Went Down The Air Fryer Rabbit Hole

[ScoopKona]

Yes. I just wish I could stick a fan inside my regular oven to turn it into a convection oven.



I bought an airfryer months ago, but haven't taken it out of the box...

Depending on your infrastructure, and how much you enjoy cooking, it can absolutely be worth it to replace your current oven with a convection oven.

However, there is a learning curve using a convection oven -- placing stuff on a baking tray is going to yield convection cooking on one side, and one side stuck to the pan.

And there is simply no substitute for deep frying for many dishes. Fish and chips? I'm not screwing around with an oven -- fish and chips is too important to half-ass it.

 

[old medic]

We needed to replace our old toaster oven and got this one from Target over a year ago for $90.
https://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-digital-sure-crisp-air-fry-toaster-oven/-/A-54639402?
It gets used a couple times a week, from baking, airfrying and even done several rotisserie chickens in it.

 

[NW-Bound]

I wouldn't take an air fryer if it was free.

I have a convection oven. And it is FAR BETTER than anything an air fryer can do. An air fryer is just a countertop, small-scale convection oven.

Anything an air fryer can do, a convection oven can do better.

An air fryer heats up much faster than a convection oven. For example, to re-crisp French fries, it takes 4 minutes from cold.

The appliances that I mentioned earlier, namely the air fryer, the microwave, the electric kettle, the Instant Pot, and the induction cooktop share the same trait. They are fast because they are energy efficient. They don't produce excess heat that the air conditioner has to work to remove.

If you are in a cold climate and don't mind the heat generated, then it is a different story altogether. As Koolau always says, YMMV.


PS. By the way, the outlets in my kitchen as well as the fridge are all powered by my off-grid solar+storage system. The big range oven has to stay on the grid because its power draw would require a huge inverter. Big inverters have a very high idle consumption, the same as an 8-liter V8 engine sucks up fuel like crazy while just idling.

 

[Time2]

Oh, but I love my George Foreman!

Which one,

George Sr, George Jr, George III, George IV, George V, or George VI?

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We purchased one, then as some have indicated, returned it after a few uses, we found it a gimmick rather than a useful tool. We think that keeping it clean would be a nightmare.

 

[pb4uski]

The air fryer is something we cannot do without. We have a big one at home, a medium size one in our lake house and a small one in our RV.

We use it at least 3x a day.

+1. We have one at each home, and while I hadn't thought of it, one for the RV sounds good too. Very handy.

But if I were doing it over I think I would get one of those units that is a combination air fryer and toaster oven. Currently, we have both and it just takes up a lot of counter space.

 

[Chuckanut]

I re-heat waffles INSIDE THE WAFFLE MAKER.

Trust me on this one.

+1

I do that also, but the AF is out there and easier to use.

 

[pb4uski]

We find the air fryer great for reheating a wide variety of things, including french fries.

 

[pb4uski]

I wouldn't take an air fryer if it was free.

I have a convection oven. And it is FAR BETTER than anything an air fryer can do. An air fryer is just a countertop, small-scale convection oven.

Anything an air fryer can do, a convection oven can do better.

How do you know all this if you have never had an air fryer... seems more like uninformed opinion to me.

OTOH, we have both an air fryer and a convection oven and we prefer the air fryer for most things... by a country mile.

 

[ScoopKona]

How do you know all this if you have never had an air fryer... seems more like uninformed opinion to me.

My last career was as a chef in a very large Las Vegas resort. I bounced around from kitchen to kitchen. If you've eaten at one of the big restaurants, I've probably made your food.

Just because I won't own an air fryer doesn't mean I don't know how they work and have never come in contact with one.

For similar reasons, I will not be trading in my convection oven for an E-Z Bake oven. "It's cute! It bakes little cakes! It doesn't heat up my house!"

 

[NW-Bound]

Chefs also prefer gas burners, I believe.

I used to wish for a gas range with 6 burners, like people have in their gourmet kitchen, but our house is all electric.

Now, my wife is happy with a single-burner induction cook top.

By the way, when we cook for a large group, we tend to choose grilling dishes, so that the cooking can be done outside. No need for a 6-burner range. Besides, I am not a chef and do not want to work that hard for my guests.

Again, YMMV.

 

[ScoopKona]

Chefs also prefer gas burners, I believe.

Chefs are like Oscar Wilde. They have simple tastes. They are always satisfied with the best.

If there was something an airfryer did best, and it was something I cooked even occasionally, I would own one. I own a Raclette grill. It only does one thing. I own a sausage stuffer. It only does one thing. I own an infrared grill which gets hot enough to melt salt -- I use it for one thing only.

I'm OK with a unitasker. But it has to be the best at whatever it is unitasking. My convection oven gets hotter, is more even, is double-walled and insulated. And it isn't limited to a scant handful of food at a time.

I've never said that air fryers aren't for anyone. I said they aren't as good as convection ovens. If you have a convection oven, you have a better tool available already. If you don't have a convection oven, an air fryer is better than not having a convection oven. But a convection oven -- even one of the countertop models (and these often come with steam injection for serious baking) -- is a better choice than the WalMart special.

 

[Sue J]

We needed to replace our old toaster oven and got this one from Target over a year ago for $90.
https://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-digital-sure-crisp-air-fry-toaster-oven/-/A-54639402?
It gets used a couple times a week, from baking, airfrying and even done several rotisserie chickens in it.

Right now we have a toaster oven that I use every day. I've seen the kind you've linked and that may be a good option when we replace ours.

When you do a rotisserie chicken how bad is the cleanup? Is it just the tray underneath? Or do you have to clean everything - walls, top, back, etc.

The only time I do a whole chicken is out on the grill because the last time I did a whole one in the oven the mess and smoke were awful.

 

[ScoopKona]

When you do a rotisserie chicken how bad is the cleanup? Is it just the tray underneath? Or do you have to clean everything - walls, top, back, etc.

You can use these outside with an extension cord.

The problem with these devices is the economy of scale -- all that energy to make one or two chickens the slow way. If you're cooking for one or two people, it's usually better to give the chicken the eight-way cut (takes less than a minute). Cook what you need. And vacuum seal/freeze the rest.

 

[NW-Bound]

Chefs are like Oscar Wilde. They have simple tastes. They are always satisfied with the best.

If there was something an airfryer did best, and it was something I cooked even occasionally, I would own one. I own a Raclette grill. It only does one thing. I own a sausage stuffer. It only does one thing. I own an infrared grill which gets hot enough to melt salt -- I use it for one thing only.

I'm OK with a unitasker. But it has to be the best at whatever it is unitasking. My convection oven gets hotter, is more even, is double-walled and insulated. And it isn't limited to a scant handful of food at a time.

I've never said that air fryers aren't for anyone. I said they aren't as good as convection ovens. If you have a convection oven, you have a better tool available already. If you don't have a convection oven, an air fryer is better than not having a convection oven. But a convection oven -- even one of the countertop models (and these often come with steam injection for serious baking) -- is a better choice than the WalMart special.

Now, you are talking about more serious cooking than many home owners want to get into.

You call the air fryer a single tasker, and I disagree. Its job is to apply dry heat fast, and there are many occasions when we need to do that.

We use our air fryer to cook smaller dishes. Yes, we also have a small convection oven for when we want to roast something bigger. But I have found that we use the air fryer also to toast bread. Not just sliced bread, but also buns and bolillo rolls. Only for 2 people and not a whole crowd, but it does that fast.

Come to think of that, I wonder where my wife put the toaster.

 

[easysurfer]

Right now we have a toaster oven that I use every day. I've seen the kind you've linked and that may be a good option when we replace ours.

When you do a rotisserie chicken how bad is the cleanup? Is it just the tray underneath? Or do you have to clean everything - walls, top, back, etc.

The only time I do a whole chicken is out on the grill because the last time I did a whole one in the oven the mess and smoke were awful.

My experience with a rotisserie chicken cooker is with the Ronco one that was advertised years ago on infomercials "set it and forget it". I got one as a gift.

During the cooking process, watching the chicken was fun and the scent of the chicken cooking was so good. But as for taste, I didn't think it tasted any better than cooked with my Foreman contact cooker at the time.

As for cleanup, not only the tray but there's be fat from the bird that splattered around the glass and sides, the wheels that turned. Think I used it a few times then was too much cleanup for me. Anyhow, that was my experience. Others might have different.

 

[Jerry1]

Cleanup is a funny thing. While it would certainly look better if it was spotless, there's really no benefit to having it be that way. Think of your grill. I doubt you clean that spotless every time you use it. In fact, probably never. The main reason that I don't do rotisserie chicken is because they are $5 at Costco and we live near one. Even so, many stores sell them for not much more. Also, I don't think the rotisserie chicken is noticeably better than just using a roasting pan - which can be cleaned and it cooks some veggies at the same time.

 

[ScoopKona]

You call the air fryer a single tasker, and I disagree. Its job is to apply dry heat fast, and there are many occasions when we need to do that.

Again, if you have a good convection oven, you already have a better tool than an air fryer. My problem with air fryers isn't that they are small convection ovens. My problem with air fryers is that they are mediocre small convection ovens.

A good convection oven will run circles around an air fryer. I have already said I have no problem with countertop convection ovens. I used to make soufflés in one for a living -- double walled, insulated, efficient countertop convection ovens. I'm all for those. Anyone who lacks a convection oven should look very hard at one of these -- particularly with steam injection. Those can lead a home cook to bread nirvana.

Air fryers are like instant pots and single use coffee makers -- a passing fad -- and one that tries to replicate something done in actual kitchens, badly.

Since I have a good convection oven, I wouldn't take an air fryer, even if it was free. I stand by that. I wouldn't. Frankly, you couldn't pay me to take one. They're just not very good at what they do.

 

[karen1972]

We bought the Ninja Foodi Grill, I wasn't expecting a lot, but was super surprised, it did way better at air frying than our previous solo air fryer and was a lot easier as the square basket fit food better and we got a lot more even cooking with no shaking involved.

The only bad thing is BJs sells these 4lb bags of mozzarella sticks and its way too easy to grab a handful, toss them in for 7 minutes and have a tasty snack.

It also does a good job of grilling burgers and roasting veggies. We use it 5+ times a week, its the only appliance in our house that sits out.

 

[audreyh1]

Air fryers are like instant pots and single use coffee makers -- a passing fad -- and one that tries to replicate something done in actual kitchens, badly.

An Instant Pot is simply an electric pressure cooker. Nothing faddish about a pressure cooker.

———————-
On the Air Fryer - I don’t have a use for one. I like whole chicken smoked in my smoker best of all even though the skin is not crispy, and I don’t eat fries or other foods that would normally be fried or breaded and fried.

I do avoid roasting things that splatter a lot in my oven due to the mess. I prefer to use the outside gas grill or smoker for that kind of cooking.

 

[NW-Bound]

An Instant Pot is simply an electric pressure cooker. Nothing faddish about a pressure cooker...

The 1st time we bought an IP, we returned it unopened after my wife read about all the different cooking things people did with it. Too complicated, and too much to remember, she said.

The 2nd time we bought it, it was because it now had a sous-vide mode. And once my wife learned to use it as just a pressure cooker, she started to use it nearly daily. It's wonderful to make stock from bones, and for fast stewing beef.

Prior to this, we had a couple of pressure cookers, but hardly ever used them. The IP is a lot more convenient, the way an air fryer is.


PS. Another appliance my wife has put away is the thermal cooker. We used it to make stock overnight but had to make 1 to 2 gallons at a time. Now, we can make a quart or two with the IP, and it takes a mere hour or so.

 

[aja8888]

We don't eat much fried food. Really, none at all except for the occasional rotisserie chicken bought at Costco. Hence, no air fryer. Cooking for us old folks is getting simpler every year as we are getting increasingly lazy.

Last night it was pork and venison sausage on the grill with steamed broccoli. Some nights it's scrambled eggs (my new found specialty). Tonight is Mexican night out with my daughter and her husband after church services.

I did buy my daughter an air fryer/convection oven for Xmas this year. They use it every day from what they tell me. Maybe they are just being nice to me...LOL

We bought them this one:

COSORI Air Fryer Toaster, 12-in-1 Convection Countertop Oven 32QT XL Large Capacity, Rotisserie, Dehydrator, 100 Recipes & 6 Accessories Included CS130-AO, Work with Alexa, 30L, Wifi-Sliver

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0895G46CG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[punkinhead]

We don't eat much fried food. Really, none at all except for the occasional rotisserie chicken bought at Costco. Hence, no air fryer.

Despite the name it really has nothing to do with frying. It's just a small convection oven. We use ours daily.

 

[Music Lover]

We don't eat much fried food. Really, none at all except for the occasional rotisserie chicken bought at Costco. Hence, no air fryer.

We've never fried foods in our air fryer. We use them for chicken breast, chicken wings, veggies, roast potatoes, etc. The food is seasoned and/or sauce is added but it's not coated with oil.

Edit* You can fry with them if you want but it's not a requirement.

 

[NW-Bound]

Despite the name it really has nothing to do with frying. It's just a small convection oven. We use ours daily.

We've never fried foods in our air fryer. We use them for chicken breast, chicken wings, veggies, roast potatoes, etc. The food is seasoned and/or sauce is added but it's not coated with oil.

Edit* You can fry with them if you want but it's not a requirement.

Yes, it should be called an air heater. But then, people would think it's a space heater.

Or just a food heater/cooker. But then, people would think it's a microwave.