I recently received a 3.7 quart air fryer. Still haven’t used it. One problem I have is that many of the recipes call for you to use the baking dish accessory. The only ones I’ve found are 7inches. It’s barely large enough to fit one portion of anything. There is room to fit a bigger pan but I haven’t for one available for an air fryer.
Beyond that issue if anyone has recipes, technique, cookbook recommendations or anything else please share.
I have one, and they are GREAT for heating up French fries - either the frozen ones you buy at the grocery store, or left over from a restaurant meal. I’d quit saving leftover fries until I got the air fryer - I’d tried reheating them every way I could think of, and they were always lousy the second time around. I haven’t tried to make my own from scratch yet, but I’d bet they’d be pretty good too. I also use the air fryer to cook Trader Joe’s frozen Mandarin Chicken. Pretty much any breaded frozen thing would probably come out well - store-bought or house made.
Do you use any of the accessories or just use the basket?
Do you have a convection oven? I get “air frying” by using a quarter sheet and a cooling rack, and that gives me plenty of space. You do need the forced convection mode, though.
They have a gizmo just for frying air? I guess you really can get deep-fried anything at the county fair.
I don’t use anything but the basket. My favorite thing to make is fish. I cut a filet into pieces. I marinate them in orange and lime juice. Remove from marinade and pat dry. Dip in egg white and roll in seasoned crumbs or crushed cornflakes. Spray basket and fish portions with cooking spray and cook for about12 minutes at 275. Gives you baked “fried” fish which i like to eat with vegetables or to make fish tacos.
I eat fish with as little added oil as possible. The air fryer reigns supreme for this in my book. I also think it beats the microwave to hell and back for anything frozen. Good for baked potatoes, too.
My understanding is that these air fryers use higher air speeds then a convection oven to produce results closer to deep frying.
Thats the advertising - really its moe about limited space of these small ‘fryers’ as compared to a full size oven.
Which also means that while the commercials make you think you can cook a bunch of stuff in them - you can’t - you have to make sure the air can circulate well or you will end up with some overdone and some undone.
I’ve just used the basket.
There were some recipes in the booklet that came with it that you’d need a baking dish for, but none of them were things that I’d want to make in an air fryer (cakes and breads were particularly perplexing - those come out just fine in the regular oven, not to mention that with the fryer you are limited on size).
BeeGee’s fish sounds perfect for fish tacos - that’s exactly the kind of thing that comes out really well in an air fryer.
Yeah I don’t get the cake thing. The size is a problem. Other recipes I’ve seen look really good but the size of the baking pan is an issue. One of the convenient aspect is the short cooking time. That doesn’t help if you have to do multiple batches.
I did not want to get a deep fryer. This seemed like a good way to do chicken wings without deepfrying. It still does. The recipes that call for other methods and accessories are probably just shoe horned in and better suited for the stove or other cooking equipment. Unfortunately I’m not a real cook. I can just follow recipes. If I tried one of the recipes and tried to guess how to do it in a regular oven I would be sure to screw it up.
I used to have a deep fryer but got rid of it because it was expensive to use (all that oil you have to buy, plus you only get a couple of uses if you are frying proteins), a pain to filter and clean, and of course there’s the health aspect of deep-fried stuff too. The air fryer is loads better in all those respects and your instinct about the wings is correct - I’ve done wings in mine and been pleased with the result.
If there are things in the recipe book that look good but you don’t want to use the air fryer, it probably wouldn’t be all that hard to find something similar on the 'net. You could try searching a site like Allrecipes by name or ingredients - those recipes will come with instructions for regular oven cooking, and the reviews and comments on the recipes can give you tips too.
They’re also good for making french fries “the long way” - from sliced potatoes. Keep in mind that you do have to coat them in some oil first, or the outsides tend to burn before the insides are soft.
The main thing I’ve used mine for so far is air-frying pork chops. It works great, though you can only do one or two at a time.
My wife and I have thought about getting one of these. How well would one work for a family of five, though? It sounds like a good countertop cooking option for one or two people.
It works great, but size is an issue. My mom, who lives with us, has one. She is constantly saying, “Oh, you could have used the Air Fryer for that”. Yeah, except there are five of us and it would have taken 3 batches, at least. For 1 or two people, it is nice. My other complaint is that the thing is huge. It takes up and entire cabinet.
You’d want a larger one. Mine is a 3.2 quart - you can get them in sizes up to 16 quarts, and some have rack accessories that allow you to cook two different things at the same time.
We just got our first one a few weeks ago and so far have only used it for tater tots (which came out perfect, crisp on the outside and fluffy inside). More experiments are planned for this weekend. This website was recommended by the seller QVC since the “Blue Jean Chef” Meredith Laurence helps develop and present some of their cooking items and supply recipes for them.
The “Air Frying 101” link at the top of the page has more info, but there are a shyte-load of websites with air fryer help and recipes for everyone from newbies to experienced users all over the 'net. just run a Search.
This is something we found really helpful especially when cooking packaged or pre-frozen supermarket items:
*"Converting From Traditional Recipes
You can use your air fryer to cook recipes that have instructions for cooking in the oven. Because the heat in the air fryer is more intense than a standard oven, reduce the suggested temperature by 25ºF – 50ºF and cut the time by roughly 20%. So, if a recipe calls for cooking at 400ºF for 20 minutes, air-fry at 370ºF for about 16 minutes… Remember to turn foods over halfway through the cooking time (as you would in a skillet or on the grill) and check the foods for your desired degree of doneness as you approach the finish line.
**Converting From Packaged Foods Instructions
**
The same rule applies to prepared foods that you might buy at the grocery store. If a bag of frozen French fries suggests cooking in the oven at 450ºF for 18 minutes, air fry the fries at 400ºF and start checking them at 15 minutes, remembering to shake the basket once or twice during the cooking process to help the fries brown evenly."
*
Ours is a 3.4 quart unit, which is ok for 1 or 2 people at the most. Cooking for 5 really requires at least a 5-quart capacity and preferably larger.
Good luck!
Did some fries yesterday and that’s exactly right. They were all cooked but they weren’t all crispy because I put too many in. They tasted really good though.
I’m glad to see this thread.
I love fries and tots, but I don’t like the way they come out, in the oven.
I won’t buy an oil fryer, because I’m lazy and sloppy. I’d have that crap everywhere.
Can you make good homefries/hashbrowns with these?
The cakes etc. make perfect sense for singles (or couples with smaller appetites) as well as folks for whom portion control is an issue.
I could see taking one along for multiday car trips or vacations, maybe? Plug it in at your motel room, saves you from trying to find a decent place to eat when you’re in the middle of nowhere.
The other Shoe and I used to have a deep fryer but I found similar drawbacks to what’s been mentioned already. I may well have to look into these … anyone want to recommend a brand?