Another success for the Airfryer.

Late to the thread but here’s my tuppenceworth.

Elegran, I have the Andrew James digital hinged lid halogen and love it, for exactly the same reasons. It saves so much time and money.

My first AJ hinged lid model had failed after several years sterling work (they come supplied with a spare halogen ring for when the bulb eventually fails) and to my horror I found AJ were no longer trading.
Spent some time looking at alternatives but I didn’t fancy detachable lids because of the sheer amount of space needed and non had digital controls - back to manual.

There was a thread some while ago discussing air fryers which helped. So we tried various air fryers but they weren’t a patch on the halogen - too fiddly, couldn’t see what was going on, cooked unevenly and not very much at a time etc.

We missed the halogen because it was used for so much - the main oven now stores baking trays. (There’s also a combination microwave which is fabulous for say baked potatoes, rice, pasta).
In the halogen I make cakes, scones, toast, roasts, steak, sausages, chips and chicken and - well just most things.

So then found a Cookworks digital halogen in Argos - very cheap, about £35 - big drawback: detachable lid. Used it but not a patch on its predecessor. Clunky. Used sulkily under protest.

By chance just happened on an advert for an AJ and investigated. Yes! It was the same! Some other company must have taken over the manufacturing. Twice the price but worth it.

So now we have some spares. And I am content. Peace reigns again.

I was just wondering if a small halogen oven would be a good idea for me and I found this:

Since halogen heat is a kind of radiation, there are radiation dangers involved. Radiation emitted from Halogen heat can affect a human’s immune system, cardiac and nervous system, neuro-behavioral and ocular effects and can also cause problems with melatonin production.

I'd like to hear from scientists what they feel about this?
I will come back with the source - inadvertently closed the page.

It was from halogenhub.com

As far as could see, the link you gave is to a site mainly about halogen patio heaters. The bit about the dangers of cooking with halogen didn't refer anywhere to a halogen oven, but to a halogen hob - (maybe the ovens were not around when the article was written.) and were about things having to use suitable pans on the hob and things getting very hot. On balance they approved of halogen cooking

It says that halogen heat is a form of radiation, then that the radiation emitted can effect the various things you mention. Light is radiation, and halogen ovens and heaters work by emitting light, so that may be what they are referring to, not one of the kinds of radiation which cause cancer.

Elsewhere on another site ( forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/896919/halogen-oven ), someone quoted a link between Halogen exposure and cancer in a Time magazine article (which doesn't seem to exist any more) Someone replied to say " In your link, they subjected specially bred hairless mice to the lights 12 hours a day for a year and found that every one developed skin tumors -- most benign, but some cancerous. So I guess as long as I don't sit in the oven for 12 hours a day for the next 12 months, I should probably be ok".

I don't think I will worry about the risk.

An answer in Quora to the question "Are halogen ovens carcinogenic?"says - "A halogen oven is an oven that derives its heat from so-called halogen light bulbs. Some automotive headlamps are halogen bulbs. Quartz-iodine lamps are an example. Unless they are ruptured, halogen lamps emit no hazardous chemicals. If they do rupture while you are cooking with a halogen oven, you are likely to discard the food therein because of the shards of glass from the bulb, not the miniscule amounts of halogens escaping the lamps." www.quora.com/Are-halogen-ovens-carcinogenic

I have read swveral pages online that say there is research going on in America and Europe about the safety risks associated with halogen overseas but can't find any digestible papers on Google Scholar.

I wish I had more info.
Obviously everything we do may have an element of risk but I'd like to choose my risks!

Not overseas! *ovens

Well I was thinking of an air fryer but really wanted to cook a dinner in one go, and if you do roast beef how do you do your Yorkshire puddings? Anyway for the time being I have bought an electric wok which allows me to cook sausages without the fat going everywhere, pork chops and other meals

Light and heat are both results of radiation. Microwave ovens work by sending waves of energy of a certain wavelength (ie, a certain wavelength of radiation) into the cavity, bouncing it off the walls and into the food to heat it.

Servicemen working at early radar (microwave) installations would stand outside in front of the emitter before a hot date, for the microwaves to sterilise their semen production. Some later discovered that they had over-done it. Microwave ovens are now in just about every home, and the correct safety precautions when using them are common knowledge, but to begin with many people wouldn't use them at all - the radar stories still lingered.

Gas cookers used to be lethal, electricity and water can kill if they get together, and the second most frequent cause of death in women up to about 1800 (after the hazards of pregnancy and childbirth) was burns from standing cooking at an open fire.

Research goes on constantly into the side effects of new technology. That something is being investigated doesn't necessarily mean that it will be proved to be unacceptable in use. What matters are the results of good research and the regulation of the manufacture and sales of the technology.

With energy prices rising exponentially, and alternative cooking and lighting methods like halogen ovens and light bulbs being used more and more, the public needs to know how to use them properly, and to read all that boring safety advice at the start of the manual.

Whilst all this is obviously true Elegran, I'd still like to see the appropriate research.

The way we cook is something we have choices about - just as we have choices about what we cook.
I, for example, like my toast very dark and am partial to well roasted cauliflower but I don't eat a lot of either - or every day for that matter. I can live with that potential risk.

Just give me the facts as we know them and I can make choices that work for me.

I am sure when the research is complete it will be published in the relevant journals.

I’ve got ninja and if I’m cooking vegetables or meat I pressure cook for 10 mins then I empty water then I remove vegetables and then meat and roast potatoes roast for 20mins but that’s also when I’m baking my home made yorkies with a ninja you can lift your lid anytime when your cooking to check your food and if it’s not done you put lid back down and it carries on cooking also got ninja kettle and soup maker lol

Elegran These products go through rigorous testing and have to reach very high safety standards before hitting the shelves.

Barmeyoldbat

Well I was thinking of an air fryer but really wanted to cook a dinner in one go, and if you do roast beef how do you do your Yorkshire puddings? Anyway for the time being I have bought an electric wok which allows me to cook sausages without the fat going everywhere, pork chops and other meals

I do my yorkies the same way you would in a oven mix all ingredients in a bowl and put into tins or muffin moulds no oil is needed I cook mine on 2.10 for 19 mins come out huge

Barmyoldbat if you do not own an air fryer at present you may not realise we are talking about Ninjas and also small, ordinary air fryers. Each cooks very differently and I have a small air fryer and no way could I cook a side of beef in mine.

I live on my own and like to cook food in one go. I can cook sweetcorn, Tempura prawns with French fries and it is really good, taking under 25 minutes and allowing 5 minutes to heat up my ProBreeze, made in London, not China.

For those saying you cannot cook meals with liquid such as casseroles, it depends what you buy. I have a multi function Ninja and you can put liquid in it. It air fries, roasts, sautes, pressure cooks and slow cooks. I mostly use the air fry function.

I made a new dish for tea tonight, delicious! I had a chicken breast ( skinless) coated with a little fajita spice in the fridge which I’d cooked in the air fryer yesterday while cooking a beef burger.

I cooked slices of yellow pepper and onions sprayed with a little oil in the air fryer for five minutes then took them out. I then put sliced chicken, grated cheese and the pepper/ onion slices in the middle of a small tortilla and rolled it up very tight. I lightly sprayed with oil ( but won’t bother next time) and popped in the air fryer for six minutes. As my rolls were rather over filled, I skewered them with some wooden cocktail sticks in case they exploded with the fan!

They turned out nice and crispy especially at the ends and a bit softer in the middle where they were fatter. I had two of the rolls with a salad but only managed to eat one and a half! The recipes had sour cream and grated cheese on top but I didn’t bother.

I like this thread. My air fryer is very basic and I really had only cooked chips and roast potatoes in it. I have tried bacon and it suited me because I like it really crispy. A friend made pizzas in it but I think that wouldn’t work for me.

I have a front opening Tower air fryer oven, with shelves. It’s been a godsend now that I live on my own, and I only use my main oven when cooking a family roast, or batch cooking cakes. I can’t remember the last time I put the grill on. I’ve cooked chops, chicken and steaks in it and the results are very succulent. It doesn’t dry meat out. Stuffed baked potatoes, roasties, roasted veg, salmon fillets and home made pies and pasties are very successful too. Haven’t tried cakes yet! Best of all, it’s extremely easy to clean - shelves and drip tray in the washing up bowl and a quick wipe of the interior with a soapy cloth.

Apologies if I've missed it, but is a halogen oven the same as an air fryer?

No, they are different machines, but they do roughly the same things. Here are two Amazon pages.

Air fryers - www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=air+fryer&tag=gransnetforum-21
Halogen ovens - www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=halogen+oven&tag=gransnetforum-21

So if I were looking at an air-fryer what should I watch out gor do you think?

NotSpaghetti the problem is there are thousands on the market some are better than others. All are supposedly non stick, I know a couple of people who have returned their machine after a short length of time because the non-stick property had given up.

I live on my own so I did not want to spend too much in case I did not like it. I only cook for myself and like my food all cooked at the same time. I wanted one not made in China- difficult but possible!

Mine has paid for itself because I have only used the electric oven twice in almost a year. I did spend a lot of time researching. My kitchen is large so my machine does not look out of place and it is nowhere near cupboards.

The base becomes very hot so that is protected with a trivet and heat-resistant mats. Mine is dishwasher proof and stays happily where it is, beside the hob and the sink.

It would probably pay you to read all the reviews and comments on Amazon about the different models. People tend to be very enthusiastic about all of them when they first unpack them, but more realistic after they have used it for a while and relise that it isn't a magic wand. By comparing the things they DON'T like about each one, you will get some idea which ones to avoid.

Thanks Elegran