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I got given a slow cooker for Christmas a few years ago, have only ended up using it twice or so since… It’s actually the air fryer that really revolutionised m

I got given a slow cooker for Christmas a few years ago, have only ended up using it twice or so since… It’s actually the air fryer that really revolutionised my cooking, I use it almost every day.

gadders 4y ago
What are you cooking in that? I see they are popular, but I don't really eat a lot of fried food.
- Jedd 4y ago
  Not the person you asked, however I picked up a multi-function oven earlier this year - a benchtop model from Sunbeam, runs off a standard power point (AU - I think we have slightly more power available at the plug?). Anyway, it's great for crisping things in a way that frying (deep or shallow) might otherwise do, but with very little oil required. Examples - lightly cornflour'd chicken or pork to give a little crunch in sweet & sour pork / chicken. Butcher-prepared chicken kievs that would otherwise need a lot of oil and be a mess to cook. (Sweet) potato wedges, usually heavily herbed. These can be done with a a very light coating of oil, typically sprayed rather than tossed. The carbohydrate aspect of these foods is a bigger concern to me than the oil, but nonetheless.
- stephen_g 4y ago
  It doesn’t actually truly fry things, it’s just a tiny fan forced oven really that cooks things faster than heating up my real oven. I do salmon fillets in it now instead of in the pan, or roasting up some chicken breast, even steak if you’re in a real hurry.
- skrause 4y ago
  From experience with my family members the common steps with an air fryer are usually these: 1. Buy an air fryer. 2. Try it a few times. 3. Tell everyone in the familiy, at the work place and on social media how awesome an air fryer is. 4. Never use it again.
  - DangitBobby 4y ago
    It will be a cold day in hell when chicken nuggets, fries, burgers, and all manner of fried foods go out of fashion in this house.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    This is the litany of most kitchen devices. The only ones for me that have survived the test of time are the pressure cooker and the toaster oven.
  - anjel 4y ago
    GoodWill seems never to run out of abandoned auto bread bakers for sale. No similar 2nd hand air fryer glut in evidence (yet)
    - the_third_wave 4y ago
      Bread machines suck at making bread but the are very useful when making bread when you use them as dough machines. Program the thing for making dough (I made a dough program on mine which lacked such, others may have one already), dump in the ingredients and start the thing. It will knead and do the first leavening after which you can form it (or put it in tins) for the second leavening and bake. I bake about twice a week, the machine makes enough dough for 2 large breads/40 rolls. Where these machines fail is at the baking stage, they simply don't get hot enough for a good result. They may work fine for spongy white bread with a thin soft crust but that is not what I want. I bake for ~30 minutes at 250°C when using bread tins, a bit shorter when making floor bread (without using a tin, traditionally baked directly on the oven floor).
    - Jill_the_Pill 4y ago
      Oh you know what is at every single garage sale and flea market? George Foreman grills. Those must have been a real bust! I finally found a second-hand air fryer, but they do seem scarce so far.
- tejohnso 4y ago
  Air fryer owner here. Mostly used for not so healthy things like individual sized pizzas, french fries, burger patties, hot dogs. Works very well for quick, small meals.
  - PebblesRox 4y ago
    It's also nice for reheating leftovers since they get nice and crispy.
  - abecedarius 4y ago
    On behalf of burger patties, they're perfectly healthy.
surfpel 4y ago
I bought one recently. It’s a game changer for me. It’s really just an oven that solves the main problem with ovens: being slow to heat / under powered. It’s really mind boggling that these took so long to hit the market!
- ilyt 4y ago
  Main problem with ovens is really that the "typical" size is just bad. I never used full size of it, I don't think I even used half the size of it, and it just makes it heat slower. Double ovens are a thing but you rarely see apartments outfitted with those and if you already have an oven, air-fryer makes more sense than replacing single oven with double oven.
  - ip26 4y ago
    Toaster ovens are not new. Great for cooking a half pound of fish filet, for example.
- hyencomper 4y ago
  Have you tried a toaster oven. It heats up almost instantly, and makes great toast so you don't really need a toaster either.
  - surfpel 4y ago
    Toaster ovens are too low power and don’t have enough convection still, at least for my use case. I roasted chicken just last night, and got a beautiful golden crust with a thoroughly cooked interior… you can’t do that with a typical toaster oven! My air fryer has a toaster oven form factor[1]. The fan is much more powerful however and it has extra heating elements. Otherwise it literally is a toaster oven with convection, even says so in the name! Conceptually all of these are very similar, it’s just the balance of heating power and fan speed that make the difference, though marginal it may be from an engineering design standpoint. Typical air fryers have a basket design[2] that helps with splatter control, but they are otherwise again the same. 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CXM33MD/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CXM33MD/ 2 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R6KMBQT/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R6KMBQT/
GeekyBear 4y ago
Give slow cooker pulled pork a try one weekend. The results are stupendous. I follow this recipe and cook for eight hours in the crock pot on low. https://www.kcet.org/food-discovery/food/weekend-recipe-pulled-pork https://www.kcet.org/food-discovery/food/weekend-recipe-pull...
- the_gipsy 4y ago
  Yes! I just made some yesterday. The only other thing I tried is Spanish lentils with chorizo. My gf made some meatballs but she hd to sear them in the pan.
alliao 4y ago
how do you clean the damn thing? My philips one appears to be impossible to disassemble to clean the grease hidden, as result over time the grease build up starts emitting serious air pollution whenever it's on

gadders 4y ago

What are you cooking in that? I see they are popular, but I don't really eat a lot of fried food.

Jedd 4y ago
Not the person you asked, however I picked up a multi-function oven earlier this year - a benchtop model from Sunbeam, runs off a standard power point (AU - I think we have slightly more power available at the plug?). Anyway, it's great for crisping things in a way that frying (deep or shallow) might otherwise do, but with very little oil required. Examples - lightly cornflour'd chicken or pork to give a little crunch in sweet & sour pork / chicken. Butcher-prepared chicken kievs that would otherwise need a lot of oil and be a mess to cook. (Sweet) potato wedges, usually heavily herbed. These can be done with a a very light coating of oil, typically sprayed rather than tossed. The carbohydrate aspect of these foods is a bigger concern to me than the oil, but nonetheless.
stephen_g 4y ago
It doesn’t actually truly fry things, it’s just a tiny fan forced oven really that cooks things faster than heating up my real oven. I do salmon fillets in it now instead of in the pan, or roasting up some chicken breast, even steak if you’re in a real hurry.
skrause 4y ago
From experience with my family members the common steps with an air fryer are usually these: 1. Buy an air fryer. 2. Try it a few times. 3. Tell everyone in the familiy, at the work place and on social media how awesome an air fryer is. 4. Never use it again.
- DangitBobby 4y ago
  It will be a cold day in hell when chicken nuggets, fries, burgers, and all manner of fried foods go out of fashion in this house.
- bombcar 4y ago
  This is the litany of most kitchen devices. The only ones for me that have survived the test of time are the pressure cooker and the toaster oven.
- anjel 4y ago
  GoodWill seems never to run out of abandoned auto bread bakers for sale. No similar 2nd hand air fryer glut in evidence (yet)
  - the_third_wave 4y ago
    Bread machines suck at making bread but the are very useful when making bread when you use them as dough machines. Program the thing for making dough (I made a dough program on mine which lacked such, others may have one already), dump in the ingredients and start the thing. It will knead and do the first leavening after which you can form it (or put it in tins) for the second leavening and bake. I bake about twice a week, the machine makes enough dough for 2 large breads/40 rolls. Where these machines fail is at the baking stage, they simply don't get hot enough for a good result. They may work fine for spongy white bread with a thin soft crust but that is not what I want. I bake for ~30 minutes at 250°C when using bread tins, a bit shorter when making floor bread (without using a tin, traditionally baked directly on the oven floor).
  - Jill_the_Pill 4y ago
    Oh you know what is at every single garage sale and flea market? George Foreman grills. Those must have been a real bust! I finally found a second-hand air fryer, but they do seem scarce so far.
tejohnso 4y ago
Air fryer owner here. Mostly used for not so healthy things like individual sized pizzas, french fries, burger patties, hot dogs. Works very well for quick, small meals.
- PebblesRox 4y ago
  It's also nice for reheating leftovers since they get nice and crispy.
- abecedarius 4y ago
  On behalf of burger patties, they're perfectly healthy.

surfpel 4y ago

I bought one recently. It’s a game changer for me. It’s really just an oven that solves the main problem with ovens: being slow to heat / under powered. It’s really mind boggling that these took so long to hit the market!

ilyt 4y ago
Main problem with ovens is really that the "typical" size is just bad. I never used full size of it, I don't think I even used half the size of it, and it just makes it heat slower. Double ovens are a thing but you rarely see apartments outfitted with those and if you already have an oven, air-fryer makes more sense than replacing single oven with double oven.
- ip26 4y ago
  Toaster ovens are not new. Great for cooking a half pound of fish filet, for example.
hyencomper 4y ago
Have you tried a toaster oven. It heats up almost instantly, and makes great toast so you don't really need a toaster either.
- surfpel 4y ago
  Toaster ovens are too low power and don’t have enough convection still, at least for my use case. I roasted chicken just last night, and got a beautiful golden crust with a thoroughly cooked interior… you can’t do that with a typical toaster oven! My air fryer has a toaster oven form factor[1]. The fan is much more powerful however and it has extra heating elements. Otherwise it literally is a toaster oven with convection, even says so in the name! Conceptually all of these are very similar, it’s just the balance of heating power and fan speed that make the difference, though marginal it may be from an engineering design standpoint. Typical air fryers have a basket design[2] that helps with splatter control, but they are otherwise again the same. 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CXM33MD/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CXM33MD/ 2 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R6KMBQT/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R6KMBQT/

GeekyBear 4y ago

Give slow cooker pulled pork a try one weekend. The results are stupendous. I follow this recipe and cook for eight hours in the crock pot on low. https://www.kcet.org/food-discovery/food/weekend-recipe-pulled-pork https://www.kcet.org/food-discovery/food/weekend-recipe-pull...

the_gipsy 4y ago
Yes! I just made some yesterday. The only other thing I tried is Spanish lentils with chorizo. My gf made some meatballs but she hd to sear them in the pan.

alliao 4y ago

how do you clean the damn thing? My philips one appears to be impossible to disassemble to clean the grease hidden, as result over time the grease build up starts emitting serious air pollution whenever it's on