Why do you use an airfryer?

You have to turn your big oven on heat up then you can put it in the oven to cook . That doesn't make any difference if you are cooking for 2 or ten people.
With an air fryer and for 2 people less time for the same results and as others have have in most cases no actual frying with oil .

My main oven takes approx 15 mins to heat up, before cooking, I use my air fryer every day with most things cooked within 20 mins, in one half I can be cooking roasted veg, in the other side salmon. The outlay for the oven is far outweighed by the savings on electric.

For Kitty, as per the many comments you've had, they're versatile (not just for doing chips, Pink!!), and far quicker, and importantly cheaper than a full oven. We have a large 'normal' oven, a small 'mini' oven, and an air fryer (Ninja), the latter is getting increasing use as it's just so good.

Cheaper and sometimes quicker than main oven.

Save time, money & cleaning.
Only use my big oven at Christmas time now.

kittylester To save time and money, I’m single so it suits me fine. However I’m a batch cooker too so will sometimes use the oven.

I have an air fryer oven. It doesn’t have drawers, but shelves and is very compact. Since I’ve been on my own, it has saved me a considerable amount on electricity. It’s fast and versatile - makes better cheese scones than my main oven does in half the time and cakes too. I’m currently cooking a pork chop in it. I wouldn’t dream of putting the main oven on for one pork chop or a piece of chicken. It also has a rotisserie and a rotating kebab function, both of which I have only used once - or rather my son has and was very taken with it, but he likes gadgets! The main oven comes into its own for family meals a couple of times a month.

I use mine almost daily, it’s quicker than my normal electric oven and there are only two of us at home so I don’t need the oven space so it makes sense to use the smaller oven

Its quite simply a small fan oven. Mine has several other functions. Saves time, money and washing up

Ziplok

They are basically a mini oven.

The translation from the german word "Heissluft Fritteuse" is Hot air deep fryer. It literally uses hardly any oil or fat, and rather sort of roasts/fries the food with hot air and in a much shorter time than the conventional oven. The bonus is that one has less cleaning up afterwards, and less power is used.

We discarded our microwave more than 10 years ago. The airfryer is now our "warming up" gadget, pie baker and Sunday bread roll baker, more useful than the microwave ever was. (Except for quickly warming up that forgotten mug of tea or coffee)

I use mine on a regular basis. Cook a chicken in an hour. Sausages, Bacon, etc. Baked potatoes, cakes and crumbles.

Rarely use the main oven now.

Ditto to most of the above. I also live alone. My oven wasn’t used much and the door wouldn’t close properly so bought a dual drawer Ninja AirFryer. I use it for everything. Then bought another Ninja Foodi cheaply in their sale. For the last 2 Christmases I have cooked a complete Christmas dinner, with all accompaniments, using the 2 Airfryers , hob and microwave. We used to sit for hours waiting for the Turkey to cook in the Oven! Now I have my Christmas meals prepared in around an hour. Obviously it won’t take a full Turkey, but it will take a small chicken for other occasions. I love my Air fryer… no waiting for hours for something to cook … quick, easy, healthy. Also much cheaper for this poor Pensioner of 80 this year. Air Fryers for all … unless you love cooking and even then you can do baking, and all in the Foodi! Just a case of quantity really.

It also keeps the kitchen cooler in the summer not having to warm up the big oven.

mine makes lush chips from scratch without having the mess of deep- fat frying (so much nicer than the best of the oven chips)

I use it for allsorts, but that's why I have it.

I use my air fryer throughout the year for all sorts of meals but when the warm weather comes and the aga gets switched off it really comes into it's own. I still use my electric combi oven but for just the two of us, my really basic air fryer is cheaper to run, greatly reduces the amount of fat in my recipes and is so easy to clean. I wouldn't be without it.

I'm a 72 year old male who does all the shopping and cooking for myself and my wife. I use the air fryer as a supplement. If there's just a couple of pieces of fish or chicken etc to cook I use the air fryer. If I'm roasting a chicken I use the oven. I still use the deep fat fryer for chips and spring rolls as I find the air fryer dries them out too much.

We do not have one. I have a double oven, so the grill oven heats quickly.
When I use my oven, I use all of it putting veg in a covered dish with the meat for example, part cooking my jacket for the following day, and using the residual heat for a rice pudding perhaps.
I have a microwave and a sandwich maker for snacks.

That is something to be aware of with an air fryer - at first I had many complaints about the food being 'dried out' ot 'too crispy' so I now wrap e.g. crumbed fish, in foil and take it out for a minute or so towards the end of cooking time.

I also tend to use my air fryer as an additional cooking aid, but I'm certainly using my oven less often.

I've noticed that quite often now items include Air Fryer cooking instructions on the labels.

I have a double built in Neff, stopped using it 2022 due to soaring electric costs! Love my slow cooker, it does most things (as does a cast iron casserole on top of the multi fuel stove!) Have 3 airfryers, 10 year old actifryer, used for chips only, usually once, twice a month if we're lucky (it sits on top of other stuff when not in use and then gets plonked on a barrel with the dog flap cover to steady it when in use!

The 2nd, a drawer type, 3 year old I think, chops, belly pork, chicken legs, cauliflower cheese in a dish, basically anything that might spackle and you would do under a grill.

The 3rd, bought it last year (In my defence I waited over a year for it to come down in price as it is the one I wanted. It's Instant, shelf type, and the door opens at the side like a microwave. Paid £70.) That's used for dry food only, waffles, fish, fish fingers, tray cakes, potato experiments (yesterday's was nice!)

All the Christmas Cakes I made in 2022 are coming to the end so I need to replace, current experiment has so far lasted 2 days, we'll finish it today! Can't believe how nice it is! Fruit cake, in lined tin, on trivet, in cast iron, inch of water, on MF stove, slowly steaming. Hasn't a pudding texture either and isn't heavy. Need to retry with butter and sherry (and eat that version too) and if that works...... get making more.

Oh the things I do for cake!

We use it for things like fish fingers, heating bread rolls, and my husband likes chips with everything. The airfryer is good for that. I hate cleaning the baskets.

We have used an Actifry for chips but they are discontinued now. Our Actifry is on its last legs so do you have any advice please for making chips in an airfryer?

Liz I cut the chips as usual, preheat the AF at 180° (mine automatically sets at 4 mins to preheat). I put the cut chips on a piece of foil on a tray that I bought at Poundland, put that on the AF tray, spray them with olive oil. Stir to make sure all are coated. AF at 180 for 10 minutes, pull basket out, stir or turn the chips, back in at 180 for a further 10 mins or so, I check them.

That's the other bonus about the AF, it can be opened and food turned or stirred really easily.

See pic for the tray I have (widely available). I use it all the time in my AF and it goes in the dishwasher.

kittylester

Following on from the aurfryer recipes thread, I started to wonder why people choose to use one.

Some people seem to only us their airfryer - never, or rarely, the main oven. I wonder why?

Is it to save money, time, a dislike of cooking?

We have an aurfryer but it would not be my main source of cooking. My range cooker has a tall fan oven wuth a small capacity. That is the one I use the most - which suppose it not too different from using the airfryer all the time.

How, and why, do you use yours?

We don't use one as we don't usually fry.

We don't usually fry either. The "air fryer" is actually a small, fan oven...