Airfrying rather than oven

Perhaps I’ll dig out my string and head over to Sainsburys!?

? for news about chicken in Sainsbury’s. We cooked ours on the shelf as we had no string.
A small world, eh? We have the identical Lurpak pan bought as a brownie dish. I gave a couple to DS2 who is likewise interested in buying an air fryer.
Yes, I agree with some other posters - I too thought of fat at the name rather than oven which it is. For a time it put me off.

Thanks for all the useful info on this thread, can I ask how easy they are to clean? I’ve just recently started paying for someone to clean my cooker after 46 yrs of doing it myself. I don’t fancy going back to it again!

Condolences, Cnash, ??.

We bought a wee air fryer today , by chance, in Asda when we popped in for cough sweeties! £25.... we'll give it a try tomorrow, we're in a holiday bungalow this week so we'll try sausage and bacon for breakfast.

A piece of cake Abitbarmy. No more soaking shelves in noxious chemicals, bending down to deal with base, sides and top of a traditional oven.
A quick wipe of the insides with kitchen towel and diluted white vinegar in a device at worktop height, a cursory scrub and rinse of the shelves with a brush and Bob’s your uncle. Simps.

You just wipe them down when you wash up. Or that's all I do anyway. I bought some silicone shelf liners from Amazon, and they clean up really easily and keep the shelves clean.

The door comes off the Tower one, but I haven't needed to do that - I don't like the idea as the hinges are plastic, tbh, but the manual suggests that you do that for cleaning.

Actually, I'm not sure that they were from Amazon - it may have been Home Bargains. They are mesh sheets that you cut to size, anyway. You can't use solid things like foil on the shelves, as they would block the air flow.

Disgruntled

Thank you for this thread - fascinating! I really want one now, just feel bamboozled by all the choice out there.
Can you make cheese on toast in all of them?

Yes but you might need to pin down the top slice of bread ( I used a wooden tooth pick ) as the very powerful fan can cause light things to blow around and burn on the element!!

I have a Ninja with a basket, large enough for me but I think I would prefer the dual one with two baskets. Cleaning the basket in very easy as the quality of the coating in the Ninja is excellent. The basket and crisper plate can go in the dishwasher but I tend to rinse it through after each use.

My bug bear is the element at the top. I wipe it down once it cools which is fine but behind it are the fan blades and a back shield. There are almost impossible to clean and are getting greasy which sometimes smells. I turn the fryer on its side ( unplugged of course) and use a variety of brushes to try to squeeze between the rings of the element. My arthritic fingers are too fat and still to fit through! I’ve tried an adult toothbrush, a baby toothbrush, different size bottle brushes, a brush to clean reusable straws and flasks without much success. I also poke cotton buds through which takes hours!

I don’t know if I am being too fussy in wanting to clean this area, what do other users do?

Put a cut lemon in some water and with a bit of bicarbonate of soda and set it to pressure cook. The steam will loosen any grease and neutralise smells.

Thanks for the cleaning tips. I’m definitely tempted to buy one. Grannmarie please let us know how you get on with the Asda purchase.

I don't want to come across as a self-appointed expert on air fryers, as my only qualification is that I have experience of both the Ninja type and the Tower oven, but I will say that I am in various FB groups about them (look out for the UK groups if this appeals to you) and I have rarely seen anyone say that they wish they had a smaller one. Even cooking for one, the tiny ones are very limiting, and whereas storage space is an issue, if you have to make a meal in three stages you probably won't use it as often as if you can put three things in at once, and you will lose some of the cost-cutting advantage.

I agree Doodledog. I was going to buy the compact size suitable for 1-2 people. My friend advised me to go for the 4.2 litre family size one I have. I can cook all of my meal together but a family meal would need done in stages. If my budget allowed I’d go even bigger.

Normally, a wipe with kitchen paper is all my air fryer pan and drawer need.

Yesterday, there was some slightly burnt-on food when i'd finished, so I immediately poured some water in - just enough to cover the bottom of the pan, then stuck the drawer/pan back into the unplugged machine while we ate.

Half an hour later, I took them out again, poured away the water, which had got hot even though the machine wasn't on, and simply ran a sponge over to remove any residue before drying with kitchen paper. It took less than a minute to do!

I am naughty and every so often, in between my wipes after cooking is pop the two movable pieces into my dishwasher and the result is fantastic.

My kitchen is quite big but my air fryer stays beside the cooker so I use the hob for ease of transferring food because the fryer is roasting hot. I went for belt and braces, not wanting to burn my worktop surface by buying a heat-resistant pad and also two metal trivets. They also all go in the dishwasher.

As an aside, you have gathered I am bone idle but the brain is in gear so I also clean the fridge shelves in my dishwasher, bringing them to room T first so they do not crack. They are sparkling afterwards.

Hi, abitbarmy, quick update on our Asda bargain. We made sausage and bacon for breakfast this morning, 15 minutes. Now I know that bacon cooks in 10, so tomorrow it will go in 5 min after the sausages, trial and error. Very easy to take apart basket and tray, quick wash in warm soapy water, rinse and dry. So far so good, early days.

It’s arrived! Now to play.

Thanks Grannmarie, sounds great so far, hope we find out how Jaxjacky gets on too!

Also Cnash please let us know how you get on with yours.

Frozen French fries cooked in an air fryer are to die for. I add Tempura prawns and corn on the cob all cooked together and my air fryer is not large (for cooking purposes). I would not like cooking something and having to keep it warm while the remainder of my meal was cooking.

I did fancy a Ninja but it was an expense especially if I did not like it. I am lucky mine stays in the same place and only moved for cleaning under the heat proof mat etc.

I have a Ninja and I'm sure it's paid for itself already with the savings on electricity. I just love it!

I bought a Tower 2 litre, £25 from BM Bargains. I’m still struggling to love it. Baked potato was a failure. Chips cooked ok but took almost as long as in the oven. The drawer is tiny, you certainly couldn’t cook a cake or bread in there as you couldn’t get small enough baking trays. I feel like I’m the only only person in the country who doesn’t love an air fryer. I should add that I live alone and have a tiny kitchen so don’t want a huge model. I was planning on storing my one in the oven but it’s too tall, even with the shelves out ?

Mrsemmapeel10 I wonder if it’s possible your air fryer is faulty. I have a Tower. I used it for frozen French fries last night. The packet said to cook for 19 mins. They were cooked to perfection in 10 mins. Less than the time it would take to pre heat the oven.

For a tasty baked potato I cook in microwave for 5-7 mins depending on size then brush with a tiny drop of olive and pop in the air fryer for 5 mins along with fish or meat that’s already cooking.

Mrsemmapee110 I have just a small compact airfryer - ideal for me alone, although last night did cook, easily and speedily two Chicken Kievs in it for daughter and myself last night (Sweet potato and potato mash on induction hob and frozen vegetables for us both in microwave)

Baked potatoes should be started off in Microwave and crisped up in airfryer. Chips - do not put in too many, and give them a good shake about halfway through cooking time.

If you really want to use this for cake making (I would not), then places like The Range, or Wilko have quite an assortment of different size baking dishes at very economical prices.

Would not try to store it anywhere other than on my worktop, so that it is quickly available for use. I do not find much heat coming from the top of this when in use, although I do tend to pull it forward when on, so it is not under the wall cabinets.

You do have to get used to it (like any new piece of kitchen equipment), so I use it for fish cakes, (ten minutes at 180), chicken legs (20 mins), ready made quiche (drawer is just big enough to take one of these supermarket ones) for 15 minutes. Small prepared quiche for one person will easily go in there for about ten minutes. I use a silicone insert in mine which helps to keep the drawer clean. This is just rinsed out in sink each time it is used. Frozen sweet potato chips take less than ten minutes, and normal frozen chips (I like large ones not french fries), about 15 minutes.

A rule of thumb is to reduce both time and temperature by 20%, and you can always add to either if you need to. People get scared of them, but they are really easy to use.

I have only tried one (disastrous) cake, but have made 'cakey' puddings like Eve's Pudding or Countess Pudding (both Be-Ro recipes that live in my head) and they were great. I suspect that a different cake recipe would be fine, and have seen lovely looking ones on FB groups for air frying recipes.