You don't need one. But if you think you need one, then you do.

Air fryers aren't going to make cooking food any easier. What you gain in convience, you lose in so many other areas. Namely taste. I have one any after a couple uses it was put up in the garage to collect dust.
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Explain.

I just hear many people who say they are great. I知 just not sure why we壇 need one? What do they do well that many people like them so much?
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I enjoyed our airfryer when we had it, mostly for wings and sweet potato fries. Then I tossed it after it crapped out and haven't thought of it since until clicking this thread.
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We have a small toaster oven that is convection. I知 wondering if that basically does the same thing?
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We're on our second. The first one was fine but took up space on the counter for a single purpose, but was nice. We've since replaced it with a Emeril's Pressure Cooker/Air Fryer that can also do Sous Vide, Steam, make yougurt, Slow Cook, you name it... While it may not be the best at those things outside of pressure cooking, it's friggin amazing...



$130 at friggin Wal-Mart!

EDIT: Why? Because Air Frying is awesome for those of us who care about being healthy. But all "Air Frying" is, is a very hot convection oven...
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It's a high powered hair dryer not a fryer for starters. It just does not have capability to bring in great flavor to your food as say a stove top or oven. You still have to clean it, which you never can completely. Which makes me wonder as people use them, and with it being essentially a hot air circulator. How many oils that are atomized from the fat of the meat that is introduced into it finds it way into the nooks and crannies of the machine, that you can't clean BTW, only to go rancid. With all those rancid oils being circulated in the hot air over your food. No thanks.


I can't say why some people find them great. Maybe they think they are an easier option to cook food. I have found them nothing but lackluster in results. Many people wouldn't know good food it it was shoved in their mouth. Most people just eat to eat. Morning, lunch, dinner. Rinse, repeat.
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Ignore Rubbersponge. He's an idiot. Stovetops and ovens don't 'bring in great flavor' to your food. They're just different forms of energy emitters.

An air fryer is a more turbulent and smaller convection toaster.

Convection, particularly highly turbulent convection, is good for heating things quick, crisp and even.

I'm not gonna proselytize on a Sunday morning, but air frying is good for quick snack-type things you want crispy instead of soggy or chewy.
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Lew, you would want an air fryer for things your kid eats. Chicken nuggets, fish sticks, fries, basically does a nice job cooking pre-packaged frozen foods. I've never tried to make anything else in it and probably won't, but it does a great job at that stuff. Throw them in, 10 mins later you're done without having to preheat the oven.

Oh and it imparts fantastic flavor to said nuggets. Just circulates the air so well that all the flavor molecules swirl around and stick to the food twice as heavily as an oven.
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Do air fryers dry out things like Chicken or do you not cook meat in them?
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Oh I'm sure you could cook fresh meat in them and it would work out. They're like mini convection ovens. I've never tried it but there are plenty of recipes out there for them.
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If you don't overcook, they are great for keeping the interior moist.
It crisps by removing surface moisture through air circulation. But it's the radiant heat from the element that heats up the interior, and the crisping creates a barrier between the interior moisture and the exterior hot air.

So you COULD dry out meat by neglecting it, but it's relatively forgiving, much more forgiving than neglecting a steak in a frying pan or on the grill, . . . or a pizza in a conventional oven.
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Air fryer moves way more air.

Pretty much this. Pulls some saturated fat out of fried foods - mostly for the kids. But you can eat French fries without thinking you値l pop the big one before morning.

We haven稚 tried a ton else in there like it says they値l cook, but it does work good for chicken nuggets and whatnot.
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I don't have the air fryer thing for the Instant Pot, but absolutely love it for the pressure cooking. It's completely replaced the George Foreman grill and crock pot. Instead of already thawed meat taking all day in the crock pot, you can get better results from frozen in a fraction of the time.
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GF is the air fryer of the house. She hasn't done it much so it takes a bit to learn what cooks how long. Friday she hand made chicken tenders and they were outstanding.

Sure you're talking bone in fried chicken tho, can't vouch for that.
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This. And I'm thinking, moving forward, I'll only do ribs on the smoker occasionally or when I need to do a lot of them.

The setup we have was worth every penny of the $99 we spent at Xmas, and more...
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