Hot Air Fryers

[Diane Lane]

I just recently came across these. I'd never heard of them before, but I dislike deep frying because of how messy the process is, and of course it's also somewhat unhealthy. I know some would argue about the 'somewhat' in that statement, but some items just beg to be deep fried, and don't taste the same when cooked other ways.

Apparently hot air fryers can give the deep fried taste and effect while only using a fraction of the oil, so I wondered if anyone here had tried using one? If so, do you have any recommendations on types or brands? Here's an article about hot air frying, in case anyone would like to learn more.

 

[winterybella]

I did not read all of the article but there is yet another gadget to dig into our pockets. Thanks for share @Diane Lane. At least it says you can grill as well as I am not a big deep frying person. Have not done it in years. These days I am 'frying' most things in the oven. I don't know I would jump on this bandwagon just yet. I am tired of buying things I use once or twice and then forget about because they are too much.

 

[L_B]

My dad has one but I don't remember the brand name but I did have food that he cooked in it. I remember the food from it was really tasty and good.
I preferred it over deep frying and it was so much better for you. I always thought of getting one but never did. I don't do much deep frying anyway.

 

[MrsDangermouse]

We've had the Philips Airfryer for a few years now and use it most weeks (mostly for chips). Before we had the Airfryer we had an Actifry - we switched to the Airfryer because the Actifry build quality wasn't great and parts kept breaking after a year or so.

I don't think I would describe most things as tasting the same as deep frying - they do come close though, and its much healthier so I would never go back to a deep fat fryer now.

Of the two we've had, even though it had reliability problems I still prefer the Actifry - for chips in particular I think the Actifry gives more of a deep fried taste and texture than the Airfryer and if our Airfryer ever breaks then I'll go back to the Actifry (and hope that they've improved the build quality over the last few years)

 

[GadgetGuy]

THIS is what I use as an air fryer. It makes excellent guilt-free French fries!

 

[Zyni]

I just recently came across these. I'd never heard of them before, but I dislike deep frying because of how messy the process is, and of course it's also somewhat unhealthy. I know some would argue about the 'somewhat' in that statement, but some items just beg to be deep fried, and don't taste the same when cooked other ways.

Apparently hot air fryers can give the deep fried taste and effect while only using a fraction of the oil, so I wondered if anyone here had tried using one? If so, do you have any recommendations on types or brands? Here's an article about hot air frying, in case anyone would like to learn more.

Wow, I didn't know that there was such a thing. I want one.

I have to agree with @winterybella . I seem to find myself wanting all the cool cooking gadgets, but I don't want to buy stuff that I won't really use. I can't afford to just collect kitchen equipment, nor do I have room to store the stuff (I'm in the process of re-organizing my entire kitchen right now), but I keep finding more great stuff that I'd like to have. I'll have to prioritize.

I think this one is going to make the list though. Well, it's healthier, right?

 

[Diane Lane]

I've never heard of the Actifry @MrsDangermouse, so I looked it up. It seems to have very good reviews, so perhaps that means they've improved the quality.

I don't buy nearly as many gadgets these days. I can relate to not wanting to waste money, and definitely have limited counterspace, as well as an overall lack of space in this house in general. I would most likely get rid of my current deep fryer if I purchased one of these. I think the savings in oil would add up over the years and should probably factor into the comparison. I really don't like the smell in the house after I've fried things, even though I enjoy fried foods. Using less oil might help with the smell, so that would be another point in favor of buying an air fryer or similar product such as @MrsDangermouse's Actifry.

 

[Zyni]

You make some good points, @Diane Lane. The cost of oil would be a savings. This thing would pay for itself. It's also a lot healthier to skip the oil, of course. I hadn't even thought about the oily smell, but you're right.

Not to mention, a lot of grease hangs in the air in the kitchen after frying, especially if you don't have a really good vent. I don't want to have a greasy kitchen. I guess that's another reason why I don't fry stuff that much.

 

[Diane Lane]

You make some good points, @Diane Lane. The cost of oil would be a savings. This thing would pay for itself. It's also a lot healthier to skip the oil, of course. I hadn't even thought about the oily smell, but you're right.

Not to mention, a lot of grease hangs in the air in the kitchen after frying, especially if you don't have a really good vent. I don't want to have a greasy kitchen. I guess that's another reason why I don't fry stuff that much.

I have the worst vent in the world. If I know I'll be cooking something heavy or especially when frying, I wait to bathe and wash my hair until after, and I try not to fry in months (most of the year here) when I can't open the windows in the house to let out the odors. On the few occasions when I've fried and gone to bed without bathing/washing my hair afterwards, I can smell the cooking odors in the house the entire night. It sometimes throws me back to when I was a teenager and worked at McDonald's.

I'm not against frying, I just don't like doing it in this house. I tend to fry very infrequently, and I even have a small deep fryer, but I've rarely used it since moving into this house. Having something like an air fryer could make a difference to me, which is why the product intrigued me. I have carpet right next to my stove. I will often toss baking soda on the carpet and let it sit for a while before vacuuming it up, in the hope that it will absorb some of the cooking odors that I know have to be trapped in it.

 

[MrsDangermouse]

Whether an air fryer will work for you really depends on what you want to cook in it. They're great for chips and for potatoes generally - this is what I mostly use ours for. The Philips Air Fryer can do breaded things too - tho its more like a baked taste than fried, but the Actifry doesn't work at all for breaded things because the stiring arm knocks the breadcrumbs off. The one thing air fryers can't do at all is freshly battered things because you need the hot oil to quickly seal the batter.

 

[Zyni]

Whether an air fryer will work for you really depends on what you want to cook in it. They're great for chips and for potatoes generally - this is what I mostly use ours for. The Philips Air Fryer can do breaded things too - tho its more like a baked taste than fried, but the Actifry doesn't work at all for breaded things because the stiring arm knocks the breadcrumbs off. The one thing air fryers can't do at all is freshly battered things because you need the hot oil to quickly seal the batter.

That's good to know. Thank you for those helpful tips. I'd probably use one to make homemade fries more than anything else, but yeah, I probably would have tried breaded stuff too. This info will help us make a better decision. I want the fried taste, not the over fried.. I can do that in the oven, ha ha.

 

[MrsDangermouse]

For homemade chips I definitely prefer the Actifry - in my opinion there's no comparison on the taste. Like you say, you can do the other things in the oven anyway. Actually I've just seen they now do a two tier Actifry which has a second plate with no paddle so you can cook those breaded things at the same time - its about twice the price of the basic one though!

I thought I'd do a bit of a comparison based on our use of the Actifry and Airfryer:

Tefal Actifry (basic one)
+ makes great tasting chips - this is because the chips are moved around by the stirring arm and do actually fry in just a little bit of oil
+ can be used for other things such as sausages, meatballs, roast potatoes
+ food is evenly cooked because the stirring arm turns it over for you
- can't handle delicate items that will be broken up by the stirring arm (eg. breaded items or fish)

Philips Airfryer
+ can also cook breaded and delicate items eg. fish
+/- can cook sausages, meatballs etc. but I've found fatty foods produce a lot of smoke - I think the fat splashes on the element
- chips are not so evenly cooked and taste more like oven baked chips rather than fried - I think this is because although you toss the raw chips in oil before cooking, most of it drops through into the drip pan so they effectively bake rather than fry
- difficult to keep clean - this only became apparent recently, but its become increasingly difficult to get the basket part properly clean

 

[Zyni]

That's a great write up, @MrsDangermouse, and I appreciate the extra information. I like to make informed purchases, and I get a much better sense of things after seeing the experiences of others. There are some good tips and things to keep in mind here when shopping for a hot air fryer. I feel like you've done a lot of the work for us, before I even start my usual research. I research everything before buying, and you just made it easier.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't bother purchasing one that isn't much different than what I can do with the kitchen equipment that I already have. The Tefal one sounds like a winner.

 

[OhioTom76]

I remember watching a video of Chef Ming Tasi demoing how to cook fried rice in the T-Fal Actifry, and the comments below the video were hilarious. People were joking that it took him like 30 minutes to cook something that only takes a few minutes to cook in a regular pan/wok. He did every ingredient separately and kept dumping each one into a separate plate, and wiping the pan down, before adding the next ingredient.

From what I understand, the Phillips air fryer is just a heating element on top with fan blowing the heat down on your food. That's basically the same thing as a Nu Wave Oven which has been around for decades. I was interested in it at first, but then I was concerned over the build quality and if it would ultimately last. I didn't want to bother with it if the plastic starts to melt/warp/discolor over time from all the heat inside the unit.

 

[Pat]

View attachment 2343


THIS is what I use as an air fryer. It makes excellent guilt-free French fries!

I have often wanted to know how the food cooked in one of these types of ovens tasted and if it was as fast as they say on tv to get out of the kitchen.