Have I destroyed my air fryer? Advice needed please

My dh does most of the cooking and relies on ChatGPT which answers every question. 🥦 he hasn’t cooked broccoli in the air fryer, but potatoes carrots parsnips etc work well.

How do you cook veg, what veg do you cook most?
Can I cook broccoli for example?

We use the AF for more or less every meal. Meat, fish, veg, most things really.

Yes, chicken and roast potatoes seems to be what most people cook in them.

I do understand that this saves on time and energy but I rarely eat roast chicken or roast potatoes- though I seem to be eating more of them than I did before!

It would have to be a very small chicken to fit in one of those drawers!

I have a single drawer AF, it’s a 4.6 so quite small but more than sufficient for two. £35. For anything ‘moist’ you can get paper or silicon containers to fit inside and keep the tray clean. We have some, but don’t always use them as it’s easy to wash the drawer and the little trivet thing.
We cooked a small chicken last week, it came out beautifully with crispy skin ( which we don’t eat) with roast potatoes in as well.
Have a look online to get suggestions and advice.

I think I made the mistake of listening to people telling me to get a double one. It has two rectangular drawers but you can't fit something like a dish in there- they are very deep but quite narrow and most of the time I only use the one drawer anyway.

Can you get dishes that will fit? Will any usual oven dishes be ok? What about wrapping things in foil, like fish with lemon sauce for eg?
I am wary of putting wet things in there as I still don't really understand how it works. I will try to make some of the recipes and see how I get on.

Living by myself, I have found the AG a wonderful 'gadget', which means I cook food quicker and so much more cheaply than in my big oven.
I do use a liner, not a disposable one - and these allow the air still to circulate. If I am doing something like chips, which may need a little oil, I purchases a small spray bottle in which I keep some oil just for this purpose. Just two or three sprays.

As it is such a much smaller area than the main oven, do not need to warmup, I cut down the time of cooking by approx 20%, and use a lower heat setting. Saves me both time and money.

Do think their name Air Fryer - is misleading, as it makes think it is for frying. Yes, it does do things like chips, but is actually a small oven. I prefer to have one large drawer than two smaller ones.

They are definitely nothing to be scared off, much easier to understand than most modern microwaves.

I can’t imagine what you re cooking Keepingquiet I ve never used my oven in 2 and a half years You can cook sloppy things in an over proof dish
No it doesn’t only cook dry ingredients you can cook eggy stuff like an omelette, that’s not dry, or I make fruit crumbles and scones cheese straws all kinds of veg and I made that lovely Greek yoghurt bread last week
No it doesn’t do rice or pasta but you don’t do them in an oven either, you do them on the hob, I still use my hob for pastas or curries or stir fries

All I seem to use it for is cooking potatoes!

It doesn't cook rice or pasta?

It only cooks dry ingredients so often I have to use other pans to make a sauce.

Some things aren't big enough or the right shape so I have to do them in the oven anyway- so don't see the point of using the air fryer and the oven.

I was given two recipe books for Christmas but a lot of those require other ingredients being cooked elsewhere as well as using the air fryer.

As I said, it's ok but I don't love it and find I'm eating a lot of chips!!

Oh ……I give up 😫

Sorry, I was replying to 2 posts at the same time. 😂
Mine is the Amazon Echo dot - I think it was about £50

My air-fryer is a cheap one from Tesco. £20
Absolutely love it.
French fries today, in 12 minutes.!!

Today’s late lunch was Pork fillet with roast potatoes in the airfryer just now, cooked perfectly, together with vegetables. Delicious. 🤤

You might well when you get more used to it Keepingquiet
I just bung everything and anything in and ping it’s done

Cabbie21

Pomgirl, the OP kindly informed us a while ago that she had solved her problem, if you read the thread.

Yes, the thread is three months old but no one noticed. I posted back then so update: I bought my airfryer before Christmas and it's useful but I don't love it.

We love our £35 Aldi air fryer and use it every day. Saves us heating up the oven and healthier as we don’t need to use more than a squirt of oil to cook food. Jacket potatoes brilliant, roasted carrots easy and chips super.

No it only has the one little raised removable holey bit at the bottom about half an inch of the floor, I call that a shelf

Doodledog no I didn’t take it as you thinking I didn’t know what I was doing 🤣oh dear written word can get so hard

It’s only a cheap Airfryer but it’s still going strong and I use it everyday for everything basically
I m no cook so it’s fantastic to me put it in and take it out hahaha

BlueBelle

My removable bottom piece is like a thin shelf half an inch off the bottom Doodledog so the paper doesn’t stop any air circulating and it’s tucked under so can’t fly I ve never had any problems in 2 and a half years using it

Ah, is that an oven-style one with shelves, as opposed to a bucket-style one? The air circulates underneath it (or around it if you sit it on the base, so it won't stop anything.

I wasn't suggesting you don't know what you're doing, but I'm in a few AF groups on FB, and some of the people on there have no idea - it's quite scary. My post was more in the nature of public information.

My removable bottom piece is like a thin shelf half an inch off the bottom Doodledog so the paper doesn’t stop any air circulating and it’s tucked under so can’t fly I ve never had any problems in 2 and a half years using it

I have a Cosori AF which is a single bucket that goes in the dishwasher, as does the tray so I've stopped using liners in mine. I just wipe both pieces down with kitchen towel and stick them in the dishwasher.

I'm not sure what 'the bottom piece' is, but using liners and greaseproof paper/foil can defeat the point of an air fryer, which doesn't fry, but uses circulating air to cook the food. Liners prevent air from circulating, and paper or foil can fly onto elements and burn.

I'm not trying to be a know-all, and realise that AFs come in many different designs so the above may not apply in all cases, but do make sure that air can circulate all around the food, and don't block ventilation holes with anything.

Dont be afraid of the Airfryer Allira I haven’t used an oven once since having my AF, 2 and a half years ago, would not be without it.
What I do is cut the greaseproof paper bigger than the removable bottom piece snd tuck it firmly under it so the paper can’t fly up and the shelf stays clean
I use it for everything including my morning toast as I no longer have a toaster and it works fine as a toaster too.

Pomgirl, the OP kindly informed us a while ago that she had solved her problem, if you read the thread.

I think the plasticbag had probably mellted on the element.It will eventially burn off.You could try cleaning it.with a brillo pad..good luck

My air fryer basket fits in my dishwasher. I now put a liner in the air fryer each time I use it, and I may buy a cheap silicone one from Amazon. I don't have to wash the basket each time it is used.