Fat fryers vs Air fryers

I binned my deep fat fryer about two decades ago due to the grease it put in the air and the smell, horrible things. I'm not wild about fried food anyway but will make an exception for chips occasionally. I bought an airfryer a few months ago but have to say it's ok wouldn't rave about it. It's extremely easy to clean, you can hand wash it easily or put it on the top shelf of the dishwasher. Are they worth the money? I don't think so.

Reported blusmart

How easy are the air fryers to keep clean?

I used to have a messy fat fryer , downside is the oil change .
I have an air fryer , its great , some items do require the minimum amount of oil .
Its good for chips , but recommended timings can be more than what is needed for the food you are doing.
Mick

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In my experience they take forever to make chips

Lol Don't get one, I did used it twice and chips a revolting mush. Son begged it and I think it went to the tip he was not impressed either.

I bought my halogen oven after a GN discussion several years ago and couldn't do without it - hence the immediate replacement now that it has broken down!
It ranks alongside the washing machine and dishwasher! (I use my main oven very rarely).
One item I 'd never buy is a deep fat fryer!

Having read all the posts I don't fancy an air fryer. Any way we use oven chips - the thin ones - and I find them delicious!
I am now going to google halogen ovens because I don't know what they are.

I’m just surprised that so many people still have a deep fat fryer! I thought (wrongly obviously) that the health risks of deep fried food would have put everyone off by now.

Another halogen oven fan here. I use mine most days for all sorts of things. I make very tasty potato wedges with very little oil in about 20 minutes - with no stirring. I’d sell my main oven before the halogen any day.

I've been dithering between air fryer and halogen oven but since my halogen oven conked out yesterday the decision is now urgent!
I have read nothing that convinces me that the air fryer is the better choice so will place an order today for a new halogen oven.
I use mine almost daily and rely on it for much more than chips.
Am I the only one who is surprised to be reading about lard, dripping and deep fat fryers? I haven't used any of these for more than 20 years!

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I have a Philips air fryer, not the cheapest but all the reviews etc were good. It cooks plenty of chips for three of us in one go. You just have to remember to stir them every five mins or so, and keep and eye as they near the end so that they don't go too crispy. I've done homemade chips as well as frozen (oven chips as the oil is already on them) and have been happy with both.
So far the only other thing I have done is onion rings, they came out lovely and crispy - they tend to be soggy done in the oven. Must have a play with other things.

So after all that....no recommendations for best one to buy??

A friend of mine uses his air fryer occasionally because each time he uses it the kitchen is full of smoke to the extent he has disabled the smoke alarms which to my way of thinking is not very clever. The last time he had a smoke filled kitchen he was cooking a couple of pork chops.

I bought an air fryer, used it a few times with mixed results, and now it’s sitting in a cupboard. I never fry chips, always use oven chips, but thought it would be a good alternative when roasting potatoes etc. Despite the claims, it had its limitations (not happy cooking sausages for example) and we quickly got fed up with it.

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CherryHatrick, will pm you

Lisalou I have lived in the Marina Alta of Alicante Province for 31 years, so we have seen a lot of changes. In the old days I used to ask my butcher for a big chunk of beef kidney fat to render down as I was brought up on bread and dripping. Even then lard was always available. Although fine for sauteéing and cooking potato for tortilla, etc., it is my experience that olive oil, like butter, burns at too low a temperature for crisp frying, so I use sunflower or rape seed for that.

A girl at work brought one to cook chips in the office once. I found them hard and not very tasty, and the worst thing was, they took ages and you could only cook a small batch at a time so it was hardly a communal meal.

Hi CherryHatrick, Where in Spain? I cannot get beef dripping for love or money! But then I dont have an iceland either! Manteca is available, but not always, and certainly not in every butcher, I dont really use it much, to be frank. I suppose it is partly just what you are used to using. I use mainly olive oil. Yorkshire puddings are not an issue, as my lot don't like em much. I do a lot of Spanish cooking, as I have lived here most of my life, and my first husband was Spanish.

Lisalou I live in Spain, and beef dripping is the only thing I buy from the very overpriced "Iceland" shop in the next town. Lard, (manteca) however is available in every supermarket, and I use that for Yorkshire puddings, frying potato cakes and anything else that needs a high frying temperature. I use a half butter half olive oil mix for fish and roast potatoes when cooking English style, and olive oil for most other cooking.

Thank you glassortwo

Frylight is a mist oil that you get in the supermarkets(there are other brands), but it can ruin your pans so better to make your own. You can make your own with olive oil/sunflower etc and water, google the quantities.