I’m gonna be honest: I was very much an air “fryer” skeptic, but as they kept getting more popular I decided to get one and now I see why people like them.
Yes, they’re essentially “just” a convection toaster oven, but honestly they’re better at it because they have much more convection. The fan goes faster and it blows straight down on the food instead of just around the oven. It actually does make a difference. Also, the form-factor with a drawer instead of toaster-oven-style is superior for cleaning.
Frankly, I’ve never been all that happy with my toaster oven anyway, between it being hard to clean and also how it’s not actually that great at getting things crispy. I think my air fryer is going to be a complete replacement for it (and an upgrade).
they’re “just” a convection oven in the same way that heat guns are “just” hair dryers, or that toasters are “just” tiny tiny ovens with the heating elements right next to the bread
I got one that was shaped like a large toaster oven instead of having a drawer. I really liked it. It also had a rotating spindle/cage attachment. My ex took it in the breakup…
Crazy because with all the hype i finally caved and got one too. And my experience is that it sucked and was very annoying to clean. There was only one thing I tried that came out better in it than a regular oven, but i ended up quickly not using it ever again and then giving it away.
They’re better than a regular oven for small portions because they’re much smaller. If you’re always making full meals for an entire family, they’re not really that useful. But for one or two people, the air fryer is going to be done cooking before the oven has even finished pre-heating.
don’t let it fool you, you can’t just use it and toss it in the dishwasher. although tbf my dishwasher is not the most effective, and I should probably try different load settings when washing the air fryer basket
anyways, if you don’t line the basket with paper, crud gets baked on there real good and is hard to get off, and the little tray is a pain to clean because of all the spots
totally fine if you always line it with paper when cooking meat or other soft things, though. I find most veggies are easy to clean off, compared to meat
anyways, my review: it’s an effective tool for quickly making small batches of food with little cleanup. I like making single portions of home fries, toasting buns, reheating food, cooking a single hamburger patty. all with less effort and cleanup than using a pan, and better results than a microwave. and more efficient and effective than using the full oven. also, with less oil than using a pan on the stove.
also, I’m disgusting, so I often reuse the paper liner if it isn’t gross. like today I cooked home fries for breakfast and then a hamburger for dinner on the same sheet, because the thing is barely dirtied by cooking some bare chopped potatoes with the tiniest bit of oil. and I don’t need to clean it after cooking meat, because all of the meat juice stayed on the liner and I can just pull it out and toss it.
Yes, they’re essentially “just” a convection toaster oven, but honestly they’re better at it because they have much more convection.
Exactly, the faster moving air transfers heat more efficiently and this results in faster browning. For commercial kitchens there is something called an impingement oven that does this with even faster air. An air-fryer sit somewhere between a regular convection oven and an impingement oven.
I’m gonna be honest: I was very much an air “fryer” skeptic, but as they kept getting more popular I decided to get one and now I see why people like them.
Yes, they’re essentially “just” a convection toaster oven, but honestly they’re better at it because they have much more convection. The fan goes faster and it blows straight down on the food instead of just around the oven. It actually does make a difference. Also, the form-factor with a drawer instead of toaster-oven-style is superior for cleaning.
Frankly, I’ve never been all that happy with my toaster oven anyway, between it being hard to clean and also how it’s not actually that great at getting things crispy. I think my air fryer is going to be a complete replacement for it (and an upgrade).
(This is sort of a reply to @slampisko@lemmy.world and @AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world, but I’m making it top-level and pinging them instead so I don’t have to post two copies.)
they’re “just” a convection oven in the same way that heat guns are “just” hair dryers, or that toasters are “just” tiny tiny ovens with the heating elements right next to the bread
I got one that was shaped like a large toaster oven instead of having a drawer. I really liked it. It also had a rotating spindle/cage attachment. My ex took it in the breakup…
Crazy because with all the hype i finally caved and got one too. And my experience is that it sucked and was very annoying to clean. There was only one thing I tried that came out better in it than a regular oven, but i ended up quickly not using it ever again and then giving it away.
They’re better than a regular oven for small portions because they’re much smaller. If you’re always making full meals for an entire family, they’re not really that useful. But for one or two people, the air fryer is going to be done cooking before the oven has even finished pre-heating.
The thing that might sell me on them is the dishwasher safe basket.
don’t let it fool you, you can’t just use it and toss it in the dishwasher. although tbf my dishwasher is not the most effective, and I should probably try different load settings when washing the air fryer basket
anyways, if you don’t line the basket with paper, crud gets baked on there real good and is hard to get off, and the little tray is a pain to clean because of all the spots
totally fine if you always line it with paper when cooking meat or other soft things, though. I find most veggies are easy to clean off, compared to meat
anyways, my review: it’s an effective tool for quickly making small batches of food with little cleanup. I like making single portions of home fries, toasting buns, reheating food, cooking a single hamburger patty. all with less effort and cleanup than using a pan, and better results than a microwave. and more efficient and effective than using the full oven. also, with less oil than using a pan on the stove.
also, I’m disgusting, so I often reuse the paper liner if it isn’t gross. like today I cooked home fries for breakfast and then a hamburger for dinner on the same sheet, because the thing is barely dirtied by cooking some bare chopped potatoes with the tiniest bit of oil. and I don’t need to clean it after cooking meat, because all of the meat juice stayed on the liner and I can just pull it out and toss it.
Exactly, the faster moving air transfers heat more efficiently and this results in faster browning. For commercial kitchens there is something called an impingement oven that does this with even faster air. An air-fryer sit somewhere between a regular convection oven and an impingement oven.
and you don’t get all the unhealthy grease and mess from oil frying.