Cooking with an Air Fryer

[saluki]

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...

[kayb]

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.

 

[Smithy]

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...

 

 

...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. 

 

 

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.

 

 

[Okanagancook]

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.

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, Okanagancook said:

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.

Hickory Sticks are addictive!

[Okanagancook]

They are indeed and so are my knock-offs.....a potato's worth of them just disappeared.

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, Okanagancook said:

They are indeed and so are my knock-offs.....a potato's worth of them just disappeared.

I have julianne blades for my Cuisinart Food Processor that make quick work of cutting these. Dangerous I tell you - dangerous.

[lindag]

Uh oh.....I feel a new snack coming on.

 

[Okanagancook]

4 minutes ago, lindag said:

Uh oh.....I feel a new snack coming on.

 

They don't take very long to make either.  Luckily I would have to go all the way down stairs for a potato should I feel a need to test my recipe again.😎

[lindag]

9 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

They don't take very long to make either.  Luckily I would have to go all the way down stairs for a potato should I feel a need to test my recipe again.😎

 

Do you add a hickory (or other) flavoring?

[Okanagancook]

No.  I don't have hickory seasoning.  Do you have said seasoning? Just salt so far.  

[Okanagancook]

Hickory Seasoning:  https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/coyote-bait-hickory-flavored-campfire-seasoning-recipe-2108518

 

I might try this.

[Okanagancook]

I just made the above noted hickory seasoning.  I cut the recipe down to 1/4 and it still made loads.  

I quite like it.  But, I think it will only make these little things more addictive.

[Okanagancook]

I usually cook my zucchini sticks in the CSO but tried a few in the air fryer with much better results....crispier on the outside and much faster to cook. 

These are just finger sized batons of summer squash/zucchini.  Dust with flour; dip in seasoned beaten egg (this time I used chipotle but you can use whatever you like..Harissa paste; curry powder; Thai Red Curry paste. etc.) then a final toss in some bread crumbs.  They were cooked in the air fryer after about 5 to 8 minutes...wasn't looking at the time and I only had three in there as a test so a loaded machine may take longer.

[chromedome]

I've done the "hickory sticks" with the julienne blade on my spiralizer, which makes them long and curly and therefore a bit cooler.

I just added a pinch or two of smoked paprika to the brown paper bag along with fine salt, and shook them vigorously. Not exactly the same flavor profile, of course, but very tasty nonetheless.

[Kerry Beal]

Wonder how the dutch aardappel spice would go with these?

[Okanagancook]

Look like some good ideas here 

 

https://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/healthy-air-fryer-recipes

[Okanagancook]

Homemade samoas made in the air fryer.  Sprayed lightly with PAM; 392F for 4 minutes; flipped and cooked another 4 minutes.  Nice and crispy.  Admittedly, not as good as deep fried but pretty darn good.  I made some for the freezer because these are a quick snack/appetizer.

[Okanagancook]

Trying to use up my garden potatoes before they go soft.  This was about 45 minutes work for two bowls of 'Hickory Sticks"

 

[Smithy]

Those look delicious @Okanagancook! Have you written before the time and temperature you use for this? Are these starchy or waxy potatoes, or does it matter?

 

I cooked up a batch of premade crab cakes yesterday and am convinced that my air fryer cooks items much more quickly than my oven for the same temperature. (This may be true of all air fryers, but I only have the one to go by.) The instructions for these crab cakes are to preheat the oven to 400F, put the crab cakes on a baking sheet in the oven, and cook for 24 minutes or until 160F in the center. I checked at 15 minutes or a little before. They were already quite brown and the interior was at least 160F. The rest of dinner wasn't done, so I reduced the temperature to something fairly low - 175, maybe - and turned the machine off at 20 minutes to prevent overcooking. 

 

I've never appreciated or used the 25F automatic offset in my full-sized oven using convection mode, but based on the quick cooking in this little air fryer I'm going to try that 25F reduction whenever I'm following standard (nonconvective) baking recipes. It appears this little unit has much more aggressive air flow than my oven.

 

 

The crab cakes were done perfectly. We won't get this brand again, but we'll cook crab cakes in the air fryer again. I'll try potatoes again, too.

 

[Okanagancook]

Yes, I find  the air fryer does cook foods quicker.   One needs to check frequently the first time you try something.

 

I have only used Yukon golds from the garden to make the hickory sticks but I think Russets would also work fine.

the potatoes are thinly sliced and soaked in water for at least 30 minutes.  They are dried and thinly sliced into sticks, tossed in 1teaspoon or so of duck fat or whatever fat you want, then put in a 390f air fryer for two or three five minute time periods with shaking in between until they are brown and crisp.  I toss them in my salt seasoning and spread on a sheet pan to cool.

Edited September 20, 2018 by Okanagancook (log)

[Okanagancook]

ARGH, my air fryer died.  It was a $100 special that I have had for about two years.  The heating element broke.  My brother had the same kind and his broke a couple of months ago.

Looking for a new improved one.

[gfweb]

25 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

ARGH, my air fryer died.  It was a $100 special that I have had for about two years.  The heating element broke.  My brother had the same kind and his broke a couple of months ago.

Looking for a new improved one.

 

New air fryer will mean new times and temps. Something to be said for another like unit.

 

Havingsaid that , Breville Smart Oven Air is one great unit.

[Okanagancook]

One of the complaints about the Breville is the "hard to clean" lower catch tray.  How do you handle that...some reviewers have used one of those copper air crisp tray and put it in the oven one rack lower than the Breville basket?  Also, some say the outside gets really hot.  Do you need to flip food over during cooking?

Thanks

[gfweb]

7 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

One of the complaints about the Breville is the "hard to clean" lower catch tray.  How do you handle that...some reviewers have used one of those copper air crisp tray and put it in the oven one rack lower than the Breville basket?  Also, some say the outside gets really hot.  Do you need to flip food over during cooking?

Thanks

 

I put a 1/4 sheet pan under the frying basket. Doesn't get real dirty, but easy to clean.

 

Haven't felt  the outside. Probably gets toasty.

 

I flip most foods...except breaded ones.  Do I need to flip?  Dunno.