The Actifry & AirFryer Thread - Merged

Walter H Price

rawn wrote: »

I microwave the raw chips first, they come out much better!

Just cut em and chuck em in the microwave for like 4 mins in a bowl with some water or that ?

rawn

Walter H Price wrote:

Just cut em and chuck em in the microwave for like 4 mins in a bowl with some water or that ?

Cut them and put them uncovered, no water, in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Then i shake them up, season, and put in the actifryer until they're crispy. I find if i put them in the fryer from raw, the outside is bubbled and dry by the time they cook through.

Dizzyblonde

UsedToWait wrote: »

Could you quantify 'a little oil' please - a tablespoon? two?

And how long did you cook for and at what temp please?

One tablespoon of oil is plenty. Just toss the chips in it until they're all coated. I cooked them at 180 for 20 minutes, shaking them twice, then at 200 for about another 10 minutes until they had a nice colour and were fully cooked:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=102237237&postcount=314

Walter H Price

So all in all is it worth getting one like

54and56

Walter H Price wrote: »

So all in all is it worth getting one like

It's made dinner (and sometimes snack) time healthier and more convenient for us e.g. last night both of us were running a bit late and hadn't organised dinner. I got home first so grabbed a couple of chicken breasts from the fridge, sprayed some sunflower oil on them, covered them generously with a peri peri rub I have and whacked them in the AirFryer along with about 10 small salad potatoes (less than half a pack of these) which I also sprayed with oil, set the temp to 180c and the time to 14 minutes and went off for a quick shower.

I was back after about 10 minutes, shook the basket and put it back for the remaining 4 minutes which gave me time to empty a bag of rocket into a bowl, drizzle some balsamic and olive oil over it and shave some Parmesan on top.

I also had time to put some freshly ground black pepper and sea salt into a bowl along with some dried Rosemary which I tossed the roast potatoes in before serving.

Less than 30 minutes after arriving home we were sitting down to sliced peri peri chicken breasts with rosemary roast potatoes and rocket salad.

Freshly cooked food, nothing processed, eazy peazy and the total cost of dinner for both of us was about €5. (€2.50 for the chicken breasts, €0.89 for the Rocket, €0.50 worth of potatoes and +/- €1 worth of herbs, oil and electricity used in the cooking etc)

In 2016 BAF (Before Air Fryer ) there's a good chance we'd have had something processed or frozen or decided on a take away.

Defo worth getting an airfryer but make sure you get one that is the right size for you and will perform well. Lot's of copycat devices which look good but can be under powered and end up taking ages to cook which kind of defeats the purpose of having it.

Walter H Price

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

It's made dinner (and sometimes snack) time healthier and more convenient for us e.g. last night both of us were running a bit late and hadn't organised dinner. I got home first so grabbed a couple of chicken breasts from the fridge, sprayed some sunflower oil on them, covered them generously with a peri peri rub I have and whacked them in the AirFryer along with about 10 small salad potatoes (less than half a pack of these) which I also sprayed with oil, set the temp to 180c and the time to 14 minutes and went off for a quick shower.

I was back after about 10 minutes, shook the basket and put it back for the remaining 4 minutes which gave me time to empty a bag of rocket into a bowl, drizzle some balsamic and olive oil over it and shave some Parmesan on top.

I also had time to put some freshly ground black pepper and sea salt into a bowl along with some dried Rosemary which I tossed the roast potatoes in before serving.

Less than 30 minutes after arriving home we were sitting down to sliced peri peri chicken breasts with rosemary roast potatoes and rocket salad.

Freshly cooked food, nothing processed, eazy peazy and the total cost of dinner for both of us was about €5. (€2.50 for the chicken breasts, €0.89 for the Rocket, €0.50 worth of potatoes and +/- €1 worth of herbs, oil and electricity used in the cooking etc)

In 2016 BAF (Before Air Fryer ) there's a good chance we'd have had something processed or frozen or decided on a take away.

Defo worth getting an airfryer but make sure you get one that is the right size for you and will perform well. Lot's of copycat devices which look good but can be under powered and end up taking ages to cook which kind of defeats the purpose of having it.

So what one would you recommend ? its just two of us so would only be making dinner for two in it

54and56

Walter H Price wrote: »

So what one would you recommend ? its just two of us so would only be making dinner for two in it

I have the Philips Airfryer XL which I got on an Amazon Warehhouse deal for £140 IIRC. It may be the XL model but it's not really very big and I don't think it's too big to cook for 2 adults. The dinner I made last night used all the basket to enable 2 X breasts of chicken and some roast potatoes to be cooked at the same time. It's expensive at the moment at £211 but if you sign up for http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com and set an alert for it you might be able to get it cheaper if you're patient.

The regular size version is currently a bargain at £69. That price is only for Prime members but you can sign up for a Prime trial FOC, make the purchase and then cancel before the free trial is up.

If you bought the regular size one to see if you like/would use it and find you need the bigger size you could wait to get the XL on a deal at some stage and then flog the regular sized on Adverts but you'll probably lose a few quid on it.

dasa29

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I have the Philips Airfryer XL which I got on an Amazon Warehhouse deal for £140 IIRC. It may be the XL model but it's not really very big and I don't think it's too big to cook for 2 adults. The dinner I made last night used all the basket to enable 2 X breasts of chicken and some roast potatoes to be cooked at the same time. It's expensive at the moment at £211 but if you sign up for http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com and set an alert for it you might be able to get it cheaper if you're patient.

The regular size version is currently a bargain at £69. That price is only for Prime members but you can sign up for a Prime trial FOC, make the purchase and then cancel before the free trial is up.

If you bought the regular size one to see if you like/would use it and find you need the bigger size you could wait to get the XL on a deal at some stage and then flog the regular sized on Adverts but you'll probably lose a few quid on it.

Walter H Price, while i agree with what Je_Suis_Jean says here I think if you are not sure about what size to get, why not pop in to either Did or Currys and look at the Airfryers they have on display out of the box, it might help better than buying one model and finding it to small which means having to buy the bigger size.

Walter H Price

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I have the Philips Airfryer XL which I got on an Amazon Warehhouse deal for £140 IIRC. It may be the XL model but it's not really very big and I don't think it's too big to cook for 2 adults. The dinner I made last night used all the basket to enable 2 X breasts of chicken and some roast potatoes to be cooked at the same time. It's expensive at the moment at £211 but if you sign up for http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com and set an alert for it you might be able to get it cheaper if you're patient.

The regular size version is currently a bargain at £69. That price is only for Prime members but you can sign up for a Prime trial FOC, make the purchase and then cancel before the free trial is up.

If you bought the regular size one to see if you like/would use it and find you need the bigger size you could wait to get the XL on a deal at some stage and then flog the regular sized on Adverts but you'll probably lose a few quid on it.

Yeh the price isn't an issue , have a prime account and an employee discount for Amazon so might give that one a shout alright , cheers

UsedToWait

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

One tablespoon of oil is plenty. Just toss the chips in it until they're all coated. I cooked them at 180 for 20 minutes, shaking them twice, then at 200 for about another 10 minutes until they had a nice colour and were fully cooked:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=102237237&postcount=314

I take it you've an Actifry rather than an Airfryer?
10 mins, shake and 10 mins was plenty for me - in fact, I'll go 9 and 9 next time..

Tasty chips though.

Dizzyblonde

No I have an Airfryer. I used almost two packs of chips though so it was quite full - I should have mentioned that, sorry.

UsedToWait

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

No I have an Airfryer. I used almost two packs of chips though so it was quite full - I should have mentioned that, sorry.

Ah that'll be it then

Will defo buy again - healthy, tasty chips - the marvels of modern science!

nihicib2

Xl one finally arrived, first impressions is that it doesn't seem to be as solid as the smaller version and the basket sliding in and out is not as smooth but as long as it does the job then happy days, tis a lot bigger anyway, keeping the smaller one just in case

Whispered

Was there an air fryer in Aldi recently for about €40 or was that my imagination? I asked my husband to pick it up on his way home from work but they were €90.

nihicib2

nihicib2 wrote: »

Xl one finally arrived, first impressions is that it doesn't seem to be as solid as the smaller version and the basket sliding in and out is not as smooth but as long as it does the job then happy days, tis a lot bigger anyway, keeping the smaller one just in case

Ok first use and I take it back, tis great, bigger is definitely better

54and56

nihicib2 wrote: »

Ok first use and I take it back, tis great, bigger is definitely better

I know what you mean by saying it feels a little more flimsy/fiddly with the way the tray comes out and the basket detaches but despite the wiggle room the components are really strong and it works really well once you get used to taking the basket in and out a few times.

Thargor

Whispered wrote: »

Was there an air fryer in Aldi recently for about €40 or was that my imagination? I asked my husband to pick it up on his way home from work but they were €90.

There was one in Tesco for €40, A Daewoo branded one for some bizarre reason, I think the Aldi and Lidl ones tend to be more expensive than that:

danjo-xx

I have the small philips airfryer, and from my 2nd attempt at oven chips I am very impressed, even home made chips were good.

Did two chicken breasts and they tasted like BBQ chicken, delicious.


Going to try these next.

Davexirl

danjo-xx wrote: »

I have the small philips airfryer, and from my 2nd attempt at oven chips I am very impressed, even home made chips were good.

Did two chicken breasts and they tasted like BBQ chicken, delicious.


Going to try these next.

How long did you cook the chicken breasts for and at what temperature??? Any marinade used or just plain???

bittihuduga

Davexirl wrote: »

How long did you cook the chicken breasts for and at what temperature??? Any marinade used or just plain???

im interested too :-) recipe pls

danjo-xx

Davexirl wrote: »

How long did you cook the chicken breasts for and at what temperature??? Any marinade used or just plain???

Preheated for 3 mins. Cooked for 20mins at 180 degrees. Just dipped in oil
before hand. Go easy on the oil in case it causes a bit of smoke.

rubadub

danjo-xx wrote: »

Preheated for 3 mins. Cooked for 20mins at 180 degrees..

I usually go less than 20mins, but I often score mine to get it to heat the the middle better and get more marinate/coating in, and only do 1 or 2, but have done whole single ones less than 20mins, would depend on the original size. I usually just take stuff out, cut it open to see if its done or not and pop it back in.

As the airfryer is small and easily crammed too much -then the timing can depend on how much you put in, just like a microwave. It only has so much power to give to the food its cooking. If you have a regular size oven you can fit maybe 2 or 3 baking trays into it at once, with 3-4 chicken fillets on each tray. The overall cooking time will not vary too much. But stick 12 fillets into an airfryer or microwave and it will take a lot longer than 1 will.

minktrapper

Any tips on the above. I bought an air fryer and it is great for chips so I am wondering is it any good for chicken.

Dizzyblonde

minktrapper I've merged your thread with the Airfryer & Actifry thread, and if you scroll back/do a search you'll find some helpful posts about cooking chicken

cj maxx

minktrapper wrote: »

Any tips on the above. I bought an air fryer and it is great for chips so I am wondering is it any good for chicken.

Best I've done in chicken breast marinated in Cajun spice then 8 mins at 140c and another 8 mins at 180 *
Any tips on homemade chips . They look good but taste raw inside . Should I parboil first or ????

rawn

cjmc wrote:

Best I've done in chicken breast marinated in Cajun spice then 8 mins at 140c and another 8 mins at 180 * Any tips on homemade chips . They look good but taste raw inside . Should I parboil first or ????

Coat in tbsp of olive oil, season, microwave for roughly 9 minutes until they're softened, then into the airfryer for a few minutes on 220°C to crisp up.

masterboy123

This is a great merged post.

I am in a dilemma which one to buy. Actifry vs Air fryer??

I have read different reviews for both. Good thing about Actifry is that it turns the food around. Can fish fillet be cooked in it?

Looking for something big enough for 2 people. I would appreciate if anyone can guide me please.
I gave read the thread and found some good recipes

Davexirl

masterboy123 wrote: »

This is a great merged post.

I am in a dilemma which one to buy. Actifry vs Air fryer??

I have read different reviews for both. Good thing about Actifry is that it turns the food around. Can fish fillet be cooked in it?

Looking for something big enough for 2 people. I would appreciate if anyone can guide me please.
I gave read the thread and found some good recipes

I have the Philips Airfryer a few months now and we use it more than our oven. We have cooked sausages, chicken fillets, fish, chips, baby potatoes, chicken kievs, southern fried chicken pieces, onion rings. Everything has turned out lovely. I recommend the Philips.

The baby potatoes actually come out tasting unreal, just mix them in a bowl with a bit of oil, salt & pepper and throw them in the airfryer for less then 20 mins at 180. Throw a few chili flakes on them when mixing with the oil if you like a kick off them.

masterboy123

Ok I am getting more positive reviews for Philips Air fryer, so Actifry is out of the list.

Mehn your recipe sounded delicious.

Another question is whether to invest in XL Philips AF? I read reviews that XL don't come with accessories always and need to buy racks/grill for the inside. And on the other hand people say XL is a must for 2 or more people. We are a couple but get guests every now & then.

Davexirl wrote: »

I have the Philips Airfryer a few months now and we use it more than our oven. We have cooked sausages, chicken fillets, fish, chips, baby potatoes, chicken kievs, southern fried chicken pieces, onion rings. Everything has turned out lovely. I recommend the Philips.

The baby potatoes actually come out tasting unreal, just mix them in a bowl with a bit of oil, salt & pepper and throw them in the airfryer for less then 20 mins at 180. Throw a few chili flakes on them when mixing with the oil if you like a kick off them.

Cheshire Cat

I have the Philips AF XL and it's not that big. The regular one is tiny. I would go for the XL again.
If you can have a look at the size of the baskets in a shop.