Me, my Air Fryer and I… and You

[twing]

bodhi said:

Ah you see, if you've only got one Air Fryer, you're doing it wrong:



Actifry for chips, Ninja style for everything else.

Looks like the cow on the far right is having a ball!

[Silverbullet767]

twing said:

bodhi said:

Ah you see, if you've only got one Air Fryer, you're doing it wrong:



Actifry for chips, Ninja style for everything else.

Looks like the cow on the far right is having a ball!

[bodhi]

twing said:

bodhi said:

Ah you see, if you've only got one Air Fryer, you're doing it wrong:



Actifry for chips, Ninja style for everything else.

Looks like the cow on the far right is having a ball!

I'm told he's just trying to get a better view of the Air Fryer awesomeness.

Also, what's the phrase for when folks on PH notice stuff in your kitchen you haven't noticed yourself?

[JimM169]

We caved and bought a dual drawer AF400 Ninja this week, only done oven chips for tea and some bacon for breakfast this morning but both came out great. Is it worth investing in any of the accessories eg silicone liners, stack racks etc or do you not need them?

Cheers

[HTP99]

JimM169 said:

We caved and bought a dual drawer AF400 Ninja this week, only done oven chips for tea and some bacon for breakfast this morning but both came out great. Is it worth investing in any of the accessories eg silicone liners, stack racks etc or do you not need them?

Cheers

I've got racks, means you can cook a couple of different things at once, ie this morning I did breakfast, which was sausages and black pudding together in the drawer, then bacon on the rack, in the same drawer.

I've also done a potato dish with corn on the cob or asparagus on the rack above the potatoes.

Liners I've not bothered with.

[Mr Pointy]

Ninja have a new AF out which can be either 2x 5l compartments or one big 10.4l one. Should make it even more useful fo cooking larger items:

https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/product/ninja-foodi-fle...

[Silverbullet767]

Mr Pointy said:

Ninja have a new AF out which can be either 2x 5l compartments or one big 10.4l one. Should make it even more useful fo cooking larger items:

https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/product/ninja-foodi-fle...

Looks good, no meat thermometer though. I guess that'll come later. Still very happy with my AF451

[The Gauge]

JimM169 said:

We caved and bought a dual drawer AF400 Ninja this week, only done oven chips for tea and some bacon for breakfast this morning but both came out great. Is it worth investing in any of the accessories eg silicone liners, stack racks etc or do you not need them?

Cheers

I used to cut parchment paper to size to line my air fryer drawers to help with keeping the clean but I find that the paper cake tin liners fit perfectly and are less faff, available in packs from supermarkets. I flatten them out and place under the metal grill plate in the bottom of the drawer. Fat runs onto the liner instead of the drawer bottom. After cooking when the fat has dried I just lift the liner out and bin it.

[N4LLY]

The Gauge said:

I used to cut parchment paper to size to line my air fryer drawers to help with keeping the clean but I find that the paper cake tin liners fit perfectly and are less faff, available in packs from supermarkets. I flatten them out and place under the metal grill plate in the bottom of the drawer. Fat runs onto the liner instead of the drawer bottom. After cooking when the fat has dried I just lift the liner out and bin it.

Yep ! These work a treat.

[Doofus]

Any advice for cooking a couple of skin-on duck breasts? Time/temp/mop?

[Ham_and_Jam]

Doofus said:

Any advice for cooking a couple of skin-on duck breasts? Time/temp/mop?

A do a hybrid version, frying pan and Airfryer.

2 x duck breasts 200g each -

Score the skin with a sharp knife, place skin side down in a cold frying pan and cook on a low to medium heat for 5-7 mins until the fat has rendered out.

Then in a pre-heated air fryer (mines a Ninja dual drawer), cook skin up for 5 mins at 200’C.

This produces completely crispy skin and beautifully juicy, slightly pink meat. Best duck breasts ever.

You could cut out the rendering stage and just increase the airfryer time to approximately 10 mins, but the extra effort is worth it as it giveS such a better crispy skin without the fatty bit between the meat and skin.

Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Saturday 8th July 10:50

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Ham_and_Jam said:

Doofus said:

Any advice for cooking a couple of skin-on duck breasts? Time/temp/mop?

A do a hybrid version, frying pan and Airfryer.

2 x duck breasts 200g each -

Score the skin with a sharp knife, place skin side down in a cold frying pan and cook on a low to medium heat for 5-7 mins until the fat has rendered out.

Then in a pre-heated air fryer (mines a Ninja dual drawer), cook skin up for 5 mins at 200’C.

This produces completely crispy skin and beautifully juicy, slightly pink meat. Best duck breasts ever.

You could cut out the rendering stage and just increase the airfryer time to approximately 10 mins, but the extra effort is worth it as it giveS such a better crispy skin without the fatty bit between the meat and skin.

Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Saturday 8th July 10:50

That sounds really good. Let us know how it goes Doof.

[Doofus]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Ham_and_Jam said:

Doofus said:

Any advice for cooking a couple of skin-on duck breasts? Time/temp/mop?

A do a hybrid version, frying pan and Airfryer.

2 x duck breasts 200g each -

Score the skin with a sharp knife, place skin side down in a cold frying pan and cook on a low to medium heat for 5-7 mins until the fat has rendered out.

Then in a pre-heated air fryer (mines a Ninja dual drawer), cook skin up for 5 mins at 200’C.

This produces completely crispy skin and beautifully juicy, slightly pink meat. Best duck breasts ever.

You could cut out the rendering stage and just increase the airfryer time to approximately 10 mins, but the extra effort is worth it as it giveS such a better crispy skin without the fatty bit between the meat and skin.

Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Saturday 8th July 10:50

That sounds really good. Let us know how it goes Doof.

Thanks H&J.

Will do CdG.

[Ham_and_Jam]

Doofus said:

Thanks H&J.

Will do CdG.

Hope it turns out as well as it does for me.

Forgot to add, just flip the duck breasts over in the pan at the end rendering for 30-60 secs to get a bit of colour on the meat side.

[Doofus]

Right.

Disclaimers:

1. Breasts were less than 200g. Pack was 250g in total and they were not evenly sized.
2. I followed the instructions above fairly blindly, and didn't apply any subjectivity.



Skin scored and bunged in a cold pan, began timing when they started to sizzle and gave them 7 minutes skin side down, then 20 seconds on each other side.



Into Ninja Max, on Roast at 200 for 5 minutes.



Larger breast was at 54°, smaller one at 58° Sat for 3-4 minutes under foil.



Results:

1. Skin wasn't crispy at all. Looked fantastic, was floppy and chewy. Went in bin.
2. Smaller breast was slightly overdone. Larger one had a strip of gristle through it. Wife compIained.

Conclusions:

1. Maybe should have air fried, not air roasted. Not convinced there's any difference, in reality, but Ninja didn't make skin crispy.
2. Or, should have kept in pan longer at a lower temperature.
3. Perhaps needed less time in the Ninja because they weighed less.
4. It turns out wife doesn't really like duck even though she bought it (!)
5. I've forgotten how to do decent roast potatoes in the oven (Ninja not big enough for both).

So thank you, Ham & Jam for the advice. I've not yet cooked much meat in the air fryer (tried fish and that was a disaster), and the duck wasn't a complete success, but at least it was edible, unlike the aforementioned fish.

Edited by Doofus on Saturday 8th July 19:48

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Pity it didn't work well, but thanks for sharing the experience.

[silverfoxcc]

Question for a nerwbie

our Deep fat fryer went u's the other day
Replacement of choice not in stock at Argos

However Mrs Fox came back from her girls night out and says they are ok

I have one question

We used the old unit it 99% of the time cooking (from frozen) Crab Claws. Salt an Pepper Squid ( both 4 mins from freezer to plate).and other Chinese goodies from our local cash and carry

Anyone out there use their Air Fryer for such items and how does the cooking of Crab Claws etc in the compare to the Fat version??

[sherman]

silverfoxcc said:

Question for a nerwbie

our Deep fat fryer went u's the other day
Replacement of choice not in stock at Argos

However Mrs Fox came back from her girls night out and says they are ok

I have one question

We used the old unit it 99% of the time cooking (from frozen) Crab Claws. Salt an Pepper Squid ( both 4 mins from freezer to plate).and other Chinese goodies from our local cash and carry

Anyone out there use their Air Fryer for such items and how does the cooking of Crab Claws etc in the compare to the Fat version??

Closest I have done is Breaded wholetail Scampi.
Airfry, 8mins at 200c worked perfectly from frozen

[LordGrover]

No idea about those products, but air FRYER is a misnomer - it's a blowy oven.
Very efficient, and good at many things, but it's not a replacement for a proper deep fat fryer.

[blueg33]

LordGrover said:

No idea about those products, but air FRYER is a misnomer - it's a blowy oven.
Very efficient, and good at many things, but it's not a replacement for a proper deep fat fryer.

Correct

However, I have found that those naff ready made poppadums taste like proper ones if you air fry them for a minute or so each