The Actifry & AirFryer Thread - Merged

mel123

can anyone recommend a grill/plate for cooking steaks?
the only one i can find on amazon is the genuine one, and its a little more than what i hoped to spend!

Grandeeod

I have joined the Airfryer revolution. Mainly for chips. I have a freezer full of frozen chips. Any tips before I try it out? Is it worth adding a few drops of oil to the chips? Cooking time?

UsedToWait

Grandeeod wrote: »

I have joined the Airfryer revolution. Mainly for chips. I have a freezer full of frozen chips. Any tips before I try it out? Is it worth adding a few drops of oil to the chips? Cooking time?

No need for oil.
Time depends on type and quantity..
Give them 5 minutes, a good shake and another 5 minutes, and see where you're at.

B0jangles

Grandeeod wrote: »

I have joined the Airfryer revolution. Mainly for chips. I have a freezer full of frozen chips. Any tips before I try it out? Is it worth adding a few drops of oil to the chips? Cooking time?

Don't start at 200 - I do mine at 180-190 for 8-10 mins, shake, then another 5-8 mins at 195-200 to finish crisping. Obviously the times depend on how big a batch you're cooking

Grandeeod

They are frozen chips that are meant for deep frying. Just want them crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Will we ever see the day that food producers offer guidelines for Airfryer cooking?

UsedToWait

Grandeeod wrote: »

They are frozen chips that are meant for deep frying. Just want them crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Will we ever see the day that food producers offer guidelines for Airfryer cooking?

Once you get used to it, you can just set the exact time and walk away.
For chips, one shake half way through is grand, lots of other stuff, you don't even need to preheat - throw it in, set the time, and it's perfect every time.

Oh, and there are fresh chips that are advertised as perfect for airfryers - you should see them back up the thread a bit...
Open the bag, teaspoon-ish glug of oil, shake em up, 16 minutes (8&8) and you're sorted

B0jangles

Grandeeod wrote: »

They are frozen chips that are meant for deep frying. Just want them crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Will we ever see the day that food producers offer guidelines for Airfryer cooking?

I've never cooked frozen deep fryer chips in mine, just oven chips so I don't know if the times/temps I use will carry over. They might need a bit of extra oil too, unless they've already been fried a bit before being frozen.
Tesco do a mister/sprayer bottle of oil that's very handy for adding a thin layer of oil and even handier, it can be opened so you can refill it!

UsedToWait

B0jangles wrote: »

I've never cooked frozen deep fryer chips in mine, just oven chips so I don't know if the times/temps I use will carry over. They might need a bit of extra oil too, unless they've already been fried a bit before being frozen.
Tesco do a mister/sprayer bottle of oil that's very handy for adding a thin layer of oil and even handier, it can be opened so you can refill it!

True that, I use oven chips also - the Tesco cheapo ones, both skinny and crinkle cut, are great in the airfryer..

Muahahaha

yeah its generally 10 minutes for your standard size chip, chunky ones take longer.

Has anyone done a regular 1kg loin of pork in the air fryer? Can they fit, would be worried about the height of it touching the element

Thargor

UsedToWait wrote: »

Once you get used to it, you can just set the exact time and walk away.
For chips, one shake half way through is grand, lots of other stuff, you don't even need to preheat - throw it in, set the time, and it's perfect every time.

Oh, and there are fresh chips that are advertised as perfect for airfryers - you should see them back up the thread a bit...
Open the bag, teaspoon-ish glug of oil, shake em up, 16 minutes (8&8) and you're sorted

Sorry what are these?

Grandeeod wrote: »

They are frozen chips that are meant for deep frying. Just want them crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Will we ever see the day that food producers offer guidelines for Airfryer cooking?

When Aldi were doing their special week of celebrating Irish producers there was a packet of spicy pork meatballs, cant remember the name of them, they had Airfryer instructions on the side, only product Ive ever seen that on, they gained my custom for it

They were fecking delicious whatever they were called... I did them on a proper baguette from a bakery with Supervalu coleslaw.

Dizzyblonde

Thargor wrote: »

Sorry what are these?

Probably these ones - Dunnes sell them too. They're very handy when you want home made chips and are too lazy to peel potatoes


https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/fruit-vegetables-potatoes-you-say-potato-fresh-cut-chips-500-grams-/p-1459660000

Grandeeod

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Probably these ones - Dunnes sell them too. They're very handy when you want home made chips and are too lazy to peel potatoes


https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/fruit-vegetables-potatoes-you-say-potato-fresh-cut-chips-500-grams-/p-1459660000

Brilliant.

rawn

I buy frozen chips in lidl, they're in a green bag. I don't add oil, just airfry on full blast til they're golden. They're easily the best of any brand I've tried.

ForestFire

Also use frozen chip bags "non oven" standard ones. Normally the ingredients are just potatoes. Cheapest supervalu ones just fine, done at 180 for 10 - 15mins, add salt and done.

rubadub

Grandeeod wrote: »

They are frozen chips that are meant for deep frying. Just want them crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

the airfryer is simply an oven with a faster fan. It is like holding a heat gun over your food so it cooks faster. The "fryer" name is a real bugbear of mine, it has led to it getting negative reviews due to people thinking it is very similar to a deep fat fryer, when it is simply a fan oven!

I would definitely add oil to those, I tend to cook actual oven chips (which already have oil) for a while and then put them in a pan of oil and roll them. Another annoyance of mine is this odd presumption that anybody cooking oven chips is doing so to reduce fat intake, rather than wanting it for convenience or as they have no fat fryer. So the vast majority of oven chips will end up with far less fat in them than if deep fried, there is the odd exception like mcains "gorgeous chips".

Muahahaha wrote: »

Has anyone done a regular 1kg loin of pork in the air fryer? Can they fit, would be worried about the height of it touching the element

The inner basket can be removed for more space, I do whole chickens this way.

rawn wrote: »

I buy frozen chips in lidl, they're in a green bag. I don't add oil, just airfry on full blast til they're golden. They're easily the best of any brand I've tried.

I am guessing these are "champion" brand -which are aldi.

Muahahaha

rubadub wrote: »

The inner basket can be removed for more space, I do whole chickens this way.

yeah I had thought of removing the inner basket to do a loin of pork. But was concerned about the fattiness of the pork and it potentially splashing into the element if it is too close.

How do you find whole chickens come out, is the meat moist, is the skin crispy? And what timings/temps for a small 1.4kg bird?

rubadub

Muahahaha wrote: »

yeah I had thought of removing the inner basket to do a loin of pork. But was concerned about the fattiness of the pork and it potentially splashing into the element if it is too close.

I have my airfryer on the hob under the extractor fan, most stuff I cook creates smoke, and the fact I am lazy about cleaning it.

Muahahaha wrote: »

How do you find whole chickens come out, is the meat moist, is the skin crispy? And what timings/temps for a small 1.4kg bird?

chicken comes out amazing. Skin is crispy, they are very like a rotisserie one from a supermarket, but you have more control to how done it is. I posted this a few months ago

rubadub wrote: »

I have done plenty of them and highly recommend it. 1.4kg is pushing it to fit in the mesh basket. At that size I remove the mesh basket and put it in breast side down directly on the bottom of the main basket. I make sure the basket is clean as I will be basting with the fat falling into it. I think I have got a 1.3kg in the basket before, 1.2kg definitely fits. You have to make sure it is pressed down or it can touch the heating element.

I do 30mins breast side down, after 25mins you can take it out to baste. I hold the chicken with a spatula and tilt it all to pour the fat into a cup or jug. I then pour it back over. At this stage you may as well pour it all back on.

I usually then leave it 10mins to cool let inside the airfryer simply as it is too hot to handle. You can pour off the fat again and flip it onto a plate and carefully place it back in, the skin can easily rip away so be careful.

Then do 30mins again breast side up. This time there will be a lot more fat for basting. So I pour it off but only pour on what I need to wet it all, then pop it back in and every 10mins or so pull it back out and pour a bit more on.

I have fit a 1.9kg in with no basket in place but that is pushing it. I think I did it for 75mins but 60 might have been enough.

In another thread I was saying I got a 2kg chicken and cut the 2 breasts off and then airfried the rest, can't remember if this fit in the basket, I think it did, but at a push. So I keep the breasts for another day to cook, as I dislike dry roasted breast meat anyway, though it is far nicer off the airfried chicken. This is very economical, I weighed the breasts and it would have cost more to buy them on their own than the price of the entire chicken. I do not like butchering but this is easy and quick, I was not too careful and just picked off remaining cooked breast meat. I am going to try it again with a larger chicken, I think dunnes do the biggest.

If doing a 1.2kg it fits in the mesh basket and makes things a lot easier, as you can take out the chicken and very easily pour the fat into a cup and then stick the chicken back in the main basket and baste.

It cooks really well, renders off the fat really well and the chicken just falls off the bone, it is difficult to take them out when cooked as it is falling apart, If it has to be in 1 piece I would put a plate on and flip it, wearing gloves of course.

I sit it on the hob with the extractor fan going above.

rawn

rubadub wrote: »

I am guessing these are "champion" brand -which are aldi.

Definitely not, because I buy them in Lidl every week. I think they say "Home Fries" or something similar on them.

B0jangles

rawn wrote: »

Definitely not, because I buy them in Lidl every week. I think they say "Home Fries" or something similar on them.

I get these too, they really are excellent.

Muahahaha

rubadub wrote: »

I have my airfryer on the hob under the extractor fan, most stuff I cook creates smoke, and the fact I am lazy about cleaning it.

Thanks for the chicken info, defintely must try that.

Just on the smoke, I get the same especially with fatty foods like sausages and bacon. I was lazy about cleaning it too but the smoke was annoying me so now I wipe the lower basket with paper towels to soak up all the fat after use and it works quite well. I read that another solution is to put a thin layer of water in the lower basket and that way the dripped fat just sits in the water without smoking. Haven't tried it yet but it makes sense.

Kat1170

Put some tin foil in the bottom. Just take it out an dispose of it and any grease.

I use the rack that came with mine for doing lager items. Take out the basket and put the rack sitting in the bottom of the tray with whatever you're cooking on it, let's any grease drip away.

Thargor

rawn wrote: »

Definitely not, because I buy them in Lidl every week. I think they say "Home Fries" or something similar on them.

B0jangles wrote: »

I get these too, they really are excellent.

These are my favourite and Ive tried most, a bit of seasoning and they're perfect:

ForestFire

Thargor wrote: »

These are my favourite and Ive tried most, a bit of seasoning and they're perfect:

I'm sure they are lovely, but for me I am trying to get the least ingredients possible. Ideally 100% potatoes. But for frozen convienience that's not always possible.

But these come quite close....

https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/frozen-foods-chips-supervalu-straight-cut-for-frying-1-5-kilogram-/p-1025417001

And 1.10 euro for 1.5kg! Add mixed herbs, chilly powder and whatever else your having and your done. Perfectly acceptable chips :-)

96% potatoes 4% sunflower oil

Compared to :-

Potatoes (90%), Sunflower Oil (6%), Batter (Modified Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Dextrin, Pea Fibre, Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Pea Protein), Salt.

Now if I could only get portion size under control.......

noodler

So guys my old 1kg actifry (tefal, with arm) has finally given up the ghost.

Any recommendations for a replacement?

rubadub

noodler wrote: »

So guys my old 1kg actifry (tefal, with arm) has finally given up the ghost.

Any recommendations for a replacement?

I will be getting a 5L power airfryer if mine breaks. What is up with the actifry, the paddles can be replaced and commonly go. Otherwise if there is no power at all did you change the fuse?

As it is such a common appliance there might be info on fixing it online.

mirrorwall14

I just bought the actifry genius xl as a replacement for my Philips airfryer. I absolutely love it I must say with one caveat that they don’t seem to have a proper non stick coating on the paddle which makes it super irritating to clean. Other than that it’s in use almost daily and I’m far happier with the capacity and ability to do things like stir fry than I ever was with the airfryer

noodler

rubadub wrote: »

I will be getting a 5L power airfryer if mine breaks. What is up with the actifry, the paddles can be replaced and commonly go. Otherwise if there is no power at all did you change the fuse?

As it is such a common appliance there might be info on fixing it online.

The arm broke once and I replaced it.

However, now its still turning but no heat.

When you say airfryer, do you mean one with the fans rather than the paddle arm?

rubadub

noodler wrote: »

When you say airfryer, do you mean one with the fans rather than the paddle arm?

this is the one I would get, but I would not pay what they are asking. It is just a fan, I would want it large as possible for whole chickens and pizza
https://www.harveynorman.ie/small-appliances/small-cooking-appliances/fryers/power-air-fryer-5l-digital-fryer-pafbkt5.html

noodler

rubadub wrote: »

this is the one I would get, but I would not pay what they are asking. It is just a fan, I would want it large as possible for whole chickens and pizza
https://www.harveynorman.ie/small-appliances/small-cooking-appliances/fryers/power-air-fryer-5l-digital-fryer-pafbkt5.html

130 pounds on amazon.

Not familiar with the brand. I take a look thanks.

rubadub

noodler wrote: »

Not familiar with the brand. I take a look thanks.

I was not either, saw them on a US facebook page first, they seem quite popular in the US and are officially being sold here now. There are lots of youtube videos with them to get an idea of size.

I think some did have complaints about coatings coming off though.

The US amazon has lots of reviews (the version here might not have all those baskets etc)
https://www.amazon.com/Power-XL-QT-Black-Deluxe/dp/B01LY4V7B8/ref=sr_1_3?crid=16T1FVJQ8BG6H&keywords=power+fryer+xl+5.3&qid=1551268427&s=gateway&sprefix=power+fryer+xl%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-3