The Actifry & AirFryer Thread - Merged

rubadub

I did a full chicken in my small aifryer in about 35mins after preheating. Think it was 1.1 or 1.2kg. Trick was to section it up and deeply score some places so heat got in.

I plan on using it as a dehydrator soon too, drying out onions to make onion powder.

maringo

Chicken Tikka Masala airfrier recipe video down the page on here.

http://www.airfryers.org/

Muahahaha

I'm really tempted to get one as the reviews are very positive but also I'm running out of counter space ! So I just wanna ask owners of these what the main advantages are ?
Does airfrying make the food taste better than conventional ovens/deep fat fryers ? Or is it more of a convenience/less clean up thing ? Or is the main reason to eat healthier, and on that note do people feel the healthier claims stack up to the extent they claim ?

Also to cook a full chicken in one (1.4-1.6kg) do you need to chop it up first to fit it ? What about pizza, is this a no-go ?

Bateman

I guess whether you "feel" it or not, air frying is healthier than deep frying, end of. That and the cleanliness/convenience are the big ones.

Muahahaha

Thanks for that. How about cooking chickens or full pizzas in them, do they fit or too small ?

Bateman

Jaysus I don’t think I’d attempt to cook a whole chicken or a pizza, sure they probably wouldn’t fit. Wings, thighs etc, it does the job

Muahahaha

Thanks, I was kinda hoping the actifry could replace my oven altogether but I suppose pizza is a step too far for this gadget! I still reckon I'll get one when the funds allow

rubadub

I did a small chicken as mentioned, mine is the small airfryer

rubadub wrote: »

I did a full chicken in my small aifryer in about 35mins after preheating. Think it was 1.1 or 1.2kg. Trick was to section it up and deeply score some places so heat got in.

I have done pizza too. I got a frozen one and defrosted it in the fridge, it then dropped into the basket and curled up at the sides a little. Some pizzas would fit in perfectly. It was nicer than pizza from a normal oven as it cooked in half the time, so more like a real pizza oven speed wise (but lower temp).

Another pizza I cut into 1/4ers and could fit 2 in at a time, the points facing each other and then shifted inwards a bit.

The bigger version would probably fit them.

I really like the quick preheat time, I don't bother preheating most times. I also greatly value the timer, as when it turns off it is still hot but does not remain as hot as my normal oven. My regular oven has an off timer but will continue cooking. With this I turn it on and head to the shops or do whatever around the house and comeback, no need to keep an eye on it at all. Cleaning is a breeze too.

I got it at christmas and have never set out to use my main oven since, unless it just happened to be on with someone else using it.

I do not consider it to be like a deep frier at all, just a fast heating, fast cooking, highly efficient fan oven.

I am usually only cooking for myself, I would have got a bigger one otherwise. Though it might be enough to cook a partial meal for more, e.g. 2 people might have enough meat in it and be cooking rice or potatoes at the same time on a stove or microwave.

verywell

Muahahaha wrote: »

Thanks, I was kinda hoping the actifry could replace my oven altogether but I suppose pizza is a step too far for this gadget! I still reckon I'll get one when the funds allow

Perhaps a Halogen Oven would be more suited to your needs.

I use mine all the time for Chicken, Chips, Spuds, Veg etc

rubadub

I got silicone fairy cake cases for my small air fryer. They are in packs of 6 in dealz for €1.49. 6 fit into the airfyer tray, bit of a tight fit so hte sides are squished if you were looking for perfect cakes.

I did onion bhajis in mine, mixing coconut oil in with the mixture. Completely non stick and easy to clean. As the heat only goes to 200C the cases should be fine. They are pretty thin and inside the case the bhajis had browned, I turned them over anyway and browned them a bit more.

http://www.dealz.ie/jane-asher-s-kitchen/preparation-equipment/jane-asher-silicone-cake-cases

You can see they have the curved side like normal cases. This is just for show


but normal cases are made out of a flat bit of paper.


I tried normal cases previously but without the support of a baking dish for fairy cases the papers just fell flat. These silicone ones support themselves.

I am going to try eggs in the next, crack and egg and split the yoke and put a bit of butter in it.

Muahahaha

verywell wrote: »

Perhaps a Halogen Oven would be more suited to your needs.

I use mine all the time for Chicken, Chips, Spuds, Veg etc

Thanks, I've since researched it and decided that a halogen oven would be better for me than an Actifry. As the halogen does pretty much everything it's more versatile for what I need it for. I mainly cook for 1-2 people so it seems a lot more efficient than heating a full oven. Plus you can get airfryer attachments for them which get good reviews. I'm looking at buying the Andrew James model in the next while, the reviews on Amazon are pretty good for it and it generally seems to improve on the first generation models that have heavy and hot lids you need to put in a shaky stand. Later models seem to have a hinged door which appears better than a fully removable cover which is still plugged in.

Bateman

Anyone got any tips on cleaning the son of a bitch? Rinsing out the main tray with hot water gets rid of most of the grease with a quick wipe down afterwards but it doesn't seem ideal. The basket obviously just needs to be wiped in warm soapy water and then wiped dry.

Tom Dunne

Bateman wrote: »

Anyone got any tips on cleaning the son of a bitch? Rinsing out the main tray with hot water gets rid of most of the grease with a quick wipe down afterwards but it doesn't seem ideal. The basket obviously just needs to be wiped in warm soapy water and then wiped dry.

Yeah, it's a nightmare. I fill the tray with boiling water and lots of washing up liquid and scrub it with a long-handled plastic brush. After nearly two years now, it's showing lots of mileage.

MugMugs

I fill it with Boiling water and pop a dishwasher tablet in there. Leave it for a few hours to steep and come back and scrub and it comes up crystal clear !

Bateman

Boiling water doesn't seem ideal for something made of plastic but will do that next time, cheers

rubadub

Not sure which device people are talking about cleaning, actifry or airfryer.

The airfryer parts can go into a dishwasher. When mine is still hot I pour out any excess oil onto a plate and put in hot water and washing up liquid, so the water has covered the mesh. I then put this back into the fryer to heat it up. Then I leave it sit and steep and it usually rinses out fairly cleanly.

The paint/coating on the bottom of my airfryer basket has come off in several spots. I never used a scourer and they are off in clean circular dots, its like there was a flaw in the coating process.

donegal.

i have a shop and sell deep fat fryers (but not the airfryer/actifryer)

the 2 products that are most complained about are the tefal actifryer and dyson vacs. To the extent i won't stock either.

Muahahaha

donegal. wrote: »

i have a shop and sell deep fat fryers (but not the airfryer/actifryer)

the 2 products that are most complained about are the tefal actifryer and dyson vacs. To the extent i won't stock either.

I wouldn't be so quick to judge. Take a look at them on Amazon where there is over 500 reviews with a score of 4.5/5.

The thing about complaints is that people do it a lot more of it than they do praise. So for every complaint you've ever heard about a Tefal Actifry there are probably another 9 customers who are perfectly happy, at least the 500 Amazon reviews seem to suggest that.

Also on the Dyson thing, well opinion seems to be split. But as a retailer that shouldn't matter to you either because a good segment of the market have a Dyson and like it and when it comes to buying a new vac then they're highly likely to go for another Dyson. If you're not stocking them then you're potentially missing out on repeat business as customers go elsewhere to get what they want.

You'll always have some people complaining about a product but if you're actually selling it then it's important to remain objective and look at what the market is saying rather than listening to the 10% minority. If I were a retailer I'd stock Dysons over any other vacumn cleaner for one reason- they are the only vacumn cleaner company who runs TV ads and for a retailer that is gold because TV has a reach directly into the homes of every potential customer within a 20 mile radius of your shop.

rubadub

donegal. wrote: »

the 2 products that are most complained about are the tefal actifryer and dyson vacs.

What are the complaints about the actifryer?

Often the complaints will have no bearing on my opinion, like the complaints about the airfryer not being as good as a deep fat fryer for chips, I knew it could never match it.

I remember seeing a bad review for a dvd of a Jaws anniversary boxset, user gave it 1 star since they liked sharks and thought the film gave them a bad name!

Talking to the professional cleaners in my workplace rate dysons very poorly.

donegal.

the main gripe i hear about the actifryer is about how long they last considering their cost. (but alot of other people love theirs)

Dyson on the other hand is almost entirely negative. (500 reviews is very small compared to what i hear at work)
The only customers that rave about them usually have replaced a very cheap vacuum with a dyson and its their first time owning a premium priced vacuum.

on the other hand people who have replaced a miele /nilfisk ect with a dyson have nothing good to say about them.


i only have a small shop and cant stock every brand of everything and customer feedback is very important when deciding what to get. And you might be surprised how small the dyson repurchasing market is , but i sell loads of nilfisk to exdyson owners.

MrSing

I was about to purchase a small deep fat fryer this morning as we would kinda need it from time to time when i noticed the actifry and other small fryers that only use 1 or 2 teaspoons of oil .
Has anyone used these fryers, what's the food like out of them? Can you cook onion rings or French fried onion in it?they seem to be quite slow do they get very hot? Maybe hard on electricity?

Glebee

Bought mine for my mum as a gift for Christmas.. She never uses it so I took it back..:) Only use it for chips, be it frozen or freshly cut.. No oil needed for frozen chips and they turn out lovely. Usualy take about twenty minutes for a good quantity of frozen chips(maybe 3-4 bags)

The Hill Billy

Merged.

tHB

vibe666

good deal (€123.49) on the slightly larger 1.2kg actifry for anyone in the market for one.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057325626

Bateman

Y'know the bags of frozen skinny fries you get in Lidl? Anyone know if they can be done in the air fryer and if so, how do they turn out? How much oil do they need?

Glebee

Frozen chips need no oil as far as im aware.( i never use any)
I mostly use Super Valu frozen chips and they turn out very nice...

Makood

Bateman wrote: »

Y'know the bags of frozen skinny fries you get in Lidl? Anyone know if they can be done in the air fryer and if so, how do they turn out? How much oil do they need?

Turn out fine-about 15-20 mins depending on how many you have in. Keep an eye on them.
No oil needed as previous posted said. The thicker chips are much better though in my opinion.

nkay1985

Has anybody bought the Actifry 2-in-1? The idea of being able to cook a whole meal in one of these appeals to me but I'm wondering how effective it is. Reviews on Amazon seem pretty positive but it is quite expensive. You'd buy two of the 1.2kg ones for the price of one of the 2-in-1 ones which has a 1.5kg capacity and a top layer for cooking meat etc.

BofaDeezNuhtz

nkay1985 wrote: »

Has anybody bought the Actifry 2-in-1? The idea of being able to cook a whole meal in one of these appeals to me but I'm wondering how effective it is. Reviews on Amazon seem pretty positive but it is quite expensive. You'd buy two of the 1.2kg ones for the price of one of the 2-in-1 ones which has a 1.5kg capacity and a top layer for cooking meat etc.

Purchase cost is a one off cost tho remember.
Running 2 smaller ones with one for meat and one doing chips etc on the
counter will in the end cost way more than running just 1 bigger dual layer
machine electricity wise no?


In saying that has anybody actually worked out the running costs of these
versus normal ovens or each model against each other?

Comparable food eg:
1kg oven chips in Acti/Airfryer by 25mins by X amount of electricity used = X cost.
1kg oven chips in normal oven by 25mins by X amount of electricity used = X cost.

rubadub

Suzuki_TL1000R wrote: »

Comparable food eg:
1kg oven chips in Acti/Airfryer by 25mins by X amount of electricity used = X cost.
1kg oven chips in normal oven by 25mins by X amount of electricity used = X cost.

I have not tested it with a power meter but I know for sure my airfryer uses a lot less than a typical oven. The airfryer manual says to halve the time of frozen food like chips. So in your comparison the airfyer chips are 12.5mins vs 25mins in the oven. The perheat time is much quicker on an aifryer, it is so fast I rarely bother preheating it. I do say sausages or frozen chicken nuggets both in about 8mins, this is sticking them in and turning it on to 200C for nuggest or 180C for sausages, with no preheating.

After they are cooked the airfryer will keep them warm and cook on a little bit, but nowhere near the amount that a regular oven would. I really like this and sometimes factor it into my cooking times. e.g. have it cook for 2-3mins less knowing it will be sitting in the airfryer for 20mins after.

The airfryer is only about 1.5kW, you can see it turning off once it gets up to temperature. Lets say during my 8mins it is fully heating for 66% of the time, this means its like 1kW. If this was running for 1 hour like this it would use 1kWhr which is about 16cent or so. As its only on for 8mins, it is about 2cent.

The fan bit of it is always on but would use relatively little power.

I rarely use the regular oven anymore, only if my housemate has it on. I often come in and the oven is on but I want food quickly so use the airfryer. I am usually eating my cooked food before he even puts his food in the regular oven.

BofaDeezNuhtz

rubadub wrote: »

I have not tested it with a power meter but I know for sure my airfryer uses a lot less than a typical oven. The airfryer manual says to halve the time of frozen food like chips. So in your comparison the airfyer chips are 12.5mins vs 25mins in the oven. The perheat time is much quicker on an aifryer, it is so fast I rarely bother preheating it. I do say sausages or frozen chicken nuggets both in about 8mins, this is sticking them in and turning it on to 200C for nuggest or 180C for sausages, with no preheating.

After they are cooked the airfryer will keep them warm and cook on a little bit, but nowhere near the amount that a regular oven would. I really like this and sometimes factor it into my cooking times. e.g. have it cook for 2-3mins less knowing it will be sitting in the airfryer for 20mins after.

The airfryer is only about 1.5kW, you can see it turning off once it gets up to temperature. Lets say during my 8mins it is fully heating for 66% of the time, this means its like 1kW. If this was running for 1 hour like this it would use 1kWhr which is about 16cent or so. As its only on for 8mins, it is about 2cent.

The fan bit of it is always on but would use relatively little power.

I rarely use the regular oven anymore, only if my housemate has it on. I often come in and the oven is on but I want food quickly so use the airfryer. I am usually eating my cooked food before he even puts his food in the regular oven.

That's a good enough guesstimate, good man cheers

heldel00

Got sucked into the whole "new year new me" malarkey and threw out chip pan. Very, very disappointed. Dry, tasteless chips.
Cut chips all to the same size, dried them well before putting in but should I be doing something else?

rubadub

heldel00 wrote: »

Got sucked into the whole "new year new me" malarkey and threw out chip pan. Very, very disappointed.

Which do you have, airfryer or actifry?

I have the airfryer, I was saying before it is not a deep fryer replacement, its just a fast fan oven. They really do themselves no favours, most of the negative reviews I see are about how its not a deep fryer replacment.

I would coat them well in oil and half way through cooking take them out and coat in oil again. Maybe even do this 3 times.

muirsheen

heldel00 wrote: »

Got sucked into the whole "new year new me" malarkey and threw out chip pan. Very, very disappointed. Dry, tasteless chips.
Cut chips all to the same size, dried them well before putting in but should I be doing something else?

I parboil the chips for a few mins, drain , spray with oil and then season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 10-12 mins. Gorgeous.

rubadub

muirsheen wrote: »

I parboil the chips for a few mins,

Have you ever tried a low heat first?

I was wondering about giving them 10mins at 80C, so the water would not all boil off. I could leave them sitting in the warmth for another 10mins after or so, less hassle than a parboil. I know Heston recommended "boiling" potatoes at 80C or so.

I do sweet potatoes an put them in with no oil at all at first as I find it does not stick well when its wet. After a few mins the surface is dried off and it take the oil well.

I also wondered about dehyrating onions at a low temp.

muirsheen

rubadub wrote: »

Have you ever tried a low heat first?

I was wondering about giving them 10mins at 80C, so the we water would not all boil off. I could leave them sitting in the warmth for another 10mins after or so, less hassle than a parboil. I know Heston recommended "boiling" potatoes at 80C or so.

I do sweet potatoes an put them in with no oil at all at first as I find it does not stick well when its wet. After a few mins the surface is dried off and it take the oil well.

I also wondered about dehyrating onions at a low temp.

Never tried a low heat , never even thought of that. Really like these chips and they are free in slimming world.

greasepalm

i tried the actifry for a week and sent it back,could not wait 30 mins to do chips,replaced with a philips airfryer and buying different brands of chips to see the different taste.making your own chips they state add some oil .i need the healthy option.

heldel00

rubadub wrote: »

Which do you have, airfryer or actifry?

I have the airfryer, I was saying before it is not a deep fryer replacement, its just a fast fan oven. They really do themselves no favours, most of the negative reviews I see are about how its not a deep fryer replacment.

I would coat them well in oil and half way through cooking take them out and coat in oil again. Maybe even do this 3 times.

Tefal actifry but gave it another go this eve and they were gorgeous. Dried spuds well, chopped chips bigger, less time and a tad more oil. Happy out with it now!

L1011

greasepalm wrote: »

making your own chips they state add some oil .i need the healthy option.

This is because the frozen ones nearly always have some oil in them already.

mono_mac

How do people cook frozen burgers in philips . Ie big als burgers , what temp and time

Bateman

rubadub wrote: »

. After a few mins the surface is dried off and it take the oil well.

I also wondered about dehyrating onions at a low temp.

I'd say that's important, maybe I don't do it enough either. You wouldn't put food dripping in water into a hot oil deep fat fryer, so I think some sort of drying time between parboiling and acti-frying is important.

ynul31f47k6b59

greasepalm wrote: »

i tried the actifry for a week and sent it back,could not wait 30 mins to do chips,replaced with a philips airfryer and buying different brands of chips to see the different taste.making your own chips they state add some oil .i need the healthy option.

I have an Airfryer and I do almost everything in it, I love it. Have you used Frylight? It's an oil spray, about 1 cal per spray. I parboil my chips - or actually if I'm boiling potatoes for dinner I'll keep one or two over for the next day and cut into chips, put in airtight container in fridge - anyway, if you spray the homemade chips with frylight they cook really well and taste lovely.

I did Kale chips in mine today, they do have a habit of flying up to the top and getting stuck to the top of it but they usually fall down again when I turn it off. Lovely and crispy, bit of chilli powder with few sprays of olive oil, a good shake delicious!

Shiraz 4.99

Question on these airfryers.

Where do you add the tablespoon or so of oil ?.
Is there some compartment for it or do you spray the chips first ?.

brick tamland

Shiraz 4.99 wrote: »

Question on these airfryers.

Where do you add the tablespoon or so of oil ?.
Is there some compartment for it or do you spray the chips first ?.

just spray the chips

Tom Dunne

Shiraz 4.99 wrote: »

Question on these airfryers.

Where do you add the tablespoon or so of oil ?.
Is there some compartment for it or do you spray the chips first ?.

I usually put the potatoes into a bowl first, drop in a large tablespoon (or two) of oil, stir it around to ensure the chips are well coated and then put them into the air fryer.

Related snippet: Tesco do a range of flavoured oils (e.g. garlic, basil, etc.). I used the garlic one the other day as described above, with baby potatoes into the airfryer, utterly delicious. The airfryer actually shrinks the skin of the potatoes, giving them this lovely shrivelled texture.

imitation

So are the actifry or air frier good solution for a single fella who likes the odd chicken goujon, potoato wedges and potato waffles ? Im seeing 45 min cook times for some stuff, thats a fair wait for some fast food.

beer enigma

imitation wrote: »

So are the actifry or air frier good solution for a single fella who likes the odd chicken goujon, potoato wedges and potato waffles ? Im seeing 45 min cook times for some stuff, thats a fair wait for some fast food.

Would be perfect imo.

45 mins seems like an awful long time, I used mine at home last night for a full portion of wings & done in about 20 mins.

greasepalm

i use the air frier alot chicken goujons and hash browns in around 15 minutes,6 pieces of chicken and 8 hash brows at 200.

Muahahaha

imitation wrote: »

So are the actifry or air frier good solution for a single fella who likes the odd chicken goujon, potoato wedges and potato waffles ? Im seeing 45 min cook times for some stuff, thats a fair wait for some fast food.

It would but I'd also advise you research a halogen oven as they're a good bit cheaper and also perfect for wedges, goujons, waffles, etc. Halogens are also great for roasting full chickens, beef cuts, etc. They heat up very quickly and use less electricity as a conventional oven, Ive only used my main oven for large casseroles and pizzas since I got a halogen, its a fab piece of kit.

Airfryers get a lot of plaudits but IMO a halogen is more versatile in what it can do.

greasepalm

i use the jml halogen oven to do my steak 15 mins at 200 for extra thick striploin or rib-eye,and my fries and onion rings in the philips airfryer.
yep do a roast chicken in 90 mins in the halogen oven,lovely and moist.

have both best of both worlds.