Why do you use an airfryer?

I have been on other AF threads and started one of my own. I am slowly getting to experiment with mine and agree that it's far more convenient than my oven and I need to braver than just doing chicken and chips. However I did cook some chicken breasts last night, previously marinated in spices, and cooked some sweet potato fries in the other drawer. The chicken was fantastic so I may try making the marinade for other meats as well.
Overall I am very pleased I bought it.

TheSunRisesInTheEast

I was put off buying an air fryer for ages, because we don't often eat fried food. Now that I've got one (gave into peer pressure!!), I love it. They should be called air ovens, because they are just like a mini oven. They don't need pre-heating and cook things in half the time. I wouldn't be without it now.

Air oven? Good idea and truthfull too, but less catchy than airfryer.

Boz

it annoys me that you are still getting cooking instructions for conventional ovens when they should be giving AF times and temps.also.
Has anyone mentioned the awfulness of having to wrestle hot food from an enormous gaping hot hole of an oven, when removing food from an AF is easy because of the drawers?
Plus food is nicer and not so dry.

Yes!

I have one which does all manner of types of cooking, half the time, food is NEVER fried, the amount of any oil required is tiny and the food, on the whole, tastes much more moist.

No bending down, I wear glasses and have joint issues, when I open the big oven steam whooshes and steams up my glasses and then it’s hard to see!

It’s also much much easier to clean than a conventional oven and I think it’s a bit cheeky to “suggest” good cooks don’t use them, our lovely DiL is a chef and uses one.

For the record, I'm an excellent cook! 😁

I’m cooking for one, so it would be wasteful to heat up the oven for one baked potato! I use my air fryer for lots of things, but still prefer to pan fry fish. I don’t have a microwave and I never use my main oven now.

Retread

For the record, I'm an excellent cook! 😁

Retread

I take cooked items out of my saucepan style AF by tipping them into a dish, or lifting them out with a non-metallic slotted spoon.

As for cleaning, I fill it with water up to a point where it covers the tray, add a squirt of washing up liquid, switch it on for 5 minutes, swish and wash and rinse it. Voila.

I’m about to cook rice in it in a small covered dish, as a trial, with chicken stock as liquid. Will put carrots alongside wrapped in foil with a know of butter. Then rice and carrots kept warm, I’ll AF lamb chops and do frozen peas in the microwave.

Lmk how the rice goes! I bought a rice cooker, youngest DD bagged me into doing it (still have her and others at home). Result, it’s there, nice and shiny and on the counter totally unused!!! Grrrrrr

I'll never make rice any other way again! I used Basmati, added water to about half an inch above the rice level, crumbled in a chicken stock cube, bit of salt, stirred it, added handful of a dried red pepper flakes, celery, mushrooms and herbs mix I happened to have in the pantry from a long ago trip to Italy. In the on the Roast* setting, at 175 for about 20 mins. I checked it once and added another splash of water and a tiny bit of butter. It was like a risotto ... 😋

*My AF has Air Fryer, Roast, Bake and Grill settings. The Roast and Bake settings has a lower fan action, not as potent as AF or Grill.

Retread- interesting. Sounds delicious I will try this!

I'm quite an adventurous cook and happy to experiment ... just keep am eye on the rice so it doesn't cook dry.

That's the other good thing about an AF - easy to open and check without losing heat.