Air fryers, anyone?

[grumpyduck]

No, not flying chickens...

I've been seeing air fryers at Costco et al for a white now. Any of you use them? Any thoughts?

[lapfog_1]

1. if you like fried air... I would say go for it.

personally I like my air battered and deep fat fried.

[DaBronx]

2. Not a fan

Got one. Disappointed. It functions the same as the convection setting on an oven. Not worthwhile in my opinion; no appreciable benefit
Beyond the oven. Takes up space.

[chillfactor]

5. Air fryer nothing like an oven.

I suspect you don't know how to use one properly.

[DaBronx]

7. We can agree to disagree

I have a very good convection oven and I don’t see a great difference. You can search comparisons on the internet and see that many people are able to get similar results.
To each his own!

[cilla4progress]

3. Yes! Ours is from Costco.

Good, quick no/low-fat way to cook!

It's combined with a toaster.

Small countertop footprint, for all it can do.

Thumbs up.

[chillfactor]

4. Use my air fryer almost every day.

Very fast, easy clean up, tasty recipes!!!!!!!!!!

[FalloutShelter]

8. Me too.

I have a Ninja Foodie and I use it every day.
Fires… bakes… and even has a pressure cooker lid for beans , etc.

I love it.

[mercuryblues]

6. I like mine.

I love it in the summer.

Between an air fryer and the grill, I barely use my oven in the summer.

[RockRaven]

9. Does your oven have convection settings? If so, may be redundant.

Because air fryers are basically small differently shaped convection ovens.

Since they are smaller they heat up faster and are more energy efficient than the full size oven for small portions, but they are also limited in volume/capacity and cleaning the basket may be less easy than a basic sheet tray.

I use the convection settings on my full size oven for things like frozen French fries/tater tots, and the improvement over standard baking is noticeable (in a good way). So if I didn't have convection capability in my oven I might be more interested. But for me, at the moment, the counter or cabinet space an air fryer would take up wouldn't be worth it.

[2naSalit]

10. I started out with a simple one...

With just a basket, I inherited it and I was thankful because I didn't think much of it. But a friend with whom I cook at times wanted to get one but didn't know what to look for, I decided I wanted the convection oven style after a year of not liking the first one. So we went to Costco and both bought one, the same thing. I see they have newer/improved models and they still sell most for around $100 wich is what ours cost.

What we got was a convection oven that has a dehydrate setting and several other options. But it has trays, grated and a solid one for a drip pan. Included where three rotisserie options including a kabob wheel (I use that a lot) and two basket sizes, one goes on the rotisserie and then a pair of blade for a chicken or the like. Had it for almost a year and I use it several times a week for bacon and whatever I think of. I like that it's only 13qts, big enough for one person, I don't like using the oven in the range because the things I would make are so small. When I make big stiff for oven baking, I do that at my friend's house where there is also food prep space.

I think it also depends on you style of cooking as well as the kinds of food you like. I started making new things because I was inspired, never had my own convection oven, used them when I cooked in restaurants but not at home. My diet has improved.

And best of all, everything tastes 100x better and is more flavorful. Trust me. Even sliced sweet potatoes.

[MLAA]

11. I love it! And I do have a convection oven.

It takes no time to heat up for French fries, onion rings, vegan corn dogs etc unlike 10 -15 minutes for the oven. To preheat. Even the cooking time is faster than my convection oven. I use the parchment paper trays so clean up is a breeze. I even cook a small impossible meatloaf in it using a small square pan. I’m delighted with it. I still use the regular oven for baked potatoes and casseroles. Best $90 I’ve spent in ages!

[happybird]

12. I use mine a lot and almost always for the same thing:

Bone in, skin on chicken thighs.
Roll ‘em in any mix of spices you feel like, spray with oil and cook for 20 min, flipping halfway through. They come out tender and juicy every time and the skin crisps up perfectly. Easy and delicious. Boneless chicken comes out a little dry, definitely use the bone in.

It’s especially nice in the summer to not heat up the house with the oven or keep running in and out to the grill. Also like how the drippings collect in the bottom of the pot thing. Sometimes I use them as the fat to make a roux for sauce, sometimes I just dump some right on my potatoes.

I did catfish a few different ways in the air fryer last week, all turned out well.

[onecaliberal]

13. Have one. Love it, it does a lot of different things.

I also have a convection oven, so I don’t “bake” in the fryer very often. We use ours nearly everyday.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

14. I have a grill insert for mine and use it for steaks

Steaks come out perfectly medium rare in 10 minutes. It's also good for hot dogs, chops, etc. Burgers come out well, but cheese burgers tend to get messy - the air circulation blows the cheese slices off the burgers!
I find it more difficult to do potatoes and that sort of thing though - they don't come out "fried-tasting" - more just heated and a little browned. I know people who do bacon in the air fryer as well, but I haven't had luck with that.

[PAMod]

15. I find my Costco Air Fryer useful

I mostly use it to cook potato products while I'm using the range/oven for other things.

Just for fun, I did a London broil and it came out perfect - was told I didn't need to sear it, and they were right.

It's good for warming up pizza too.

[Emile]

16. We cook in our air fryer everyday. I love cooking

pork steaks, brats and steaks in ours. Warmed up pizza taste just as good as when you first take it out of the oven.