My parents got me one of them fancy countertop air fryer/oven things and idk what to cook first when I get it set up. According to the box, it does everything a normal oven does as well as air fries. It can hold two whole chickens or 1 frozen pizza. It came with a rack for things like toast and a baking sheet. I also have a bunch of pans and stuff that I was given when I got my house that I’ve never used.
I don’t know much about actually cooking food other than chicken should not be medium rare and that the cereal goes before the milk.
Brussels sprouts in the airfryer are amazing - but pretty much any vegetables go well, are quick, easy and healthy. If healthy is not your thing, anything in the frozen aisle (chips, hash browns, onion rings, chicken nuggets and fish fingers, etc) are also incredibly easy and always work.
Reheating fried food in the air fryer changed how I view leftovers. Also, love roasted veggies or air fryer whole chicken. I use my air fryer a lot more than I thought I would.
How do you usually make your chickens? Like spices and stuff. Idk how to cook a chicken lol
https://therecipecritic.com/air-fryer-whole-chicken/ is the last recipe I used. I recommend it!
things the air fryer does extremely well:
- frozen french fries/hash browns/tater tots
- any frozen appetizer like poppers, mozzarella sticks, egg rolls
- any breaded meats like nuggets, fish sticks/fillets, wings
- frozen and fresh sausages, bacon
- asparagus with a little oil
- corn
- reheated pizza/frozen pizza
for chicken i coat chicken thigh chunks in heavily seasoned mayo and cook them without flipping them and they come out really good
Tip to keep your air fryer/oven in top condition: do NOT use oil sprays with propellants, like PAM. They will accumulate on your air fryer and get burnt and nasty and generally be a lot harder to clean off than a pure oil. I use a sprayer with pure avocado oil and no propellants. Also, give it a good wipe down after every use. You’ll thank yourself later when it’s not a disgusting mess.
Is a wipe down all they really take? I’ve been considering getting one, but fussy clean up put me off (in the regular oven I’ll coat the tray in foil and then just bin that, but in an air fryer I assume that would interfere with circulation)…
Specifically talking about the inside walls and glass door, if the wire racks or other accessories look like they need it I take them out and go at them with soap and water. If the wipe down isn’t sufficient for the inside then a wet sponge and a tiny bit of dish soap should be enough, just wipe it with a wet paper towel or something afterwards to make sure all the soap is removed.
It’s incredibly easy to clean up if you do it before using it again. It’s only repeated exposures to heat* that will cause oil to polymerize and become nigh impossible to clean off.
*or temps significantly above what you’re cooking at in an air fryer
Chicken nuggets and fish fingers are my favourites, mainly because they’re so tasty for how quickly they cook.
Preheat the air fryer for 2 - 3 minutes, spray a small amount of oil, then put the food in for about 12 minutes. Crispy and delicious every time :)
It does a way better job at most frozen food and leftovers than a microwave does, but takes longer.
Almost anything you’d deep fry can be lightly spritzed with oil and done in an air fryer instead.
If it’s big enough for a pizza, you can make one from scratch instead of frozen. It’s cheaper than anything but the cheapest frozen crap and a lot better.
Brussels sprouts.
Chop up a potato into chunks, boil for 5 mins. Drain, add butter salt, any seasonings you like, mix it together until the chunks softened.
Spread it out on a tray and air fry at like 350 for 25 mins or until it’s crispy. Tastes great.
Baked potatoes are easier in an air fryer. Bacon works surprisingly well. It’s essentially a small oven, so anything that fits in it is probably worth trying in it.
You can do DIY potato fries if you couple the air fryer with sous vide. You need to get the starch out of the potatoes. People will suggest you soak them in water, but that only gets you so far.
Put the raw fries in a ziplock with enough water for them to float around. Put this bag into your water and set it to 170F and let them soak for 20-30 mins. Then dry them out (start in salad spinner and spread out on a towel), coat in oil/salt, and air fry at 400 until done.
The 170F water breaks down the pectin that holds the sugars in the potatoes, so if you don’t sous vide, you end up with caramelization/burned fries. This is actually what McDonald’s does to their fries.
A sous vide wand can be had for around $50, and you just need a big enough pot to hold whatever you’re cooking. They also do wonders for dark meat. Sous vide chicken wings are ridiculously good.
Air fryer taquitos has been a big one for my house! A million times better than the premade freezer ones and not much more work if you have a protein cooked already or as a leftover.
I base my approach off this But I have used all sorts of proteins instead and it’s always a great meal.
Pork roast in air fryer is easy mode for great crackling.
20 min at 200°C, then 25 min per 500g at 180°C.
I like making vegetarian stir-fried chicken:
I use yakisoba from the grocery store, toss it in a bowl with 2 bags of Daring chicken, shredded carrots and lots of onion and bell pepper. Air roast for about 25 minutes while the rice cooker does it’s thang.
Delicious, with a little salad on the side too.
This is for lazy days where I get home and am just too tired to cook.
Steak.
Heating up anything like Jamaican patties.
Hot dogs / smokies.
Jamaican patties?
Hand held pastry filled with curry, they are delicious.
Any recommendations for recipe? It sounds interesting, but I’m seeing a lot of variation in recipes.
This is the recipe I use. Everyone loves them.
Pie Dough:
900 grams all purpose flour (7 cups). 8 grams salt ( 2 teaspoons). 26 grams granulated sugar ( 2 tablespoons). 440 grams unsalted butter ( 2 cups) or (4 butter sticks). 60 grams turmeric powder (4 tablespoons). 460 grams ice cold water (2 cups).
Meat Filling:
600 grams lean ground beef. 2 large size yellow or red onion finely chopped. 120 grams fresh escallion ( scallions) 6 stalks finely chopped. 50 grams Scotch bonnet pepper ( 2 peppers) or use any hot pepper. 100 grams breadcrumbs (1 cup), add more if needed. 6 grams salt ( 1 1/2 teaspoon). 8 grams paprika ( 2 teaspoons). 4 grams black pepper ( 1 teaspoon). 4 grams thyme ( 2 teaspoons). 4 grams allspice ( 1 teaspoon). 120 grams unsalted butter ( 8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup). 500 grams (two cups beef stock). 60 grams Olive oil (4 tablespoons). 16 grams garlic minced ( 4 cloves).
Enjoy.
EDIT: Formatting sucks and I can’t fix it. :(
Two spaces at the end of a line will force a new line. A dash - at the start of a line will make a bullet point.
That’s great advice. Thanks.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_patty
There’s also this fun short documentary about Jamaican patties in Toronto https://www.cbc.ca/shortdocs/shorts/patty-vs-patty
deleted by creator
My best tip for air fryers is to use them for the second fry of foods that are double fried. Egg Rolls, Karage, Orange chicken, etc, honestly, The double fry method isn’t just for Asian food, it takes anything where crispiness is desirable to the next level.
Do the first low fry as normal, then use the air fryer for the second high-temp fry. You don’t have to worry about overcrowding as much, plus everything will be less greasy. The whole point of the second fry is to remove moisture and the air does this just as well as the grease.
