What do you cook in your airfryer?

AndyCF

grunnie wrote: »

I have the halogen one. It is big and very bright and has stand things inside so you could have 3 layers of food. I bought it as i can't bend to get stuff out of my oven as i have compression fractures in my back.

Ah yes I've seen those types, they do look good. I was fractionally concerned the food 'furthest away' from the light / heat might take longer but I guess with careful choice of placements of food inside its never going to be a problem. Common sense prevails! as in don't put the fastest cooking bits nearest the heat/light! , assuming it does work like that. I'm not 100% sure.

Sorry to hear about your back too At least now you can just 'work from the worktop' so to speak.

One difference I have seen with different types of the halogen ones is: Some when you open them up you have to manhandle a heavy and possibly hot 'heater/light' as in it lifts off and you have to find somewhere for it to go! Other types it is on a hinge affair so just swings out the way.

grunnie wrote: »

I only got it last week but have cooked every meal in it since including a casserole.

Excellent progress I think then all-in-all. I'm probably ashamed to admit I'd (being me) start with random potato bits and such until I was happy I knew what I was doing!

grunnie wrote: »

Haven't baked in it yet but will try that soon. It came with a booklet which isn't very clear and a cookery book with nothing in it i would eat so i am still learning.

I'm not sure if it is any help at all or not, however on FaceBook there were at least a couple of 'air fryer' groups and (when I last look which was about 18 months ago as I don't bother with it these days) those groups were full of very useful ideas and people with sensible recipes and tips/thoughts. I realise you have a halogen , my point is really if you're into "FB" then it is quite likely there may be a useful group to read for random bits of information if needed ? I'm thinking it may be a bit more specific than a book perhaps. Just an idea.

REJP

I use mine every day, cook sausages, chips, chicken, diced meat, whole tomatoes.
Yes, it only has one temperature setting so you need to keep an eye on timings. Two chicken quarters under 20 minutes, frozen chips for two straight out of the freezer approx 17 minutes.
Do not put too much food in as that can break the paddle, I tried lamb chops which jammed the paddle and snapped it. Replacement paddles can be obtained, but make sure you quote the model number if you need one as they differ slightly in specification.
Please stick to the recommended amount of cooking oil in recipes, as too much oil can make food taste nasty. Do not use oil with sausages, !!!!! them first and they produce enough fat for cooking.

REJP

It should have come with an upright metal stand to hold the top section.
If not, And if you have it next to an oven, may I suggest you take the grill rack out and put it on the top of the oven and set the top unit down on that? Alternatively a large round metal cake tin designed for use in an oven will do the job for you.

theboysinblue

Ive had a Phillips air fryer for several years, cooks oven chips much quicker than the oven.
Scampi, spring rolls, anything with crispy coating comes out well.
My fave is bratwursts cut into bite sized chunks, they come out great.
Easy to clean too.

VfM4meplse

REJP wrote: »

It should have come with an upright metal stand to hold the top section.

I can concur (not that I have used the oven, much less the shelf )

I have some HM samosas in the freezer, and think they will be my first attempt at halogen oven cooking at the weekend.

AndyCF

theboysinblue wrote: »

My fave is bratwursts cut into bite sized chunks, they come out great.

Those are actually on my "try these when you see them at some point and are in the mood to buy them" list.

I see a couple of supermarkets sell them so they are 'within range' so to speak. A cursory glance at their ingredient list shows I should find them quite yummy! , only slight downside is the nearest one is chilled and I really could do with a frozen pack, but I'll think of something.

coffeehound

Little wonder there is confusion over air fryer versus halogen oven: I just bought one of these from Groupon as I got discount:



They've started calling their halogen ovens "Halogen Air Fryers" !

AndyCF

I was going to say that is a halogen!

To make things a bit more complex there are (apparently) models that are 'in the dark' as like some of the air-fryers where you cannot see the food in progress but actually are a halogen 'bulb' heater.

The one above looks quite decent similar to the ones I've seen previously on various shop shop tv channels. Looks like it has to have the "somewhere to put th e heavy lid" though rather than opening on a hinge but its difficult to say from the package pics.

coffeehound

Yes one review said it's the same as the Cookworks one, too. It does come with some kind of stand for the lid, but I'm not sure what it is.

Gintotmelinda

Hi Coffeehound. That's the one I bought. We ate gradually getting used to it.

Gintot