Air Fryer Review from Experienced Users

• 

  Domingo on 23/03/2017 - 13:01

  +2

  I have a Phillips air fryer and it is great, but it doesn't give you the same results as deep frying chips.

  They are a pretty big appliance and noisy as hell, so they aren't for everyone but I like it for the convenience. It has similar results to cooking in an oven, except much faster.

  • 

    MiaSanMia on 23/03/2017 - 13:16

    We are busy household so I actually put my chips in the grilled oven instead of deep frying them so as you said the result is similar to oven cooking but much faster sounds good to me. Cheers!

    • 

      hhbb555 on 24/03/2017 - 08:05

      Airfryer gives you extra crispiness, more than oven.
      Sometimes it even can be too crispy (too hard), experimentation is a must to know your preference

      Also airfryer seems to heat the food more than if you use oven. For example 200C in airfryer seems to be hotter than in oven.
      I know this because when making fries and put it to 200C it doesn't take long before they become black, unlike if i put them in oven

• 

  geek001 on 23/03/2017 - 13:17

  +3

  An air fryer will cook stuff you normally put in an oven quicker and hence uses less electricity, but in smaller quantities. It is perfect if you need to cook prepacked chips portions for 2. eg. normally for me, I would need to preheat my oven to cook chips portion for 2 or a frozen pie, that takes 10 mins, then another 20 mins in the oven. Seems like a waste of time and electricity to cook a small quantity of food. Now I just put the pie in the air fryer and it will be done in maybe 5-7 mins. Although, I do put the pie in the microwave to defrost for 10 mins when the oven is preheating. So the time saving is not much, but the electricity saving is there.

  However, if you try to "fry" your freshly made spring rolls without much oil, they will come out tasting like paper.

  I have a Kogan branded air fryer that I bought at one of ebay's 20% off sale, it works well. The pan is starting to rust at the top on the outside, but otherwise still in good nick.

  • 

    MiaSanMia on 23/03/2017 - 14:24

    Thanks! Yeah you're right a spring roll is not a spring roll without being properly deep fried! By the way do you still need to defrost your food eg pie before putting it in the air fryer? Does the pie come out relatively crispy?

    • 

      geek001 on 23/03/2017 - 14:36

      +1

      I think you should defrost all your food beforehand. Just think of your air fryer as a mini quick oven.

      • 

        Colombian on 23/03/2017 - 15:46

        Well, I thought you should not defrost the food as they become soggy instead of crispy.

      • 

        geek001 on 23/03/2017 - 15:58

        @Colombian: Who told you that? If you do not defrost the food, you will end up with food that is well done on the outside and frozen on the inside? Oh wait.. did you mean things like chips? I don't think you need to defrost chips, but pies definitely.

      • 

        Colombian on 23/03/2017 - 16:22

        @geek001: No body told me lol, just my "common sense". Now that we are discussing it, it makes sense what you said. When you said pies, are they large or small?

        We at home when we have those nanna apple pies for half price we put them straight in the hot oven from the freezer. Never had any problem with being cold on the inside.

        It is depending on the type of food? the size? anybody knows?

• 

  scotty on 23/03/2017 - 14:53

  +1

  Bought a Rank Arena 2.2L one from DealsDirect 4 years ago for ~$70, and use it almost everyday. I don't usually use it for frying though but rather a small oven, as our main oven is 90cm wide and uses quite a bit of electricity. Just this morning we used it to heat up bread rolls and sweet potato (wrapped in aluminium foil first). Also made lamb cutlets last week.

• 

  blonky on 23/03/2017 - 15:07

  +1

  It is a mini (fan forced) oven. The basket means you get better/even cooking top and bottom but food still needs a flip halfway through

  Works best with food designed to go in the oven; anything that needs deep frying will come out dry - things like home made chips still need a coating of oil and preferable flash frying (required for battered food)

  I don't see it as being healthier except that you don't need to oil a baking tray, and excess oil drips through the basket, overall it's the same fatty food in it though

  I don't think there's a difference between brands since it's just a basket, element and a fan.
  Mine cost me $50 on sale (not a big brand) and still going after 3 years

  • 

    blonky on 23/03/2017 - 15:12

    +1

    Also biggest tip here - Birds Eye Deli Seasoned chips, Sea Salt & Rosemary - are the absolute best thing to cook. The cook beautifully and come out super crunchy.

    15-20mins at 180deg, flipping after 6 and 12 minutes