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Air Fryers... Worth giving up the counter space?

nmlarson

nmlarson

I'm thinking about jumping on the bandwagon and picking up one of these. I thought I'd throw a hook out and see if anyone has an opinion on them. Are they any more than just a little convection oven?

What's your favorite dish to cook in it?

What brand & model do you have? What do you love, and hate, about it. Would you buy it again?

Any thoughts on features to look for? Or that aren't worth the extra expense?

Inquiring minds want to know.
 
I have a convection oven and it's only 24" so I am going to buy a wire or grilling basket for my "fried" stuff. I do bag fries on a cookie sheet and they always have a that one side that traps moisture even if you flip, but flipping is a pain and you can never get them all. I will let you know how a basket on the rack goes. ;)
 
I toyed with the idea and my sister has one so when we were visiting her last Christmas I used it a lot. Basically it's  just a convection oven, as you already know. The only difference is that the bottom of the basket is a fine wire mesh which allows the air to circulate through the food rather than just over it. Even then, they still suggest you pull out the basket and shake it. And I got the best results when spraying with oil anyway so it's hardly oil free.
 
I just use a wire mesh rack in my oven and it does the same thing. If you already have a convection oven, you just need to buy a rack (or two) - don't bother with the air fryer. Google "crisper tray".
 
The Hot Pepper said:
I have a convection oven and it's only 24" so I am going to buy a wire or grilling basket for my "fried" stuff.
Click to expand...
  

Siv said:
I just use a wire mesh rack in my oven and it does the same thing. If you already have a convection oven, you just need to buy a rack (or two) - don't bother with the air fryer. Google "crisper tray".
Click to expand...
Thanks! You've confirmed what I suspected. I already use half and quarter sheet pans with rack inserts in my convection oven.

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I suppose if I wanted, I could elevate the rack somehow so there would be more exposure to the circulating hot air. Maybe stack a couple of racks.
 
I didn't really like the one I purchased. Don't expect the same results as an actual deep fryer. Mine broke a month after buying it so I didn't really get to experiment much with it though. It did make a pretty good "rotisserie" style chicken though
 
I would simply try the mesh rack without the tray. Even though they are elevated the tray still blocks a circular pattern. 
 
I had one of the XL Panasonic ones. I actually loved it. It cooked chicken in half the time of my full sized oven, and the skin came out way crispier. I could  some french fries (home made or frozen) and two chicken breasts in 27 minutes iirc, instead of 55 in the oven. 
 
Just shy of 2 years, the thing packed up. Even though you can get the same model everywhere, the store I bought it from stopped stocking it, and tried placing it with the "new model" which was just the small one with the touchscreen the XL had. I told them I can't cook a whole meal in it and got my money back.
 
Later I got a sunbeam convection oven for 1/6th the price. Now I mostly just use it to dehydrate banana peels for my plants, but I did a kassler chop in it yesterday, and it came out much better than my George Foreman.
 
TL:DR; They are only worth the counter space if you want to save electricity and heat in the kitchen, save a bit of cooking times, and don't have to cook for more than one person in my opinion.
 
I can feel the love for the air fryer here.
 
 
I have had one for maybe 5 years and I think they are great IMO. I use it often.
 
I have a Phillips air fryer.
 
Where they excel is cooking frozen type foods from the market, ie; frozen potato chips (that would be "fries" for the Americans), that kind of food rather than say cutting up a potato and making your own. You can still cook like that though, and a spray with oil is much better than being submerged in oil.
 
Takes half the time of an oven plus almost no warm up time.
 
I probably use more for the speed and convenience of it more than anything.
 
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