Cooking with an Air Fryer

[ElsieD]

Has anyone ever made granola in their air fryer?

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

Has anyone ever made granola in their air fryer?

Not me. I don’t even like granola but if Google is to be trusted people do indeed make it in the air fryer. 

[Okanagancook]

I did a one kilogram lamb rack cut in half at 400f for 12 minutes.  Perfect and a nice ‘roasted’ taste to it.  No mess.

I love my air fryer.

[Anna N]

8 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

I did a one kilogram lamb rack cut in half at 400f for 12 minutes.  Perfect and a nice ‘roasted’ taste to it.  No mess.

I love my air fryer.

That is very impressive. When you say cut in half do you mean that you cooked both halves at the same time?  Did you do any sort of a prep?  I think I am correct in believing that you have a basket type air fryer?

[Okanagancook]

I cooked both together…had to jam them in a bit.   Bone side down.  I salted them well in the am and then smeared some herb butter on top before cooking.  I have a basket air fryer..Philips.

[Dejah]

Have done another couple of meals in the Ninja SP101, but thought I'd post THIS experiment on this thread: Portuguese Custard Tarts. I've made the recipe often but thought I'd try in the Ninja.
Googled recipe and instructions said 425F for 9 minutes on Air Fry. That didn't cut it. The pastry got barely golden.
Turned to Air Bake, 425 for 15 minutes per original recipe for the regular oven, and had to add another 5 minutes for the caramelized tops. Worth the wait

 

 

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, Dejah said:

Worth the wait

I’ll be right over! They do look delicious. One of my very favourite sweets. 

[Dejah]

@Anna N: Here's the recipe I use:

 

Portuguese Custard Tarts (Pasteis de Nata)

Servings: 12 commercial tart shells

For the Sugar Syrup:

• ¾ cup white sugar

• ¼ cup water + 1 tablespoon water

• 1 cinnamon stick (Optional) 1 lemon, zested in large strips (Optional)

For the Custard Base:

• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 ½ cups milk 6 large egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Optional)

Directions

Sugar Syrup:

• Combine sugar, 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water, cinnamon, and lemon zest in a pot. Boil over medium heat, without stirring, until syrup reaches 210 to 215 degrees F (100 degrees C) on candy thermometer. Remove from heat.

• Preheat oven 425 degrees F Place rack in middle of the oven.

• Whisk flour, salt, and cold milk together very thoroughly in a cold pot. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until milk just thickens, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for at least 10 minutes.

  Whisk egg yolks into the cooled milk. Add the sugar syrup and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Strain custard into a glass measuring cup.

• Take tart shells out of freezer. I put them into a muffin tin WITH the tin foil.

  Fill each cup 3/4 of the way with custard.

  Bake in the preheated oven until the pastry is browned and bubbly, and the tops start to blister and caramelize, about 12 -15 minutes. Cool tarts briefly and serve warm.

[ElsieD]

Those tarts look amazing.  I love Portuguese tarts.  I've copied the recipe so I can make them.

 

I'm doing sweet potatoes right now and they will be followed by a whole chicken.  Hope they turn out.

[ElsieD]

Here's the chicken:

[palo]

Nice looking mat!

 

Oh and the chicken looks okay too 😛

 

What time and temp did you use?

 

p

[ElsieD]

46 minutes ago, palo said:

Nice looking mat!

 

Oh and the chicken looks okay too 😛

 

What time and temp did you use?

 

p

 

I had it in the air fryer for 50 minutes @ 350F on roast.  It was really good, but the poor wings were a bit, a lot actually, overdone.  I think 45 minutes might have been enough.

 

[Okanagancook]

@Anna N forgot to mention that I purchased a well trimmed rack of lamb….frenched bones and a lot of the fat cap trimmed off.

[Anna N]

 

McCain super fries in the air fryer cooked according to the package directions. Without a word of exaggeration these are the worst fries I have ever had.   They are unevenly but mostly over-cooked, dry and tasteless. 

[Chimayo Joe]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

They are unevenly but mostly over-cooked, dry and tasteless. 

The stores here don't carry Superfries, but I've had lots of fries that fit that description.  It may not matter so much if the fries are being deep-fried, but for the air fryer the manufacturer needs to get the right amount of crisping agent on the fries and the right amount of oil in the fries.

[palo]

I saw the picture before I read your comment, but my first thought was "dry" and I can easily see why you would add over-cooked and tasteless to the description - did you perchance spritz them with a little oil/pam prior to cooking? I find that sometimes helps

 

p

[Anna N]

29 minutes ago, palo said:

I saw the picture before I read your comment, but my first thought was "dry" and I can easily see why you would add over-cooked and tasteless to the description - did you perchance spritz them with a little oil/pam prior to cooking? I find that sometimes helps

 

p

No, as I said, I followed the directions on the package. 

[Chimayo Joe]

I had a couple more McCain products recently.  
 

I didn't really expect to like either, but the Craft Beer Battered fries surprised me.  I had tried McCain beer battered onion rings, and those are now my favorite frozen onion rings, but I was fairly certain I wouldn't like the battered fries.  They are very good.  The batter is almost imperceptible, and unlike the onion rings, so is the beer flavor.  There's added flavor to the fries, but I doubt I would have pegged it as beer if I hadn't known before eating them.  They browned well, too.  First time I cooked them at 400° for 16 minutes, and that browned them too much.  12-13 minutes is about right in my air fryer.

 

The other I had was a shaped mashed potato product called Smiles. Those I did not like.  Very bland and I didn't like the texture either. Give me tater tots if I'm going to eat something in that general category of frozen potatoes.

[Duvel]

Before I need to read the entire thread, allow me to ask a convenience question: can you "airfry" with any fat ? So, can I use duck fat to fry potatoes for example ..?

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, Duvel said:

Before I need to read the entire thread, allow me to ask a convenience question: can you "airfry" with any fat ? So, can I use duck fat to fry potatoes for example ..?

Yes you can. I have done it but you need a pan in the air fryer. Put some duck fat in a pan that will fit. Melt it for a couple of minutes at 400°F. Add the potatoes and toss them around to coat with the duck fat, season them and proceed as you would in any oven. (My notes say that for halved baby potatoes (golf ball size) 10 minutes at 350°F toss and 10 minutes more,) I suppose you could melt some duck fat separately, toss the potatoes around in it and roast directly in the air fryer basket but I have never tried that. 

[ElsieD]

Those of you with air fryers are probably already aware of this but it was new to me.  I air fried a hash brown potato patty, topped it with a fried egg and had it for lunch.  The egg of course was done in a frying pan.  Is it possible to air fry an egg, say in a muffin cup?

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

Those of you with air fryers are probably already aware of this but it was new to me.  I air fried a hash brown potato patty, topped it with a fried egg and had it for lunch.  The egg of course was done in a frying pan.  Is it possible to air fry an egg, say in a muffin cup?

You are likely to end up with quite a mess because of the fan. 

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

You are likely to end up with quite a mess because of the fan. 

 

I wondered about that.  If Mr. Google is to be believed, it seems like people do do it.  Hmm, I'll have to think on it some more.

[Anna N]

41 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

I wondered about that.  If Mr. Google is to be believed, it seems like people do do it.  Hmm, I'll have to think on it some more.

I’m quite sure you could cook an egg in a muffin cup but would it be a fried egg? I don’t think so. It would be a baked egg or perhaps a coddled egg but certainly not what we think of as a fried egg. 

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

I’m quite sure you could cook an egg in a muffin cup but would it be a fried egg? I don’t think so. It would be a baked egg or perhaps a coddled egg but certainly not what we think of as a fried egg. 

 

You are right, of course.  Bad choice of words on my part.   Guess I'll try it and see what happens.