Why do I need an Air Fryer?

[Hisgirl]

So my nice wide toaster oven just went on the fritz. I will be replacing it. I definitely want one wide enough to hold a casserole or pizza. It seems so many are also an air fryer. I'm intrigued. I'm editing to add that while maybe it won't be an air fryer, what upgrade DO I need in replacing an old traditional toaster oven?

Please tell me more!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I gave away my actual air fryer because I almost never used it, and it took up too much space. I got one of those combo air fryer/toaster oven things. I spent like $60-something on it. It is a nice toaster oven, every now and then I use the air fryer part to make some of those Aldi chicken things that are supposed to taste like Chic Fil A but don't really. They still turn out to pretty decent for what they are. My step-daughter uses the air fryer part to heat up left over BDubs and stuff. Overall, I am glad I still a pseudo air fryer for the occasional need, but I use the toaster over almost on a daily basis.

 

[chickapin parterre]

Time. Saves time. we cook our steaks in the air fryer, better flavor and seasoning actually works in the process rather than falling off on grill or pan. We cook our Rocky point shrimp in the air fryer, come out moist and tender. Tater tots are grand. turkey breast. Hamburger seems to be the only difficult meat to cook. sausages, great.

Flavor. I no longer grill my steaks. Other in the house use the grill, but if a choice cut, I use the fryer, very easy to control rare to done, and fat sizzles up fine. easy to clean. We do have a large counter space to store the massive machine. even found a themed cloth cover. And if I want flavor or texture, I will use the air fryer also .

 

[neverlandsky]

My secret to having an air fryer, just increase the oven degrees by 25 or 50 degrees more and you get air fried food.

 

[TippyThomas]

I used mine once and really wasn't that impressed. I donated it and really do not miss it.

 

[ronandannette]

My secret to having an air fryer, just increase the oven degrees by 25 or 50 degrees more and you get air fried food.

Especially if you have a convection oven - exactly. I got an air fryer for Christmas and returned it without ever taking it out of the box. After a day or two of research I decided trying to find things to cook in it would be more work than the work I'm already doing to cook meals. Most of what seemed to wow people was how it reheats/cooks frozen, deep-fried foods and we almost never have those. And the air-fried bacon craze? 18 minutes to cook 5 strips is not a good investment of my time.

 

[RamblingMad]

I like my Breville. I use it for baking when I don't want to heat up my gas oven. It's a lot faster to preheat. You can get one with an air fryer, but it will cost more.

 

[PAsFab5]

We have a ninja air fryer. It’s not big, about the size of a coffee pot. My kids use it everyday. I work remote and DD attends a cyber charter so she’s home all day with me and makes her own food. Basic kids stuff, fish sticks, popcorn chicken, tater tots....it’s the only way she likes to cook. DS cooks the same kind of stuff in there when he gets home from work at 1am, it cooks quick while he showers and he can eat and get to bed. I make baked potatoes in it and reheat things (I personally use the reheat option most often). I could live without the air fryer, my kids could not.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

An air fryer is just a countertop convection oven.

 

[fla4fun]

I have a Breville countertop convection oven, that will hold a 9x13 pan or a pizza pan, and makes great toasted bagels (not a regular toast fan). I use it every day, more often than my microwave. The only day I use my stove oven is Thanksgiving. The oven is about the same size as my microwave, so it’s bigger than a typical toaster oven, but it’s so much more versatile. I love it!

 

[DLgal]

Go with the Breville Smart Oven. No need to spend extra for the Air model. The standard smart oven has an amazing convection feature. I have had one for 9 years now. I've had to replace it once in that time. We use ours MULTIPLE times every day. We cook almost everything in there.

An air fryer is just a tiny convection oven, but it's a one trick pony. Get a small convection oven that also has other features like toast, roast, bake, broil, dehydrate.

 

[gopack]

I have a Ninja Foodi air fryer, oven and toaster combo. It is large enough to cook a 12 in pizza. It folds up while not in use so it takes up very little counter space. Love it!

 

[Christine]

I have a 6 quart model of some Air Fryer I got from Costco. Got it at the start of the pandemic just to try new things. I find that it works *really* well from chicken wings. I coat them with baking powder, salt and pepper, or whatever spices. Takes about 25 minutes still, but they are really crispy. We also made donuts out of the Pillsbury grands. Very good, but not something I'd do regularly. It does work well on tater tots and stuff like that but if you use the whole bag (like we do) then not so good. Air fryer works best if it's not overloaded. So it would depend on the size you get. I've not tried much else because I don't feel like it would fit a whole meal and do a good job. I probably wouldn't recommend it to replace something like a toaster oven. My daughter has an air fryer that does other things but not sure how much she uses it.

 

[cvjw]

We have the cuisinart air fryer, toaster oven combo. It has changed our lives. We literally use it every day, multiple times per day. We cook all kinds of foods in it. We will always have one! I do like the cuisinart one because the air fry basket is larger, so I don’t have to air fry food in multiple batches.

I do have a convection kitchenaid oven and microwave. Have never used that feature on either and don’t know how to. I just stick with my air fryer. Easy cleanup and so easy to use.

 

[akl432]

Time. Saves time. we cook our steaks in the air fryer, better flavor and seasoning actually works in the process rather than falling off on grill or pan. We cook our Rocky point shrimp in the air fryer, come out moist and tender. Tater tots are grand. turkey breast. Hamburger seems to be the only difficult meat to cook. sausages, great.

Flavor. I no longer grill my steaks. Other in the house use the grill, but if a choice cut, I use the fryer, very easy to control rare to done, and fat sizzles up fine. easy to clean. We do have a large counter space to store the massive machine. even found a themed cloth cover. And if I want flavor or texture, I will use the air fryer also .

Which brand and model do you have?

 

[DisneyHardin]

I use my air fryer at least a few times a week. If you ever do frozen things like fries, onion rings, chicken tenders, etc they are awesome in it. I do burgers, steaks, chicken breasts in it all the time. The chicken breasts especially, come out so juicy.

As someone above said, they are great for leftovers.

 

[DLgal]

I do have a convection kitchenaid oven and microwave. Have never used that feature on either and don’t know how to. I just stick with my air fryer. Easy cleanup and so easy to use.

You use the convection feature on the oven the same way you would in the smaller toaster oven. Bake at the same temperature, just hit the convection button instead of the bake button.

I use the convection feature on my large oven when I'm making more than one tray of frozen French fries or onion rings, for cooking bacon, or for chicken wings or other foods that I want crispy. Don't use it for baked goods or slow roasting meats.

 

[randumb0]

I gave away my actual air fryer because I almost never used it, and it took up too much space. I got one of those combo air fryer/toaster oven things. I spent like $60-something on it. It is a nice toaster oven, every now and then I use the air fryer part to make some of those Aldi chicken things that are supposed to taste like Chic Fil A but don't really. They still turn out to pretty decent for what they are. My step-daughter uses the air fryer part to heat up left over BDubs and stuff. Overall, I am glad I still a pseudo air fryer for the occasional need, but I use the toaster over almost on a daily basis.

What are BDubs?

 

[Hisgirl]

Ok, after reading thru these comments I chose a Cuisinart Chef's toaster oven. it's nice and wide and will hold a good size casserole. And I'll def try the faux air fry trick! I had a Breville and wanted to try something different. It's being delivered Wed. I realized I wanted the traditional toaster oven features and didn't want to take away counter space so in choosing one, I went with that. I wish they didn't take up so much space!

 

[loves to dive]

I considered one for our RV but after doing the research realized it was just a smaller convection oven, our microwave in the RV is a microwave/convection oven combo. We have a convection setting on our oven in our house. When the oven broke (it was a part that hubby could replace but was on backorder for 3 month) I couldn't go without my frozen pizza for that long so I bought a toaster oven. It is a convection oven but we don't ever use the convection part. I would say we use it every day for something if just heating up leftovers. The toaster was put away in the basement. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Z34OME/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1