I Got The Air Fryer Blues

[Old_Geezer]

Unsure if this is the best forum, but ... We bought a Ninja Air Fryer and my woman is very disillusioned with it. So far she's tried it on chicken fillets, and on trying the cook a "fried" breakfast. The former was ok, the latter less so. I was wondering if folk had tips or instructions that I could pass on.

She was happy with the bacon, having confessed to me that she prefers crispy. Personally I like it medium rare so although it was ok, it wasn't as good as frying in a frying pan.

But the eggs were a disaster. The first couple (I think the ideal is to "poach" somehow) and she threw both out having followed the instructions on the website, and afterwards thinking they must have used Fahrenheit without specifying when the Air Fryer uses Celsius.

She tried again this morning, continually added a bit more time again and again as the white always seemed uncooked. Finally scraped it out of the dish that it sat in. The white was basically done, the yellow hard "boiled".

So, no, looking like a waste of hard earned cash at present.

TIA

[Buenchico]

There are excellent reviews for this method for bacon on the BBC Good Food website:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/air-fryer-bacon

This site is dedicated to air fryer cooking, so you might find it useful:
https://airfryerfanatics.com/

In particular, it suggests this way of cooking eggs:
https://airfryerfanatics.com/air-fried-eggs/

[Atheist]

First world problems. Do I buy a Ninja or do I use my frying pan?
My thoughts are with you, OG.

[Hazlinny]

Gave me the blues too, OG. Put it on local Internet "for sale" listings
and it was snapped up in less than an hour!

[Hymie]

I am worried that Mrs Hymie will be taken by the adverts and there will yet another addition to the hymie-household collection of kitchen appliances (used once and never more) collecting dust, if space can be found.

[Tilly2]

I think air fryers are best for cooking sausages,chops,steaks and chips.

[237SJ]

An air fryer is really a mini convection oven and you can't do eggs in that. A friend gave me an air fryer for Christmas a few years ago and I just use it for bacon, fish fingers, crisping up jacket potatoes and a few other things. It's OK but not the be all and end all

[pastafreak]

I've done wings, sausages(very crispy), frittata (quiche without the crust), fish fillets...both in foil and naked...bread(still experimenting),roast veg, cauli cheese, stuffed peppers and mushrooms. It's not the best thing since sliced bread, but it allows me to quickly and cheaply cook things that I'd not bother doing with a big oven.

[Buenchico]

>>> I've done wings, sausages . . . both in foil and naked . . .

I prefer to wear an apron myself ;-)

[retrocop]

I got rid of mine after a month. Waste of time imo.

[Old_Geezer]

Thanks all. I have passed the information on.

(Meanwhile I've just been shown the plates that go in the bottom of the container, hardly used, and when used was used with silicon kitchen utensils; some of it's non-stick has gone missing in places already ! :-( I don't recall reading that this brand was such poor quality.)

[KristalBee]

Honest opinion? I have a Ninja duo and love it but you have to choose wisely what to do in it. All meats are fantastic and chips lovely but even though it says it will fry eggs , my question would be ‘why’? I’ve even baked sponge cake in mine and muffins, I love it, bit like any kitchen equipment will have its limitations. Do your sausage bacon hash browns and grilled tomatoes in the air fryer and while you are waiting fry your eggs in a pan. Sorted! !

[rowanwitch]

I have a little air fryer, single portion size mostly, does great frylight diet chips, chicken in coatings, and part baked rolls ( 8 rather than 12 minutes) and I can do one of two without worrying about the cost of using my main oven, it also does a great job with single portion pies, Aunt Bessies roasties, and roast veggies in general. Bacon, eggs are easier on the hob, finishing off jacket spuds after a spell in the microwave, still experimenting, but it has made life easier as I can't always bend to use the oven.

[Samuraisan]

I agree with Kristalbee. I use mine for wings, ( turn out fantastic) yakitori, sausages, chicken dishes, chips and lots more. I have made muffins and sponge cakes with great success. It does take getting used to, as most new gadgets do.

[barry1010]

I nearly bought one, was very tempted by the hype but when i looked in to the cooking times, the electricity consumption, the capacity i realised it was no better in any aspect than the combi microwave oven i already had. It doesn't have a turntable, can cook on two shelves and the turbo combination setting is very quick.

When i think of the lovely meals, cakes, bread and puddings my mother and grandmother cooked on their relatively small cast iron cookers, the only gadget a noisy stove top pressure cooker i have to wonder why we are gadget mad.

[pastafreak]

Barry...I bet your mother and grandmother would have taken advantage of gadgets that make chores easier/quicker/cheaper had they been available.

[barry1010]

I doubt it, pasta, they didn't even buy an electric mixer preferring the bowl and wooden spoon. My mother scoffed at toasted sandwich makers as she said a frying pan is a lot easier to wash.

[pastafreak]

Lol...when I used to make cakes, it was the wooden spoon for me too!