OT: Air Fryers

[Waquoit]

Point being. An instapot is a rice cooker. Nothing more. What a scam.

It's an easier to use pressure cooker. I just used it to make lamb saag. Came out great,

 

[storrsroars]

It is just a smaller more circular convection oven. And I haven’t had luck with coatings on chicken yet. Chicken is best with the skin on or a spray of Pam on the surface.

It’s convenient for me. Roasts asparagus, brussel sprouts, green beans in minutes. When I make dinner for my daughter. Fries or tots in 11 minutes from the freezer. I make potato skins. It’s just quicker and convenient and gives a healthier fried option.

Wouldn't use Pam personally. But some kind of fat helps. A mister with your choice of oil is a better option - less crap that can create a buildup over time. Alternatively, I'll put the ingredients in a bowl with 1/2 tbsp of oil and toss them.

With the Air Oven, there is simply more fan power and better air circulation through engineering. While you can use convection for baking, there's a "super convection" setting for air frying. It will also dehydrate using those fans (I make dog treats from the crap left over from juicing demos).

We've done wings with dry rub a few times and enjoy the results. I've only done battered chicken a couple of times and the results were more than satisfactory taste/texture wise, although the color wasn't as golden throughout as on a deep fryer. But I've had compliments from dubious Southerners.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

We bought an instantpot and I’m lukewarm (pun intended) on it. It may cook the food more quickly but it takes forever to get pressurized and depressurized. Not to mention it’s a little nerve wrecking releasing the scalding hot steam valve. I think I still prefer the good ole slow cooker. I wish we got an air fryer instead.

 

[Husky25]

I haven't used it yet, but my wife loves the Instant Pot I got her for her birthday. We are delaying the Air Fryer until Mothers Day.

 

[UC313]

Made steel cut oats in the instajammy this morning. 7 minutes cook time. No stirring and a lil oil prevented any sticking. They were solid.

 

[Mano]

Made steel cut oats in the instajammy this morning. 7 minutes cook time. No stirring and a lil oil prevented any sticking. They were solid.

Sounds like you overcooked them.

 

[Excalibur]

LOL
No.

That and the Smoker get no workouts from Dec through Apr.

Unfortunate .

Amateur.

Grabbed a small rib roast from Big Y (had prime beef on sale) and cooked it in the Egg. 2.5 hours at 300, with one chunk of pecan wood for a little smoke. Finished just as the snow was starting to accumulate.

 

[August_West]

We bought an instantpot and I’m lukewarm (pun intended) on it. It may cook the food more quickly but it takes forever to get pressurized and depressurized. Not to mention it’s a little nerve wrecking releasing the scalding hot steam valve. I think I still prefer the good ole slow cooker. I wish we got an air fryer instead.

Like I said its a glorified rice cooker. And with pressure up and slow release times it still takes 30 minutes to cook rice. But my gas stove has flow truned up so high that I cant simmer low enough for rice. So its still useful for that to me even though there is no time save.

Although I did find one other use I like it for and now use it for. Although even then it pisses me off.

Carnitas and Barbacoa.

The Instant Pot is useful for Carnitas and Barbacoa.

I usually do them for 6 -8 hours plus, or longer in the Dutch oven and always good. But a long day.

The Instant Pot I can do it in a couple hours. about 20 minutes for pressure up, 60 to cook in High pressure, and about 40 minutes for the ball to drop on Natural pressure release.

I like the pressurization for these types of items because it seems to really inject the flavor of the seasonings and citruses I use into the meats.

Now the rub is that I usually do Barbacoa and Carnitas with at least 5 lb.s of meat. The Instant pot cant handle that much, so I have to do in 2 batches which then extends the total time to like 4.5 hours. Hardly an "instant" timesaver. And that pisses me off.

Still, results are good and worth it enough for me to use it for that.

 

[Deepster]

ADub - Just made another batch of jerky last weekend. Teriyaki pineapple jalapeño. Outstanding.

 

[August_West]

ADub - Just made another batch of jerky last weekend. Teriyaki pineapple jalapeño. Outstanding.

Fax me some.

An electric real low temp smoker is the one item I don’t possess.

Might have to steal my dads.

 

[Deepster]

Fax me some.

An electric real low temp smoker is the one item I don’t possess.

Might have to steal my dads.

I bought a propane "box" smoker. No need to watch a thing. Set the temp, put the wifi thermometer in and wait for the beep.

 

[August_West]

Wouldn't use Pam personally. But some kind of fat helps. A mister with your choice of oil is a better option - less crap that can create a buildup over time. Alternatively, I'll put the ingredients in a bowl with 1/2 tbsp of oil and toss them.

With the Air Oven, there is simply more fan power and better air circulation through engineering. While you can use convection for baking, there's a "super convection" setting for air frying. It will also dehydrate using those fans (I make dog treats from the crap left over from juicing demos).

We've done wings with dry rub a few times and enjoy the results. I've only done battered chicken a couple of times and the results were more than satisfactory taste/texture wise, although the color wasn't as golden throughout as on a deep fryer. But I've had compliments from dubious Southerners.

I don’t even attempt a flour or wet batter in the air fryer any more. Not worth it.

Dry rubs work great for wings and what not. And toss em after if sauce is desired. You can even put them back in after tossing and go “ dirty “ style. Works great.

But for “ breading” nah, just not good enough. I’ll just hit it with some Panko and mist with olive oil if I want crunch in air fryer.

 

[storrsroars]

Like I said its a glorified rice cooker. And with pressure up and slow release times it still takes 30 minutes to cook rice. But my gas stove has flow truned up so high that I cant simmer low enough for rice. So its still useful for that to me even though there is no time save.

Your range doesn't have a heat diffuser (simmer) plate?

 

[Dove]

Made steel cut oats in the instajammy this morning. 7 minutes cook time. No stirring and a lil oil prevented any sticking. They were solid.

With apples, cinnamon and brown sugar here. 7 minute cook but a 10 minute natural pressure release.

 

[August_West]

Your range doesn't have a heat diffuser (simmer) plate?

Yup. It does. I REALLY cranked the flow. Low flame is like Medium heat. Even with the plates. I even bought an extra/different one. But it still runs hot on a rice simmer.

The trade off is great though. I cook a ton of high heat stuff in cast iron that really benefits from the horsepower.

The rice in the instant pot is good enough I dont have to screw around with diffusers.

 

[storrsroars]

Yup. It does. I REALLY cranked the flow. Low flame is like Medium heat. Even with the plates. I even bought an extra/different one. But it still runs hot on a rice simmer.

The trade off is great though. I cook a ton of high heat stuff in cast iron that really benefits from the horsepower.

The rice in the instant pot is good enough I dont have to screw around with diffusers.

Could/would never do that unless I was converting my kitchen to wok cooking. Sauces too important for a lot of what I cook. Low flame a necessity.

Anwyay, unless I'm making jasmine or basmati, the TJ's frozen packages of standard white/brown rice work pretty well for utilitarian rice. No muss, no fuss.

Given your horsepower and love of all things meat, I'm now waiting for you to be the first one in CT with a discada. I'm seriously thinking of buying one and doing pop-ups around Pittsburgh this summer.

 

[August_West]

Could/would never do that unless I was converting my kitchen to wok cooking. Sauces too important for a lot of what I cook. Low flame a necessity.

Wok Cooking and Blackening are EXACTLY why I do it. I do a ton of both. And a Wok adventure is exactly what led me to changing the propane flow in the stove. (pain in the ass by the way, they make it so only service techs can do it, but with some trusty tools and the right youtube vid I figured it out.)

I have an induction plate that I use for the rare low need.

 

[storrsroars]

Wok Cooking and Blackening are EXACTLY why I do it. I do a ton of both. And a Wok adventure is exactly what led me to changing the propane flow in the stove. (pain in the ass by the way, they make it so only service techs can do it, but with some trusty tools and the right youtube vid I figured it out.)

I have an induction plate that I use for the rare low need.

You have a commercial hood?

 

[August_West]

You have a commercial hood?

not commercial enough. I smoke the place up pretty bad on a pretty regular basis. but the way the kitchen is set I can get open a window and a door with a window fan in reverse and suck the stuff that the hood doesnt handle before the house gets too crazy. Wife and daughter still complain about it though.

 

[Husky25]

Like I said its a glorified rice cooker. And with pressure up and slow release times it still takes 30 minutes to cook rice.

A rice cooker is a glorified pot. There is absolutely no purpose for it in normal working kitchen.

 

[McLovin]

The ninja foodie is an air fryer, pressure cooker, dehydrator and slow cooker all in one. Highly recommend. We use it almost daily.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I like my air fryer. It's best used to cook certain snack type foods.
Frozen french fries come out very nicely. Crispy, not soggy. As was stated above, don't overload the basket, and pull it out and give it a good shaking about halfway through. Fish sticks, and breaded, or battered fish fillets come out nicely as well. Pizza rolls came out much better than in the microwave. Chicken wings come out with a nice crispy skin. I didn't like the results when I floured the chicken like you would do for frying. I do them naked, other than seasoning, which takes some experimentation to get right. I don't know about cooking larger pieces of chicken. Cleanup is much easier than a deep fryer, and you don't get grease splattering on your walls, which never really totally comes clean. If you don't eat those types of food, you don't need an air fryer.

@Yardigan
This is probably the closest to my first impressions of:

Dry-rub wings with Old Bay seasoning
¼ inch hand cut, unpeeled Yukon gold fries
Yukon gold and red new potato chips
Simple asparagus

To my family with in a Telegram chat thread, I've pronounced everything "good not great," leaving attempts for better to the pros who work with oil, deep fryers, and cleanup every day. In other words, good enough for home use.

It highlights that I'm not enough of a fried food fan to get my own air fryer, but am happy that it s a tool available at my sister's place where I'm doing my social iso thing.

I will next try some salmon, shrimp, and vegetables that I have on hand, as an alternative cooking method that doesn't seek to create 'fried foods.' It takes more time and has more cleanup than I'd have guessed, but neither are unrealistic or onerous when you're actually experiencing it.

Posts #93 to the bottom of the page are the most helpful on air frying within this thread. The rest varies, with some akin to measuring the merits of other players within a recruiting thread where you only care about the guy in the Subject line.

 

[UC313]

Did chicken cutlets last weekend. Much cleaner that the pan full of oil.

 

[HuskyHawk]

@Yardigan
This is probably the closest to my first impressions of:

Dry-rub wings with Old Bay seasoning
¼ inch hand cut, unpeeled UConn gold fries
UConn gold and red new potato chips
Simple asparagus

To my family with in a Telegram chat thread, I've pronounced everything "good not great," leaving attempts for better to the pros who work with oil, deep fryers, and cleanup every day. In other words, good enough for home use.

It highlights that I'm not enough of a fried food fan to get my own air fryer, but am happy that it s a tool available at my sister's place where I'm doing my social iso thing.

I will next try some salmon, shrimp, and vegetables that I have on hand, as an alternative cooking method that doesn't seek to create 'fried foods.' It takes more time and has more cleanup than I'd have guessed, but neither are unrealistic or onerous when you're actually experiencing it.

Posts #93 to the bottom of the page are the most helpful on air frying within this thread. The rest varies, with some akin to measuring the merits of other players within a recruiting thread where you only care about the guy in the Subject line.

They are cheap. Wouldn't go back to not having one at this point. It's certainly way more efficient in time and energy than turning on the oven, and works better than a toaster oven for pretty much everything.

 

[Hankster]

Anyone out there like these? And why?

My wife just said we should get one. Deep down I don't see a need.

Wow, am I late on this topic. I bought one. Very good on. Bought it in Bed Bath and Beyond. Used it once. Cleaned it, put it back in the box and it is sitting on a shelf in the garage. You want it? Free. Shipping free. I need the room. Supposed to be a new healthy approach. My opinion. Food taste terrible.