Cooking with an Air Fryer

[Anna N]

.

 

 

Lightly sprayed with Pam olive oil. Certainly fixed the grease but left them dry and lacking any hint of having been fried. 

[Anna N]

 

 Did not take me long to go off script.   Reheated something for my lunch as I couldn't stand another serving of sweet potatoes.

 

[Tri2Cook]

I hate sweet potato fries. I don't hate eating them but I hate that they exist as a restaurant menu item if I happen to work at said restaurant. People want them crispy, they barely get crispy and don't stay that way for the time it takes to get a plate from the kitchen to the table. So a certain percentage come back requested to be more crispy. You go round and round that circle until you do indeed manage to get them to stay crispy... and then they send them back as overcooked and "too dark". Which they are... but only because the person kept insisting they be cooked more. So getting them crispy in the air fryer may indeed be a futile effort.

[Anna N]

28 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

I hate sweet potato fries. I don't hate eating them but I hate that they exist as a restaurant menu item if I happen to work at said restaurant. People want them crispy, they barely get crispy and don't stay that way for the time it takes to get a plate from the kitchen to the table. So a certain percentage come back requested to be more crispy. You go round and round that circle until you do indeed manage to get them to stay crispy... and then they send them back as overcooked and "too dark". Which they are... but only because the person kept insisting they be cooked more. So getting them crispy in the air fryer may indeed be a futile effort.

 And one I have definitely abandoned!   They simply do not lend themselves to becoming crispy but time and time again you come across the expression "crispy sweet potato fries" in restaurants, and recipes, and blogs.  It's as if everyone else believes in them except me.

[Anna N]

 

160C x 40 mins with top and bottom layer switched around the mid point.  The skin was crispy though not as crispy as in the CSO.  I think they were neither better nor worse than thighs I have done any other way. I enjoyed the novelty of it all and putting the 2 basket parts and the rack into the dishwaher. 

[mgaretz]

Last night I tried curly fries.  Cut with the KA Spiralizer attachment (didn't get the potato centered as well as I thought, so a lot of them are crescents).  Soaked in water with three changes for 45 minutes, patted dry and tossed with 1 tsp olive oil, then cooked at 360F for 5 minutes and then 390F for 7 minutes.  Came out great.

 

 

[rotuts]

@mgaretz

 

wonderful

 

Ive thought of moving on from the PAF  

 

as I have a CSB.  the various things I might make in the PAF  Im guessing can be done as well or better in the CSB.

 

they would take more time in the CSB.

 

but Im back in the Mix looking at those Spiral Fries.

 

I do hesitate to ask,  not for long , Id love to see calamari w tentacles  

 

with perhaps a cornflour dusting w spices   then maybe an oil spray  ( for crispness ??  )

 

if I could make Chinatown like crispy calamari   that would be smoothing Id like

 

in the BOS 'Burbs   I can't get what I get in Chinatown.  re slat and pepper calamari

 

who knows why.  can't be that difficult to make in the 'Burbs  but they do it so differently that it not

 

not even close.

[Anna N]

@mgaretz

 

Those look really good!

 Let's face it most people who buy an air fryer want to make French fries. Anything else is just icing on the cake.  But if you can't make decent fries then you'll consider your investment wasted. So today I returned to the French fry puzzlement and tried something very similar to mgaretz. 

 

 I cut the fries somewhat smaller, soaked them in icewater for 30 minutes, drained and dried them thoroughly then tossed them with a measured 1/2 tablespoon of duck fat. I used only one russet potato. 

 

I preheated the fryer for five minutes at 160°C then cooked the fries for exactly 5 minutes at that temperature. I let the fries cool, then returned them to the fryer and increased the temperature to 200°C and cooked them for a further 12 minutes, shaking them every once in a while.  These turned out much more satisfactory. I should have let them go a few more minutes and they might have crisped up appropriately.  Still they were perfectly satisfactory.   Dipped into garlic aioli made with Hellmann's, they made for a delicious lunch alongside garden tomatoes and leftover chicken thigh. 

 

Edited August 18, 2016 by Anna N (log)

[Anna N]

But icing is good, too.  Fruit crumble. Peaches and some of the delicious mixed fruit jam that Kerry made up in Manitoulin. 

 

 

[rotuts]

@Anna N   

 

I was about to move the air-fryer into a secondary position

 

but your Fry segment gave me a bit of pause.

 

granted if you only have the PAF and not the CSB   then that's  different for the PAF folks.

 

so  I do like the crisp that you've made in the PAF .

[mgaretz]

3 hours ago, rotuts said:

@mgaretz

 

wonderful

 

Ive thought of moving on from the PAF  

 

as I have a CSB.  the various things I might make in the PAF  Im guessing can be done as well or better in the CSB.

 

they would take more time in the CSB.

 

but Im back in the Mix looking at those Spiral Fries.

 

I do hesitate to ask,  not for long , Id love to see calamari w tentacles  

 

with perhaps a cornflour dusting w spices   then maybe an oil spray  ( for crispness ??  )

 

if I could make Chinatown like crispy calamari   that would be smoothing Id like

 

in the BOS 'Burbs   I can't get what I get in Chinatown.  re slat and pepper calamari

 

who knows why.  can't be that difficult to make in the 'Burbs  but they do it so differently that it not

 

not even close.

 

I started off the continuation of this thread by saying that I had tried getting an air fry equivalent in the BSO, and for this application it should work the same as a CSB.  While the BSO is OK at it, the PAF is much better and less hassle to redistribute (ie shake) the food as the basket makes it easy.

 

Calamari is something I will eat if someone else orders it, but don't look to me to make it!

[mgaretz]

20 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I preheated the fryer for five minutes at 160°C then cooked the fries for exactly 5 minutes at that temperature. I let the fries cool, then returned them to the fryer and increased the temperature to 200°C and cooked them for a further 12 minutes, shaking them every once in a while.  These turned out much more satisfactory.

 

@Anna N, FYI I did not let them cool between steps.  Just a shake, back in, reset the controls and press start.

[rotuts]

@mgaretz 

 

"  for this application it should work the same as a CSB "

 

no.  the CSB is very different than a dry oven.   that's not to imply a steam oven will give you fries.

[mgaretz]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@mgaretz 

 

"  for this application it should work the same as a CSB "

 

no.  the CSB is very different than a dry oven.   that's not to imply a steam oven will give you fries.

 

I know what CSB is, but would you use steam to make fries?

[rotuts]

@mgaretz

 

that's a fundamental question that w/o experience makes no sense  :  how can steam make something crispy ?

 

why not just soggy ?  that would make more every day sense,

 

but stream at higher temps, lets say above  boiling indeed far above this indeed will make thinks crispy

 

this only dawned on me when I made chicken thighs in the CSB :  the crunchiest chicken skin Ive ever made and tasted.

 

the skin 'bubbled'

 

I do know   the 'tots I make in the CSB are as crispy as Id like them, and better than the BVXL which is a dry oven.

 

they turn out in the steam oven both crispy and moist.

 

I do not have a PAF  and Im guessing I might get fine 'tots in that sooner than a CSB  I can't say if they would be on the dry side

 

as a dry oven might make them.  perhaps not as its quicker in the PAF

 

and I have not done traditionally sized white FF in the CSB    I can tell you  sweet potato fries and not impressive in both the

 

BVXL and the CSB

 

if you do not have a steam oven, then maybve the PAF will be a good addition for your kitchen.

 

if you have a steam oven, maybe the PAF will not be as uniquely helpful

 

that's how I see it for me at the moment,

 

if you had neither , and the PAF was 200 , I think you might do better in the long run to consider a

 

steam oven for < 200 ,

 

how ever , if you have a PAF  Im sure you will enjoy it.

Edited August 18, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[mgaretz]

Maybe I will try a little water in the pan.

[Anna N]

 

 Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

tomorrow I will try another egg because I believe my failure here was that the oven was already hot from cooking the sausages. 

[Anna N]

5 minutes ago, mgaretz said:

Maybe I will try a little water in the pan.

 I was amazed to discover that you can in fact use it as a bain marie for flans and custards. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 8/17/2016 at 0:41 PM, Anna N said:

 I agree with you. Very recently we had a discussion on this very topic on eG with some claiming that the Japanese sweet potato did better than our standard North American versions.

 

 

That someone was me, and I said I had had crispier results with conventional oven fries using Asian sweet potato like these here, than with the far more common around here orange sweet potatoes we grow tons of in this state. The Asian sweets are not as sweet as the orange variety, and seem to have a higher starch content, lower water content, and do come out crispier than the orange sweet oven fries, but still not as crispy as Idaho potato oven fries. I also remember Anna N tried them and did not agree.

 

Personally, I like and prefer the flavor of orange sweet potato fries, but agree with the consensus here that they will never be close to as crispy as Idaho fries. I wonder what pre-soaking in salt water would do to pull some of the moisture from the fries through osmosis? I might give that a try next time I try some.

 

@Tri2Cook's story about trying to make this item in a restaurant setting was both comical and empathetically exasperating. No wonder he/she hates to see them on the menu. I'd have to have the patience of a saint, which is not one of the things I'm known for. 

[Anna N]

 

Onion pakora.  These may have potential but as they stand now they are dry and a bit unpleasant in texture.  The challenge will be to make them much more moist but still able to hold their shape.  The original recipe called for them to be wrapped around a cube of cheese but that just seemed wrong to me. I think the next time I attempt them I will increase the moisture in the batter and perhaps form them into small flat patties. I would also make sure to spray the basket as they stuck rather stubbornly.  I still think they are worth a second chance.  

 

 

[Lisa Shock]

I don't own one of these, but I have been reading along here. It seems that this device is best suited to heating frozen fried foods, as they have a considerable amount of fat coating them already. -And coating them really evenly. I think it's going to be difficult to take vegetables from scratch and get them to rival real fried foods. It may be useful for quickly cooking other random foods, like that braised meat, but I am not really feeling it. I think I'd rather pan fry in a cast iron skillet or my wok.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Lisa Shock said:

I don't own one of these, but I have been reading along here. It seems that this device is best suited to heating frozen fried foods, as they have a considerable amount of fat coating them already. -And coating them really evenly. I think it's going to be difficult to take vegetables from scratch and get them to rival real fried foods. It may be useful for quickly cooking other random foods, like that braised meat, but I am not really feeling it. I think I'd rather pan fry in a cast iron skillet or my wok.

It certainly isn't winning me over the way both the instant pot and the Cuisinart Steam Oven did.  Yet I find it challenging and fun to see what it can do.  I do not have room for a CSO but this sits right on my glass top.  When I use it I am reminded of the very sexist comment by Dr. Johnson:

 "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." . I think it is oversold and overhyped but that doesn't mean to say there are not some things it might do well and more conveniently so I will keep playing.  

[rotuts]

@Anna N 

 

very well said.   I was so close to getting one but am holding off.  with a CSB and IP ( and plenty of space on the floor ) their's not much 

 

that can't be done well.

 

I imagine there is not a fish-monger next door that offering fresh calamari for you to try in the PAF ?

 

just saying.

 

I have the feeling 'Tots from frozen might be very nice in the PAF

 

and as mentioned , other Fz items :  wings , etc  

[Anna N]

 No fishmonger next door. I am inclined to agree with @mgaretzthat  calamari are best shared and best cooked by someone else. But if it became a possibility I would not be completely averse to giving them a shot in the air fryer. 

I am anxious to try frozen fries, tater tots, though they are not easy to find in these parts, shake and bake pork chops and or chicken, perhaps even a small steak and a few other things.  When all is said and done for singleton households it sure does save heating up the big oven or even the Breville.  There are days when I am challenged by health issues and reheating something from frozen might well save me from going hungry. 

 There are many ways to look at these appliances from a user point of view. For those who are young and in the peak of health these might elicit a sneer but for others less fortunate they can be very helpful. 

[Anna N]

 

 Not much wrong here and because these potatoes needed almost no attention it seemed much easier and less messy  then other methods.  This was one Russte but I would love to try it again with a Yukon gold. I seasoned them with the Dutch potato spice we have talked about before.