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The Air Fryer topic


Keith_W

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When I move into my seniors living flat, I will get one!  Right now, no room and too many other toys...by then there could be an air fryer, convection steam oven.🙃

Edited by Okanagancook (log)
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@gfweb, what's the clean up like when using the air fryer mode? 

 

I looked (online) at this last night and really like it; I wouldn't have given it a look without your suggestion so thank you.  I know that if stuff splatters all over the inside, it will get less and less use because the clean up outweighs the cooking effort ;)  I will especially appreciate this at the holidays when I'm trying to get so many side dishes done and on the table.......

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1 hour ago, JeanneCake said:

@gfweb, what's the clean up like when using the air fryer mode? 

 

I looked (online) at this last night and really like it; I wouldn't have given it a look without your suggestion so thank you.  I know that if stuff splatters all over the inside, it will get less and less use because the clean up outweighs the cooking effort ;)  I will especially appreciate this at the holidays when I'm trying to get so many side dishes done and on the table.......

 

I haven't found it to be much to clean up.  The rack for air frying can get food or juice stuck to it but a wire brush gets it off.

 

For chicken I don't use t he rack...too much fat. I use a sheet pan with a rack placed in it and keep the fat contained.

 

Its great as a 1st or second oven. Holds a full 1/4 sheet pan.

Edited by gfweb (log)
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I have the Breville Air as well and love it.  I used the air dryer function last night for (frozen) sweet potato fries and they came out nice and crispy.  Because of it's size, I rarely use my full size oven.  I have also used it as a dehydrator and it works well for that also.  It is a great piece of equipment and if it ever quits on me, I'd replaced it with another.  I use it at least once a day.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I picked up a Holsem 3.4 quart air fryer during last week's Amazon Prime marathon. For $66 and a no-hassle 30-day return policy I figured it wasn't much of a risk. Last night was the first test. I posted more about the package size and contents here. As for the dinner itself, Chicken Kiev (from a local meat market) and Tater Tots were the first two tries. The Kiev took some 20-25 minutes at 350F to cook; then I set those into a warming oven while the Tots cooked at 400F. Although I shook the Tots in the basket once or twice, they still stuck together in the middle. More stirring, or a smaller batch, would be appropriate. These photos aren't as good as they should have been, but they're all I have left from the night except happy taste memories.

 

20180721_111657.jpg

 

20180721_111044.jpg

 

Tests will continue. I loved the lack of mess and lack of oil. If other results are as good this, I'll be getting rid of my garage-sale special deep fat fryer, which I very rarely use.

 

 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Chicken thighs tonight. I roughly followed the instructions for chicken tenders in the cookbook provided with the air fryer. In this case, that means I followed their procedure to dredge in seasoned flour, dredge in beaten egg, dredge in seasoned bread crumbs, then cook at 320F for 15 minutes. It took more nearly 25 minutes, with a couple of turns, to get the meat cooked properly. Adjustments were expected: their recipe was for chicken (breast) tenders; mine was for whole thighs.

 

The bad news: with this setup, only 3 thighs could be accommodated, and they really crowded the cooker and needed extra turning.

 

20180721_220335.jpg

 

The good news: with this setup, we had to practice portion control. That isn't one of our strong suits...but we were well satisfied with 1-1/2 thighs each. (We had some broccoli salad as a side, but it doesn't show up here.)

 

20180721_220230.jpg

 

We liked the results. They were comparable to deep-fried chicken thighs from our favorite grocery delis. The deep-fat fryer is edging its way to the garage-sale box.

 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
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Tonight I tried a recipe out of the included booklet: Accordion Potatoes. Slice the potatoes nearly (but not all the way) through. Dress with olive oil, salt and pepper; cook for a bit. Remove from heat, add chopped bacon and grated cheese, cook a few minutes longer until the stuffing is done. Serve.

 

20180722_211152.jpg

 

There was a more-than-optimal delay between the "cook until stuffing is done" and "serve" stages, and the final result was a bit drier than I'd have liked. Nonetheless, it was good.

 

Some stuff in a counter corner has been moved or removed to make room for this fryer. It's well on its its way to earning a permanent home here.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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41 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Crap.

 

You are definitely going to make me pull mine out and start using it again.

 

That's the plan, my friend...

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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10 hours ago, Smithy said:

Tonight I tried a recipe out of the included booklet: Accordion Potatoes. Slice the potatoes nearly (but not all the way) through. Dress with olive oil, salt and pepper; cook for a bit. Remove from heat, add chopped bacon and grated cheese, cook a few minutes longer until the stuffing is done. Serve.

 

20180722_211152.jpg

 

There was a more-than-optimal delay between the "cook until stuffing is done" and "serve" stages, and the final result was a bit drier than I'd have liked. Nonetheless, it was good.

 

Some stuff in a counter corner has been moved or removed to make room for this fryer. It's well on its its way to earning a permanent home here.

Ahh, Hasselback potatoes! Never thought about the bacon; nice addition.

Tip of the day; lay wooden chopsticks down on either side of the potato. They'll keep you from cutting all the way through.

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Not a great success tonight, but not a horrid mess either. I thawed some raw shell-on shrimp, peeled and (where necessary) deveined them. I tossed them with olive oil, then tossed in flour seasoned with sweet paprika, smoked paprika and hot paprika. Air-fried at 360F for 5 minutes. Stirred once during the cooking, using a set of tongs.

 

20180725_221455.jpg

 

The shrimp meat itself was done perfectly: tender, with the toothsome snap of good plump shrimp. Once in a while the sweet flavor of the shrimp came through. Unfortunately, the coating was much too hot and much too floury. The heat overwhelmed the shrimp's delicate sweetness (next time, forget the hot paprika) and the flour gave a sensation of being dusty. The coating did not turn crisp the way it would have if I'd fried the shrimp in fat. Next time, I'll either try the spices without the flour (more nearly what the recipe booklet suggested) or I'll try the flour --> egg --> crumb coating sequence that I tried a few days ago with chicken. I'll probably try both, at different times, to see which we prefer.

 

I do like the lack of mess and the ease of cleanup with this device.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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I just had a similar conversation with @Kim Shook the other night about having no room for new kitchen toys.

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And this old porch is like a steaming greasy plate of enchiladas,With lots of cheese and onions and a guacamole salad ...This Old Porch...Lyle Lovett

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I haven't tried breading shrimp for cooking in the air fryer but I have had an issue with floured items tasting dusty even though they were well sprayed with oil.  Tried the Kentucky Kernel that the air fryer groups rave about but found that dusty as well.  I  also saw a suggestion of trying 00 flour.....that it might work better because its finer....haven't tried it yet though.

As for coatings ...I bought some Zatarain's Louisiana fish fry.  I dipped some fish in egg and then the Zatarains... too spicy for me but I saw that the main ingredient was corn flour, so I bought Bob's corn flour and have been using that to fry whiting.  Actually, liked that....

Need to leave air fryer on the counter because it gets used several times a day...thinking about moving the toaster oven and microwave...

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20 minutes ago, saluki said:

I haven't tried breading shrimp for cooking in the air fryer but I have had an issue with floured items tasting dusty even though they were well sprayed with oil.  Tried the Kentucky Kernel that the air fryer groups rave about but found that dusty as well.  I  also saw a suggestion of trying 00 flour.....that it might work better because its finer....haven't tried it yet though.

As for coatings ...I bought some Zatarain's Louisiana fish fry.  I dipped some fish in egg and then the Zatarains... too spicy for me but I saw that the main ingredient was corn flour, so I bought Bob's corn flour and have been using that to fry whiting.  Actually, liked that....

Need to leave air fryer on the counter because it gets used several times a day...thinking about moving the toaster oven and microwave...

Save yourself a little money...go to the local Latino supermarket and get some masa harina. Same thing as Bob's, and likely cheaper.

 

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Question for those that have the Breville or Cuisinart Air Fryers.  How are you cleaning the air fryer coils???   I have two air fryers and maybe once a month or more frequently if I make something greasy, I have to turn it upside down and clean the inside top and coils with a damp cloth and brush.  These things really get a grease build up that gets burnt on. I have one basket type and the slats have gotten such a baked on build up that I no longer use it.   I have my doubts whether mine are going to last just based on the heavy usage. 

Reason I'm asking ...my Breville toaster oven is on its way out and it certainly would be nice to have a toaster oven and air fryer all in one.    

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I haven't had to clean the heating elements on the BSOA yet, but I always use a sheet pan below the air rack to catch the drips, or one of these if I am frying a smaller batch: Gotham Steel Nonstick Copper Crisper Tray

 

But wow, Amazon is selling the large one for $8.85 or the smaller one that I have for $5.02.  These are great deals, but they are add-on items, meaning they only ship with a $25 order.  I ordered a large one.  I really like mine.

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on Amazon.ca (rip off) they are, sitting down?, $35.00 .  Oh, but that's Canadian so, $24.50 US.  Still.  I'll use a cookie rack perched on corks on a sheet pan.  Good use for all the spent corks around here :-))

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1 hour ago, Okanagancook said:

on Amazon.ca (rip off) they are, sitting down?, $35.00 .  Oh, but that's Canadian so, $24.50 US.  Still.  I'll use a cookie rack perched on corks on a sheet pan.  Good use for all the spent corks around here :-))

 

I saw that at Home Sense yesterday.  I didn't look at it very closely but I did note that it was cheap, nowhere near $35.00.

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2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

I saw that at Home Sense yesterday.  I didn't look at it very closely but I did note that it was cheap, nowhere near $35.00.

Worth checking Giant Tiger as well - they sell a lot of Gotham Steel products

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've had a few duds since my last post. Last weekend, while we had company, we were all eager to try the recipe for French fries in the Holsem Air Fryer's cookbook. I was impressed at how little oil was needed to coat the potato slivers. I was also impressed that the recipe gives times based on size and shape of the pieces: half-moons vs. wedges vs. sticks, and the size of each. Unfortunately, none of us was impressed with the results. It took much, much longer than the book suggested to get the fries to cook, and by the time they had finally turned crisp there was no flavor to them. I may try again, using the waxy potatoes they specified instead of the Yukon Golds I had on hand and using more of a spice coating.

 

I purchased some oven-ready breaded onion rings and have baked them in two batches. These cooked much more quickly than the package instructions said to cook them, and in both cases turned out to be crunchy-hard without great flavor. They looked pretty good sitting in the air fryer...

 

20180818_221331.jpg

 

...but on the plate you can see more clearly that they were overdone - and that was stopping the cook at 10 minutes rather than the prescribed 15. 

 

20180818_221649.jpg

 

It's possible there was something about my technique, but I'm inclined to blame the brand of onion rings instead.

 

On the other hand, the Maryland-style crab cakes I purchased from a local deli and cooked in the air fryer were brilliant.  I forgot to take a photo. We ate them too quickly.

 

 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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We had some of these the other night with friends for our cocktail snack.  Had not had them in years.  Delicious.

So, made them in my air fryer.  

Thinly slice a potato.  Rinse in three changes of water and dry.  Cut into match sticks.  Toss in a little oil or duck fat and drop them in the air fryer until crispy.

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