Air fryer cooking

This link was pointed out to me by a friend regarding air frying Hasslebacks. I cook Hasslebacks regularly but I've never tried them in the air fryer.

Air Fryer Hasselback Potatoes

I normally scrub the spud(s) then make the cuts when still raw. Then I'll give them 3 - 5 minutes each (depending on size) in the microwave before fully cooking them in the halogen oven; about another 30 minutes. I can't see that cooking them from raw in the air fryer will result in the centre(s) being cooked through.
 
TastyReuben said:
Scrambled eggs for a burrito this morning:

View attachment 88067

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Not to my liking at all, though it did look like the picture in the recipe, so I suppose some folks like browned scrambled eggs.

What’s worse…this took ages longer than a pan, some butter, and a stovetop burner.
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Just like the microwave, the air frier is good for some things, but not everything, as I'm finding out. :ninja:
 
I was using this Cuisinart deep fryer. It look good! But I felt that too much oil was needed for it, so I returned it & bought the one below, mainly because it uses far less oil for deep frying, plus it can also be used for other methods of cooking! It's very versatile, unlike the Cuisinart fryer, which is only good for just one thing, deep frying!! :whistling:
Cuisinart 4-qt. Deep Fryer..jpg
Presto Electric Cooker..jpg
 
[Mod.edit: this post and following few have been moved from another thread (MG)]

karadekoolaid said:
I certainly wouldn't.
"Air" fryer is an oxymoron.
"To Fry" is defined as "cook (food) in hot fat or oil, typically in a shallow pan"
Air doesn't count as "oil"
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There's nothing to stop you adding oil to your food then putting it into the air-fryer. For example, I now pre-cook chicken that I'm going to be using in a paella in the air-fryer which saves a tonne of splatter mess that I'd typically get from having to fry it on the stove. The chicken gets a light coating of oil, is seasoned and then goes in for about 10 minutes at 200c. The heat transfer medium is air to oil, so has it been fried? In a sense, i would consider it so.
 
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vernplum said:
There's nothing to stop you adding oil to your food then putting it into the air-fryer. For example, I now pre-cook chicken that I'm going to be using in a paella in the air-fryer which saves a tonne of splatter mess that I'd typically get from having to fry it on the stove. The chicken gets a light coating of oil, is seasoned and then goes in for about 10 minutes at 200c. The heat transfer medium is air to oil, so has it been fried? In a sense, i would consider it so.
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We cook a lot of things in the airfryer. Ours is really good at getting fat out of sausages (vegan ones) but we do find we have to clean the bottom out periodically because the oil gathers down there. We tend to treat it as a combination of a small oven and a frying pan. Ours came with a BBQ grill base which is the one we use the most often, a shelf that can go on that, used quite a lot of the time and a basket. Ours can also take a dedicated baking tin (the examples they give are lasagne or a sponge cake) but we didn't buy that accessory.

So pretty much anything that goes into the oven or a frying pan does go into our airfryer, provided its not a liquid going in (we don't have that accessory). It definitely sees more use than the microwave.
 
The airfryer is definitely very versatile. I love cooking salmon in it, and also use it for croutons, and frozen vegetables, and of course potatoes. And there's more I can do with it (like croissants, or pizza), I'm still exploring.
 
LissaC said:
The airfryer is definitely very versatile.
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Jury is very much still OUT over here :cool: :cool:
How long does it take to cook salmon, for example? I can do a salmon steak in less than 5 minutesin a hot pan.
When my son did chips/french fries last year, they took 25 minutes. I made some on Sunday, deep-fried, in only 15 minutes.
As for the "healthy" claims, I'm not convinced at all.
 
karadekoolaid said:
Jury is very much still OUT over here :cool: :cool:
How long does it take to cook salmon, for example? I can do a salmon steak in less than 5 minutesin a hot pan.
When my son did chips/french fries last year, they took 25 minutes. I made some on Sunday, deep-fried, in only 15 minutes.
As for the "healthy" claims, I'm not convinced at all.
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Well I'm convinced by the health claims. Salmon cooks in 10 minutes without any of the splatter and no need to clean anything by hand. Frozen vegetables can be roasted using much less electricity than in the oven. Potatoes and chicken Kiev are cooked with only a drizzle of oil. I'm a big airfryer fan and not only for "fried" foods but also the ability to "roast" food without the electricity cost of running the oven.
 
karadekoolaid said:
Jury is very much still OUT over here :cool: :cool:
How long does it take to cook salmon, for example? I can do a salmon steak in less than 5 minutesin a hot pan.
When my son did chips/french fries last year, they took 25 minutes. I made some on Sunday, deep-fried, in only 15 minutes.
As for the "healthy" claims, I'm not convinced at all.
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X2.

Russ
 
LissaC said:
Well I'm convinced by the health claims. Salmon cooks in 10 minutes without any of the splatter and no need to clean anything by hand. Frozen vegetables can be roasted using much less electricity than in the oven. Potatoes and chicken Kiev are cooked with only a drizzle of oil. I'm a big airfryer fan and not only for "fried" foods but also the ability to "roast" food without the electricity cost of running the oven.
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I suppose it all comes down to how we define a "healthy" diet. I'm about 97% vegetarian and when I do eat meat, it's minced. I love fish but we rarely cook it at home (which I cannot explain at all :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: ). I cook a lot with olive oil, rather than animal fats and use ghee, rather than butter. I could probably eat a kilo of cheese a day if I had the money to do so - but I haven't! I rarely roast vegetables, curiously enough, but we do use the oven a lot. However, the electricity bill is generally about $30 a month...
About once a week, I'll just eat a salad for lunch/dinner. Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, arugula, cress, potatoes, raw broccoli, beetroot,etc., with simple olive oil & vinegar dressing. We consume loads of pasta.
My youngest (who swears by his air fryer) eats BBQ twice a week, tomahawk steaks, picanha, burgers, hot dogs, pork chops, grilled chicken, sausages and chips. Chips are his vegetable intake. Oh, and I forgot the once a week pizzas with double cheese and bacon!
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
We cook a lot of things in the airfryer. Ours is really good at getting fat out of sausages (vegan ones) but we do find we have to clean the bottom out periodically because the oil gathers down there. We tend to treat it as a combination of a small oven and a frying pan. Ours came with a BBQ grill base which is the one we use the most often, a shelf that can go on that, used quite a lot of the time and a basket. Ours can also take a dedicated baking tin (the examples they give are lasagne or a sponge cake) but we didn't buy that accessory.

So pretty much anything that goes into the oven or a frying pan does go into our airfryer, provided its not a liquid going in (we don't have that accessory). It definitely sees more use than the microwave.
Click to expand...

I have a small hack for basket type airfryers, which is to line the pan with foil. I get a square of foil which is larger than the perimeter of it, then press it down in with the basket so the foil comes up around its sides amninch or so. It catches a lot of liquid runoff so you don't have to clean out the pan so much. I discard it when it gets too gunky.
 
vernplum said:
I have a small hack for basket type airfryers, which is to line the pan with foil. I get a square of foil which is larger than the perimeter of it, then press it down in with the basket so the foil comes up around its sides amninch or so. It catches a lot of liquid runoff so you don't have to clean out the pan so much. I discard it when it gets too gunky.
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That's a good hack, but our airfryer relies on the gaps that we'd be blocking, to circulate hot air. It's a very compact 2 person airfryer.
We also rarely use the basket instead using the grill bottom.

16953347954422118694124485999551.jpg
Lining this basket would leave very little room for air flow.


16953348327588668137606083169364.jpg
It's a bit better with the grill plate in.

16953348565415605081820888855384.jpg
This is the extra shelf that we do use quite a bit.

16953348835016823133068913348387.jpg
As you can see, our airfryer is compact, barely taller than the kettle.
 
There are many conversations in the office regarding pros and cons. One colleague has 3, top of the range as she proudly boasts, uses at least 1 of them most days. My boss finds hers practical when she is on her own, she saves energy so makes sense for her to have one. My other colleague hasn't quite grasped the concept of how they work.
All niggle about them being fiddly to keep clean.

We do not own one partly because they don't suit our style of cooking but also I am a bit old school in that I like to watch things cooking, add seasoning if needed, check the progress by looking and poking, just not keen on the idea of putting something in a draw.
 
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