Air Fryers

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, CookBot said:

 

Thank you, Anna.  I'll see if I can suss out Dejah's posts.

 

It might be even earlier than June. 

[Anna N]

Here you go.

[mgaretz]

3 hours ago, CookBot said:

I've just read through this entire thread (okay, I may have skimmed a bit on pages 20-30), and I don't see any mention that any of you have the oven-style air fryers.  Do you all just agree that the bucket/basket types are superior to the combo oven types?

 

 

 

Thou skimmest too fast.  😉

 

I have the Breville Smart Oven Air (BSOA) and also the Ninja Food Grill.  I did a test of french fries from raw potato here: 

 

[rotuts]

@mgaretz 

 

thank you for clarifying 

 

that an air fryer over is the BSOA

 

and an air fryer is the ninja // and ninja like systems.

 

as I understand it , either system will deliver good too very good results

 

when time and temp are tailored to each system.

 

Id like to hear from anyone who has an air fryer w a window .

 

that seems like a very useful feature , as long as these AF 

 

stand up for a similar time as the other option.

 

they seem suspiciously inexpensive , and I don't know what to make of that.

 

many thanks.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@mgaretz 

 

thank you for clarifying 

 

that an air fryer over is the BSOA

 

and an air fryer is the ninja // and ninja like systems.

 

as I understand it , either system will deliver good too very good results

 

when time and temp are tailored to each system.

 

Id like to hear from anyone who has an air fryer w a window .

 

that seems like a very useful feature , as long as these AF 

 

stand up for a similar time as the other option.

 

they seem suspiciously inexpensive , and I don't know what to make of that.

 

many thanks.

 

The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer (BSOA) has a window and a light and this is indeed very useful. 

 

The BSOA is anything but cheap, but it can do so many other things. It is the most used appliance in our kitchen after t he coffee maker.

 

I just wish it was a steam oven.

 

Having said all this, I still oil fry much more than air fry.

[gfweb]

11 hours ago, CookBot said:

I've just read through this entire thread (okay, I may have skimmed a bit on pages 20-30), and I don't see any mention that any of you have the oven-style air fryers.  Do you all just agree that the bucket/basket types are superior to the combo oven types?

 

 

 

I haven't done head to head comparisons (see @mgaretz) but I like the large volume of the Breville oven-type air fryer. I can make a shitload of wings in it.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

I haven't done head to head comparisons (see @mgaretz) but I like the large volume of the Breville oven-type air fryer. I can make a shitload of wings in it.

 

Does the Breville really move more hot air than an Anova on the air-fry setting?

 

[ElsieD]

11 hours ago, rotuts said:

@mgaretz 

 

thank you for clarifying 

 

that an air fryer over is the BSOA

 

and an air fryer is the ninja // and ninja like systems.

 

as I understand it , either system will deliver good too very good results

 

when time and temp are tailored to each system.

 

Id like to hear from anyone who has an air fryer w a window .

 

that seems like a very useful feature , as long as these AF 

 

stand up for a similar time as the other option.

 

they seem suspiciously inexpensive , and I don't know what to make of that.

 

many thanks.

 

I have the Instant Vortex Plus which has a window and a light.  You need to turn the light on to be able to see what's happening as the "window" is quite dark.

[gfweb]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Does the Breville really move more hot air than an Anova on the air-fry setting?

 

 

I don't know. I've no anova experience.

[MSRadell]

Quick question for anyone who is using a BSOA for air frying, how dirty does it get inside? That's 1 of our fears for using it as a air fryer.

 

 

 

[gfweb]

11 minutes ago, MSRadell said:

Quick question for anyone who is using a BSOA for air frying, how dirty does it get inside? That's 1 of our fears for using it as a air fryer.

 

 

 

 

I mainly use it for wings and it doesn't seem to get all that dirty. You could put a tray  1" under the fry tray to catch drips.

[mgaretz]

1 hour ago, MSRadell said:

Quick question for anyone who is using a BSOA for air frying, how dirty does it get inside? That's 1 of our fears for using it as a air fryer.

 

 

 

I have never used the supplied air fry rack. Instead I use one of those “copper” crisper basket/tray combos and the oven stays very clean. 

[palo]

1 hour ago, mgaretz said:

I have never used the supplied air fry rack. Instead I use one of those “copper” crisper basket/tray combos and the oven stays very clean. 

If it's not the drip, it's the splatter

 

p

[CookBot]

13 hours ago, mgaretz said:

I have never used the supplied air fry rack. Instead I use one of those “copper” crisper basket/tray combos and the oven stays very clean. 

 

Do you have a link to what those are, exactly? 

[CookBot]

On 9/24/2022 at 7:46 AM, gfweb said:

 

I haven't done head to head comparisons (see @mgaretz) but I like the large volume of the Breville oven-type air fryer. I can make a shitload of wings in it.

 

"Shitload" was one of my metrics for comparison shopping. 

 

I decided I need a countertop oven.  My home diet is about 75% leftovers from my job, but when I'm cooking for myself on the weekends it's just stupidly wasteful to use the big oven in the range.  I've been looking at countertop ovens and air fryers, and I decided my air fryer use would be so low that I should get a multi-oven type.  I wanted to be able to do some pie, bread, and cake baking and I don't see anyone doing that successfully in a bucket-type air fryer.

 

The Breville SO was my first choice (so highly rated everywhere), but a bit out of my price range.  I settled on

this one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link).   from Cuisinart, because I found it at 70% off in a discontinued color. 

 

Just got it, and all I've done so far is roast a 5# chicken, bake scones and air fry some frozen clam strips.  No complaints yet, but I'm sure they'll come as I spread my wings.  (Get it?  Wings?  Air fryer?  Oh, never mind.)

 

The cast iron cocotte I use for baking no-knead bread fits in it, so that'll be my next experiment.

 

 

[Anna N]

32 minutes ago, CookBot said:

bucket-type air fryer.

I think it unfortunate that so many varied small kitchen appliances have been tagged with the air fryer monicker. It has been pointed out elsewhere that whatever you call them they are all simply powerful convection ovens.

 

But it becomes almost an impossible task to compare a bucket type air fryer with an oven type air fryer. they different so much in price, footprint, capacity, not to mention versatility. 
 

Incidentally, the appliance for re-heating leftovers is the Cuisinart Steam Oven (CSO) now unfortunately discontinued! 

[CookBot]

35 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I think it unfortunate that so many varied small kitchen appliances have been tagged with the air fryer monicker. It has been pointed out elsewhere that whatever you call them they are all simply powerful convection ovens.

 

So true.  What I really wanted/needed was a just a small convection oven, and the AF capability was kind of secondary.  I'm hoping to find it useful, though.

 

35 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Incidentally, the appliance for re-heating leftovers is the Cuisinart Steam Oven (CSO) now unfortunately discontinued! 

 

Yes, that would be ideal.  Also great for yeasted breads, which a convection oven isn't good at (unless the bread's in a covered vessel).  I used one once at a friend's house and it was superb little appliance.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

51 minutes ago, CookBot said:

 

So true.  What I really wanted/needed was a just a small convection oven, and the AF capability was kind of secondary.  I'm hoping to find it useful, though.

 

 

Yes, that would be ideal.  Also great for yeasted breads, which a convection oven isn't good at (unless the bread's in a covered vessel).  I used one once at a friend's house and it was superb little appliance.

 

 

Consider an Anova oven, though maybe not considered little.

 

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, CookBot said:

 

So true.  What I really wanted/needed was a just a small convection oven, and the AF capability was kind of secondary.  I'm hoping to find it useful, though.

 

 

Yes, that would be ideal.  Also great for yeasted breads, which a convection oven isn't good at (unless the bread's in a covered vessel).  I used one once at a friend's house and it was superb little appliance.

 

Looks like Amazon still has

[CookBot]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Looks like Amazon still has

 

Oh!  Did you see that, @Anna N ?

 

Too late for me, but thanks!  And good to know they're still around.

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, CookBot said:

 

Oh!  Did you see that, @Anna N ?

 

Too late for me, but thanks!  And good to know they're still around.

I am not in the market for one as I just love the one I already have! I see there are still opportunities to purchase it. There was certainly much talk of it beIng discontinued and many of our members bought a spare just in case. On the manufacturer’s Canadian site it is $399 Canadian! Happy to see it’s still available. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Looks like Amazon still has

I have one.   I'm still trying to figure out when/why to use it.   So far, it's great for roasting beets without heating up the big oven.    Else?    It's still almost virgin after 2-3 years.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

15 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I have one.   I'm still trying to figure out when/why to use it.   So far, it's great for roasting beets without heating up the big oven.    Else?    It's still almost virgin after 2-3 years.

 

Baking bread?  Steam broiling chicken?

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Baking bread?  Steam broiling chicken?

 

I'm sure you do both well.   I'm a troglodyte.  

[Darienne]

Finally gave up trying to figure out which would be the best buy for our first air fryer...already it has to be considered the 'first' because it might be a terrible mistake... and Ed bought the T-fal which was on sale this week at Canadian Tire (Canada).  It had fairly good ratings, was half-price, and so we bit the bullet. 

 

And my apprehension level is currently sky-high.   We'll try homemade French Fries today having no frozen ones and being too far to casually drive into town to pick some up.  (Not only the time factor, but the cost of gasoline is beginning to impact our lives greatly.... )