Anyone have an air fryer?

[jayhawkbecca]

I’ve been thinking about getting one, but not sure if I’d use it enough to justify the cost and kitchen space. Food ideas and recommendations are welcome!

[VillainV]

Yes, we have one. The first one we had was one of the big round ones with the basket inside, and we used it very often. We upgraded to a Ninja 5-in-1 indoor grill that also is an air fryer, and has a larger capacity.

Things we make:

- Baked potatoes (oven texture in half the time)
- make our own fries out of raw potato/sweet potato
- Freezer items like fries, tots, taquitos, corn dogs, nuggets, etc. Much better than microwaved.
- Baked chicken (though now we mostly use the indoor grill function)
- Wings (boneless or bone-in)
- Any kind of veggie
- leftover pizza is amazing

An air fryer is basically a convection oven pod. I like that it heats up faster and is more efficient than using my big oven for just a few servings. Down side is you need a big one to have much capacity. They take up space, but I keep mine in a lower cabinet and just take it out when I need it.

[Jalapeñomel]

Yes, and we use it numerous times a week for lots of things from veggies to chicken to fries.

[joy]

I hate to cook and I use our air fryer at least once a week.

I can make fish sticks for my kid in under ten minutes (including time to heat up the air fryer then cook the things).

It’s just so much easier than heating up the oven. And so very much faster to cook.

[redheadk]

I waffled for the same reasons.

I posted on FB because one of my hold ups was having to store another appliance. Someone posted to store it on the counter because I'd use it everyday.

We have used it just about every day, lol.

We make all sorts of things in it and lots of things get reheated in it. I'm almost mad at how good onion rings are reheated in it (our wing place has awesome onion rings) because I end up reheating and eating them instead of tossing them.

DD asks for a hash brown pattie cooked in the air fryer almost every morning.

I like brussel sprouts in there, too, if I'm not using bacon. I think I could do bacon in there but I don't.

[steph96]

Love it!

I saw that there’s an instant pot attachment that turns it into an air fryer. I’m not sure how that works, but it sounds amazing!

[joy]

Oh yeah - there’s no storing that thing. It has displaced my KitchenAid mixer on the counter. ::sob::

[Roc A Bee]

Yes! Basically I cook anything frozen that I once used my oven for, I use the air fryer for. Oh and leftover pizza in it is amazing.

[Patsy Baloney]

I love our air fryer.

Our toaster oven died, and we decided to get a toaster. The toaster died and I decided I missed having a toaster oven. My friend recommended getting the air fryer instead, so we waited for a good sale and a Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon and went for it.

We use it every day. Convenience foods, meat, toasting bread, it is just amazing.

[iheartbanjos]

It’s great for low carb/keto cooking. I make fish, shrimp, veggies, chicken... all kinds of things it in. I got it as a gift and wasn’t sure what I’d use it for besides French fries (which we basically never eat) but have gotten a ton of use out of it. The clean up is easy too!

[notsopicky]

I actually wish I had a BIGGER one. I make onion rings, tater tots, french fries (all from frozen) in that thing, and they are perfect every time. I heat it up before I put the food in (set at the highest temp it'll go, which I think is 400): let 'er rip for 5-10 min, then throw the food in. 10 minutes later and perfect emerges.

[Moe]

Ninja Foodi.

Love it.

Fits in cabinet for easy put away, big enough that fry enough things at a time (some air dryers have such a small footprint you need to continuously change food).

[sunshine608]

I resisted one for a long time and now its probably my most used appliance (almost knock the instant pot out of that spot). I have a traditional air fryer I keep under the counter and then for Black Friday I got one of the Toaster Oven Air Fryer combos. I use both weekly.
re-heating foods
french fries
hot dogs
steak
salmon and other fish
i basically use it for most meats ( I haven't tried pork b/c we don't really it it, but for fish, chicken and lately beef.
Frozen or fresh quick foods ( cheese sticks, egg rolls (fresh), pot stickers, pizza, pizza rolls.

[Shreddingbetty]

I got one from my friends last year when I divorced and moved into my own house. I have never used it. I did buy a little cookbook for it but honestly, I don’t have room for it to store on my counter tops or in cabinets . I’m sure I could find use for it if I really looked into it but to me it’s just another appliance that takes up room and needs to be cleaned. I still have it sitting in its box somewhere and not quite ready to get rid of it since my friends gave it to me but tbh I don’t foresee using it anytime soon. I think if you have a lot of counter space and you can leave it out why not?

[flatlan]

We use it for all the things mentioned above and to make tuna and crab cakes and biscuits. My sister makes hard boiled eggs in hers.

[SusanBAnthony]

Do all y'all not have convection ovens?

I'm in the no toaster oven camp for the same reason. I have a convection oven, I don't need another tiny convection oven that takes up room on the counter and does the same thing. My regular oven takes 10 minutes to what up. It was about 500$ at home Depot it's nothing fancy.

[SusanBAnthony]

I googled because I can't help myself. It's more efficient to heat up your whole oven than use an air fryer. They are better insulated and even with convection running don't run air all the time like an air fryer.

Air fryer = 1.4 kwh to run for an hour
Oven = 0.6 kwh to run for an hour

So even if the air fryer cooks a bit faster you are still using more power so your house will heat up more.

[VillainV]

Feb 24, 2020 6:05:27 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Do all y'all not have convection ovens?

I'm in the no toaster oven camp for the same reason. I have a convection oven, I don't need another tiny convection oven that takes up room on the counter and does the same thing. My regular oven takes 10 minutes to what up. It was about 500$ at home Depot it's nothing fancy.

No. I’ve lived in 8 different homes in the last 17 years and none of them have had a convection oven.

[lilafowler]

Feb 24, 2020 6:05:27 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Do all y'all not have convection ovens?

I'm in the no toaster oven camp for the same reason. I have a convection oven, I don't need another tiny convection oven that takes up room on the counter and does the same thing. My regular oven takes 10 minutes to what up. It was about 500$ at home Depot it's nothing fancy.

No I don’t. And I rent so I’m not buying my landlord one either.
Who is running an air Fryer for an hour?

[SusanBAnthony]

Feb 24, 2020 6:50:28 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

Feb 24, 2020 6:05:27 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Do all y'all not have convection ovens?

I'm in the no toaster oven camp for the same reason. I have a convection oven, I don't need another tiny convection oven that takes up room on the counter and does the same thing. My regular oven takes 10 minutes to what up. It was about 500$ at home Depot it's nothing fancy.

No I don’t. And I rent so I’m not buying my landlord one either.
Who is running an air Fryer for an hour?

I hear people talk about heating for 10 and then running a couple batches of food.

I don't run my regular oven for an hour either for most of the stuff people use an air fryer for, but that seemed like a reasonable time frame to compare over.

[orval]

i never pre heat my air fryer. Wings are the best in the airfyer -- so crispy!
I can heat my kids chicken tenders/popcorn shrimp (frozen stuff) in less than 10 minutes start to finish. I have a convection oven but it takes much longer since it does need time to heat

[cinnamoncox0]

We love it. Large family so never wanted to spend the $$$ on the 7 quart (biggest I saw). They were like $190 I think. Black Friday is got one for $49!

We routinely make our own fried or sweet potato fries way way less oil

Chicken fingers

Cauliflower bites
Brussels sprouts

Basically anything you want crispy but not oily and fatty.
Worth it !

Heats up stuff too like if ds has left over chicken wings it’ll crisp back up.

[keyslover]

We just got one. It does take up a decent amount of counter space, BUT we have used it a few times since we got it last week. The fries and tots are way better than oven baked.

I'm looking forward to trying more items.
I think it will be really nice in the summer when I don't want to run the oven.

[icedcoffee]

Love it. It cooks so much quicker than the oven. Ours is big, but we traded out some other gadgets we don't use anymore and put it in an easily accessible cabinet. It's great for fries, chicken nuggets, veggies, potatoes, and wings.

Where it really shines IME is reheating leftovers. Half a sandwich from a restaurant? Throw it in there whole and it seriously tastes like it did the day before 3 minutes later. Pizza crisps up in no time. I don't think the example above about using a regular convection oven is comparable. I'd never heat up a whole oven for half a leftover sandwich. LOL Air fryer can do it in like 3 minutes start to finish. Less food waste too because normally some of this stuff would just end up in the trash.

We use it at least a couple times a week. For a while my kid thought it was a pizza machine because we use it so often to reheat pizza.

It's this one which has been a great size for us.

www.target.com/p/powerxl-air-fryer-5-3qt/-/A-52533007?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&CPNG=PLA_Appliances%2BShopping_Local&adgroup=SC_Appliances&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9007768&gclid=CjwKCAiAhc7yBRAdEiwAplGxX6SurzIEGzeeioWPUy5BwpCDwxzlJNzdPFBS3gYZlAa50IMY1LJoPRoCIvMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[redheadk]

Feb 24, 2020 6:05:27 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Do all y'all not have convection ovens?

I'm in the no toaster oven camp for the same reason. I have a convection oven, I don't need another tiny convection oven that takes up room on the counter and does the same thing. My regular oven takes 10 minutes to what up. It was about 500$ at home Depot it's nothing fancy.

As if convection ovens are the norm and we are all just too stupid to use ours? WTF?

I mean, that’s nice you have one but I have full size double electric ovens. Replacing them is not even close to $500. The air fryer was $80.

[icedcoffee]

Feb 24, 2020 6:05:27 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Do all y'all not have convection ovens?

I'm in the no toaster oven camp for the same reason. I have a convection oven, I don't need another tiny convection oven that takes up room on the counter and does the same thing. My regular oven takes 10 minutes to what up. It was about 500$ at home Depot it's nothing fancy.

So do you heat up the whole oven for a piece of toast?

[esdreturns]

I have a toaster oven that has an air fryer selection. I do like it and use it a lot. I'm not sure I like it enough to purchase just an air fryer though. I have enough things on my counter lol.

[dale]

I got the Instant Vortex as a gift and us it in place of my oven now. We love it because I can rotisserie things in it. As for having a convection oven, no. We have a Kenmore gas oven that was installed in 1988 and doesn't have a single thing wrong with it.

[Patsy Baloney]

Feb 24, 2020 8:30:52 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Feb 24, 2020 6:05:27 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Do all y'all not have convection ovens?

I'm in the no toaster oven camp for the same reason. I have a convection oven, I don't need another tiny convection oven that takes up room on the counter and does the same thing. My regular oven takes 10 minutes to what up. It was about 500$ at home Depot it's nothing fancy.

So do you heat up the whole oven for a piece of toast?

And roast it for an hour?

[Patsy Baloney]

I love the idea of shoving my oven out to the curb and dropping $500 on a convection oven to avoid having a small convenience appliance on my counter. 😂