Air Fryer: Yes or No?
I am considering getting one but would like some feedback. Are the worth the money and the space they take up in the kitchen? Do they perform well. What wattage and size is a minimum requirement? Are they a worthy appliance? I have a few friends that love theirs and use them daily but I would like a few more opinions.
What else do we have to discuss?
Go Blue
the whole point of the remodel is to please her, not me. i'm a guy, i can live in a cave if i have to. she's wonderful, incredibly frugal, and i think it really would make her happy to do this. i have been encouraging her for a decade to pick some things, paint, counter-tops, etc. she likes the idea, she'll get some paint or kitchen ideas, things like that, and then it will die on the vine. she is so busy with the kids, schooling, sports, daily this and that and it never comes to fruition. told her i'd put in new carpet - she says not until the dog passes on to valhalla. some minor progress this summer on a couple of things like paint chips to look at and a layout for cabinets, and hopefully she'll let me pull the trigger in the foreseeable future.
You need to hire me ... I’ll sleep in a van down by the river, but I might have to pass on the quadathlon the kids have to do before breakfast.
i could so take you up on this. careful.
My wife has the remodel bug. It's going to hurt the piggy bank. At least I won't have to look at the smudges from my kids hands up and down the walls anymore.
Yep... Kitchens are expensive - five figure expensive...
We re-did our kitchen 4 years ago and I did a ton of research. I like wall ovens instead of a range -- much easier on the back when you're taking out the heavy turkey or roast. I decided to try the Combi Steam oven, which is a darling in professional kitchens. It's not gimmicky at all. It does what a regular oven does, but it also steams (vegetables, makes hard-boiled eggs, salmon, etc), steam roasts, convection bakes (regular oven with a fan to circulate air and bake more evenly, like an air fryer, great for muffins, cookies, etc). The cavity is smaller than a regular oven but it has four racks so you can get a lot of side dishes in there, or a good sized turkey. Also it heats up more quickly and cooks more quickly. The steam comes from a water container that you just pull out and fill. My regular oven is standard size, so between the two I can do a big Thanksgiving meal. The Combi Steam also reheats like a dream! Way better than a microwave because it uses steam and heat, keeping everything moist. It's not lightning fast like a microwave, but if you're reheating a lot of leftovers for a meal, it does a much better job. If I had to choose only one oven, it would be this. Downsides but not deal breakers, at least for me: when using the steam function, there's always a puddle of water at the end that I have to wipe up. Also, to my knowledge, it's a fairly high-end type of oven so not every brand makes them. Jenn-Air and Thermador are two brands that come to mind. I love to cook, though, so learning a new way of doing things is fun.
Stream injected ovens give better and faster results because it gives the the oven a higher thermal capacity and better heat conduction than a conventional oven. Faster cooking times result in foods being less dry and better texture in open systems like ovens (as opposed to closed systems like sous vide).
You can increase a conventional ovens thermal capacity by adding a stone slab (like a pizza stone) to the bottom of your oven and adding about 15 min of hold time after your preheat has completed.
i remember your description of your genuine cooking prowess (desserts/pastries especially, right?) and thank you for the detailed response. the mock-up of new cabinetry had a wall oven, but no further details. i guess we can fill those in with your suggestions.
I'm a former pastry chef. I went to cooking school in my mid 20's when I decided advertising might not be the career for me. I then worked in restaurants for several years before going back to advertising when I got pregnant with my son. The funny thing about restaurants is that for the most part, the equipment isn't all the new shiny stuff; it's used and always in need of repair. Unless it's a super high-end place, they don't have the money for fancy new stuff. I learned to make desserts for 150 with an old four burner range and a single convection oven. When I see people buying 60" ranges with 8 burners, I snicker. It looks great, but unless you're running a catering business out of your house, it's just really not necessary. I have a four burner cooktop and double ovens and that's plenty 95% of the time. As for the combi steam oven I was telling you about, most restaurants have steamers. The combi steam offers a lot more versatility that's actually great for the home cook.
when all the kids are home we would benefit from having restaurant-sized capacity. lots of kids. lots of calories consumed. can be a sight to see. but by the time i can get wife to do the remodel, they'll have moved out...
Just to round out the discussion, my wife really likes ours, but it doesn't get a lot of use, and it does take up counter space. So I'm a no, just to balance out all the very happy users responding here.
It’s fine if you are cooking for 1 or 2 people. I use it for kids chicken nuggets and fries. Great for frozen hash brown patties for kids breakfast. I don’t use it for much else but my in laws swear it makes good chicken. It’s useful for certain foods. My biggest issue is it’s size. No sense doing 2 batches of stuff if it takes 15 minutes each batch.
just get a pellet smoker
No.
they're socialist.
On this we agree. Hard pass on the air fryer. It's a waste of counter space, capacity is too small to be useful, and end product is a substandard version of a real fried item.
Ours is banished to the closet under the stairs (aka cooking appliance Bolivia).
I love mine.
I got the Cuisinart combo with a toaster oven, and it took the place of the toaster oven. It is an air fryer, toaster oven, and serves as a small oven/convection. I pretty much use the air fryer and toaster oven.
LOVE LOVE LOVE it—I mostly use it for air frying veggies. Small coat of olive oil, and 10 minutes and delish/healthy. Have done home made chicken strips and blooming onion that is really good. I did Eggplant Parm in it this week, and that turned out perfect — and for me that is something that has to be perfect to eat. Even my kids liked it. So.. yeah. Its worth it to me.
Are you freaking kidding me?? Is beer worth drinking? Is pizza worth eating? How in the heck do you survive without an air fryer? I use mine almost every night sometimes more than once. It's the best appliance ever invented.
Soooooooooo........... yes or no?
If you have an instant pot, you can get an air fryer lid accessory. So that is more versatile as a kitchen appliance.
If you don't have room in your kitchen for an air fryer you need a bigger house. Just get one with an aluminum insert. The air fryer. What you have on the inside of your house is between you and yours.
Kroger chicken nuggets.
An air-fryer is one of the best kitchen cooking devices I've ever invested in. Definitely, yes.
yes yes yes even if just to reheat pizza
We have a Copper Chef Power Pressure Cooker which pressure cooks and slow cooks. ‘We also have a separate air fryer.
2 thoughts,
1. We have 5 big eaters in our family. When we do things in the air fryer it always takes 2-3 batches to feed us. The first 2 batches are never as good after sitting out for a period of time. I do like the concept of the Air Fryer. The wife and I always say once the older kids are gone we will use it more
2. I wish we hound have gotten one of the large food ninji’s in place of the 2 products above. It would killed 2 birds with one stone and take up less space in the storage cabinets.
We love ours and use it daily...things like frozen sweet potato fries become amazing. Lots of healthy options too, like chicken and fish. A little breading on anything and you're good to go!
Absolutely yes, won't cook bacon any other way, get one with a big basket. I am adding a second actually to incorporate it more into daily routine,
That Emril air fryer looks interesting from the TV ads. For the low 6 payments of 49.99 you can have one as well. Not sure how well they work. We grill or smoke most of our food. But still have a nice electric oven and range in the Kitchen.
Had it for about a year, one of the better investments I have made.
I am late to the party here, but hell yes. Best thing I ever bought. Most unique thing I have cooked. Hard boiled eggs, 15 minutes, 275, delicious.
Don’t hard boiled eggs take 8 minutes in boiling water and don’t require a unique device?
alternatively, you can use a half inch of water and steam for 7 if you don’t want to wait for a full pot to boil. When they’re done just fill the pot with cold tap water to keep from over cooking and you don’t have to try to pick them out with tongs or something because they are hot anymore.
why do you have to make eggs so complicated.
I may be late to the party here, but yes! We got one around this time last year and use it daily. I even have a gas stove and cast iron like other dude said :)
However, we got the Breville full blown convection oven boy the 399.99 one. You will be able to find it cheaper around black Friday 329-350 or so.
But we literally use it daily. Not just to fry foods but reheating, baking, broiling, toasting, etc... We threw our toaster out. And on these hot summer days, not heating up the oven and consequently the kitchen/floor of our house, really is a huge benefit.
That device, a sous vide, gas stove, cast iron, and a good chef knife are like 90% of what I need in my kitchen.
Ladies, ladies, reading this thread is like watching a movie about a woman's book club. What's next, do you like your Singer sewing machine? What brand mixer do you prefer?
BTW - no to the air fryer. Either we don't know how to use ours or it doesn't give us the results we want. Plus with a family of 6, it takes way too long to get a meal ready. You either eat in shifts or eat cold food.
Air friers are crutches for people who either can’t cook or are too lazy to take the time to cook well
MgBlog devolving into reposts of Facebook ads.
My fiance bought a Ninja combo pressure cooker air/fryer. She uses it almost everyday. She'll often cook stuff in the pressure cooker, then switch over to the air fryer for a few minutes to crisp it up. It makes her happy, so I very much consider it a win for me.
yes yes and YES!!
I bought a second one after a month with my first one. I literally do all our meals on the air fryers
Be ready for a food renaissance!
For our family the answer is Yes, we like the air fryer.
I have a growing 15 year old and he is able to use it safely to cook his tater tots and fries or pizza snacks safely. He's been using it for at least two years now and is somewhat of an expert with it. Along with the Microwave it has given him some independence and my wife and I don't have to use the oven or stove to make his food when his growing body calls.
Some foods don't taste as good as were they were cooked in oil (FF and Tots) but they are pretty good and the health benefits outweigh the taste differences. We don't have an indoor deep fryer anyway, they're such a PIA to clean. My wife loves to fry Kale in our air fryer, she serves it as a side for steak or ribs and I have to admit it's the only way I like Kale.
As for size and model, I can't tell you. Our neighbors told us about the benefits for their sons and we bought one spur of the moment at Costco one day. Good luck.
Hell yeah! Got the Emeril air fryer, pressure cooker, steamer all in on combo from Sam's for 150. It's fantastic. From pizza pockets to fish to chicken and steak. We also canned blueberry jelly with it. Threw out the oil deep fryer a week after getting it
Yes. Kids actually eat carrots and zucchini now.
If you are looking at getting a new oven soon you can get one with a build in air fryer. I recently purchased one and it is great. Chicken wings and french fries are 10 times better If you have the money it is worth the purchase.
It depends on whether you have the storage space for it and if you fry a lot of foods. We were gifted one and use it sparingly. Between the air fryer and pressure cooker we had to get a new shelving unit just to hold them. Honestly we could go without it, but it does work well when we use it. We're so overwhelmed with three little kids that we barely try anything new in the kitchen. I'm glad you asked because reading through this has given me some ideas.
Absolutely get one it's our most used kitchen device by far.
You can also now eat leftover fries which blows my mind! Finally!
Literally everything tastes better in the AF
A big yes
I was a late adopter due to the review below that I read a year or so ago. My main takeaway was "It really doesn't fry at all".
https://www.reviewed.com/ovens/features/air-fryers-are-the-next-hot-kit…
Long story short ...I got a gift certificate for xmas last year and took the plunge anyway...and wow, I regret reading this review and not having this thing sooner. I was wrong! You can do almost anything is an air fryer quickly and with little mess.
I would get one with a rotisserie attachment that does whole chicken, cornish hens, pork tenderloin etc to perfection. It's hard perfecting fries and a few things are just better fit for a deep fryer, but with some experiment you can get close and it's way more health than cooking in fat.
Read the reviews before purchasing one and you won't regret it.
Why not ? Definite yes.