Cooking with an Air Fryer

[palo]

Any advice on chicken drums in air fryer alone?

 

p

[Okanagancook]

I've done them at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes.  This was back on Oct 5th so don't remember how big they were.

America's Test Kitchen "Air Fryer Perfection" cook book says 400F for 22 to 25 minutes or until 195F internal temp....that seems over kill..I go to 165F

Chuck them in at 385F and check after 20 minutes.

I love my air fryer.

[munchymom]

Bumping up this topic as I succumbed to the lure of the air fryer on this past Amazon Prime Day. Anyone have recent successes or failures to report? My fryer arrived yesterday and so far I have tried Ore-Ida frozen french fries (meh) and Ore-Ida Crispy Crowns (sort of flat Tater Tots, which worked very well.) My next try is going to be doughnuts made out of refrigerated biscuit dough.

[gfweb]

@andiesenji I find battered food tough to get right. It sticks to the grating too much.  I've taken the approach of having a dry "batter" with toasted and seasoned panko that I press into a salted piece of chicken and chill. I've also been having success battering just one side of a piece of meat and having the naked side face the tray.

 

I'd ( obviously) test fresh and frozen fries and tots and frozen mozzarella sticks and  the like.

[Smithy]

10 minutes ago, gfweb said:

@andiesenji I find battered food tough to get right. It sticks to the grating too much.  I've taken the approach of having a dry "batter" with toasted and seasoned panko that I press into a salted piece of chicken and chill. I've also been having success battering just one side of a piece of meat and having the naked side face the tray.

 

I'd ( obviously) test fresh and frozen fries and tots and frozen mozzarella sticks and  the like.

 

Yeah, I haven't had much luck with battered foods, and haven't worked at it as much as gfweb has. I have found crab cakes disappointing in the air fryer. They dry out on the outside instead of developing the crisp brown exterior that they would develop in a frying pan, and that happens even if they're sprayed lightly with oil. Whether that's a shortcoming of my air fryer or of what I'm trying to do, I don't know.

[Okanagancook]

Looking through America’s Test Kitchen’s Air Fryer Perfection Cookbook, they list these seven simple uses for an air fryer:

 

roast garlic, 400f for 20 min

roast peppers 400f for 25 min

croutons 350 for 6 to 10 min shaking every two min

toasted nuts and seeds 150f for 6-10 min

Refrigerator cookies 325f for 10-14 min

crispy shallots 300f for 10-12 min

toasting burger or sandwich bun 400ffor 2-3 min

[andiesenji]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I asked on a Twitter site  and was advised by several people to  check out the recipes for 

"veggie tempura"  on Eat Plant-Based   I used to make a lot of tempura vegetables in a regular deep fryer but haven't for twenty years or so.

If the photos and the numerous comments are anything to go by, the recipes sound terrific.

 

[Anna N]

5 hours ago, andiesenji said:

"veggie tempura"

I got quite excited until I looked at the recipe and understood why you had put the quotation marks around it!  Looks like a fun way to eat vegetables but certainly not traditional tempura.

 

[Okanagancook]

Today was a rainy day project.  During our annual pig roast we cut the trotters off the pig so the spit turns better.  And each year I make Happy in the Kitchen's Trotter Spring Rolls with the most delicious ginger remoulade sauce.  Today was the day to make them.

 

The trotters are simmered for three hours with onion, carrot, vinegar, wine and herbs.

The bones (all 25 of them per trotter) are removed and discarded everything else (yes all the skin too) is chopped up and mixed with browned onions/soy and a pinch or coriander.

 

The meat is formed into logs using plastic wrap.  This was a favourite technique of Michel Ricard, RIP.  I used the wrapper rolling technique I documented a couple of entries up thread...makes for a nice neat roll.  

 

The logs are chilled until firm then wrapped in spring roll wrappers and deep fried.  This year I am going to try them in the Air Fryer because there is enough fat in the filling that not deep frying them may actually them better.  They are in the fridge setting up.

Here's some pictures.  I highly recommend this recipe or even just the ginger remoulade sauce.

 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

The spring rolls turned out really well.  In about 10 minutes in the air fryer they were ready.  DH commented they were better this way compared to deep frying them.  And yipppeeeee, I have a whole tray to go in the freezer.

[TdeV]

Asking for a friend . . .

[heidih]

Any updates? Stepmother is smitten with idea and loves gadgets. Also loves crunch. Thanks!

[Okanagancook]

It is worth a purchase.  It has amazing range for making things...America test kitchen has a book out if you want To enhance her experience.  I cook chicken thighs in there all the time. Also is so easy on the clean up...Chuck it in the DW.
 

 

[Martin Fisher]

The air fryer is a MAGIC machine in that it got the housemate to do some REAL cooking!!!

He made some chicken wings (from raw chicken) the other night that were quite good!

And the smoke detector stayed quiet!!! 

[Dante]

Hi, sorry for the basic question, I still have some things to learn about my fryer

 

Does anyone out there have any advice on air frying batter-coated food in a way that keeps the batter from sticking to the fryer? 

[Bernie]

Haven't tried batter but for crumbs I freeze.

 

I coat the (chicken/fish/veg/whatever) in egg and toss in crumbs (or usually panko) freeze on a bed of the crumbs.

 

To cook very light coating of oil and cook from frozen in a dish or solid rack so the heat gets all round. Turn over after a few minutes and even put in a wire basket to finish

I have cooked like this without oil but the crumbs dry out more before the inside is cooked.

 

I guess you could cook batter on a rotisserie or use really thick batter that wont run, but it is going to make a mess. Bit hard to freeze raw  batter, though i guess it could be done.

[gfweb]

I've had the same problem. I believe @mgaretzhas had some success. He's commented on it somewhere.

[Anna N]

When you explore the science of frying it’s hard to believe that an air fryer can accomplish anything even close to the same effect one gets with frying. It will take too long for the batter to form a barrier that would be sufficient to prevent sticking. 
 

“What creates a crisp crust on fried food?
When food is plunged into hot oil, the water in the food starts to boil and percolate toward the surface. In order for a crisp, dry crust to develop, there must be a barrier between the hot oil and the migrating water. This barrier is typically something starchy. As the starch fries in the hot oil, it dries into a pleasantly crisp shell and protects the moisture beneath. The food inside steams while the coating browns and crisps.”

 

The dry heat from an air fryer doesn’t seem like it will seal the batter quickly and hence sticking seems inevitable. But having given away my air fryer I have no way of testing my theory!

 

The quote is from here.

[Owtahear]

13 hours ago, mgaretz said:

One of the secrets is to spray a light coating of oil on the breading (I haven’t tried a liquid batter, but I have done the flour, egg, flour (or panko) dip) before putting in.  The oil conducts the heat nicely to the breading. Typically I don’t bother with the three phase dip (unless it’s something like onion rigs). For chicken and pork I just use the moist meat and coat with panko, put on a wire rack and then into the air fryer. 

This is exactly what I do.  I spray the items with a light coating of Pam and it seems to help it crisp up and act more like fried food.   

[mgaretz]

I don’t use Pam. I always thought it had a weird smell. I use olive oil spray instead. I’m currently using up some from Trader Joe’s but recently bought some Bertolli from Costco that I have yet to try. 

[Captain]

 

[Anna N]

19 hours ago, Captain said:

 

I would love to know how they manage to get the whole chicken into the air fryer.  

[FauxPas]

I was just gifted the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). 

 

I had never really wanted an air fryer and am still reading to see if I can benefit from having one, but my initial review suggests that my little Cuisinart Steam Convection oven will accomplish many of the same tasks - cooking chicken or french fries (from frozen or fresh potatoes), reheating leftovers, etc. I'm not sure that I would use the air fryer for cooking salmon, halibut or cod but maybe I'm missing something. 

 

Has anyone used this particular model and have any pros or cons to help me decide? It's not huge, but it looks like a good size (I haven't taken it out of the box yet) and I don't know if I would be willing to give it a regular spot on my counter and it also looks like a pain to carry back and forth to some other storage spot. 

 

And for folks who have had an air fryer for awhile, are you still using it much? 

 

[heidih]

I laughed when stepmother bought a small one from BB&B but she uses it almost daily. Today it was carrots w/ olive oil rub as "chips". She likes zuke fries in it and even toasts bread/cheese/coldcut ssandwiches in it.  Easy clean.  Hers is light so even though there is lots of counter space she parks it on a shelf in the pantry.  

[rotuts]

the DC  AF is very interesting 

 

points have been brought up that need

 

further analysis

 

on the video they present :

 

 

 

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 !