Me, my Air Fryer and I… and You

[22s]

scz4 said:

So we impulsively came back with a Ninja Air Fryer (9.5L) the other night after seeing it on discount at Curry's. Impulsive being the word, but I can't bring myself to open the box. Anyone else had similar reservations?

Most friends and family rave about them, but not sure they work for everyone, especially a family of 4 portion wise.

When we look back at what we cooked this week and I think we could only have used it once, maybe twice at 28p per week vs £170

- Chicken curry (nann bread maybe, but better grilled)
- Stir-fry (noodles, chicken & veg)
- Home made vegetable lasagne
- Chicken steaks with mash and veg (chicken steaks maybe)
- Baked potato and salad
- Home made baked cannelloni
- Tuna pasta bake

I figure I might save 0.5 KWh each time I use it, but if once or twice a week, it has a very long payback period.

So my question is, have most people altered their eating habits and menu to fit in with the air fryer capabilities\limitations? Neither of us enjoy prep\cooking, so not particularly adventurous when it comes to that.

Wonder if you can buy a fully integrated air fryer yet? Go back 20 years ago and microwaves were also free standing and an eye sore.

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 21st January 09:52

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 21st January 10:01

For us, we mainly use it for things we would normally do in the oven as it's much faster and easier. No pre-heat (or 1 min if you really want to), faster cook time, gets food crispier, less electricity. It probably gets used 5 times a week.

Even for two of us, I find the drawer sizes quite limited (we like to have leftovers for other dinners / lunches) and I think people who do a full roast or similar in a two drawer machine are trying to prove a point rather than being practical. It's probably a bit better for large portions if you do things like stews or pasta in it as you can use the full capacity.

Re: your dishes, apart from the stir fry (and salad) I think you could cook everything you've listed in the air fryer.

I'd buy one again, but it's definitely not indespensible for us.

[Tony Angelino]

Did bacon in ours today for the first time. Easier, cleaner and more uniformly cooked than versus our normal method under the grill. No idea if it's cheaper but the marginal difference either way isn't really a consideration.

We've also done dippy eggs this week, 7 mins at 180 degrees. Throw as many eggs as you like in the tray and set them off, just enough time to make a brew and sort some soldiers while your waiting and no boiling water to mess about with or pans to wash. We'll definitely do both again.

[bodhi]

I'll admit bacon is one I don't get the advantage for air fryers. Takes longer and results in more cleaning than just sticking a frying pan on the hob and cracking on ime.

[98elise]

22s said:

scz4 said:

So we impulsively came back with a Ninja Air Fryer (9.5L) the other night after seeing it on discount at Curry's. Impulsive being the word, but I can't bring myself to open the box. Anyone else had similar reservations?

Most friends and family rave about them, but not sure they work for everyone, especially a family of 4 portion wise.

When we look back at what we cooked this week and I think we could only have used it once, maybe twice at 28p per week vs £170

- Chicken curry (nann bread maybe, but better grilled)
- Stir-fry (noodles, chicken & veg)
- Home made vegetable lasagne
- Chicken steaks with mash and veg (chicken steaks maybe)
- Baked potato and salad
- Home made baked cannelloni
- Tuna pasta bake

I figure I might save 0.5 KWh each time I use it, but if once or twice a week, it has a very long payback period.

So my question is, have most people altered their eating habits and menu to fit in with the air fryer capabilities\limitations? Neither of us enjoy prep\cooking, so not particularly adventurous when it comes to that.

Wonder if you can buy a fully integrated air fryer yet? Go back 20 years ago and microwaves were also free standing and an eye sore.

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 21st January 09:52

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 21st January 10:01

For us, we mainly use it for things we would normally do in the oven as it's much faster and easier. No pre-heat (or 1 min if you really want to), faster cook time, gets food crispier, less electricity. It probably gets used 5 times a week.

Even for two of us, I find the drawer sizes quite limited (we like to have leftovers for other dinners / lunches) and I think people who do a full roast or similar in a two drawer machine are trying to prove a point rather than being practical. It's probably a bit better for large portions if you do things like stews or pasta in it as you can use the full capacity.

Re: your dishes, apart from the stir fry (and salad) I think you could cook everything you've listed in the air fryer.

I'd buy one again, but it's definitely not indespensible for us.

Personally I like ours for the speed, convenience and results. The energy saving is a Brucie bonus. I would not buy one if saving money was the only benefit.

[Luke.]

bodhi said:

I'll admit bacon is one I don't get the advantage for air fryers. Takes longer and results in more cleaning than just sticking a frying pan on the hob and cracking on ime.

It takes 6 minutes on max crisp with no preheating.

[Ham_and_Jam]

scz4 said:

So we impulsively came back with a Ninja Air Fryer (9.5L)…

… it has a very long payback period.

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 21st January 09:52

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 21st January 10:01

If that is the metric you are using for purchasing an air fryer, take it back.

It’s another tool in your kitchen. Use it for the jobs that it is best suited for. The foods it can cook well are normally done quicker, easier and taster better. Energy savings can be had with the speed at which it cooks, but as already said it’s a bonus for me.

I did a lovely spag bol last night. Ragu in the pressure cooker (20 mins), spaghetti on the hob (10 mins). Garlic breads in the air fryer (6 mins).

[Ham_and_Jam]

bodhi said:

I'll admit bacon is one I don't get the advantage for air fryers. Takes longer and results in more cleaning than just sticking a frying pan on the hob and cracking on ime.

6 mins for bacon - No oil, no watching or nursing a pan. Press a button and wait for the beeps. One basket to rinse under a hot tap.

Not sure thats harder than a pan, especially cleaning oil from the hob and surrounding splash backs.

Must admit when doing a breakfast for a few people, sausages in one basket, bacon in the other leaving the frying pan and me free to fry a few eggs.

[Tony Angelino]

bodhi said:

I'll admit bacon is one I don't get the advantage for air fryers. Takes longer and results in more cleaning than just sticking a frying pan on the hob and cracking on ime.

I normally do bacon under the grill, doing them in the ninja I found to cook the rashers more evenly and they were nice and crispy across the board. Cleaning up took about the same time as throwing away the grill pan tin foil liner and washing the metal bit.

[bodhi]

Ham_and_Jam said:

6 mins for bacon - No oil, no watching or nursing a pan. Press a button and wait for the beeps. One basket to rinse under a hot tap.

Not sure thats harder than a pan, especially cleaning oil from the hob and surrounding splash backs.

Must admit when doing a breakfast for a few people, sausages in one basket, bacon in the other leaving the frying pan and me free to fry a few eggs.

My mileage definitely varies in this area - bacon in a pan is 4 or 5 minutes including pre heating, and our dual drawer air fryer has those grilles at the bottom of the drawers which are a PITA to clean, so the pan is the clear winner for me.

Apart from that did anyone see the Air Fryer program on Channel 5 past night? Ignoring the fact I was expecting to see Ninja was sponsoring it during the ad breaks it was fairly interesting the variety of stuff they will cook (even if there are better options), although I'm not sure about the last exercise of baking a cake in one. I suspect the usual opening and closing to check on progress wouldn't be great for the cake.

Also, the chip competition didn't have an ActiFry in there, which seems a bit of a schoolboy omission when you want to cook the best chips possible with a deep frier.

[droopsnoot]

^ I started watching it, but there was so little actual content before the first ad break that I gave up on it. I did notice that, labels aside, the cheapest one they had was the same as mine. I'd look it up on My5 except for not being able to skip the ads.

[andrewcliffe]

When we got ours, my wife bought a number of cook-books.

Out of the ones she bought, this was my favourite. https://www.amazon.co.uk/BIG-Metric-Ninja-Foodi-Co...

Some of the meals could be done on a convenional stove or oven. Some more suited to stove cooking.

The recipes are generally easy to follow (read through several times before starting), and but the books layout and presentation makes it more appealing to me.

[Ham_and_Jam]

bodhi said:

My mileage definitely varies in this area - bacon in a pan is 4 or 5 minutes including pre heating, and our dual drawer air fryer has those grilles at the bottom of the drawers which are a PITA to clean, so the pan is the clear winner for me.

Apart from that did anyone see the Air Fryer program on Channel 5 past night? Ignoring the fact I was expecting to see Ninja was sponsoring it during the ad breaks it was fairly interesting the variety of stuff they will cook (even if there are better options), although I'm not sure about the last exercise of baking a cake in one. I suspect the usual opening and closing to check on progress wouldn't be great for the cake.

Also, the chip competition didn't have an ActiFry in there, which seems a bit of a schoolboy omission when you want to cook the best chips possible with a deep frier.

OK we get it, you work for Tefal

[Ham_and_Jam]

droopsnoot said:

^ I started watching it, but there was so little actual content before the first ad break that I gave up on it. I did notice that, labels aside, the cheapest one they had was the same as mine. I'd look it up on My5 except for not being able to skip the ads.

It was ste

[Davey S2]

22s said:

I think people who do a full roast or similar in a two drawer machine are trying to prove a point rather than being practical.

I've done 2 roasts in mine so far. A chicken and a half leg of lamb.

Not trying to prove anything. it was just easier. meat in one drawer and roast potatoes in the other. I also did cauliflower cheese in it while the meat was resting.

Veg on the hob as usual.

It was all really easy and easier to clean up afterwards.

Admittedly you can only fit in a smaller chicken, half a leg of lamb or a medium sized joint of beef so may not work for a larger meal but its absolutely fine for a family of 4.

[HTP99]

Davey S2 said:

22s said:

I think people who do a full roast or similar in a two drawer machine are trying to prove a point rather than being practical.

I've done 2 roasts in mine so far. A chicken and a half leg of lamb.

Not trying to prove anything. it was just easier. meat in one drawer and roast potatoes in the other. I also did cauliflower cheese in it while the meat was resting.

Veg on the hob as usual.

It was all really easy and easier to clean up afterwards.

Admittedly you can only fit in a smaller chicken, half a leg of lamb or a medium sized joint of beef so may not work for a larger meal but its absolutely fine for a family of 4.

A whole roast chicken is brilliant in the air frier, takes less time than the oven and cooks far better, I do roast potatoes in the other drawer, veg and stuffing I do as I've always done, on the hob or in the oven.

[Prolex-UK]

Try roast pork... Cracking is awesome

2 weeks ago we had shoulder of pork

Last week roast loin

Awesome

[andyA700]

Looking for advice. We saw a Salter EK4750 in "Middle Lidl" this morning for £89.99. It is a 2 drawer (3.7 litres each, total 7.4 litres). The reviews are very good. There are two of us and we usually cook from scratch every day. Would this be a good way of getting into airfrying?
The missus wanted to buy it straight away, but I am not an impulse buyer.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

I prefer a single large drawer as I think it offers more options for larger items, but I know many here like the flexibility of being able to cook different things simultaneously. I think the number of drawers is really the only choice you need make.

[carlo996]

bodhi said:

I'll admit bacon is one I don't get the advantage for air fryers. Takes longer and results in more cleaning than just sticking a frying pan on the hob and cracking on ime.

Use drop in liner things, game changer.

[BigMon]

I bought a Ninja AF500UK last week which is 10.4 litres and I honestly think, for us, it's a game changer.

So far I've cooked jacket potatoes, roast beef and sweet potato fries, chicken thighs in bacon and fish fingers. All have been superb and much, much quicker than using the oven.

I think it renders our oven redundant tbh. We're currently using it as dishwasher dirty crockery storage to stop our tom cat brilloing them with his tongue.