AIR FRYERS

Yes all caps are necessary!

What this thread is for:

- telling us about stuff you’ve cooked in your 🫵🏻 air fryer
- recommending us stuff to cook in the air fryer
- general chat about how good air fryers are

https://i.postimg.cc/VkcXCwsD/IMG-7800.jpg

Guy on the left? Nobody cares. Sit down and tell us the best chips to do in an air fryer (Pierre Koffmann!!!) or what you use to clean your air fryer with minimal hassle. But whatever, I really just want deems to post that video of his basque cheesecake he did in his. It looks obscene lads.

I had been skeptical when I started hearing about air fryers. My wife got us an InstaPot a few years before and I just didn't like the damn thing. But my daughter goes through a lot of chicken fingers and french fries, and preheating the whole oven to cook those things was just a whole lot of work and time. So I bought a small air fryer last year as sort of a test run. Since I got it, I use it all the damn time and plan to invest in a fancier, more spacious one. Primarily use it for the aforementioned chicken tenders and fries, but it's great at reheating things as well.

The one downside for me is that according to the manual, the drawer and crisper tray are not dish-washer safe. So I end up handwashing them on pretty much a daily basis. And for some reason, it still looks greasy after I've given it a good scrubbing.

No opinion on chip brands; I mostly just buy the Giant Food store brand or whatever's on sale.

We use it all the time, primarily for roasting vegetables of all kinds quickly and easily. So much faster and less fussy than the oven (especially in summer).

I'm also not averse to reheating pizza, frozen bread and pastry (I mean the toaster oven is equally good if not better at these tasks, but the air fryer totally works too), cooking veggie burgers, etc.

I have no counter space.

my default method of quickly crisping up tofu and then finishing it up in the pan with whatever sauce i've made up. otherwise, it's a massive waste of space.

most common thing I make in air fryer is frozen Yorkshire puds, my wife had these for breakfast as they are basically youtiao.

use it to crisp up stuff like pizza and nan bread too.

too much stuff in there means it doesn't cook evenly, so I use the regular oven a lot more

I have no counter space

same here.. I have a little 1920s galley kitchen
I guess I could put it in a cabinet or something but they're all pretty full

I only fire up the actual oven when it's cold in the winter

It's amazing for tofu, yeah. We got it as a gift and let it sit around for months because of the counter space thing, then went through a phase of putting it away when it wasn't in use, and now it's just on the counter. Sometimes we put it on the porch though!

We mostly use ours for kid friendly dinners (fish fingers, nuggets), so much quicker and more efficient than a regular oven. Wedges too - my wife will not stoop to oven chips - and salmon fillets. And reheating but only to crisp up after the microwave has done most of the work.

Btw you can cook those small Crosta Mollica pizzas in them and they’re pretty much perfect

it's great at reheating things as well.

this is where they really shine imho, reheating a bunch of fried calamari left over from a Greek restaurant specifically

my microwave broke a couple of years ago and i used the counter space for an air-fryer instead. i could prob fit both even in a small kitchen, and they aren't a major overlap in terms of use, but i just expected i would use the latter more. and i do. i reheat stuff other ways now, not necessarily using the air fryer.

my air-fryer usage is basically the koffman air-fryer chips (after a while using a good chef john from scratch recipe), baked sweet or normal potatoes, chicken wings, and the once or twice a month i have breakfast sausages or bacon. bacon in particular you get amazing results, similar to how the oven is actually really good for bacon, tho obv a pita to use just for a bacon sandwich. my grill function on my oven is kinda broken so i was having to fry bacon which is a pretty shit way to go.

in china there's a viral recipe for making lard in an air fryer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YBpiAmTHdo

Our kitchen is the size of other people's closets and the counter space is napkin-sized. Things like the blender, air fryer, slow cooker, stand mixer, etc. live on on a rack elsewhere and are only brought out one at a time when needed.

must try it for baked potatoes, they take hours in the regular oven and the microwave is unacceptable

sausages
toasted sandwiches
cauliflower florets
wedges/chips
breaded fish and such

but also

basque cheesecake
fruit crumble
standard tomato sauces

dont find mine good for meat as a rule, others swear by it tho

i find it makes the bread a tiny bit too crunchy for a toasted sandwich

Explain tomato sauce in air fryer pls

whatever the underlying pieces- say onion, garlic, peppers- roast off low with a bit of a stir first

tip in yr tomatoes and low roast again for however long you like

it misses out on the slow cook sweetness, can stay sharp, so workes best with a sauce that favours chilli or basil tho

Last time I was home my mother prepared some chicken breasts with a mix of various herbs etc and some oil and did them in the air fryer and they were LOVELY, I’m not a chicken skin fan generally but it was so crispy, I was so impressed by that

I wish I could rent one for a weekend, to see if an AIR FRYER is right for me

model matters too tbf

do you find that they vaporize oil and you see it later stuck to surfaces?

This is why I basically never fry anything more than like potato pancakes or something, I hate seeing oil everywhere

skinless chicken thighs with a rub are in constant rotation here, we've also had good results with lamb chops and pork tenderloins

does anyone have those air fryers that is just some kind of heating fan attached to a glass bowl? worth it or just an expensive glass bowl?

Given the air whipping around in there I would be too worried that a bunch of liquid tomato sauce would go everywhere (we often put water in the bottom to keep things from drying out though).

my model might not have that kind of punch, or maybe is relatively deep, but doesn't seem an issue

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/breville-smart-oven-air/?catalogId=79&sku=5235432&pickuplocation=ST:%7Bstore_code%7D&cm_ven=PLA&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Electrics%20%3E%20Toasters%20%26%20Toaster%20Ovens&cm_ven=PLA&cm_ite=5235432_23516686730_pla-1418851114941&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Local&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23516686730&gbraid=0AAAAADrs9cEV55s3tgDBV8HrGpDZyR9Bc&gclid=Cj0KCQjw39zSBhDhARIsANammDs-obGMrdGiSpJ1-Zb7Tp6deouH5U-FBQFaQPMOSEikLyaCXrc2xRMaAhOHEALw_wcB

we got this as a wedding present about a year ago and it’s my favorite appliance. I hardly use my conventional oven these days unless I’m braising something in a dutch oven or making a large pizza that won’t fit. temperature control is much better too

I make grilled cheese sandwiches in mine and I will never again make one using any other method. Also really good for Morningstar Farms black bean burgers, which get nice and crispy if you leave them in there like just like 10 seconds shy of getting burnt to a crisp

I love my air fryer

oh and btw you can wash the parts in the dishwasher, but you have to use the top rack. At least that's what my normie neighbor told me (though I agree they really do look perpetually greasy no matter what you use to clean them)

That’s “seasoning”

I was a total skeptic until a couple of weeks ago when my "it's just a freaking convection oven" theory was slightly debunked. it is true that air fryers are a convection oven, but not all convection ovens are air fryers. considering getting one.

i still like to make grilled cheese on a cast-iron pan. it's definitely better and not really harder than an air-fryer.

i don't think i'd ever do lamb chops in it just cos idk, cooking that sort of cut of meat, again in cast-iron, is sort of a ritual or habit for me, and also really easy.

tomato sauce similarly, idk, i have some red lines about how i want to do certain things.

but i am still really happy i have an air fryer. smaller than my microwave was too.

the air fryer pans are nonstick right? if you care about forever chemicals

No air fryer but I do have a really good oven. It came with the house, I would never have spent so much on an oven but it is really good.

It’s the first one in years I haven’t had to put a thermometer in - the temperature you set it too is the temperature it inside. I’ve had some that miss by 20-30 degrees or are crazy inconsistent front to back. I suspect a lot of the air fryer love is that they actually get properly hot. (Also smaller, heat up quicker, easier to clean, more energy efficient etc.).

I already have a rice cooker and a pressure cooker in the appliance space in the kitchen so no room for an air fryer.

No air fryer but I do have a really good oven. It came with the house, I would never have spent so much on an oven but it is really good.

It’s the first one in years I haven’t had to put a thermometer in - the temperature you set it too is the temperature it inside. I’ve had some that miss by 20-30 degrees or are crazy inconsistent front to back. I suspect a lot of the air fryer love is that they actually get properly hot. (Also smaller, heat up quicker, easier to clean, more energy efficient etc.).

I already have a rice cooker and a pressure cooker in the appliance space in the kitchen so no room for an air fryer.

I also have a rice cooker and it has to be said that air fryer and rice cooker is the perfect 2 piece kit for making a lazy but mostly nutritious dinner with almost zero effort

I have no more room for one either and I like my oven. I do have a rice cooker which I use frequently and can stow away

It sounds exactly like a counter-top convection oven.

It's probably great if you don't have a real oven or are making small meals and are not interested in cooking or baking for guests, but otherwise it just seems like another appliance that makes clutter in your kitchen

Spring rolls

you mean egg rolls? spring rolls are not fried

No air fryer in my kitchen, but I did lose the convection toaster oven in the breakup and I miss it and plan to replace it. I reckon it got used ten times as frequently as the stove oven

It's probably great if you don't have a real oven or are making small meals and are not interested in cooking or baking for guests,

or dont want to heat a large oven

or wait for an oven to heat

or need an additional small oven when cooking for guests

or want an option that really can zap something with instant heat for crisp/texture reasons

baked potatoes

brilliant in air fryer

i got a ninja foodie for slow cooking, that's also great. overnight sauces, stews, compotes, baked beans from scratch, great for batch cooking

we also have an ice cream maker. that makes ice cream- no further justification needed. this weekend we had a bbq and served up strawberry/rhubarb, pistachio and salted caramel cones to guests as dessert and i get to order a tub of coffee or mint whenever i like why no the diet hasnt been going too great why dyou ask

refreshing yesterday's pastries- airfryer tick.jpg

can an air fryer replace an aga tho

Sounds great darraghmac, I would love to come over to your place! I don't have any friends who entertain like that anymore. I used to have an ice cream maker but got rid of it recently

I have a slow cooker from the 80s (which I can store), and I keep it around because occasionally it yields great meals

I use a crockpot to make stews in the winter, but I'm always paranoid about leaving it plugged in when I'm not at home

I can understand that, I only use mine when I'm going to be home all day but I don't think there's much of a danger, it's a ceramic pot.

I definitely only use my clothes dryer when I'm home though

very off topic, sorry

Are they called egg rolls?
Anyway, the little things that are like springrolls but fried... air fryer is great for those...

air fryer people: do you use liners? I do, but they're a pain in the ass because they never quite fit right and sometimes they'll bump against the heating element inside and come out charred around the edges, which definitely seems like a fire hazard

The tray still gets dirty, even with the liner, so I may just stop buying the damn things

nb we have lots of storage space which def is relevant

xp silicon liners

We call them spring rolls. Egg rolls are some US-specific thing and the wrapper's a different dough I think?

My airfryer is this one from Sunbeam:
https://myer-media.com.au/wcsstore/MyerCatalogAssetStore/images/55/562/4717/44/4/136778080/136778080_1_720x928.webp?w=1920&q=75

We got it because a couple summers ago it was just too fuckign hot to use the oven much, so this was a stopgap and it's ended up being hella useful. Ive even done a whole chicken in it (not with the rotisserie though).

My regular oven's currently semi-busted (wont stay at temp for more than 20 mins) so its being leaned heavily on. Its a pity I cant cook pizzas in it though its too small. Would love to try it's dehydrator function at some point.

Oh and the advantage of ones like this is, a drip tray at the bottom, it and the racks are easy-clean unlike the weird base on the bucket airfryers.

damn you could feed an army with that hoss

Haha yeah its handy but if you cram it like in that pic things dont cook as evenly/crisply as otherwise. Though that can be to one's advantage if you want say a row of chips and a row of something more slow-roasted like chicken I guess?

Airfryers just sound like a remedy for ilxors who are not really that interested cooking/baking to me, which is fine

I think you need an oven to roast a whole chicken properly or to make sourdough bread. Samin Nosrat's buttermilk chicken recipe in the NYT is amazing (gift article):

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018731-buttermilk-brined-roast-chicken?unlocked_article_code=1.yFA.dAf-._UeA1ZqlFQOt&smid=share-url

I bake my sourdough bread very sporadically because I can't eat all of the carbs, but it requires a covered ceramic pot and a very hot oven - 500 degrees

Airfryers just sound like a remedy for ilxors who are not really that interested cooking/baking to me

Well I object to that, I love cooking and baking. I know the airfryer's no good for pizza or bread, I doubt it'd do a delicate sponge. But then again right now I've no oven so...

I understand

I love the oven that I have now, but I'm looking to move on and don't know what I will end up with

I understand

I love the oven that I have now, but I'm looking to move on and don't know what I will end up with

https://i.ibb.co/B5dyb2BF/Z7n7Q69.jpg

I am not necessarily looking for engagement with my post but I once again must plug the all-in-one breville air fryer I posted above. it’s basically taken over 75% of my kitchen duties

I got the Ninja Foodi one that is just a toaster oven and kind of regret it. It is good for toast and bagels but I haven't figured out other uses to my satisfaction.

Airfryers just sound like a remedy for ilxors who are not really that interested cooking/baking to me, which is fine

― Dan S

but dan you are just in here saying you don't have and haven't had this but you bet they are shit not like what you have

do you want to talk about it, because it seems there's something you need to get off yr chest here about airfryers and those who use them

i just don't understand how he can love your oven so much yet be so eager to replace it

his oven i mean

i was gonna say this is getting very personal

i have one of these but i still mostly use the oven out of habit

Spring rolls are fried. Always. Maybe you're thinking of summer rolls.

Have never really understood the egg roll thing in America but think they're just an American twist on spring rolls?

As for the other stuff I love cooking, I'll spend all day cooking regularly, but the air fryer has clear uses that sometimes are better than the classic way, and a few uses that are unique to it.

It's a bit like a rice cooker though not quite as much a case of needing to have one to understand its value.

the air fryer was made for the modern internet reader digest folk.

'my apartment smells of rich mahogany'

Springrolls aren't always fried though.
Those delicious Vietnamese spring rolls or Japnese namaharumaki aren't...

Those delicious Vietnamese spring rolls

These are mostly known as summer rolls in the Vietnamese places I've been to tho googling it doesn't seem to be a consensus.

Never heard that, kinda like it though... rolls for all seasons...

when I was in Vietnam they usually distinguished them as "fresh spring rolls" and "fried spring rolls"

Dunno if different in USA but in Europe it's always summer roll for the ones that aren't fried and spring rolls for fried. The former only Vietnamese one, the latter usually Chinese but you get Vietnamese spring rolls also I guess, with rice noodles sometimes or as a starter.

In France they are often just NEMS.

But I have seen "rouleaux des printemps" which I quite like.

Roll definitions vary widely enough that you have to specify when ordering, and many places will ask just to be sure your definitions are in alignment.

Summer roll
Makes me feel fine

Down here in Oz they are Fresh Rolls; spring rolls are always fried.

Australia has summer rolls ime

When I order spring rolls, this is what I expect... not fried, but a moist little cigar with mint in there

https://www.chewoutloud.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/spring-rolls-vertical-1-1024x1536.jpg

Summer rolls

must be an American thing

https://cookieandkate.com/fresh-spring-rolls-recipe/
https://www.cooking-therapy.com/vietnamese-spring-rolls/

Wikipedia is p clear about the distinctions, not saying that in contradictions of your experience just it seems to explain it nicely:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_roll

Autumn rolls have squash, cranberries and rich gravy

And Jelly Roll...

https://i.postimg.cc/L57bXb4D/Screenshot-20260716-152231-Chrome.jpg

Dan S being the guy on the left, never thought I’d live to see it

He's more the guy in the upper center.

i’ve always seen summer rolls named as rice paper rolls, with the nuoc cham sauce.

just make a spring rolls thread so we can refocus our love/hate relationship with this bulky product

Anwyay yeah finger foods are a great thing for them. Aforementioned spring rolls. Mini samosas, mini kievs, arancini, all that kind of thing. Great for whipping out a pile of hot snacks at a party.

Rewarding decades of service for my employer, I'm looking over the gift catalog of cheap watches, dodgy power tools, and poorly-reviewed ear buds. But a Black and Decker small basket air fryer seems like probably good enough device to get into the air fryer game. Any caveats with this brand?

careful you don't activate the bandsaw function and lose some fingers

i just don't understand how he can love (his) oven so much yet be so eager to replace it

― brimstead, Wednesday, July 15

I love it and I'm not eager to replace it! But I'm getting old and am worried I will have to move out of my place before too long.

we use our air fryer a lot in summer when we don’t want to turn on the oven heat up the house. Our go-to’s are fries, chicken skewers, Brussels sprouts, and other veg like asparagus or cauliflower

Why is black and decker a brand of air fryers? Nothing has any meaning anymore.

it’s called a Fry Daddy, daddy-o

Black & Decker make a lot of kitchen appliances and homewares?

usually with cute names

sorry, Mandella effect, it's Presto that makes all that stuff

Avoid the Black & Deckard air fryer, though. The food comes out gritty and dystopian.

rashers and eggs (in oiled ramekins) came out well this morning

ten mins from switching on to table

i prob just amnt able to cook tho idk

Two minute beep summoning me back to the kitchen like the bell at the Royal Opera House

Got an air fryer thinking it would make good chicken wings, but the 'twice baked' oven approach (which takes 90m) is so much better that the time savings isnt worth it.

But you know what kills?

Brussel sprouts, halved and tossed lightly in oil.

Oh yeah and the experts say you only have to wash your basket occasionally, not after every use. Who are these experts? I dunno but I am not dead yet.

Going to try my airfyer oven's rotisserie function this weekend. Will report back.

Toasted some walnuts in there tonight for zucchini bread

my mom made really fun multi-colored potato chips from potatoes in their garden

but now i really want some brussel sprouts

air fried broccoli florets this evening, great. have also done brussels as well as sweet and russet potatoes, all very enjoyable and quite easy

reheated pizza slices? delicious!

fay old croissants etc reheat/reliven very well in them

typo there

ofc i meant 'fey'

love a fey old croissant