Air fryer cooking

[ThatDude]

This has been fun to read through. The new oven has an airfry function and I've been waiting to try it out. I'm leaning towards a crispy pork belly for its' maiden voyage. It seems like there were a couple/few years where EVERYTHING was instapot and airfryers, so I'm glad there's such a huge library of content to pull from.

Do I think it'll replace the need/want for a traditional fryer? No. BUT, if it can be a better alternative for some things, than that'll be great.

 

[JAS_OH1]

The last batch, the one I was happy with, took 25 minutes.

After circling back around to friends and family, I found four main reasons for their use of an air fryer:

1. Perception that it’s faster (and it is on some things - my roast potatoes took 15 minutes versus 45 in the oven)
2. Perception that it’s healthier (the last fries I made used 2 tsp oil)
3. Doesn’t heat up the entire kitchen to use
4. More energy efficient

Everyone I spoke to, though, use it primarily for cooking things from frozen - frozen fries/chips, frozen chicken strips, pizza rolls…all that junk food premade stuff from the frozen foods section.

For me, with respect to fries/chips - I don’t have a dedicated deep fryer. I use a Dutch oven when deep fry.

It’s messy, it uses a lot of oil, and since I deep fry in peanut oil, it’s expensive, and it takes me 20 minutes just to bring the oil up to temp for the first fry, and then they have to rest and go back in for a second fry.

For me, that’s one helluva lot longer than the 25 minutes it took in the air fryer, and a lot less mess, and a lot cheaper as well.

My primary reason is that it doesn't waste oil. IDGARA about the calories.

 

[JAS_OH1]

A friend of mine cooks bacon in the air fryer. He puts a slice of bread underneath the cooking basket to soak up the bacon fat. I suppose that you could put a slice in the cooking basket.

I would probably eat the bacon fat-fried bread too, LMAO.

 

[JAS_OH1]

TastyReuben in Hawaii, we fry foods outside, sounds strange I know, but it keeps the mess and smell out of the house.
In fact, I just came back in side (where it's a heck of alot cooler) after deep frying our supper.
Of course I don't do this if it's raining or snowing, but it's much easier.

View attachment 88253

This was my set-up until I found me a dedicated outside table for deep frying, but I degrees, sorry ...

I like those turkey fryers. We have one we use outside for the occasional fried turkey or when we want to fry a HUGE batch of fish (when we have a small fish fry).

 

[JAS_OH1]

I don't have an air fryer, or want one. But, I'm a foodie -- and I like to cook. My sister eats from her freezer, and doesn't like to cook, at least not for herself. She wants easy. Quality of the food is secondary. The air fryer is easy.

For those that don't like the mess of deep frying, check out the Presto Fry Daddy. It is easy to use, and easy to clean. Just plug it in. It also has a lid that you can use to store oil in for a few fry cycles. They cost about 30 bucks US.

I had one for many years. It served me well.

View attachment 88252

CD

I have one of these in my pantry. I haven't used it in a decade.

 

[Yorky]

I would probably eat the bacon fat-fried bread too, LMAO.

He does.

 

[TastyReuben]

He does.

Yeah, I assumed that was the point. We would sometimes wipe the grease out of the frying pan with a piece of bread or a biscuit before Mom would catch us and give us a wallop for taking her bacon grease.

 

[Yorky]

Yeah, I assumed that was the point. We would sometimes wipe the grease out of the frying pan with a piece of bread or a biscuit before Mom would catch us and give us a wallop for taking her bacon grease.

Whenever I put together bacon and (?) sarnies, the top slice is invariably dipped in the bacon fat.

Bacon mushrooms 4 s.jpg

• Yorky
• 15 May 2022

Bacon mushrooms 5 s.jpg

• Yorky
• 15 May 2022

 

[GadgetGuy]

This reminds me of Shake N' Bake!! It graduated to Oven Fry!! I used to make oven-fried chicken with corn flake crumbs!!

 

[Sotaeko]

This is the one I have. It's a 9-in-1 appliance: convection oven, toaster oven, air fryer, rotisserie, etc. We actually use it a lot for the oven feature, since it's big enough to handle just about anything I want to bake for the 2 of us (excluding freshly made bread) and it doesn't heat up the entire kitchen, which is really great in the summer.

Emeril Power AirFryer 360 | Replace Your AirFryer, Convection Oven

never heard of that one. air fryer/dehydrator/smaller oven is a bonus. I dont like heating up the house in the summer either.

 

[garlichead]

never heard of that one. air fryer/dehydrator/smaller oven is a bonus. I dont like heating up the house in the summer either.

Yeah, air fryers which are basically just a small convection oven is just the evolution of convenience and pure marketing. Better, nope, not even close. imo. Many small coffee and sandwich shops use table top convection ovens and they work brilliantly and my choice if I was so inclined to purchase a convection type unit.

 

[TastyReuben]

One of those dough balls I posted earlier is destined for an attempt at an air fryer pizza.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Yeah, air fryers which are basically just a small convection oven is just the evolution of convenience and pure marketing. Better, nope, not even close. imo. Many small coffee and sandwich shops use table top convection ovens and they work brilliantly and my choice if I was so inclined to purchase a convection type unit.

Which is exactly what mine is. Plus.

 

[GadgetGuy]

In the summer, I use one or the other. And there's supposed to be another heat wave coming!!!!

 

[TastyReuben]

One of those dough balls I posted earlier is destined for an attempt at an air fryer pizza.

Ok, here’s the first (and maybe last) air fryer pizza trial.

I used their recipe for the pizza, which calls for using pre-made dough, then fitting it to the 6-inch deep-dish pizza pan they provide, topping it, and air frying it at 375F for 10-12 minutes.

Here are the results (plain cheese pizza, per their recipe):

Well, first off, that’s over-baked, but not a tragedy. I’ve seen (and done) worse. Sometimes, crispy cheese is a good thing.

Let’s look at the bottom:

Oh my. If you think that do not only isn’t crisp, but doesn’t even look completely done, you’d be right.

Now, the crumb:

For the bit that’s done, it’s ok. However, for a 6-inch pizza, it’s still quite doughy and underdone in the middle.

If I play with this some more, things I’ll modify next time (or times) would include using less dough, since I usually prefer a less bready pizza (not always, but most times), pre-bake the dough a bit, or ditch the pan and bake it right on the floor of the air fryer basket, or cover it with foil for the first bake. Most likely, I’d just skip the pan altogether.

What this reminded me of more than anything, though, are those microwaveable Red Baron single-serve pizzas that come in a two-pack:

Walmart.com