Air fryers

We have a Ninja. You use it just like an oven. Anything you can cook in an oven you can cook in the Ninja. Ours is combined with a pressure cooker. As well as the usual chips, pies, fish, chicken, etc, we have made bread, scones, soup and a lot more in ours. Good luck.

We have a Ninja too. We haven't had much success cooking a small whole chicken but legs, thighs and fillets are fine. We bought some silicone baskets which fit into the drawers, They are dishwasher proof and are much easier to clean than having to wash the drawer and tray every time. Saves having a large oven on for everything.

I find with my old Ninja that you can roughly halve the cooking time you need in a conventional oven. Some packaging now includes cooking time for Ninjas. I use the air fry and bake functions mostly. I did try the pressure cooker a couple of times but now find I don't really use it. It is, of course, much smaller capacity than an oven so I still use the oven for things like batch cooking and roasts.

There are lots of different models and styles of Ninja these days. Is yours one with a deep pot, OP? I have one like that, and don’t like it as much as the ones with shelves, as it can be awkward to get things out of the pot when it’s hot. It is great for roasting a (small) chicken though, and for baking potatoes (I start them in the microwave).

I would prefer the pot to be wider and shallower, as it’s difficult to find a casserole dish that will fit inside it, and I don’t want to make something like lasagne in the pot itself, as it’s not suitable as a serving dish.

I have had a small much cheaper version for two years and have never used my oven since
It’s a deep pot sort and I don’t have any trouble getting things in and out and it’s very easy to keep clean
I don’t have a toaster any more I do my toast in my Airfryer it comes out perfect
Mine sounds very simple compared to the descriptions above but it does me fine

Ive got a 2 drawer Ninja. Can fit a small chicken in the drawer. I love it!

I havea two drawer Ninja and love it. However I have also bought the larger one that allows you to take the middle section out so the whole area can be used. I wanted it so that I can make sponge type cakes which wouldn’t fit in the normal 2 drawer and a Pyrex dish for other things. Had to rearrange my kitchen top and I use both.

Two drawer Ninja one here a small chicken cooks fine in it but you must turn it for an even cook. I use small rectangular enamel dishes in each drawer for casseroles meats etc. I regret not buying a larger one draw version but I bought in haste to be honest. I did buy the paper inserts but threw them away as they nearly went in flames.
I have tried roast potatoes but they are not as good as oven roasted ones. Scones have been a success recipe from online as I have not found a cook book for an air fryer that was suitable. The one constantly promoted by the potato queen on Saturday kitchen was sent back. Just a load of long winded recipes that I am too impatient to bother with.

Hello, I was gifted an AirFryer for Christmas and am quite wary of getting started. Any advice? Thanks

I have a 2 drawer ninja and I bought some racks to go in them which has made cooking veg and meat together easier.
We had an oven one first, which we still use. It’s easier to think of that as a miniature oven. Because there are 3 shelves.
Enjoy.

Claremont

Hello, I was gifted an AirFryer for Christmas and am quite wary of getting started. Any advice? Thanks

What kind is it? Some are like mini ovens, with doors that open to reveal shelves, and others have drawers or buckets into which the food goes directly, unless you have racks to balance it on.

In both cases you can cook anything that goes in an oven. That applies to dishes, too. No plastic or anything that will melt, but you can use metal, pyrex, pottery or anything else.

If you have an oven one, remember to swap the shelves, as the food at the top will cook faster than that at the bottom, and may burn before be food on the bottom is ready.

The bucket ones can be awkward to get food in and out of, as they get hot, and unless you can tip the food out you have to reach inside. I found it impossible to get a sensibly sized casserole dish to fit inside it, so use the oven one for things like lasagne. You can cook it directly in the pot, but would have to plate it up rather than serve it 'family style', unless you want a metal bucket on the table. I assume the applies to the drawer ones, but I haven't used one of those.

Probably the best thing cooked in them is chicken. The Tower oven ones come with a rotisserie, which is a bit of a faff to set up, but cooks the chicken beautifully. In the bucket (mine is a Ninja Foodi) you put the chicken in upside down for 30 mins at 180, then turn it the right way up, brush it with oil and cook for another 30.

In both cases a spray bottle for oil is a godsend. Don't use Frylight, as it will spoil any non-stick surfaces, but olive (or any oil) in a spray bottle will let you cover veg etc without adding much fat or many calories.

Yorkshire puddings work well, too. Use metal tins, and get the oil hot, as you would in an oven.

That's all I can think of for now, but ask if you have more specific questions. Don't be wary of it though. They are very handy and do far ore than fry - in fact mine is almost never used for 'frying'.

On channel 5 I don’t know what day (next week) there is a cookery programme devoted to air fryer recipes.

Redhead56

On channel 5 I don’t know what day (next week) there is a cookery programme devoted to air fryer recipes.

It is 8 pm on channel 5 on Wednesday, it is called The Air Fryer Diet Lose Weight Fast.

I have now had my Lakeland air fryer for 6 months. Nothing has ever come out crispy. It's a mission trying to clean the trays whether it be the dishwasher or by hand.

It set off the smoke alarm the first two or three times I used it.

Half the stuff I want to cook in it doesn't fit.

I keep reading these air fryer threads in the hope I might find the secret as to why it's just not happening for me!

I have a Tower air fryer oven - it’s extremely good. I cook most things in it that I would cook in a normal oven but faster. I’ve cooked cakes and pies in it, and it cooks scones better than my oven does. The rotisserie does cook chicken beautifully but it takes ages and TBH I wish I’d bought the same model without the rotisserie as it would have given me better shelf space. It’s extremely easy to clean.

Mine is the bucket type and has saved me a fortune over the five or so years I have had one. It used to take 20 minutes for my oven to heat up, and my food was usually almost cooked by the time I put it in the oven.

I rarely eat sausages, but they come out beautifully cooked and splatter-free.

Apparently one should not cook red meat in it.

Thank you Doodledog- it is a 2 draw 8.5 litre Cosori.

We bought one rather impulsively before Christmas to help with the Christmas feast, only actually cooked pigs in blankets, and they were burnt!
I’ve had grandchildren here this week and have used it a couple of times with fairly good results, but it takes up a huge amount of space, and I don’t think I’ll use it enough to justify it.

yes, that is my concern- takes so much space.

They do take up space. I have a Ninja that lives in a drawer for that reason, and a Tower oven one that is now stored out of the kitchen. As long as I am strong enough to lug them around when I want to use them this works, but the Ninja is heavy. Both types have advantages and disadvantages, IMO. Sadly I don’t have experience with the drawer type, Claremont (don’t tempt me - I’m a sucker for a kitchen gadget ), but I assume they work in a similar way to the bucket ones, but with smaller space in each drawer and the ability to separate out foods.

All they do is heat things - there is nothing to fear. They don’t really ‘fry’, but crisp things that are sprayed with oil, so are healthier than traditional cooking methods, and they save money on fuel. Much depends on what you cook though. They aren’t magic, so sausage and chips will never replace salad in a healthy diet .

One tip to save time and calories- supermarkets sell bags of frozen Mediterranean vegetables cheaply. Spray with olive oil and cook them on a fairly high heat and they are lovely. You can use them as sides, or put them in omelettes or quiches. I find the quick cooking stops them going soggy and they cook better than in the oven.

Thanks again Doodledog- yes it has two quite large drawers with silicon inserts. But it is huge.

Su22 thanks

I use my Ninja a lot - but mine is one of the multi-purpose ones, so it does more than just air fry, and I bought it for exactly that reason. It has other functions such as pressure cook, bake, dehydrate and so on. I find it a very useful piece of kit to have in the kitchen.

I bought a two drawer Ninja AF300 half price in the Black Friday sales. At H:31.5cm x W:38cm x D:26.5cm, it sits neatly on the counter top. A month in and I love it. I haven't used my hob or oven since. I cooked Christmas lunch in it. Saves on washing up too.