[Food] Air Frying, Do you?

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Seemingly late to the party here but we are finally in the market for an Air Fryer as an alternative to regular cooking and hopefully a reduction in weekend takeaway spend.

We are a family of four and the initial research keeps coming back to the various Ninja Duals appliances based on capacity and functionality (can also roast at speed etc) so looking at the Ninja Dual with 9.5 litres capacity.

However before throwing away £250 and finding a neighbour for my stored NutriBullet I thought it prudent to seek the views of NSC.

Brand wise - any recommendations / ones to avoid?
Links to recipes
Pitfalls of owning one.
Worthwhile accessories (to cut down on cleaning as an example)

Over to you and thanks in advance

 

[Bakero]

Big thread on this from last year:

[Technology] - Air Fryers

Anyone bought one? Are they any good?

www.northstandchat.com

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Thanks - didn’t come up when I searched “Air Fryers” thread title only

Mods - please delete this thread

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Definately worth going for a duo otherwise you will end up using a cooker to make half the meal which defeats the point.

 

[moggy]

Ninja dual is my tool of choice

 

[overlord]

don't go for the ninja oven, total mare to keep clean, to the point we don't use it anymore ,especially now leccy prices coming down.

 

[Bakero]

Thanks - didn’t come up when I searched “Air Fryers” thread title only

Mods - please delete this thread

My initial search didn't turn anything up either but I persevered as I knew it existed

 

[Beanstalk]

Amazon Prime Day is on October 10th. Bound to be a ridiculous deal on one then.

 

[Sussax]

Can’t recommend them enough. We went for a Daewoo dual air fryer as it was on the cheaper side compared to Ninja and we’ve had no issues!

 

[indy3050]

As a family of five we have found even the biggest ninja duel doesn’t have the capacity to cook a meal to feed all of us. It’s BRILLIANT for 1 or 2 when people are at school/work etc. I’d be interested if people are actually cooking for 4-5 in one and what it is they are cooking?

 

[LamieRobertson]

No

 

[Arthur]

Amazon Prime Day is on October 10th. Bound to be a ridiculous deal on one then.

Sage advice. Last prime day the Ninja Dual had about £80 off if memory recalls.

I ummmmed and arrrred about buying one as I already have an airfryer which I use a lot but it's only a single one. By the time I decided to go for it they had sold out.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Amazon Prime Day is on October 10th. Bound to be a ridiculous deal on one then.

Good shout and also looking at the various cash back options

 

[Daddies_Sauce]

We use ours virtually everyday, purchased one for our son and his girlfriend on the last prime day at £100 off.

 

[HeaviestTed]

I like frying the f*** out of everything so it’s a no from me.

 

[VAL1850]

Why do they call them "Air Fryers" when in reality they are just mini ovens.....

 

[dazzer6666]

I was late to the party as well........got an Instant Vortex Plus (Amazon, got a third off on another 'deal day') dual basket thingy after a bit of research a few months ago. Have hardly used the cooker since, it's fantastic. Quick, easy to use, and cooks tons of stuff brilliantly. Re cleaning, even that's OK - the 'grill trays' are removable and can go in the dishwasher and the non-stick pans wash easily, but best extra investment was a couple of silicon baskets. Doesn't affect how things cook, and I can lob them straight in the dishwasher after use.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Having read the other thread and this one I can see we have a lot of enthusiasts. Not for me though. Far prefer the skill of using the hob for pan fried things where you can adjust heat, touch and rest without taking something out of something else. And they are far too small if you're feeding a family. Won't roast a chicken properly and can't do joint + spuds + veg. Sold ours after 2 months.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

We have a Ninja Dual 9.5L. I can't comment on whether it's suitabe for a family of 4. There are 2 in our household and it's more than adequate. Depends a lot on what you're cooking. If you're just reheating stuff or cooking sausages and bacon, or burgers etc, there's no problem at all. We can easily also accommodate chips for 2 at the same time. Four of you? Probably OK but will take longer. Could easily do chips for 4 if using both drawers. Baked potatoes no problem for 4, Roast chicken, Sunday roasts should be fine. We roast meat in one drawer and roast potatoes in the other. Yjere's usually plenty left over. We very rarely don't use the hob for veg so don't assume you'll be cooking everything in the AF. We only really do potatoes/chip/roast onions, celeriac etc in the AF. Despite what the receipe books may say we prefer not to roast all veg in the AF. Some people (apparently) use the AF for everything inc Bolognese and curries etc but I think that's a bad idea.We still use the hob a lot but it's great to be able to outsource half the cooking to the AF when we can. I very rarely use the old oven now except when we occasionally have a lot of family guests for a big Sunday or Christmas-type dinner. Oh yes, and pizza. If you like to make pizza you'll need your oven! Overall I'd definitely recommend an AF but have only used the Ninja Dual. No doubt there are worse ones about and probably better ones too but this is the only one we've used so can't comment on others. You might find Mumsnet a good source of info. They can be pretty good for discussing this sort of thing.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Having read the other thread and this one I can see we have a lot of enthusiasts. Not for me though. Far prefer the skill of using the hob for pan fried things where you can adjust heat, touch and rest without taking something out of something else. And they are far too small if you're feeding a family. Won't roast a chicken properly and can't do joint + spuds + veg. Sold ours after 2 months.

Can definitely do a Sunday roast in a dual AF if there are 2-4 of you but beyond that, it might be tricky. As I said above, a joint in one half and roast pots in the other works a treat though we still use the hob for steaming/boiling veg. I'm not a fan of baked everything.