You can use batter. The part that a deep fryer gives and one of these doesn’t is the “drippy goodness”, as the whole point is that stuff won’t be dunked in oil. It’s like the difference between frito and a la plancha, both of which get translated into English as “fried” but one involves a lot of oil and the other one barely enough oil to prevent the food from sticking to the pan.
I have a Philips AirFryer. My daughters and I use it a few times per week to fry or roast a variety of foods—from french fries, onion rings and tempura, to bacon, fish and rack of lamb. It also does a nice, quick job of crisping day old tortilla chips from the restaurant. It’s one of the few kitchen appliances that actually exceeded my expectations.
One or two teaspoons of oil is all you need. If I’m in a healthy mood, I’ll toss the food in olive oil. If I want the best taste, I toss it in melted lard or tallow. If I’m in a rush, I just spritz on a little Pam.
It’s true that drippy batters don’t fare so well in an air-fryer, but some air-fried foods turn out superior to conventional frying (e.g. my air-fried panko encrusted eggplant is the crispiest I’ve ever made).
Temperature can be set up to 390ºF; the Maillard reaction is alive and well with air-frying.
Less fat, speedy, easy cleanup, Maillard goodness—what’s not to like? Ok, there’s the price—but, just drop a hint to someone you know that it’d make a good birthday present.
My pressure cooker and panini press are jealous; they’re not the stars of my kitchen any more (though rack of lamb comes out great in a panini press too, btw).