Great buy and a MUST HAVE
Delivered before expected and in good condition, picking up from Argos delivery point.
We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of this air fryer and immediately tried it out frying some chips. NO oil was added and we first tried supermarket (Morrisons) frozen chips that can be either cooked in an oven or a deep fat fryer. The little booklet that came with the air fryer recommended 10 minutes @ 200 - shake then fry for another 10-minutes - in reality I would recommend 12 x 12 minutes (from cold). These chips came out great and after salt was added, tasted the best I have had and were crispy.
Later we tried frying our normal crinkle cut oven chips (Lidl) at 12 x 12 from cold - these were cooked well all over, unlike when cooked in an oven. The crispiest we have had them - not quite so tasty as the Morrisons oven/deep fry chips, but still great.
Being a man, I like fry-ups, but my wife won't let me do them on my own as I make the hob very greasy. But as this air fryer, which in reality is an air OVEN, I thought I would give it a try to cook the kind of breakfast I want. The wife, seeing that the fryer made no mess (being self contained) and easy to keep clean, left me to do whilst she watched TV.
Ok - here's what I tried:
First I found a 7inch non stick flan pan.
It sat perfectly over the top of the inner (metal) basket and best of all, because its lower than the outer basket, allows the unit to fit into the fryer ok.
Suggest you slightly grease the flan pan with butter or light oil (wipe on with kitchen towel).
I broke an egg into the pan - fit into the fryer and cooked for 6 minutes (from cold)
Egg fried great and tasted wonderful
I like omlettes, so decided to give that a try:
In an Pyrex jug I mixed my favourite omlette - 3 eggs + a teaspoon of water - whisked with hand whisk.
The following was added -cheese (grated) quantity of tinned sliced mushrooms - finely chopped ham.then mixed together with a teaspoon.
Fit the flan pan on top of the inner basket and I poored the mix into it (carefully)
On top of the mix I placed some sliced fresh tomato
Shut the basket and cooked at 190 for 10 minutes - 12 if you like non runny inside.
I have a plate lifter gadget coming next week, so the following job should be easier:
Take the basked (inner still in place) - put on worktop and with a teacloth (watch out the pan is very hot) lift the flan off the inner basket.
With a non stick slice, tip the omlette on to a dinner plate.
The resut was one of the best omlettes I have ever cooked and tasted great.
I have sent away for a set of 7inch air fryer pans - baking basket, pitzza pan (probably like the flan pan, maybe deeper), metal skillet, skewer rack and 4 skewers and a non slip heat resistant worktop pad. So my next try will be adding sausages to my breakfast.
Until then - a small tin of baked beans with mini pork sausages, goes down a treat.
Regarding family cooking - I would say this particular air fryer is ok for two people, but not big enough for family use. We plan to cook some chicken breasts in it next, which we will place on the skillet, with the chips underneath.
Make no mistake - this is a great buy and makes no mess - will it last the test of time? Can't say at the moment, however, I see no reason at present why it should not last a long time and we sure as hell are going to use it often. This is not one of those use now and again or use once and Never again kitchen gagets - it's a MUST HAVE use often appliance and in a lot of instances, will replace your kitchen oven.
For a student living in digs, all they need is an electric kettle, a microwave and this air dryer and they won't go hungry.
Don't worry about the cheapness of this product - Buy with confidence.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New