The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
I got one of these a month ago , comes with a rotisserie and one of those rotating basket things .
Airfryer - which one is best?
- Thread starter farmerbarleymow
- Start date
maomao
普費斯
After my initial negative posts on this thread we got a cheap forty nicker one out of Lidl. It got used so much we wore it out and bought this big bastard instead:
It's easily our most used kitchen appliance. Great for reheating (two day old Yorkshire puddings back to tasting fresh out of the oven in two minutes this morning), great for chips, the only disappointment is that toasted cheese never works out because the cheese gets blown all over the shop. Brilliant for bacon and sausages and you can even get a medium chicken in it. I usually clean it by filling the whole drawer with soapy water, soaking for fifteen minutes and then giving it a wipe down.
Only complaint is the stupid selection of presets. I end up just starting everything as chips and adjusting from there.
It's easily our most used kitchen appliance. Great for reheating (two day old Yorkshire puddings back to tasting fresh out of the oven in two minutes this morning), great for chips, the only disappointment is that toasted cheese never works out because the cheese gets blown all over the shop. Brilliant for bacon and sausages and you can even get a medium chicken in it. I usually clean it by filling the whole drawer with soapy water, soaking for fifteen minutes and then giving it a wipe down.
Only complaint is the stupid selection of presets. I end up just starting everything as chips and adjusting from there.
maomao
普費斯
Agreed. Almost always end up soggy unless you only make eight if them or something. Brilliant for proper chips though.
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
What’s better than an airfryer? Two airfryers!
I just picked up this Xiaomi Mi 3.5l airfryer as a second one, after successfully finding more and more uses for the original cheapo airfryer which came from the DIY store for £25. There have been plenty of times I have switched on the big fan oven in the kitchen just because the food wouldn’t fit into the airfryer, or would have needed to have been cooked successively one thing after another. With 2 airfryers I’m hoping to have many more occasions when dinner gets cooked (in half the time) via the airfryers and the main oven stays off.
The Xiaomi has loads of presets for fish, veg, etc which will probably never be used, but does allow temps down to 40C, which might come in handy for defrosting. It has a much more robust, square drawer and links to wifi and comes with a mobile app which will tell you when to shake and when the food is done.
I just picked up this Xiaomi Mi 3.5l airfryer as a second one, after successfully finding more and more uses for the original cheapo airfryer which came from the DIY store for £25. There have been plenty of times I have switched on the big fan oven in the kitchen just because the food wouldn’t fit into the airfryer, or would have needed to have been cooked successively one thing after another. With 2 airfryers I’m hoping to have many more occasions when dinner gets cooked (in half the time) via the airfryers and the main oven stays off.
The Xiaomi has loads of presets for fish, veg, etc which will probably never be used, but does allow temps down to 40C, which might come in handy for defrosting. It has a much more robust, square drawer and links to wifi and comes with a mobile app which will tell you when to shake and when the food is done.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
Actifry has been acting up again and this time I'm not going to replace like for like. I know the missus loves it because it's best at chips, but it's a bit of a one-trick pony there. The paddle that makes it so awesome for chips demolishes a lot of other things, and things won't cook right without it.
So I'm intrigued by the ones that do rotisserie, but I suspect none are large enough for the chickens we buy. We only buy whole chicken from the Chicken Lady at the farmer's market, and they usually range from 2.2-2.4kg (they grow slow and big). Think that'll fit any of them? I mean I think of that as a "medium chicken", but then I go into Sainsburys and see most of them are sorta 1.6-1.8kg.
So I'm intrigued by the ones that do rotisserie, but I suspect none are large enough for the chickens we buy. We only buy whole chicken from the Chicken Lady at the farmer's market, and they usually range from 2.2-2.4kg (they grow slow and big). Think that'll fit any of them? I mean I think of that as a "medium chicken", but then I go into Sainsburys and see most of them are sorta 1.6-1.8kg.
Basically a good rule for life in general
. Yes, agree about useless presets. Like I am ever going to dry fruit!
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Couldn't you chop the chicken up, and freeze bits of it to cook later?
But these types might do the job
Philips Premium Airfryer XXL Review | Tested by TestHut
See how this top of the line Philips compares to other air fryers in our test. Is this premium air fryer right for you?
www.testhut.com
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Been looking at these lately, but as usual I research to the hilt and decide the only suitable ones are two models that both cost £200 (two separate trays)
Not willing to pay that much so have set up price alerts for the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket and Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer
I was surprised to see the Actifry is pretty much no longer anywhere to be seen on top rated reviews, seems everyone agrees the Paddle is crap now!
Not willing to pay that much so have set up price alerts for the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket and Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer
I was surprised to see the Actifry is pretty much no longer anywhere to be seen on top rated reviews, seems everyone agrees the Paddle is crap now!
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
The paddle was developed to make chips. It is still the best at making chips. It just isn't half as flexible as other air fryers at non-chip tasks. Plus now that oven chips are pretty good, you can use those in any air fryer and get similar results. The ActiFry is only best at fresh chips.
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
Air fryers: are they basically a very small oven, or can you actually fry things in them? Or do they just heat things? Is it possible to cook tempura? Although teh interwebs suggest you can, I'm guessing it's not comparable to the real thing.
maomao
普費斯
The fan is more powerful than a standard fan oven. I can't make toasted cheese in mine because the cheese flies all over the place. That wouldn't happen in my fan oven. That means it's a slightly different kind of heating taking place than in an oven and if you smear things in oil beforehand you can get a more convincing crispy exterior than you can in an oven. Recipes and techniques exist for copying a wide range of deep fried dishes with a varying level of convincingness. But it's more like an oven than a deep fat frier.
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
If they're flinging oil everywhere that sounds a nightmare to keep clean.
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
What maomao about the fan - hence my weaponised kale incident mentioned at some point in this thread (burning kale flying around my kitchen when I opened the airfryer drawer - do not be put off by that, just don't try to make crispy fried kale in one 
)
They are extremely easy to clean, there isn't oil being flung about anywhere because the point is that you don't use much oil
)They are extremely easy to clean, there isn't oil being flung about anywhere because the point is that you don't use much oil
maomao
普費斯
I fill the whole tray with soapy water, soak for five minutes then lift the basket out to clean separately. Never had a problem. Not sure oil is flying everywhere. The fan's not strong enough to lift chips, just sheets of ementhal.
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
Thanks, all. Good to know. Sounds worth looking into.
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Just had that book delivered - it looks great from a quick skim.
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
In what universe is five fish fingers acceptable (unless of course you were going to eat them all yourself)?
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
They fit nicely into a sandwich (4 in a row and one along the top) and with a fried egg added and HP sauce make for a luxurious lunch, albeit not haute cuisine.In what universe is five fish fingers acceptable (unless of course you were going to eat them all yourself)?
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
OK, so you are going to eat them all yourself. Case dismissed!
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
In what universe is five fish fingers acceptable (unless of course you were going to eat them all yourself)?
That's the number of fish fingers that fit in most sliced white bread (which is the ideal bread for a fish finger sarnie). I always do 5 per sarnie.
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
Admittedly I haven't had fish fingers for years, not since I was feeding children and then it was two apiece. This is new territory for me. By my calculation a 5 fish finger sarnie (ie an entire hand) would be in excess of 1500 calories.
Perhaps they've been shrinkflated since my day?
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
I think you need to double check your maths on that one. 5 fish fingers from my local supermarket are 225 calories, plus something for the bread and butter.
(180 cals per 100g, 30 in a 750g box)
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
No, I can't count! The figure I saw was per 100g, not per fish finger.Are you deep frying your fish fingers in lard or something?
Ahem. As you were.
moonsi til
worked it out now!
Aiming to purchase a air fryer in next few weeks. I’m usually try & buy second hand but thought of a used air fryer is giving me the heebie jeebies. Hoping I can cash in some Nectar Points.
It's not a thing to boast about, but I manage fish fingers in the air fryer no probs.
Don't bother with the tray or basket thing. Get some foil, a bit bigger than the bottom surface of the AF. It needs to be a bit bigger so you can cover the bottom plus create some hills and valleys of foil to allow air circulation.
Then do your fish fingers as normal, and they will be intact.
For pity's sake, do not allow the foil to go in the air fryer without the FFs on top or else the fan will suck the foil up to the top of the machine. Always have the foil weighed down.
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