Have we done the air fryer thing on KG?

[vivienz]

I'm onto my second air fryer now. I used to have a single drawer one, you know, the ones that look a bit like the helmet that Darth Vader in Star Wars wore, but I was so smitten by them that I gave my old one to a friend and bought a double drawer one.
The point of this random waffle is to say what an amazing job they do on veg, particularly anything that you would otherwise roast or grill. I've recently been gorging on asparagus lightly rubbed with olive oil, then popped into the air fryer for about 6 -8 minutes. Absolutely gorgeous! Still with a bit of bit to it but warmed through, lovely concentrated flavour as no added water.
As it's just me and hubby, about the only time I use the conventional oven now is for bread baking or anything that's in a tin that doesn't fit in the air fryer. It's also brilliant for re-heating one or two portions of something from the freezer; I heated up aubergine parmigiana last week and it was almost as good as fresh baked. It does a mean crumble, too, although you need to press the topping down a bit otherwise loose crumbs can fly around a bit.
Has anyone else taken the plunge?

[Primrose]

They do sound as if they,re becoming very popular but we alas have very limited kitchen counter space. Our indespensible automatic bread maker has already bagged the only free slot!

[Stravaig]

As someone who has to have every kitchen gadget in the known universe, I looked into getting an air fryer. I reached the conclusion that I didn't want one. I told my husband and he replied that I was in good company. Jay Rayner is also not impressed. But if you buy any foodie magazines air fryers are everywhere! They're the must have thing of the 2020s.

OK, each to their own, don't shout at me. I won't be buying one.

[Westi]

I was tempted & researched quite a bit, but that turned out quite confusing in the end; especially as their was no clear winner as everyone had their favourite. I also don't have much counter space & they are quite large. I haven't lost interest though, especially as you see them turn up on cooking programmes & the results look lovely.

The price of my gas is 10 times cheaper than my electric & I rarely use the oven, so I am going to drag out some old cookbooks from the garage to get more idea's as cooking in small spaces was also on trend a decade or so ago. I clearly remember a cake being cooked on the hob by that little Chinese girl that had that small flat in Paris.

[vivienz]

I wouldn't dream of shouting at anyone for their choice of kitchen equipment, @stravaig! I don't have a vast number of kitchen gadgets.....well, maybe lots, but not vast! But my curiosity got the better of me and that was me down the rabbit hole. I fully appreciate the gas v. electric argument, too, but our house is all electric and so if it's oven v. air fryer, then the air fryer is a big winner for me.
I will confess to having had a bread maker some years back now, but I'm a convert to making my dough by hand now as it's an excellent stress management technique!

[Colin2016]

Looking at the cost of them makes me wonder how many meals you have to make to get your money back?

Personally I think this is just good marketing, but hey if it works for you.

[Stravaig]

I have "The Little Paris Kitchen" book by Rachel Khoo, it's pretty good. And it's certainly quite impressive what she can cook in a very small kitchen

[Colin2016]

I have noticed some of items do not taste the same and wonder if this is due to manufactures cooking differently to save money.

Twiglet, cheeslets and frosties are a few that come to mind.

[Stravaig]

I'm a fan (or at least I was a fan) of Twiglets but had noticed they now state "Oven baked not fried" on the packet. (I'm eating some right now!) Perhaps my tastebuds have changed but I don't like them as much as I used to.

I'm going to try making my own. How hard can it be? It's just a biscuity stick with a yeast extract flavour and we're all familiar with that popular yeast extract - Marmite.

I don't eat breakfast cereals but I can imagine the sugar police have done something to change Frosties. I've never had cheeselets but I did get a packet of mini-cheddars recently and thought they were rather bland. Not as I remembered them.

I think a lot of food production has changed a lot in the last few decades. Probably, as you say, to cut costs but probably also for "health" reasons. I used to eat chicken happily enough, now I'd rather eat cotton wool than your average supermarket chicken. I'll only eat corn fed free range now and it's an expensive occasional treat, absolutely not a cheap meat for an everyday weeknight meal. I would rather eat veggie than poor quality meat. That said, I do spend a small fortune on fish.

[Stravaig]

Westi, I was thinking more about your suggestion of older recipes but they mostly weren't very exciting. Apart from the frugality of many, a lot of people wouldn't eat "foreign muck". An elderly aunt of mine wouldn't eat pizza. I said "But you like bread, cheese and tomatoes don't you?" She replied, "Yes, but not all mixed up like that". Even garlic was very daring. And, as Colin pointed out earlier their food would have been prepared and processed differently.

Of course the exception to the simplicity and frugality were for the likes of the Lord and Lady of the manor who hired a tribe of kitchen staff to make the most elaborate dishes.(Actually, it's not a "tribe", it's more usually called a "brigade".) Think Mrs P of Downton Abbey. Very few people would be eating like that these days - King Charles, yes, probably, but even Brittish Ambassadors generally not. I've never yet had nice food at a "Residence" (where the ambo or Head of Mission lives).

Thinking about amabassadors, the Italian ambo in London has a superb chef, Danilo Cortellini. I have his book "4 Grosvenor Square". It's good!

[retropants]

My mother is over the moon with her new airfryer (and she is a remoska fan), it is a pull out shelf one. She makes everything in it as far as I can tell. My brother has a bigger one, he made a mahoosive cake in it and it came out great. I have no space in my littel kicthen for one, but my remoska is good enough for the two of us at present. I am looking to get the grand remoska though, double the size! They come up occasionally on ebay and they are faily easy to shove into a cupboard when not in use.

[Stravaig]

We bought a remoska after reading about it on here. Honestly? I don't like it. If you heat croissants in it they come out mushy. Nothing is ever quite right. I'll probably give mine to the charity shop. It seemed like a good idea to buy it but... nah.

Maybe our landlord of the flat would buy it off us. It's an unfurnished flat so we had to buy every darned thing. I shall invite him round and he can see how we've improved his place. Then I'll try to sell him the beds, bookcases, and remoska. I expect you'd get more money for renting out a furnished flat rather than an unfurnished one. That might appeal to him. (Actually he seems like a very nice and co-operative guy. No problems.)

[robo]

I’m on my second ,the first one I gave my endest as I found it useless then the youngest daughter bought me a ninja for Christmas about 3 years ago I wouldn’t be without it I even cook the bacon for breakfast come diner in it it takes 7 minutes then if I’m having chips for tea they go in it and no oil or fat I don’t use the stuff on anything ,I don’t do any baking I don’t have time my wife was the baker I cook simple things like Iceland dinner for one

[Myrkk]

…if I’m having chips for tea they go in it and no oil or fat…

How does stuff turn out with no oil use Robo?

I’ve got very specific dietary needs and one of those is only EVOO het up and even then only to 180degrees in the oven. The few other oils I can eat have to be cold pressed and the majority can be het up all.

My hubbie is quite keen on a ninja but I’m not convinced. Can you set the temperature on them?

I suppose I’m just comfy with our current cooking style and a bit resistant to change as we’ve had to change how and what we cook quite significantly over the last 3years courtesy of me getting ill. My diet is now so restricted that I’m darn sure I’m going to enjoy what I can eat lol. If it’s going to come out of the air fryer like a piece of cardboard because I can’t use oil I’d rather just use the oven.