Air fryer - what does it excel at?

Question

My wife wants the Philips XXL Premium Airfryer. 

But what is an air fryer good for?

What can it do, that you can’t do in a regular oven and on the stovetop?

I fail to see the advantages to it. 

Can someone enlighten me?

Cheers, Claus

Answer

Hi Claus,

If you have an electric oven with convection, there's really nothing you can't do that an air fryer can. Just make sure that whatever food you want to brown is elevated slightly above the baking sheet (to prevent steaming), and that you move it around fairly frequently. 

Cheers,
Andrew

Answer

they excel at sales, the cooking bit is much sketchier.

Answer

It depends how you look at it...

For 1-2 portion meals it does very good wings, and any reheating and frozen foods. Can you do better in other ways, sure... but this is a mix of ease of use, ease of clean up and consistent results.

https://www.youtube.com/c/ProHomeCooks/search?query=air%20fryer

home pro cooks do a decent job testing some recipe's... imo worth a watch

Answer

All an "air fryer" does is rapidly circulate hot air from its small oven to emulate frying.

If your oven has convection, you *might* be able to get the same effect if the convection fan(s) are powerful enough. I know from experience that my Breville 800's convection fan is too weak to get the effect (That's why they're trying to sell you the Breville Air).

Personally, outside of domestic tranquility, I don't see the need. Why emulate when you can just fry? And why--oh, why-- would anyone want to add another one shot wonder countertop appliance?

Answer

If you want a airfryer that can do more than just the one thing (at least on paper), the newest InstantPot models now have airfryer functionality.

I haven’t tried them personally, and I don’t personally “get” the whole airfryer thing, but Amazon reviews are mostly positive.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Instant-Pot-Multicooker-Sous-vides-dehydrates/dp/B088M9QK72/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=3GDF3FTQZ75EO&keywords=instapot+air+fryer&qid=1636578962&sprefix=instapo%2Caps%2C109&sr=8-3

Answer

I used it to make ' fried chicken wings '....directly from the freezer without defrosting!! So easy and convenient!

Answer

Claus - I don't own an air fryer yet maybe for convenience of not heating a whole oven up which in turn heats up the house?
Also, it appears to be easier for cleanup then maybe cleaning your oven.
Olunia

Answer

I had the same questions when my friend recommended it. Then I got one and we use it in our house often. Convenience is definitely part of the benefit. But it does outperform my home oven for getting crisp onto things, and without heating up the whole kitchen or taking a long time to get to temperature. So the advantages are convenience of countertop accessibility, speed of heating, and crispier than most ovens can make food.

We routinely make:

salted veggies drizzled in a tiny bit of olive oil and roasted to a slight char and crisp (cauliflower/broccoli/green beans)

Cubed firm tofu coated in potato starch destined for this dish:

https://thekoreanvegan.com/spicy-crunchy-garlic-tofu-kkampoong-tofu/

Reheating leftovers like pizza

Frozen prepared foods (fried shrimp, French fries, tater tots)

Also, once you use it a little, you’ll find even more uses for it. I find myself using the microwave less as a result, and being happier with the results compared to microwave heating.

I do keep a presto fry daddy for when deep frying is needed, but it gets used sparingly these days. The air fryer gets used almost daily, mainly for making veggie sides as above. Cauliflower!

Answer

Thanks to all. 

So basically it does nothing, other than take up extra space in the kitchen. 

Regarding cleaning of the oven. 
We only clean our oven if we made some really greasy stuff in their. Other than that we just run the oven cleaning program once in a while. 

Thanks again. 

Cheers, Claus

Answer

Well it’s more appliance to take up room in your kitchen. Personally I am done buying single use appliances. An air fryer as far as I can tell is a simply a small convection oven with a high speed fan and a basket like device to hold the food and allow it to be heated from all sides. Frigidaire makes an oven with air fry mode and my Cafe oven just got a software update which includes a new air fry mode. I have used it for bacon and it’s faster than baking it which was my preferred method . But other than time (11 minutes compared to 20 for baking) and no preheat is required the outcome was identical. Crispy bacon .and I will use the air fry mode as it wins on time.. The oven will also do an entire half sheet of bacon. I have used it for frozen French fries but I see no difference in the time or outcome using the baking frozen mode or the air fry mode. 

So it’s another bake/roast mode for me. Not much different than convection cooking which is what it really is. I really try not not to eat much deep fried food anyway so trying to emulate the process is not high on my list.

If had a small kitchen with a builders special small range , an air fryer and maybe just maybe an insta-pot might be useful. I agree with others that a microwave is pretty useless as a cooking appliance. When we redid our kitchen we went with a small cheap microwave as I use it to reheat my coffee, warm leftovers and melt butter.

Answer

An article in today's NYT discusses the air-fryer craze and the variety of foods, beyond the obvious "fried" foods, that home-cooks are making in them, complete with some recipes. See https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/25/dining/air-fryer.html.

Answer

Buy her a good book on cooking technique and skip the air fryer.

Answer

Need I point out the obvious? In your particular instance, it's primary function may well be to keep Mrs. Seifert happy. That is worth its weight in gold!

Answer

Ai'friah Yeah!
(What is it GOAT for?) Absolutely nothing, uhuh
(Ai'friah, huh) Yeah!
(What is it GOAT for?) Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all!
Ai'friah, huh) Lookout!
(What is it GOAT for?) Absolutely nothing
Listen to me, awwwww!

Ai'friah I reject
'Cause it means occupation of counterspace
Ai'friah means expense and hassle with the wife
When the wife cuts you off and you strike out
I said
.

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Air fryer - what does it excel at?

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