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Air fryer to replace oven

  • 12-02-2024 9:53pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Subscribers, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,172 ✭✭✭


    Evening all, our oven went kapput today..before I order a new one - I'm wondering whether an air fryer would be a better buy? From what I can see , they do everything an oven does (just without the capacity) - would I be right?


    There's only two of us in the house so I would imagine a large air fryer would be large enough for us...


    Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!



«13

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 369 ✭✭vinniem


    Yeah could be way to go for you, get one with two drawers though. I find mine great and so easy to clean after each use. Have not used oven in months.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,218 ✭✭✭snowcat


    Im the same. I use the Ninja. About 300 euro. Easy to clean, heats up in seconds. Have not used the oven since bought



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 482 ✭✭browne_rob5


    Yes could definitely replace an oven if there are only 2 of you. We got one in November and haven't used the oven since and are a family of 4. It will reduce your energy costs also and most things come out nicer.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 675 ✭✭✭SVI40


    Personally, I find them way over hyped. No where near as good as an oven or BBQ.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,367 ✭✭✭con747


    Do you have one? I find mine is great, I have the type with different shelves in it and only use the main oven now at Christmas and the power used is half that of a normal oven with quicker cooking times so I don't know why you think they are over hyped?

    Don't expect anything from life, just be grateful to be alive.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 675 ✭✭✭SVI40




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,367 ✭✭✭con747


    I just find it strange you don't think they are one of the best cooking appliances to be produced since the microwave, but each to their own.

    Don't expect anything from life, just be grateful to be alive.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 675 ✭✭✭SVI40


    Yep, you and me both. Suckered into buying one from all the hype.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,367 ✭✭✭con747


    Can I ask which type you bought? Was it the one with the round cooking section like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tower-Circulation-Technology-Adjustable-Temperature/dp/B077B9X3SB I had one of those first but found it was only ok for 1 person and needed to be shook every couple of minutes to get a good result. The one I have now I can cook on 3 shelves and just alternate them every so often during cooking to get a better result.

    Don't expect anything from life, just be grateful to be alive.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,103 ✭✭✭Mr.Wemmick


    I have a double drawer Ninja and it’s great. Sausages, frozen chips, cheese on toast, chicken wings. Really good at reheating too and crisping.

    The only thing it doesn’t do great is roasties with a large piece of meat. They’re okay in the AF, but to me roast potatoes need to be done around meat in a larger oven. The flavour is better.. but for most everything else it’s spot on. Quick & efficient.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 104 ✭✭Toby22


    If you do any baking you need an oven.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,103 ✭✭✭Mr.Wemmick


    My MIL has an air fryer and it must have a baking function as she has baked a delicious fruit cake recently. She’s a great baker and loves the AF.

    That said, I’ve never used mine for baking. I use the main oven.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,553 ✭✭✭jaffa20


    I'd say frozen pizza is the only thing i use the oven for now. All my other cooking is with airfryer, frying pan or slow cooker.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,085 ✭✭✭Rubberchikken


    I wouldn't be without my oven but our AF is handy for frozen chips if not using oven for anything else. Does gougons fish fingers and so on really well.

    But i like roasts and frozen pizza and casseroles and just don't think AF would do for those.

    It really all depends on what your meals consist of.



  • Registered Users Posts: 14 Richardc9052


    We have the Ninja Foodie Flexdrawer. its 10.4L Capacity with a single drawer.

    I can cook a full roast chicken dinner in there. Also make pastries. Frozen Pizza works in halfs and you can buy a tray that gives you 2 levels, allowing you to quickly cook a whole pizza in 2 halfs. Very rarely use the oven now. Only if the airfryer is already in use or if something physically does not fit the drawer.

    I even slow cooked ham for christmas and it came out perfect.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,232 ✭✭✭waterwelly


    Two air fryers would pretty much make an oven obsolete.

    A twin drawer one for say chips and veg., then a large one for the roast meat.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,232 ✭✭✭waterwelly


    What foods are better from an oven?

    It's mostly to replace a deep fat fryer they are replacing, hence the name.

    But they can do pretty much everything a deep fat fryer can do and more.

    Healthier, cleaner and cheaper to operate.

    I don't think they are over hyped at all.



  • Registered Users Posts: 759 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    Breadmaking is not easy and if you are into sourdough your dutch oven is going to be a thing of the past.

    In fact anything that rises will need serious scaling down and some thought about shielding the top from the direct radiated heat.

    Nothing that a bit of creativity with foil and greaseproof paper won't overcome but bread and cakes would be out for entertaining visitors unless the portions were minuscule.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,582 ✭✭✭Ezeoul


    Its subjective.

    I use my oven for roast potatoes, roast chicken, roast beef... Finishing off a steak,... Lasagne, cottage pie, etc.

    I have a Tefal air fryer, but only use it for convenience foods, like goujons, sausages, burgers or frozen chips.

    Still prefer an oven for my roasties, roast joints, casseroles, pies, lasagne, etc. They just doesn't taste the same (to me) from an air fryer.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 911 ✭✭✭Norrie Rugger Head


    I've had on since the days of Phillips 1st air fryer days.

    They're convenient but no where near as good or versatile as an actual oven

    They're eating the DOGS!!!

    Donald Trump 2024



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 941 ✭✭✭mikep


    OP, I think a large air fryer and separate multi cooker will suit you

    There's only 2 of us too and virtually everything is cooked that way now.

    I even roasted chicken in the muti cooker, finished it in the air fryer which works a treat.

    Our air fryer is small so I'm going to upgrade to one of the 10L ninjas soon.

    Also in my opinion the air fryer does the best chicken wings I've had...



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,247 ✭✭✭✭Ash.J.Williams


    Not true , well apart from joints and toasties



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,326 ✭✭✭jj880


    If you have both drawers going what wattage is that using compared to an oven using between 2200w to 2400w?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,689 ✭✭✭notAMember


    I actually think the biggest drawback with the airfryers is counterspace, the real estate they take up. Maybe consider where it would sit and the space you have left available on the counter.

    Depends on your kitchen layout, but for a lot of kitchens, the oven is built into a kitchen cabinet. Our oven has the slide away door, it's at waist height, beside the counterspace. No swinging around with hot pans, just very easy ergonomically. If I was to have an airfryer on the counter too, I'd definitely miss the chopping space.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,300 ✭✭✭Hippodrome Song Owl


    My two-drawer Tower is 2600w max. But it cooks quicker than the oven, so definitely using less power. I bought mine in early January. My latest electricity bill arrived during the week, and for 64 days, I have used 75 fewer units than the previous period, with the only change being switching to the air fryer for 35 of those days. I don't know why I delayed getting one.

    The only time I use the oven now is for pizza. I don't roast meat, though, so I could see oven still bring important for that.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Let's not pretend air fryer diets are healthy. I've perused a few air fryer "cookbooks", written by Instagram folk not chefs, and it's hardly any wonder Ireland has such an obesity problem with the prevalence/popularity of these machines.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,326 ✭✭✭jj880


    Subjective surely? We were using a deep fat fryer for chips. Now we use the air fryer instead.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,326 ✭✭✭jj880


    Interesting. We have a single drawer 1300w 6.5l air fryer. Its handy and saves on cooking for 1/2 people for sure. I always assumed a 2 drawer wouldn't be a big saving compared to doing a big roast with all the trimmings which is really the only reason we use the oven now at all. Maybe I'll buy another single 6.5l and stick it beside what we have 😄



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 41,113 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Look at the responses in this thread talking about sausage, chips, goujons. It's what the majority of people are using air fryers for. Cheap crap processed food.

    Yes some people will make chips from scratch, definitely healthier than a deep fat fryer. But in the main air fryer are contributing to even worse diets for a nation that is seriously struggling with obesity.



  • Registered Users Posts: 245 ✭✭SimpleDimple


    I might be wrong but they are a replacement to an oven, not a deep fat fryer. They benefit over an oven because the smaller volume is quicker and cheaper to heat, and so it’s a more efficient use of space.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,232 ✭✭✭waterwelly


    "Healthier"

    Chips, sausage etc. all cooked without oil.

    There was a program on UK TV over Christmas.

    Covered all this stuff like calories, flavour and electricity consumption.

    Air Fryer won hands down.

    Except for microwaves. They are cheaper to cook in.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 332 ✭✭Redlim


    These dual versions can be used for roasts as they're essentially one large basket with a removable divider. If using the divider you can cook with one side only, or cook using both sides at different temperatures and different times. They have sync finish also so both sides can finish at the same time even if the cooking times are different.

    Instant VersaZone Dual Air Fryer comes with XXL Single and Double Air Frying Drawers complete with 8 Smart Programmes - Air Fry, Bake, Roast, Grill, Dehydrate, Reheat - Black, 8.5L https://amzn.eu/d/fFcdWcZ

    Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer, Dual Zone with Removable Divider, Large 10.4L Drawer, 7-in-1, Air-Fryer Uses No Oil, Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Max Crisp, Non-Stick Dishwasher Safe Parts, Black AF500UK https://amzn.eu/d/dEg3j2M



  • Registered Users Posts: 84 ✭✭esker72


    The air fryer is grand but I wouldn't be without the main oven. All cooking times and temps on foods are based on conventional ovens and the air fryer while it's great that it does things quicker, needs a lot more watching and guess work. Great for oven chips and things you do a lot and know the times for but the trial and error element of it is a nuisance. I'd put a ham in the oven, go off and do something for an hour and a half and come back to uncover for the last half hour and it's perfectly done. I don't think I'd trust the air fryer with something like that without constantly checking it. At some stage food producers might include cooking times for air fryers on food packaging which would help.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,808 ✭✭✭irelandrover


    But surely that is just you know your oven. If you used the air fryer then you would learn the time.

    I find the air fryer great for most things but not all. I find roast chicken better from the air fryer than the oven but roast beef is better from the oven for instance.



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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    The food being cooked in air fryers is still garbage. It doesn't matter if there's fewer calories from less oil, sausage and goujons diet is still highly processed unhealthy food.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,856 ✭✭✭Allinall


    You think the people cooking those foods in an air fryer didn’t have the same diet before?

    Air fryers ( or any cooking appliances) don’t contribute to obesity. People do.

    If they want to eat crap, they’ll eat crap, regardless of how it’s cooked.

    Better to eat crap cooked in an air fryer rather than on a frying pan, or a deep fat fryer.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,900 ✭✭✭thomas 123




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,326 ✭✭✭jj880


    Making your own pizzas is fun especially with kids. Aldi has nice jars of pasatta. The dough is flour, oil + water. Sprinkle some flour in the air fryer and the base doesn't stick. Very easy and tastier than frozen imo.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 707 ✭✭✭mykrodot


    As @Ezeoul said above, Airfryers are good for things like chips, sausages, gougons............things I rarely eat! However I cube up potatoes and they cook quickly and very well in it along with root vegetables.

    I would never get rid of my oven , in fact I'm buying a new one this week, single Neff oven. You can't beat traditional ovens for baking especially and large tray bakes, large roasted veg dishes, cottage pie, fish pie............proper good nutritional traditional food.

    Thirdly I can't stand the space the Airfryer takes up on my worktop!!! My kitchen isn't big.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,232 ✭✭✭waterwelly


    I'm not sure what your point is.

    It's "healthier" than a deep fat fryer.

    Nobody is saying it turns processed food into something it's not.

    I cook mushrooms in an air fryer. We used fry them on the pan.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,368 ✭✭✭phormium


    It's very dependent on the food you cook, I don't have an air fryer but have a halogen oven, haven't been without one for over 20 yrs I'd say, bought one of the originals when they came out, been replaced several times obviously but find it great.

    That said I still use my oven, baking would be one of the main things I use it for, yes you can bake a few things in halogen oven/air fryer but a bit limited if you are a big baker. Oven is used obviously when family visiting when you need a bigger amount of food but day to day I use my halogen oven an awful lot, I never had a deep fat fryer but I use it for wedges/chips when I do want some, it will roast a chicken very nicely and even a second small turkey at Christmas when needed. Great for fish/chicken fillets/sausages and I actually use it for the roast potatoes when doing them instead of oven, think it makes a better job of them, now you do have to move stuff a bit as no shaking option. Bakes good scones and a few cookies from freezer if you need a sugar fix but wouldn't bake a good cake for example.

    So while I think some sort of quick alternative cooker is very handy for some things an oven to me would be essential as well. There is the counter space issue as well, my halogen oven luckily has space to live in utility room.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,807 ✭✭✭squonk


    I have an air fryer. It’s great for convenience for cooking quick bits and I have done chickens in mine which cage out lovely BUT 95% of the responses here assume the OP is only ever going to cook dinners for two. Maybe that’s what is going to happen but you are automatically limiting yourself. I don’t care what people say, for any decent baking an oven is an essential item. You won’t cut a decent sized cake in an airfyer and I’d be worried about the limited space for rising breads etc.

    A good oven can be expensive so if cost is an issue and you might fare better with getting an air fryer for now but, really, they’re not all that and while I do think they’re one of the better gadgets to arrive in the last 20 years, you just have more versatility with an oven so I wouldn’t be without one.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,135 ✭✭✭akelly02


    i do chicken breast fillets, beef, plenty of healthy things. not just chips and goujons.


    silly comment.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,908 ✭✭✭munchkin_utd


    have to agree with above, when youve an air "fryer" you only use the normal oven for pizza or cake/ bread baking so its very plausable that many would be able to get by with only the air "fryer" if they havent a conventional oven.

    I was sceptical of the yokes initially, another fuppin kitchen gadget to store, but we do use it a few times a week and our normal oven barely gets turned on. Aside from energy saving and whatnot, its just convienent that it works on a timer so if working from home and you get a call and you are distracted, or a child floods the bathroom or random cr@p, it turns off rather than cremating whatever you were cooking !

    (and yea, timers do exist but you would need to be within earshot and leave a call and go turn off the normal oven etc )



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,326 ✭✭✭jj880


    Did tandoori cubed chicken fillets in ours last night. Turned out lovely. We dont have it on our main kitchen counter as that would be annoying. Our air fryer is at the back door on a draining board beside the deep fat frier. Its a small room with an extractor fan so works well for us. Or can just open the back door slightly let any steam / hot air escape.



  • Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 10,518 Mod ✭✭✭✭5uspect


    We have a Ninja Foodie which is also a pressure cooker and a slow cooker. It's been amazing for a lot of things.

    https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/product/ninja-foodi-11-in-1-smartlid-multi-cooker-6l-ol550uk-zidOL550UK



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 717 ✭✭✭Yeah Right


    Exactly, there's a certain amount of snobbery in that other poster's thoughts, to be honest. Since Christmas I've done chicken breasts, homemade kievs, chicken parmesan, baked fish fillets, meatballs, crispy chilli beef, roast cauliflower, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed peppers, padron peppers, halloumi, arrancini, wings, nachos, roast potatoes, baked salmon.......and that's before we get to homemade goujons / fish fingers / wedges / chips etc. Doesn't all have to be processed.

    The ninja dual drawer one even fits a whole chicken on one side and your choice of spuds in the other.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,135 ✭✭✭akelly02


    good post.


    long story short it will cook what you want it to cook.


    Healthy or not healthy , thats your choice.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 344 ✭✭Banzai600


    we have a double oven set up, one large main and one smaller oven above that doubles as microwave. Have them yrs, and they have been fantastic. The main oven is great for cooking different dishes at once, the way it cycles the air etc or full chicken and the likes....and we would cook a lot to give you a picture.


    we bought a Nlnja 5.2 ltr air fryer a few months ago, have not looked back. just two of us in the house. it cooks quicker than the oven, more efficient for chicken , sausages etc. even cooks the likes of homemade sausage rolls to perfection. As well as baking frozen shop bought pastries -that we dont eat too often anyway. Also reheating is good.

    We eat well in general and not much processed food, so the likes of the butcher chicken stuff etc would go in the nlnja and sausages at the weekend. The 5.2 ltr is a bit small if cooking multiple sutff, like say sweet potato fries with fish and other stuff, so maybe go the the dual drawer. we wouldnt be without it now. and its used for smaller meats / fish more than the oven now. They are worth the purchase imo.



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