Air fryers: Worth it?

[kayaker]

@River_Hippie

I’m wondering if the Ore-Ida pre-cut crinkle fries are blanched. I didn’t do that when I sliced up potatoes and air fried them. Blanching seems to be a thing.

I don’t blanch my potatoes, but I do soak them in water, then allow them to completely dry before Use.

[Boozahol_Squid_P.I]

@kayaker

I don’t blanch my potatoes, but I do soak them in water, then allow them to completely dry before Use.

Soaking, then drying your potatoes helps get rid of a lot of the starches and surface sugars that lead to mealy fried potatoes. Personally, I like to soak my home-made potatoes, pan-fry them, then toss them in the freezer before frying them in the air fryer. Freezing them helps get rid of even more moisture than frying, and there’s a danger of sort of boiling your potatoes if they’re too wet. You don’t really need to whole freezing process if you’re going to fry them normally the second time, because a second fat fry will knock a bit of surface water off by itself.

Much like cooking a steak that hasn’t been patted dry: you don’t get that surface maillard reaction going, and it winds up looking grey and being less tasty, air frying wet potatoes ends up leaving them limp.

[Spud]

@romansperson

I’ll second kanicbird’s suggestion. We used to have an air-fryer and then my husband got me a multi-function Breville toaster oven that took over that task. It comes with a basket that replaces the usual cooking rack and a roaster pan with a rack that will air-fry pretty much anything you want. The French fries I used to make in the air-fryer come out just as well using the toaster oven basket, and the oven came with a recipe for Korean-sauced chicken wings using the roaster pan and rack that are really good. If you already have a convection oven, you should be set - just make sure the air can get under the bottom of the item you are trying to air-fry. Also agitate/turn the item(s) you are air-frying half way through cooking to assist with the air flow.

A little late, but I originally had a dedicated Air Fryer which I loved, but it took up space and would get “put away” and forgotten. Last time I brought it out the electronics were screwed up and it didn’t work.

Not too much longer we were cleaning out the nook where the toaster lived and I realized I had the perfect space for a Breville multi-function with Air Frying. Not cheap, but I use it for something or other at least once per day.

So far today… toasted a bagel, air fried a brat for lunch, cooked a frozen pizza, and will probably make some fries in a bit.

Takes up more space, costs more, but gets used constantly and I wouldn’t go back for anything. I don’t think I’ve used my regular oven in several weeks.

[Projammer]

My daughter got me the same Power Airfryer XL Kayaker linked and really like it. I won’t go so far as to say I love it, but it wasn’t wasted money.

Works great with wings and most frozen foods. Some foods like cheese sticks come out better if you microwave them for half to three quarters the recommended time and then put them in the fryer to crisp them up.

One thing it does do well is reheat take-out fries than never taste quite as good once they’ve started cooling off on the way home. Don’t have to eat them in the car any more.

It also did a great job with the batch of scotch eggs I ‘fried’ up.

[DummyGladHands]

@River_Hippie

So, have cooked so far…breakfast sausage patties (excellent), potato sliced into french fries (OK), pre-sliced Ore-Ida brand crinkle cut french fries (turned out really great) cod filets, first batch good, second batch great. My idea of isolating cooking smells to the porch doesn’t work as well as hoped. Bringing the cooked food inside transfers the majority of the odor. Eh, no big deal. I’m really liking it so far. I’m learning a little each time.

Got my Ninja for Xmas. Pretty good so far, with a couple of notable exceptions. Pressure cooked corned beef, inedible, artichoke using a recipe online, inedible and lo mein was an unmitigated disaster. II’ll try corned beef again, just cooking it longer, artichokes back on the stove and I’ll call out for lo mein.

But I did beans and ham last nite, wonderful in 35 min. (presoaked) Fabulous chicken wings. Jury is out on it, but I think I will buy another crock pot for some old favorites. the one thing that ticks me off is when a recipe says PC for 35 minutes (like the beans) but it takes a good 20 minutes to come up to pressure. Throws off my timing.

[Grestarian]

@Projammer

One thing it does do well is reheat take-out fries than never taste quite as good once they’ve started cooling off on the way home. Don’t have to eat them in the car any more.

Wait, wait…
What’s wrong with eating the fries in the car?
That’s why I buy the extra order of fries…

And a July 2019 article from WireCutter that I just stumbled across suggests a convection toaster oven is better than an air fryer because the greater surface-area allowed in the convection toaster oven permits the fans to spread the heat more evenly across the food, providing more thoroughly-cooked end products.

This would suggest an air-fryer provides better quality results than a convection oven, but worse quality than a convection toaster-oven. The convection toaster oven is also, according to the blog linked above, preferred for its larger capacity and greater versatility (could you bake a 9-inch cake layer in an Air Fryer?) while remaining small enough to set on a kitchen counter-top.

Note that the article is distinguishing convection toaster-ovens from toaster-ovens, the latter lacking the fan to circulate the hot air which distributes the heat more evenly.

The selling point of the Air Fryer was that it’s healthier than a deep-fryer because it uses only a tablespoon of oil. But if reducing the oil in your cooking is an actual goal, then eliminating it completely via a convection toaster-oven is a step better. Me, I deep-fry for the crispiness of deep-fried food and I use the toaster-oven or microwave oven for other things. Each has its applications, but the air fryer seems to fill a niche which was never vacant.

–G!