual drawer and it doesn’t cause any issues. You can find the operating instructions on line either by googling Lakeland air fryer and the model number, or going onto the Lakeland site, finding the fryer there and downloading the instructions if you haven’t already done so - this might give you a clue about why it might be smoking, plus it explains all the different buttons and how to use them.

What I would suggest, though, is contacting Lakeland as they have the no quibble 3 year returns guarantee, so that you can either exchange for another Lakeland model, choose a different brand or get your money back.

I just have a basic saucepan one with temperature and time settings. Simple, basic with no superfluous controls.

Like others I have rarely used my cooker oven since. I cook small roasts with roast potatoes in it, croutons, chips, potato cubes. I have a recipe for making Yorshire puddings for 2. I heat things made from shortcrust or flaky pastry because they crisp up beautifully.

Mine was inexpensive and I found a space in the corner of the work top for it.

MissInterpreted

It should do, Marydoll. I've dehydrated various things in mine and they've worked well.

Thanks.

I have successfully dehydrated my chillies.
However, not being the sharpest tool in the toolbox, I omitted to wear gloves then rubbed my face. 🥵

I really don’t think I would use an air fryer very much and would have nowhere to store it. I have a kettle, toaster and coffee machine on my worktop and think it already looks cluttered!

Marydoll

MissInterpreted

It should do, Marydoll. I've dehydrated various things in mine and they've worked well.

Thanks.

I have successfully dehydrated my chillies.
However, not being the sharpest tool in the toolbox, I omitted to wear gloves then rubbed my face. 🥵

Oh, been there, done that!

We’ve upgraded our small Lidl air fryer, which had lots of use, (the handle fell off and couldn’t be repaired) to the Ninja two drawer dual zone model and have used it each day since it arrived. OH is cooking beef kofta & roasted vegetables tonight, so looking forward to that. However, I’ll need to pop to the butchers to replace the minced beef, as Dylan, our dog, almost devoured the one defrosting on the work top! 🙄

I've got a small air fryer which was given to me as a gift but I'm not that enamoured really I have to admit. It's not as quick as I imagined and to me our microwave or small oven is just as good. BUT it does make a change to use from time to time. Perhaps a two drawer one would be more useful

Does it replace a microwave? I usually microwave all my vegetables, rice etc

no i use my microwave still

We have had two so far. We got our current one from ProCook and it's brilliant. My husband is an ex-chef and is a bit fussy but he loves it. Our oven isn't hardly ever used any more. I'd definitely recommend getting one.

I have various pieces of kitchen equipment some of which get more use than others. But I must say I’m very tempted by an air fryer having seen my daughter’s in use. She has teenagers and works long hours as a practice nurse. Her kids and husband cook things for themselves when she’s not around and it seems so easy. We’ve also had a delicious roast dinner cooked mainly in the fryer and it’s so quick!

I bought the basic Lakeland fryer, too. Wish I’d bought a more versatile one now.

My son persuaded me to buy one, because he said he & his wife found it so useful. But they have three small kids, so may end up cooking extra bits and bobs if they won’t all eat what they’ve been given! I’ve cooked the classic oven chips, with great success, but the main reason for getting it was to give my husband another cooking option. He cooks a lot more at the moment because I have fatigue, and standing up to cook can give me backache.

I have a really cheap one from Lidl and it's excellent, particularly for small amounts and if you're cooking for one. Really good for reheating things like chips and getting them crispy. Considering finding room for it in the camper van for times we have electric hookup.

If nothing else, they cook quicker than a fan oven and use less electric as they are heating up a much smaller space than a normal oven, I use mine daily as it’s just right for the two of us

Invest in one... Time and money saving. Youcan do just about anything in it. Rarely use my oven now. I have a Ninja Dual but get whatever suits your needs.

I ought a Ninja dual drawer about 18 months ago … I live alone but have cooked meals for 2 , (in combination with the microwave for veg, or the hob occasionally) happily in far less time than in the oven. I loved it so much I bought a second Speedi in Ninjas sale which has all the features of the first plus more and is a single big square bowl cooker. In this and the original, plus as above I cooked a full Christmas dinner for 4 happily on about an hour… I have only used the oven twice since..fora Pizza…due to size and for a massive Mac and cheese when my family arrived from Japan recently …so 5 of us. The rest of the time I used the Air Fryer. LOVE THEM