Air Fryers Are Shit, Aren't They?

Love my Emeril air fryer/oven/toaster/dehydrator/oven/warmer, we use it daily. Great way for the kids to cook/fry and toast as as well. Worth every penny imho.

*(simulated illustration)

My wife fell for the advertising on one of these. Seems only good at making soggy foods. I am thoroughly unimpressed.

I like my air au naturel.

There are stacks of online recipes and books on cooking with them. Just making baked spuds and chips limits their use. It is just that you need to choose a volume to suit your needs and wishes. A lot, aside from saving electricity bills

I use an air-fryer all the time. I love it. So what if it takes up counter space? I made room for it by chucking the old toaster-oven.

I thought the air was already fried.

I love mine, but fryer isn't exactly the right term for them. They are the toaster oven version of a convection oven. I don't have a convection oven and it's only me, my husband and my son. Sometimes I want to make food for my husband and I that the kid doesn't like, so I can throw something in there for him without having to turn on my whole oven, preheat it, and it takes twice as long. Or everyone else is out and it's just me, I can throw stuff in there. Also helps me cut down on oil. For example, I'll throw my tofu in there for a dish so I don't have to fry it in extra oil. Or I par-cook potatoes in there so I can finish them off in just a little oil in a pan so I get the taste of something pan-fried with substantially less calories. If I try to pan fry potatoes from raw in a pan, I end up having to use a ton of oil or they stick and it takes sooo long.

Yeah we got an air fryer and "gifted" it away within 2 months. It was just too small for our household of 6 and pretty worthless. My sister gave it to a co-worker, a single woman, and it should work fine for her dinky one person appetite.

I have one that spins the food around. It's loud, the stupid stir thing in the middle fell out of the dish rack and broke, and I thought the food tasted like crap anyway. Except zucchini, Zucchini was good.

The fryer is now sitting in my storage locker along with my son's Lego boxes and scattered blocks.

Just unpacked mine today. Hoping that it

Uses less energy than oven

Creates less heat

Cooks more quickly

And mainly make decent French fries at home!

Will keep you posted.

I've seen these before and wondered how much of the advertising was hype. Overall here they are reviewed favorably. which one(s) would you recommend?

My other questions about these cookers are: How messy are they to use? how much clean up is necessary after use? Are they durable? Are they easy to clean?

My kitchen is bare bones with a refrigerator, sink, stove/oven, pots, a coffee maker, pans, cupboards, and a wooden bread box. I've purchased gimmicky stuff before that I have later given or thrown away. I use the broiler to occasionally make toast lol. I'm sure it's a waste of energy. Oh well.

I'd been thinking about buying one and I'm glad I passed on it. My father has one and he loves it, although it's different from the picture shown. His is a glorified toaster oven, a small one, that can convection bake. I already have an oven that can do that, I don't need another. I purchased a new garbage can instead. A REALLY nice one - stainless steel. Bonus: the dog can't get into this one when we're not looking.

I bought mine in the March of 2020 as a novelty. Then my daughter had to move home from the dorms and she investigated it uses thoroughly. Especially all frozen foods because microwaves make them mushy and who wants to heat the wall oven for a crunchy taquito? Mine doesn’t have a basket it has racks. So basically a mini oven on my counter.

My wife bought her air fryer three years ago. The company mistakenly sent her a larger one than she ordered; she contacted them and sent her the correct size and told her not to bother returning the other. (She gave that to her brother.) She loves the thing. Uses far less energy than the oven, in the summertime heats the house far less, and she uses the thing for all sorts of things from bacon-wrapped asparagus, to poutine, to fried chicken, to Cornish game hens. It's also a helluva lot easier to clean than an oven. As others have noted, overloading the device makes it harder for air to circulate and therefore more difficult to cook. The air fryer requires very little or no oil, and its construction allows oil and fat to drain away from cooking food. At the same time, it does not dry out foods like an oven or fry pan do.

My wife is currently using ours to fry up radish slices in an attempt to create something that tastes sorta of like a potato-chip but isn't pure junk carbs.

I'll let you know how it turns out. She first baked the slices, and now they're in the fryer.

This is the kind of quality content I am here for!

My partner and I are contemplating getting an air fryer. We're looking seriously at one of the Cuisinart ones that looks like a large toaster oven rather than the ones with that front pull-out basket as shown in the original post.

Those of you who LOVE your air fryer, which brand/model do you have?

I love mine. The main thing I make with it is chicken thighs. I buy the ones with the bones and skin. Preheat for 3 minutes on 400 degrees. Then put 3 or 4 chicken thighs with skin up (I only use garlic powder and black pepper) and set timer for about 20 or 22 minutes. WHEN HALF THE TIME IS OVER, open and turn over each piece and then cook for the rest of the time. The skin comes out so crispy, and a lot of the fat drips down to the bottom. The only thing I don't like about it, is that I have to wash it by hand, instead of putting it in the dishwasher. I am lazy...

Our air fryer is the bomb diggity. It is multi purpose. Absolutely makes chips. But it has a spinning basket attachment for that. The other perk to the air fryer is that it’s ADHD safe. My kiddo is extremely bright and extremely scattered. He’s not allowed to use the stove when I’m not home. He is allowed to use the air fryer. Auto shut off. So far, so good.

Our is just great. Do enough for two of whatever and in 15 mins cooked. Running a huge oven is not practical