Another success for the Airfryer.

I've had a Cosori airfryer for about 2 years but hardly used it except for the likes of chips for the first year because the American recipes in the Cosori book were so offputting. Then I screwed up my courage and have very successfully cooked a whole chicken, baked potatoes, sausages, salmon, hard boiled eggs, and have recently used it for heating up ready meals. I definitely wouldn't be without it and am trying to work towards rarely using the oven. Salmon and sausages alone are worth the expense!

This thread has totally amazed me.

For some reason I thought these would be super simple to use.
I cook nearly everything from scratch.. are they actually any use for me I wonder? I was on the brink of buying one but don't feel I want to learn a whole new way of doing things really.

Should I bother?

I’ve recently bought the Ninja two drawer model and so far I’m very happy with it. My only question is, what’s difference between the settings? Air fry, roast, bake, dehydrate, super crisp. I’ve tried them all except dehydrate and not sure what the difference is. I suspect one setting would do everything as long as you can adjust the temperature.

I have one I bought a couple of years ago, never used it. Hope to try soon (if it still works ?). I cooked a piece of pork in my slow cooker and only put it in the oven with the roasties and to crisp the crackling. It was lovely, going to try the same with chicken on Sunday ?

Has anyone found a decent cookery book for the 2 drawer Ninja model? There are some recipes online, but the cookery books that I've found all seem to have had terrible reviews. We've had our 2 drawer Ninja for about 2 weeks now and finding it very good for cooking meals for 2 - corn on the cob for lunch today; have also done roast chicken joints, meatballs, slices of pizza, salmon etc. Still use hob for things like bol sauce or curry (probably should use slow cooker) and oven for batch baking. But definitely using oven less, and more efficiently when it is on. Very easy to keep Ninja 2 drawer clean - much easier than cleaning oven.

I love my air fryer. It’s ideal for me living on my own. The rotisserie chicken I did was excellent. I’ve done a fruit cake, too.
I realised yesterday (!) that I haven’t been reducing the temperature to fan oven levels, which goes a long way to explaining why some things have been slightly ‘over’.
I’m sure I read in the accompanying booklet that they didn’t recommend cooking sausages in it. Are they OK in there or is there a lot of spattering?

We had one (2)awhile but not used so elder son now experimenting as he can cook his own sausage rolls, chips etc. Gave first air fryer to DD and taking unused halogen one back it seems too fiddly.we will both persevere with the wilkos one.(easier to use, clean, & only £50!)

Secondwind my air fryer is a small basket type and the sausages were perfect with no splattering around the kitchen. To clean the two baskets, I allow them to cool and soak in soapy water and it takes 2 seconds as they have a non-stick coating. I do have a dishwasher but I do not wash them in it regularly.

Missdeke they are large and once in the kitchen it would be a pain to put them in a cupboard after each use. They should not sit under the cupboards as they become very hot and the base must also be protected.

I suggest you visit a dept. store or a Currys to find out the sizes of them. Mine is beside my cooker so I can pop the basket onto the hob.

I have noticed a huge number of airfryers coming onto Gumtree. They sell quickly but I can’t help thinking that many people are disappointed with them and simply recycle them via Gumtree.

Ah - thanks, * Charleygirl5*

Ooops - Charleygirl5. Got the spacing wrong!

I bought ours to save money on gas bills, by not using the oven - and that has worked well. Our gas bill in May was £52, in June £31, in July £18 and in August £17. Once we start using the gas central heating, the bills will obviously go up, but not using the oven is really helping.

We bought an AF about 3 weeks ago and have only had one failure with it - crinkle cut chips - they were bullet proof! But chunky chips or homemade chips cook beautifully.

Our AF is a Breville (from Lakeland) and came with a 3 year guarantee. It has 3 wire shelves, a drip tray, a rotisserie and a rotating basket for chips and similar things. It's very easy to clean, all the shelves etc can go in the dishwasher but are just as easy to clean by hand. The glass door detaches and the stainless steel interior just wipes out. There's an interior light so you can watch cooking progress. It has preset programs for chips, chicken, vegetables and meat, but we usually use the manual functions to select temperature and cooking time. We treat it like a much smaller version of our main cooker, just reducing the cooking time because it's a smaller compartment. It's handy having three shelves as we can cook different foods at the same time.

Jacket Potatoes cook really well - 10 mins in the microwave and 10 mins in the AF - Voila! crispy golden skins and soft fluffy potato. That's the time for 2 very large potatoes.

Sausages and Bacon cook well, they don't splatter, and Chicken (thighs or quarters) is especially tender and tasty. We haven't tried a whole chicken yet.

Roast Potatoes and Vegetables can be cooked on the shelves or in the tumbler basket - crispy and crunchy outside and soft inside.

Homemade Chocolate Brownies and a Victoria Sponge turned out well too.

We still use our hob and microwave and will use the slow cooker for casseroles, but overall we are quite impressed with our Air Fryer.

One thing to keep in mind is how you will warm plates if you usually put them in the oven while food is cooking. We now put them in the microwave under dishes of vegetables as they cook.

NotSpaghetti

This thread has totally amazed me.

For some reason I thought these would be super simple to use.
I cook nearly everything from scratch.. are they actually any use for me I wonder? I was on the brink of buying one but don't feel I want to learn a whole new way of doing things really.

Should I bother?

They are simple to use - or at least I find my Ninja very simple, and yes, I cook virtually everything from scratch too. I have made more than 20 jars of jam in mine this week alone, as well as doing semi-dried tomatoes using the dehydrate function, which have been put into jars with garlic, oregano and olive oil. That's in addition to cooking normal meals, which this week have included stew and dumplings, risotto and baked potatoes.

I have been using my halogen oven ( usually kept in the motor home) instead of my oven in the hope that it’s cheaper . It has a large capacity, and grills / roasts / bakes beautifully. Only put the oven on if I can fill it with baking/ Sunday roast etc .

I am sure my air fryer has paid for itself since I bought it last Oct/Nov as I have only used the oven twice since.

Salad weather has gone so I will be using mine most days of the week now along with my slow cooker and microwave.

Danma agree the bigger two drawer Ninja AFs are very scarce atm. DD has warned me there are scam sites offering them for sale so I would be very wary. Especially on sites like Gumtree!

Penelopebee

I use my small appliances now hardly ever using the oven
Small reminder:
Check you've not left anything in the oven on a tray etc.
I've just found some mummified stuff I forgot
Oh the shame!

This! I can't say I haven't done this , I feel the shame
Also I only use my slow cooker(s) (why I have 3 is anybody's guess) Air fryer and got an induction hob which is saving a fortune on waiting for my antique electric cooker hob to heat up! It boils water faster than my kettle too
Not used my cooker/oven since February I think and it shows on my bills

We have a small Ninja AF - just enough for the two of us. I only put the oven on if I have family or friends round.

A ‘Spectator’ article on the air fryer notes that it is a small convection oven and recommends buying an actual convection oven that sits on the work surface. I imagine this would solve the problem of cooking several things at the same time as it would have greater capacity for different items.

Nevertheless, I will continue to use the small air fryer my daughter bought us for Christmas for bits and pieces. I like that I can hide it away when it’s not in use. I like my side tidy and clear.

The halogen oven looks great Elegran - thank you! I hadn’t even heard of it before. I’d been wondering about an air fryer but will definitely now go for the halogen oven instead.

Whitewavemark2

Tips are useful, as I have thought it would be most useful for hot pots, casseroles, stews and stuff like that.

Air fryer, not Crockpot! It's like an enclosed grill ...with holes and a basket ...don't put liquids in it!?

I used to have a halogen oven which I found really easy and efficient but it broke down after only a year or so and couldn't be repaired. In all, I had three and all of them packed up after about a year, so that was the end of those. Anyone want 3 large glass bowls,suitable for goldfish? I now use a small Cuisinart worktop oven and grill which gives excellent even results----I've just made a tray of shortbread,evenly golden and just right. I've reluctantly turned off my electric Aga oven ,oh so useful but hideously expensive to run and just use one of the hotplates when necessary.

Gabrielle56

Whitewavemark2

Tips are useful, as I have thought it would be most useful for hot pots, casseroles, stews and stuff like that.

Air fryer, not Crockpot! It's like an enclosed grill ...with holes and a basket ...don't put liquids in it!?

Some of the posts on AFs are confusing. Not all of us have multi function all singing and dancing AFs some of us have AFs only full stop. Once I've tested a few more basic options ie sausages or salmon fillets etc for 2, I might start another thread with hints for those who haven't got an all singing dancing version. It's no wonder some think they can make soup in them.

Also my AF isn't heavy its not much different than a full kettle and far lighter than a breadmaker.