The Actifry & AirFryer Thread - Merged

Just on that Amazon link Keepa is saying it was £70 on Feb 22nd and later £75 on May 8th so at the current price of £99 it is due a drop shortly.

I wonder what airfryers with a rotisserie function are like with for cleaning up. Would imagine it could be a pain with splashes of fat getting everywhere inside it.

Anyone? :-)

zweton wrote: »

Anyone? :-)

I would go for the large Power one. Even if cooking for 1 the regulars are really small. You could easily fit a large chicken in it and have leftovers.

I was saying several times if my philips breaks I am going to get a large Power brand one.

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

The main advantage will be quicker cooking time and I find when you fill them to near capacity things don’t always cook evenly.

It may not be quicker, once up to temperature the heater will be thermostatically controlled, so power does not matter at that point. The speed of the fan will also determine how quickly things cook as you are refreshing the air on it faster, just like a regular fan oven is faster, the airfryer is faster again, but not all will have the same speed fan. Also the larger airfryer could possibly take longer to get to the preheat temperature as its a larger unit to preheat, and 1700W vs 1400W is not much of a difference.

I don't bother preheating anyway, its so quick to get up there is no need, no need in most regular ovens too unless doing critical things like maybe a cake or fast cooking pizza.

rubadub wrote: »

It may not be quicker, once up to temperature the heater will be thermostatically controlled, so power does not matter at that point. The speed of the fan will also determine how quickly things cook as you are refreshing the air on it faster, just like a regular fan oven is faster, the airfryer is faster again, but not all will have the same speed fan. Also the larger airfryer could possibly take longer to get to the preheat temperature as its a larger unit to preheat, and 1700W vs 1400W is not much of a difference.

I don't bother preheating anyway, its so quick to get up there is no need, no need in most regular ovens too unless doing critical things like maybe a cake or fast cooking pizza.

Where I was coming from was a comparison of the Philips XL 2100W that I have vs the 1500W Power one that a family member has. There is absolutely no comparison in terms of speed that it cooks things, I also find the bigger unit that I have cooks food far more evenly.

While the fan is another factor I’d be surprised if the larger power one that was posted wasn’t faster than the smaller one tbh.

Muahahaha wrote: »

Has anyone ever managed to take the element off the Philips airfryer to clean it?

I have not managed to. I leave mine outside on full heat for a while to try and burn it off. A trick I use for fatty food is to just take out the basket and rest the food on the bottom, so it now the fat has to jump up higher to hit the element. I always wanted to try a metal plate suspended above the food, or a mesh like a spatter gaurd. You could get a cheap one and cut to size. I think I heard of some doing this, it might increase cook time but that would not really bother me.

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

I haven’t done steak in one in a long time. Any suggestions for temps/timings?

I do them for 40-90mins at 80C in the small philips. Then sear on a roaring hot pan. The inside is still pink as it does not get to 80C. I am not sure on the stability of the units though, as a few degrees difference and it would make a difference.

The fat renders beautifully and the outside is dried off so sears better.

rubadub wrote: »

I do them for 40-90mins at 80C in the small philips. Then sear on a roaring hot pan. The inside is still pink as it does not get to 80C. I am not sure on the stability of the units though, as a few degrees difference and it would make a difference.

Must give that a try, I would have thought anything that long in there even at the low temp would have been like jerky when it came out.

Nice sirloins 2 for a fiver in Supervalu at the minute by the way.

It is on Amazon so you can read lots of reviews about it there. Seems to be decent and for 60 quid you cant go too far wrong

zweton wrote: »

Thanks all, will pick up the Power XL. Now to try find the best price

Picked it up yesterday its so good really like it. Very convenient done the brekkie this morn and chicken skewers yesterday. Came out lovely, very impressed with it.

Instant Pot have launched an air fryer.

It'll be interesting to see how it stacks up against the Phillips.

https://www.instantpot.co.uk/product/instant-vortex-6-4-in-1-air-fryer/

£89 if you use the Fry10 coupon code.

Sounds very competitive.

rob316 wrote: »

I bought the Cosori airfryer from Amazon a few weeks back. £69 it cost. Really nice piece of kit, digital, pre sets, non stick basket so far easier to keep clean than the Philips wire basket. Even gives you a beep to shake the basket during cooking!

Interesting... am in market for a replacement

Lidl have the 3.2L Salter for €49. Lidl plus app for €5 off will bring it €45.

Can someone please rank best air fryers please, price not an issue. Need one to cook chips for BBQs for a few people so based on what I've read here I need a large one.
I'll often be cooking for four adults and four or five kids.

I'd like to use it for more than chips but good chips for BBQs is important.

rob316 wrote: »

I would definitely recommend the cosori. £89 for large one https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSORI-Electric-Temperature-Reminder-Function/dp/B07N8QY3YH/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=cosori&qid=1597065496&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFSMUxMSlE2NkdITkUmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA0NTk2OTkzMEtZVVVDTjhIRFpVJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0MjYyMDZMVFpYSDFWRzNZNjEmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

I cant get over how easy it is to clean compared to the philips.

I managed to get the XL Philips in a sale of some sort in Oct 2016 for £160 which would have been €200 at the time. The same (updated) model is on Amazon.co.uk for £217 today.

I'm very happy with it but if I was changing would I pay the Philips premium or get one of the competitor models? The Cosori you linked to looks very good as does the Instant Pot Vortex which has just been launched.

Are Philips still much better than everything else or are they still charging a premium even though comparable products are now available at less than half the price?

Has anyone switched from a Philips to another brand and regretted it?

54and56 wrote: »

I managed to get the XL Philips in a sale of some sort in Oct 2016 for £160 which would have been €200 at the time. The same (updated) model is on Amazon.co.uk for £217 today.

I'm very happy with it but if I was changing would I pay the Philips premium or get one of the competitor models? The Cosori you linked to looks very good as does the Instant Pot Vortex which has just been launched.

Are Philips still much better than everything else or are they still charging a premium even though comparable products are now available at less than half the price?

Has anyone switched from a Philips to another brand and regretted it?

I had my last philips for 5 years before it died and another for 2 years before that. My biggest complaint about the philips is the wire basket is hard to keep clean. I can wipe the Cosori with a tissue and its spotless. I suppose time will tell how durable the non stick basket is but if it lasts 2 years it will have been a great buy for £69.

from bargain alerts

robcon wrote: »

Just in case anyone was waiting on the 4.3l Tower Air Fryer to drop to £29.99 on amazon again it just did.
Prob wont last long.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tower-Circulation-Technology-Adjustable-Temperature/dp/B077B9X3SB

bittihuduga wrote: »

what's the best chicken nuggets for air fryer? tried a few but little one was not convinced, she keeps comparing it to McD :-(

I like these cheap tesco ones.
https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=271024465

have to be the battered ones, the breaded ones are crap. They are very often sold out as they are so cheap. There are several items tesco have which are unusually cheap and sell out fast, they are apparently only there so they appear cheap in grocery price comparisons. I had aldis similar ones and was not impressed. I think these tesco ones are on a par with birds eye dippers.

I do for 10-12mins with no preheat at 200C and do not bother turning. I do up to 10 at a time and they can all lay down flat with that amount, no overlapping.

If I wanted to pass them off as mcds I would brush with oil or toss them in oil half way through and cook at maybe 160-180C for a bit longer, mcds are not as brown as what comes out at 200C

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of help.

The plastic connector piece on the Holder Pan of my 4 year old HD9240/90 has almost broken off, the holes the screws go into have broken on one side and I'm not confident the other side, which is now taking all the pressure, will hold out much longer.

Any suggestions for a fix or replacement of that part or do I have to source an entire new Holder Pan?

Apologies for the image sizes, don't know how to scale them down

ellejay wrote: »

Tried these last night and they're gorgeous!.

if they are sold out next time do not get the breaded ones I warned against! the packs look so similar you would think its a minor change but they are appalling!

I did them (the battered ones) at 160C for ~14mins and they did turn out more like mcdonalds ones as I expected, at 200C they are much browner & crisper which I prefer if using a thick sauce.

The UK tesco site has reviews and comments which is handy, many also saying these are like mcdonalds and the only complaints seem to be about there being less than 20 in the bag. Stuff like this is sold by weight so it does not bother me, but if people are portioning out to kids it would be annoying.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/271024465

stockshares wrote: »

Would the Cosori Airfryer be a better option than a Mini Oven.

I'm weighing it up against this Laptronix Mini Oven.
https://whichcooker.com/best-mini-ovens/

Airfryers and mini ovens coming up in Lidl.

Id say airfryer tbh, I dont even use ovens anymore, its airfryer for everything, well maybe the odd roast chicken but lots of people do those in their big airfryers aswell. Mini ovens were always a bit of a joke for students/houseshares werent they? Maybe they've improved.

Id say avoid the Tefal, especially if it is one with the rotating paddle as people complained they broke a lot. A proper air fryer would be better than a mini oven IMO, airfryers heat up a lot quicker as they are smaller and they cook food quicker too as the air circulates all around them.

You can get one of the cheaper airfryer models like Tower for around 50-60 quid or a Philips for about 100-120 but usually discounted to about 80-90 on Black Friday in a few weeks time. Ive a Philips 3 years now and its going grand but if it broke in the morning Id probably just get a Power airfryer as airfryers are all pretty much the same anyway. Just make sure you are getting the right size for the amount of people you are cooking for, if 1-2 the standard sizes are fine but if three people or more you would need an XL version