Air friers and the like

[Brewnaldo]

Does anyone have and use an air frier, and as a follow on, those fancy 25 in 1 Ninja cooking deelys.

Im not gettin much in the way of real life feedback for these things.

Any help appreciated, what you use them for, what they excel at etc etc

 

[MZonard]

Yes, got a Tefal Air fryer. Just use it for frying potatoes (cut any way you like), sausages and chicken drumsticks. Also for roasting root veg like carrots, parsnips and beetroot (tho everything turns red). Good bit of kit - I like gadgets that really work.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Wife bought one over Christmas not used it yet.

 

[Gerryjo]

We have a COSORI around 5l and is really useful considering we also have a double oven and all 3 maybe on the go for dinner or if the wife is baking and making dinner.
Check out this channel on YouTube.

 

[marshbrewer]

We have an aldi air fryer, and had a Tefal actifry before that. They are really useful, and ours gets used almost everyday.

I'm tempted to replace it with one of those multi use devices, like the Ninja foodie, so I can pressure cook then brown in the air fryer, but am worried they would be a jack of all trades and master of none, so I'm dithering.

 

[Flat Foot]

We mostly use ours for chips and roast potatoes. I've also made doughnuts in them.

Keep meaning to use it for more! But along with a slow cooker it's a useful bit of kit.

 

[Rodcx500z]

We have one of these Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer | AG551UK - Ninja UK (ninjakitchen.co.uk) fantastic piece of kit it has a temp probe that plugs in, so far we have cooked chicken legs thighs, beef steaks porkchops, top side of beef, it tells when to add food internal temp when it's done and resting time, i can honestly say everything we have cooked in it has been spot on and it is a doodle to clean, we cooked some kebabs on it they were really good i can see this ninja spending a lot of time outside in the summer, as an aside one of the best best things i bought recently was a meater temp probe which works through a free app on your phone we use it for the coventional oven a bit pricey but worth every penny

 

[Leon103]

We have a ninja 9 in 1. Think it's 6.5l
A brilliant piece of kit. We make most things in there these days, saves on heating the oven and less dishes.

 

[DavidDetroit]

After reading some of these, I wouldn't mind a stand-alone air fryer. We just ordered a stove and could have gotten one with an air fryer built in but we passed since I have never used an air fryer and didn't want to make such a big commitment.

 

[marshbrewer]

@Leon103 how does the pressure cooker / air grill work; do you have to change the lid or something if you wanted to pressure cook then brown a chicken, for example?

 

[Leon103]

@Leon103 how does the pressure cooker / air grill work; do you have to change the lid or something if you wanted to pressure cook then brown a chicken, for example?

Yes it's a different lid. Never done a whole chicken but cooked beef in one

 

[-Bezza-]

I have a Ninja air fryer. Not so good for frying wet things, like battered stuff, but chips, scotch eggs, parmentier potatoes etc all come out nice.

 

[Alastair70]

We have a Ninja Foodi and it gets used all the time. The air frier function does a great job both with pre bought frozen stuff or when making fresh. The black pudding and potato bread for tomorrow mornings fry will be getting cooked in the air frier.
I’ve slow cooked and pressure cooked meals in it this week (lamb stew and pulled pork respectively) and I’ve even baked bread in it in the past. Stock and curries made in the pressure cooker are next level flavour.
The only thing I haven’t managed to pull off satisfactorily is triple cooked chips, I spent a lot of lockdown trying various combinations of pressure cook 1st step followed 2 air fries at different times and temps without success.

 

[Dilettante Brewing]

I am also an air fryer convert. We have one of the original Philips ones. So it just “fries” and the biggest constraint is its fairly small size. Its standout use is sausages. Nothing cooks sausages better as easily. But also chips are great as is most frozen food. Have done triple cooked chips from scratch pretty well, although you do need the time. And frankly the McCains gastropub ones on an oven tray are probably a strong contender. Frozen chicken wings are also amazing and fried chicken sandwiches using Uncle Frank’s hot sauce, brioche buns and thighs are also very strong. Agree with an earlier comment that the only thing that doesn’t work well is anything with sloppy batter, so can’t do fish and chips.

 

[Alastair70]

@Dilettante Brewing What’s your triple cooked chip process?

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I can’t believe I logged on to see this thread. My wife and I have been considering getting one and have a diary note that Lidl will have one for sale from Sunday which we are planning on getting..

I came across this which convinced us we needed one: Every air fryer recipe you'll ever need

 

[Dilettante Brewing]

@Dilettante Brewing What’s your triple cooked chip process?

Stage 1: 5 mins par boil

Stage 2: Cook in air fryer for about 15 mins at 160degC

Stage 3: Cook in air fryer for about 10 mins at 180degC

Stages 1&2 can be done ahead of time and then stage 3 is the finisher.

 

[Dilettante Brewing]

I can’t believe I logged on to see this thread. My wife and I have been considering getting one and have a diary note that Lidl will have one for sale from Sunday which we are planning on getting..

I came across this which convinced us we needed one: Every air fryer recipe you'll ever need

This is also a great book. My next idea is padron peppers…

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

We got a Ninja Foodi 9 in 1 at Black Friday prices. Great bit of kit but there’s a bit of faff swapping from pressure cook to air fry as a different lid is used. The new ones with smart lid will be more convenient.

To be able to pressure cook a joint of pork then air fry to make superb crackling is brilliant.

 

[marshbrewer]

The new ones with smart lid will be more convenient.

I've not seen those; do they eliminate the need to swap lids?