Air fryers

OK, somebody had to ask so why not a guy who is allergic to kitchen gadgets.

We try to cook outside when we're away in the van, usually on the BBQ. If it's wet outside, cooking in the van usually means lots of condensation, which I hate. Using the microwave helps but are Air fryers the answer to all our prayers? If you believe the (current) hype, even from top chefs, it would seem they could be.

So, heads above the parapets folks, who has one and do they work? More importantly, if I buy one, will it sit in the cupboard under the sink with the other must have kitchen gadgets, never to be seen again?

Hi  

Don’t mind putting my head above the parapet.

I bought one and It’s one of the best buys I’ve ever made. It’s quick and it cooks food really well and I don’t use the large oven at all now. Mine is a Tower unit with three “shelves” so you can do say meat (or a meat free equivalent) and roasted veg at the same time for a complete meal from one unit.

OK it’s not a big as the main oven but it will take a medium sized chicken or a turkey crown.

One tip is that the built-in programmes are mostly rubbish so don’t rely on them. You’ll soon find the best settings (usually slightly lower temperature than you would use in a normal oven)
Mine is the design with a glass door that opens so you can see what’s happening. Don’t know what the newer ones with the basket are like but probably OK.

Personally, I prefer a stainless-steel inner because I find it easy to clean. I’ve never had a non-stick air fryer but generally I’ve found non-stick becomes “stick” after a while and you can’t clean it in the same way you can clean stainless steel.

If you get one, I’ll be very surprised if it stays in the cupboard, I use mine every day. My only concern if you are thinking of using one in the van is that they may be a bit too heavy on “lekkie” or an EHU.
 
Brod 

Yeah - got the same one as Brod.  Never use the main oven now - didn't even use it at Christmas as the Tower has the 3 shelves so we could put the veg in and just move the shelves up or down to stop anything getting too well done.  Not sure about how it would work on EHU (electrical measuring is like black magic to me) but we have never looked back since we got ours in the house and it uses less leccy as we have never had to preheat it yet.

I like the inside for cleaning too, plus the door is very easy to remove (it's just a sliding clip) so you can clean the inside easily and also clean the door

Yes, I have to agree with everyone else.  Ive got a Ninja air fryer and , like other posters, I haven't used my main oven since getting it 6 months ago.  With an air fryer, slow cooker  and microwave oven there is really nothing else you need.

We - well, I mean my wife - has a Ninja all-singing air fryer / pressure cooker / and many other settings. It's the Swiss-army knife equivalent in the kitchen. She's had it for over a year. It's used very frequently, with great results. Says she would not be without it. 

And I can testify as to the excellent results!

By now, our daughter (for family of 4) and our sone also have one. Full marks.

Cymro

OK, I'm tempted. We were parked next to a family (maw, paw and two weans) in a caravan last year and they "cooked" outside with one almost every night. 

It's really about cooking meals when we're away, we pitch on sites with ehu so that shouldn't be an issue. Guess I need to "encourage" the boss to do some research, I mean, I would do it but she will check my homework anyway 

I think this is a rather complicated subject, are you eating inside or out, are you cooking inside or out? Are you cooking for a quick meal say using a frying pan, or you cooking with malice afore thought using a slow cooker with food prepared at breakfast time and cooked during the day to be eaten in the evening. Even Blue Peter with a touch of magic only managed to produce something for the cameras they had actually prepared earlier. What sort of food do you want to cook, local seafood, vegetarian food, more Indian or Eastern food?

I remain to be convinced about allocating our limited storage space to having an air fryer.
For cooking outside we have a Cadac 2+2 BBQ to which I've recently added a single Vango induction hob as yet untested. Cooking quick and tasty meals outside in warm weather is where I'm at.

The induction hob is for cooking outside on EHU avoiding use of LPG. I did buy a small slow cooker about a year ago which I have yet to fully unpack. Our 600W toaster remains mostly at home, do I need the extra bread calories now I cycle less.

I'll give a shout out for the wok, a most versatile kitchen cooking method that can produce quick and healthy food for the table, albeit with rather a lot of preparation time taken up in chopping vegetables.

I have an open mind though currently it's closed to me buying an air fryer. Don't let this stop anyone though, you aren't me.

We eat out......

By out I mean not outside van, just ....out!

IanH wrote:We eat out......

By out I mean not outside van, just ....out!

We eat out too …. But generally inside !

IanH wrote:We eat out......

By out I mean not outside van, just ....out!

Is that Out or Out Out

I did a similar post last year and at the time got mainly negative thoughts.    We got one anyway and it is the most used item of equipment we own.    I would echo just about every positive comment above.   We love it and we're both pretty critical chefs.

Haven't tripped an EHU yet   ......   actually that's not quite right, she did once when she had the kettle, toaster and water heater on, and then switched on the Cosori.!! 

Wouldn't be without it.   It sits under one of the bench seats in the van in one of these extra strong Lidl carrier bags, and easily lifts in and out.

Where on earth would you store one in a Warwick (Sussex) Duo?

Paulmold wrote:Where on earth would you store one in a Warwick (Sussex) Duo?

In the oven 

We have had a fairly standard air fryer in our kitchen at home for a while. I thought it was our daughters because we never used it. When she moved out I thought she left it behind but apparently it was bought by management but daughter claimed it. It certainly has taken over from the oven for a lot cooking now we are getting used to it.
It’s only recently we bought a slow cooker to use in the motorhome when we are on sites and I know we have the space and payload to carry more gadgets like an air fryer but recently we have not used sites as much as we used to so it will need a bit more thinking about. 
It appears to be the trend for new builds to be fitted with a microwave and a coffee maker. Will it become the norm to be given the choice of an air fryer instead of a cooker especially with the current issues regarding LPG availability.

Askit wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Where on earth would you store one in a Warwick (Sussex) Duo?

In the oven 

But the bread's already in there........

IanH wrote:

Askit wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Where on earth would you store one in a Warwick (Sussex) Duo?

In the oven 

But the bread's already in there........

No that's in the microwave.

I would echo all the positive comments. I stopped using my ovens, even the mini oven,
the week I bought it.
Just two other comments.
My Tower version is 2kW so that's a consideration. Others are much lower wattage, 1.4/1.7kW.
And it's ideal for 2-3 people but maybe not a family although my friends cooked a whole chicken
on the rotisserie device.

Hello all
There has been no mention of a 'Remoska' cooker.
We were recommended it by friends who use one in there caravan. It is so good they now us it in there home. We also bought one for home, and use it all the time with great results.
Lower wattage ,simple to use and cooks just about anything.
Look it up!
Simon

Correct me if I'm wrong....I think the ramoska is good but would it do oven chips or breaded oven fish
Each have they're advantages.

Hi  

wellsy wrote:There has been no mention of a 'Remoska' cooker.

I think because the original question was specifically asking about air fryers. There are certainly Remoska users on the forum and they have been discussed in the past.

"Advanced Search" will bring up several threads.

Brod

Askit wrote:OK, somebody had to ask so why not a guy who is allergic to kitchen gadgets.

We try to cook outside when we're away in the van, usually on the BBQ. If it's wet outside, cooking in the van usually means lots of condensation, which I hate. Using the microwave helps but are Air fryers the answer to all our prayers? If you believe the (current) hype, even from top chefs, it would seem they could be.

So, heads above the parapets folks, who has one and do they work? More importantly, if I buy one, will it sit in the cupboard under the sink with the other must have kitchen gadgets, never to be seen again?

We had a serious look at these following this post both on line and visiting several retail outlets.

Yes they work and save energy for a single item cook but not for the van, too big and energy hungry for European campsites - we will stick with the gas oven.

At home we usually use two and often three ovens for a meal (keeping food warm, resting meat, etc) so we'd only be replacing one of those with the Air Fryer and it takes up a massive amount of worktop space so, again, not for us.

In summary a good gadget that we wouldn't use.

This is a low wattage air fryer, may be ideal for use with an inverter 

https://www.homesteadcaravans.co.uk/accessory-shop/caravan-motorhome/electrical/12v-230v-appliances/digital-air-fryer.htm?fbclid=IwAR2N11Tb4YgVNu2swEzmsdQ1Qzy3QYuQFfsu7KLwcZwEIseaaz6X0cJ_2kw#description-block

I managed to buy a low watt air fryer today of Facebook marketplace for £15 brand new so thought for the money I would have a play 

The air fryer is an Asda brand 900w 1.5ltr pot, I ran the Airfryer for 15 minutes with nothing in the basket using the 1500w inverter and the 200ah lead carbon gel battery, below the photos show my Victron app pages for the MPPT regulator and the Shunt showing power used and I was quite surprised, every few minutes the thermostat kicked in saving power and overall for a 15 minute cook very few amps used, I will not be using this every day but occasionally for chips as oven chips in the oven took for ever