Cooking with an Air Fryer

[FauxPas]

5 minutes ago, rotuts said:

the DC  AF is very interesting 

 

does this suggest different temps  for each basket ?

or same temp , different start times to get both done at the same time ?

 

indeed a Red graph paper notebook

should come w the machine !

 

Yes, according to the information I read, each basket can be set to a different temperature and time. It has a "Smart" cook feature that will hold the basket with the shorter cook time until the longer cook time on the other basket reaches that same time. So, if one will take 15 mins at 300F and the other will take 10 mins at 400F, then the 400F will be on hold until the 300F basket has cooked for 5 mins. 

[rotuts]

a P.S.:

 

those pics in the AF basket remind me

 

of FoodPhotography :

 

via a google news feed

 

there was a ref to a FoodArrainger

 

who took a drap burger  from a FF chain

 

re-arrainged the lighting , and got

 

the burger to look like the chains pics.

 

does food out of any air fryer

 

look like the food in these baskets ?

 

P.P.S. :  the FoodArtist  use tooth pic to seep

 

the factious burger items in place , esp the pickles 

 

so you could see the edges in the pics

 

etc.

 

 

[Anna N]

34 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

 

I'm wondering if it's partly the electrical limitations of a countertop appliance. You can only draw so much power from a standard outlet. For example, you can only broil on one side, not on both. And cooking times are reduced for anything that uses both chambers instead of just one, so I assume the cooking temps are basically reduced. 

For sure.  I forget what the wattage is but it is less than 1800W. 

[Anna N]

Here’s A link to the booklet that will show the various different times depending on whether you are using one basket or both baskets with different food items in them. 

[Anna N]

So much has changed in my life since I sent my air fryer to a new home back in September 2017. For a start I have a roomie. My adult granddaughter lives with me. And she desperately wanted an air fryer. Further, due to physical constraints my cooking style has changed. So, after I read about the dual-basket model that @FauxPashad received as a gift, I began to think that I might now make better use of an air fryer. 
Although the two-basket model seemed to be an answer to my prayer, a bit of research suggested otherwise. The compromises in design needed to accommodate the two baskets pretty much negated the reasons for owning an air fryer. 
Longer cooking times and very small surface area of each basket took away much of its appeal. 
So I did more research. 
In the end, weighing features and price, I settled on the Cosori. 
My first use was truly a demented choice.  I thought I would cook some fresh broccolini. Don’t try this at home!

Then I came to my senses and made some tater tots and some asparagus both of which worked out quite well. 
 

First attempt at the tater tots. Forgot to photograph the asparagus. 
 

The basket and drawer are  very easy to clean  but they take up a great deal of space as they drain. So I thought I would use the small cake pan which is one of the accessories in the kit that you can buy separately. That way I could just wipe the basket and the drawer with a piece of paper towel in case there was any oil on there and only wash the pan. This worked out even better.  Tater tots were much more crispy and browner. 
 

 

No photograph but I also successfully reheated a slice of frozen pizza. 
I have very little food that is appropriate to attempt in the air fryer so I probably won’t post very much until I get a grocery order. 

[ElsieD]

@Anna N  my sister bought the Cosori and is very happy with it.  As she lives alone, she bought the small one.

[Anna N]

5 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

@Anna N  my sister bought the Cosori and is very happy with it.  As she lives alone, she bought the small one.

Nice. Thank you. For all intents and purposes I still live alone! Due to my granddaughter’s strange schedule we do not eat together. But I am glad I have the larger one so there’s more surface area for such things as fries. I hope I don’t relinquish this one until I’ve tried the crispy pork belly!

[rotuts]

@Anna N 

 

nice tots !

 

like the mayo on the side.

 

I beginning to wonder what would happen if :

 

1 ) one SV'd pork belly 103.1  F ' until tender '

 

2 ) chilled the PB

 

3 ) sliced the PB into appropriate sized ' chunks '

4 ) air fried from cold PB chunks until very crispy ?

 

Im not sure I really want to know.

 

but I have a vision .....

 

 

[chromedome]

It sounds eminently plausible.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I don't have an air fryer but what I'd give to have my adult granddaughter living here.  I just sent her pictures of my latest baking.

 

[Anna N]

So over on the Ooni topic one might begin to wonder what happens to all those pizzas @Kerry Beal makes. Some of them get personally delivered to my house!

 

 

I now reheat slices in the air fryer. 
 

I managed to mangle one slice. 
 

it is really something to have your own personal pizza delivery!

[chromedome]

58 minutes ago, Anna N said:

it is really something to have your own personal pizza delivery!

...and the delivery driver is seriously overqualified...

[Anna N]

 Jamaican patty. From frozen 320°F for 20 minutes. Really crisped up the pastry. 
 

Asparagus which I am ashamed to say was past its best before date by some time. 400°F for 6 minutes. Still had a bit of a bite to it.

 

Another one of my personal and personally delivered pizzas. 320°F for 5 minutes. Might go an extra minute or two in the future. 
 

 

Frozen meatballs. 350°F for 10 minutes. Would likely reduce it to 8 minutes next time. 
 

Not exactly Michelin-starred food but it keeps me out of the smoky pool halls. 

[gfweb]

On 7/13/2021 at 4:43 PM, rotuts said:

@Anna N 

 

nice tots !

 

like the mayo on the side.

 

I beginning to wonder what would happen if :

 

1 ) one SV'd pork belly 103.1  F ' until tender '

 

2 ) chilled the PB

 

3 ) sliced the PB into appropriate sized ' chunks '

4 ) air fried from cold PB chunks until very crispy ?

 

Im not sure I really want to know.

 

but I have a vision .....

 

 

Why do the Sv step?

IIRC store bought bacon is cooked to around 125 or 130 f when you buy it and it seems raw.

[Anna N]

On 7/13/2021 at 4:43 PM, rotuts said:

@Anna N 

 

nice tots !

 

like the mayo on the side.

 

I beginning to wonder what would happen if :

 

1 ) one SV'd pork belly 103.1  F ' until tender '

 

2 ) chilled the PB

 

3 ) sliced the PB into appropriate sized ' chunks '

4 ) air fried from cold PB chunks until very crispy ?

 

Im not sure I really want to know.

 

but I have a vision .....

 

 

One of the reasons for the air fryer is to enable me to get more variety in my meals given my physical limitations. I think anything complicated will have to be relegated to thought experiments. 

[rotuts]

@gfweb 

 

typo

 

130.1.F until tender 

 

no extra work for me really

 

once in the Pool , SV does the rest

Edited July 16, 2021 by rotuts (log)

[Anna N]

In pursuit of what can be done in the air fryer versus what should be done in the air fryer I made an attempt at caramelized onions. 

 

I was able to take them many shades darker than this but the photographs are too blurry. Is there any advantage to me doing it this way? I would have to point out to ease of cleanup but not much else. Still requires a lot of attention.
 

These were done at 350° F for about 15 minutes. I stirred frequently. The adjustment I would make next time would be to use more oil as they tend to dry out before they truly caramelize.  
M

I did watch a YouTube video of someone attempting to caramelize three large Vidalia onions in the actual basket of the air fryer. I thought she might have had more success with fewer onions. 
 

Now I am off to research whether or not it is safe to use silicone lids in the air fryer. I don’t think I’ve seen any mention of that on eG. 
 

[palo]

Good site for Air Frying:

 

https://bluejeanchef.com/recipes/

 

p

[palo]

Air Fryer cooking chart:

 

https://bluejeanchef.com/cooking-school/air-fryer-cooking-charts/

 

This is what I meant to recommend - I just copied my bookmark which doesn't lead to the charts as her web site has changed

 

p

[Anna N]

So a little research reassured me that silicone lids would be perfectly safe in the air fryer. I should have clued in knowing that some accessories like muffin pans are silicone. However, there is an issue. The lids form an airtight seal basically creating a vacuum. This pulls the lid down onto the surface of the food. Duh. So the appearance of my bastardized shakshuka is compromised. 
 

I also removed the lid too soon and you can see the rippled surface of the yolk from the force of the fan. 
Solving such technical problems has become my raison d’etre. 

 

 

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, palo said:

Air Fryer cooking chart:

 

https://bluejeanchef.com/cooking-school/air-fryer-cooking-charts/

 

This is what I meant to recommend - I just copied my bookmark which doesn't lead to the charts as her web site has changed

 

p

Thanks. I wonder how well these times and temperatures were tested. I don’t have much faith that one could get an edible product from cooking a 4lb eye of round at 400°F for 45+ minutes in an air fryer. 
The chart might be useful for some things if you took the times and temperatures as a starting point and kept a close eye on things. 

[rotuts]

is it possible for a 4 lbs of meat to even fit in 

 

an AF ?

 

clearly I ant have one.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

is it possible for a 4 lbs of meat to even fit in 

 

an AF ?

 

clearly I ant have one.

I am not sure but my basket is 9“ x 9“ x 3” so it’s possible I would think. 

[palo]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

I am not sure but my basket is 9“ x 9“ x 3” so it’s possible I would think. 

That's one I would hesitate to try 45 minutes @ 400 sounds like beef toast - I look at those charts as cooking for 1 or 2 not a family

 

p

[Anna N]

Another experiment today. I wanted to see if I could cook two things at the same time and have them both come out properly cooked. 
 

frozen meatballs in the basket. 

.

 

Tater tots in the pizza pan on a wire rack above the meatballs. I arbitrarily chose 350°F for 15 minutes with a shake at the seven minute mark. 
 

 

I was quite happy with the results. 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Anna N
Typos (log)