Airfrying rather than oven

I purchased a compact air fryer - precisely, because as I live alone, it felt extremely wasteful and bad economics to place two chicken legs or one fishcake etc. into my large oven.

Think these machines are badly named - they are more like mini-ovens. Not just something to replace frying (which is something I rarely do).

I love mine, it IS very small - ideal for one. Have not been very adventurous with it yet, but did apart from items mentioned above, did cook a couple of sausages along with some frozen chopped onions in there - and all came out brilliantly. Frozen sausage rolls also take very little time. Obviously, frozen chips (or home made ones) go into this.

I have found that mine is very quick (much speedier than using main oven), no warming up time required, and I have put in the drawer a silicone container, which means that is all I take out for washing each time I use it (give the actual drawer a good clean after about three or four usages.

Cnash sorry to read you’ve recently lost your husband. Yes, I would heartily recommend an air fryer. I bought mine about 6 months ago and wish I’d done it sooner. I use it daily and only use my oven if the family are visiting. Fairly basic model a Tower 4.2 litre costing £45. I live alone and can cook my full dinner it. Anything you normally grill/roast/fry can be cooked in it if it fits. Here’s a link to an earlier thread about them.

www.gransnet.com/forums/aibu/1306688-Your-fav-Air-fryer-recipies

Franbern can i ask which one you have?

There have been other threads about air fryers and I have persuaded a couple of friends to buy one. Each is different, mine needs 5 minutes to get up and aia doubt if I use more than a teaspoonful of cooking oil.

I live on my own and have not used my oven since Christmas so my air fryer has paid for itself. My favourite meal is Tempura prawns, corn on the cob with thin French fries.
If you buy one do not place it under the kitchen cupboard as they become very hot. I also protect my worktop surface.

They are not all made in China, mine came from NW London. They are large but do not buy one which is too small. I like to cook all of my food together, not in batches.

I've just ordered one after a lot of badgering by my husband: apparently he's the "only kid in the class" at his Slimming World group who hasn't got one ?
As he's the sort that puts the oven on for a baked potato I'm hoping it'll save our electricity bill!

Hello Cnash So sorry to hear about your husband. Yes, it should save you money. I bought one a few months ago for the same reason, found I was putting the oven on for breaded fish, sweet potatoes cut up for chips, quiche,etc etc. Mine is the Ninja AF 400 which is bigger than some other fryers. It has two drawers to cook so can use one or two. It allows you to cook two things at once and finish at the same time. It needs no preheating and cooks in less time. You can , choose between air frying, roasting, baking, dehydrating, reheating and maximum crisp. Basically you can cook anything in it that you can fit in the drawers. You can fit a pound loaf tin in with lots room around it. It cooks sausages better than any other method. I have made scones, cakes, chicken breasts, pork chops, breaded or battered (frozen) fish, chips etc. There is a group on Facebook who share their Ninja experiences and advice. However, I have found you don’t need any special recipes. Just use your usual ones and adjust the timing. You can pull out a drawer any time to check how things are going.Good luck with whatever you decide,

The thing to remember is that there are two types of fryer. The bucket/drawer ones and the mini oven/shelf ones.

Both do essentially the same thing, which is by no means always frying, but which one to get depends on what you will cook in it most.

The bucket/pot/drawer ones are ideal for chips and similar. You can cook many other things in them, but you need to have tins and pots to fit inside them, which is limiting. They can be difficult to get things in and out of when hot. I have a Ninja Foodi 14 in 1, which I thought was going to change my life, but I find it awkward to use as the pot is large and the things is heavy. There are much less fancy ones out there, but the pot problem remains. My least favourite thing about it is that whereas you can cook (eg) a lasagne in it, you then have to either serve it straight to the plate or find a way to put the finished meal into a serving dish, as only very small ones will fit inside, and even then you will struggle to get them out of a hot pot. Living alone will make this less of a problem, though.

The other kind are the mini oven ones. I have one of those too, and much prefer it. It has shelves, so you can easily cook three things at once (eg chicken, roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings) and you just open the door to get them out. There is a bit of juggling of the shelves needed, whereas you shake the food in the pot ones. If you take the shelves out, the cavity is big enough to put a casserole dish, cake tin or (small) yorkshire pudding tray in, so IMO it is a lot more versatile than the Foodi, which markets as being able to do it all. I have make cakes, yorkshires, casseroles, puddings - all sorts of things in the oven one, and whilst I force myself to use the Ninja (it is at home but the Tower one is at the caravan) I don't find it anywhere near as easy. I am 62, and have no physical limitations.

Both save money on fuel, though.

I started off by buying a smaller and cheaper air fryer in case I do not like it. I love mine but I have not upgraded because mine is working fine and Ninjas cost a fair amount more and I do not need all they offer.

I agree, the title is wrong because they fry zilch.

I have a ninja foodi 7 in 1 pressure cooker with air fryer function. For two of us it's great.
We bought the ninja dual zone Air fryer last Christmas. Yesterday she cooked a whole chicken in it. She was dubious about it fitting in the drawer so asked for my advice. It looked fine to me so she went ahead. All done and properly cooked in 40 minutes.
I'd say buy one it will be much more economical than heating your oven.

We bought the dual zone Air fryer for DD. Why don't I preview before posting?

I have a Ninja Max which has one large drawer. I don’t use a liner or dish, just cook directly on the crisper plate which came with it. I clean it after every use which is very easy as the non stick surface is top quality in a Ninja, just soak in hot water and washing up liquid while I eat then rinse.

It’s definitely cheaper than using an oven as it takes less time to cook. I’d recommend getting a meat thermometer to check that food is cooked properly.

The only down side I’ve found is that with my model it is very hard to clean behind the coil heating element and there is a build up of grease which I cannot reach. I’ve tried various different clothes, sponges and brushes but none are ideal. Maybe I am too fussy!

It’s best to keep it on your worktop ready to use as they are quite heavy to lift in and out of a cupboard. As the hot air has to escape from the unit, they should be placed away from the wall and not under a wall cupboard.

tanith

Franbern can i ask which one you have?

I have the Tower 1.8 litre compact. It is slightly larger than an electric kettle, so does not take up too much space on worktop.

I am a great believer in keeping on worktops any machine that is in use regularly. Cannot see the putting these away in cupboards, makes them much more difficult to use.

Cnash, so sorry about your loss.

I bought a tower 2.2 litre, it was under £40 and is lightweight and compact, easy to put into a cupboard. It is perfect for one person. Saved me so much money compared to the oven. I do use the small oven to batch bake and use the batch baking to make single person portions of whatever, for the freezer

I recently bought mine a Tower ... wouldn't do without it at all. Doesn't need heating, up , an electric oven needs heating up & all the wasted space heating it up. Just put food in , put temperature & timer hey presto ! I do turn over meat & move food around, never ever use oil ... so much quicker ... may I add I do wish I had one that perhaps does a couple of things at the same time ... otherwise brilliant & I would certainly recommend

We bought a cheap one from Lidl about a year ago, thinking that we would try it out at no great cost. We now rarely use our oven. It is brilliant fir breaded fish, veggie sausages and lots of things. Have now mastered jacket potatoes by pre cooking them in the microwave. Just two of us, it was daft heating huge fan oven for something like a dozen pieces of scampi!

This one is arriving today..

Hmmm…

Very annoying when it doesn’t immediately show the picture so I uploaded it again so you’ll probably get two!

I have a Tower one too, about£40. Use it a lot. Certainly one of the most basic, but it does the 2 of us.

Definitely saves on heating cost and in some cases cooks quicker. It's really a mini oven not a fryer. I cooked a chilled quiche and some asparagus last night in the one drawer. I use the paper inserts for convenience. There are lots of recipes online with suggested timings.

I have a small air fryer that was on sale at Aldi for £29 - at that price I thought it was worth a try. I’m surprised to find I use it most days but think I’d go for one slightly larger next time. Unless you do a lot of cooking I wouldn’t buy one too large though if you are mostly cooking for one. I find I have to adjust the temperature down slightly as it seems to cook much faster.

V3ra we always microwave our jacket potatoes then crisp them up in the air fryer. They are ready before the main oven would be up to temperature.

I’ve got a Tower and use it for everything - even toast! It’s cut down my electricity bill and very easy to use and keep clean. Still use the hob for pasta though.

i am thinking about this, but i find anything to do with cooking a tricky subject.
wrote more, but deleted it.
anyway, the delightful men in link below have helped me to consider approaching the idea,
and also above GNers. thank you.
Charleygirl5, may i ask the origin of the NW London one ? am intrigued by that.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko7-ioY5bMg