I recently had replace my old air fryer. I decided to buy the Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer and I really like it. I have a couple of Instant Pot pressure cookers so I knew the quality of the brand. I recommend the IP Vortex. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VHFMZHJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 For anyone shopping, I imagine air fryers will be a big sale item for the holidays and Black Friday.
As I read some of the reviews on these things, the negative ones say that things like french fries do not cook uniformly...some are cooked fine while others are under cooked. Uniform single items like steaks come out great, but when there's a stack of individual items in the basket, these things don't perform all that well. Is that a common experience? I would think that "healthy fries" are the main selling point.
I can't answer that with real knowledge because I've never used the air fryer, but my wife cooks fries in them. I think it might be true that they didn't come out so well the first time or two, but I'm not sure. She has an air fryer with two baskets, so she can cook things simultaneously that might have different time and temperature requirements, though. She can also set it so that both are done at the same time.
I have no problem with fries, but I buy a fryer with a large basket and I would never fill it with fries. I mostly cook a single layer or maybe a couple of layers, spritz with oil, and shake the basket a couple of times while cooking. They turn out very well... as crispy as you want. Some people line the basket with foil or parchment paper, which kind of defeats the convection fan(s). Since the interior is non-stick and really easy to clean I don't see the point in that at all.
Walmart is running a Black Friday special on a Gourmia 6 qt fryer for $38. It's $85 on Amazon. 4.5 Stars with 800 Reviews. The Walmart website says "Internet Pricing Only" meaning buy it for Pick Up, but a guy on a different forum said he bought it for that price in person at the register Link
Whether fresh or frozen, using an air fryer for french fries is the same as using a deep fryer. A couple of minutes into the cooking stage, they should be shaken a little just to separate them so they’ll cook evenly. Note: if one so chooses to use raw potatoes out of the bag, then after they are sliced they should be rinsed with cold water so they won’t stick to each other during the frying process and again, they should be shaken sometime shortly after they start to cook. Note 2: Basically, if there is more than one of anything placed into a fryer of any kind, a light shake just after they start cooking will prevent food items from sticking together and also help guarantee that the items will cook evenly. I bought a small air fryer just to try it out but I was pretty much the only person who used it. I think part of that is because it was too small to really use for anything larger than a half dozen chicken wings so the machine eventually just sat on the counter to be a home for wayward bugs. I’ve thought about getting a larger one but nah, the toaster oven does doesn’t use as much electricity as the oven and does what we want it to do. Heck, we threw out the $150 coffee warmer and potato maker (microwave) just last week. It went on strike and although I probably could have renegotiated the contract and fixed the problem, the scab toaster oven does a better job making REAL baked potatoes and who the heck needs a $150 coffee re-heater? Negotiations failed and the microwave was out of a job.
I just place the Pickup Order for that air fryer (I don't think I can go inside for PickUps anymore since we're all diseased now, it's gotta be curbside.) Another upside to the deep discount is that Extended Service Plans are often priced based upon the cost of the product. So when a 2 year Plan was offered during the checkout process for only $4, I added it to my cart. The only significant appliance I've ejected was my Showtime Rotisserie. In fact, I had picked up a new one cheap before moving here and just did not have the room for it, so it got donated to a church yard sale. Before that, I used it for making chicken, for doing kabobs (the skewers rotated 1/4 turn every revolution) and roasting meatballs in the fish basket. I agree about toaster ovens...I have not nuked a single potato since I got my convection oven, but I still use the microwave as a Lean Mean Reheating Machine (coffee and food) and popcorn maker.
For those of you who have one of these... The instructions leave a little to be desired with the one I got, and my questions might not even pertain to the models you have. This came with a Crisper Tray that seems to be a snug fit at the top of the basket (meaning it does not look like it will sit on the bottom.) This also came with a wire "cake cooling rack" thing with 3" legs and that fits in the basket and sits on the bottom. The manual makes no mention of the wire rack. The "Item Includes" section for this product on the website makes no mention of it. There's no pic of it anywhere. -Does the Crisper wedge in at the top of the basket? When do I use it? -When do I use the elevated Wire Rack? -When do I just cook foods in the basket without either? None of the included recipes (wings, fish, coffee cake in a pan/scones not in a pan) say anything about using either rack...they all just say "place in basket."
The crisper tray is a snug fit so that when you dump the food out, the crisper doesn't fall out, too. I ALWAYS use the crisper tray. The elevated rack is for cooking different foods at the same time (or more of the same food.) You could put a burger patty on the bottom and fries on that rack unless the grid is spaced too far apart. At any rate, it's just another way to get more surface area crispy. Look here, John...
Thanks!!! Have you baked anything like scones that are individual things that would normally sit on a cookie sheet? If so, do they sit on the crisper tray? Have you baked anything like cornbread that's batter-on-a-pan? If so, does the pan sit on the crisper tray? I assume you find a way to get the crisper tray out in order to clean it?
A good quick dinner is Tyson's Buffalo Wings (or make your own recipe) and frozen fries. You can cook both at the same time and make a salad... done.
Honestly, I bake stuff in my Breville; I have never even tried baking in the air fryer though I don't know why it wouldn't work. The air fryer is good for reheating things you want to be crispy again. My crisper tray has some silicone "bumper" things that make it fit tight but I don't have any problem getting the tray out. Make sure you're turning it the right way... some of them are slightly different dimensions LxW.
One more tip. When you empty the food out, run hot water and a squirt of dish soap into the fryer bin. By the time you finish eating any cooked-on bits will be loosened and it's really easy to keep clean.
That video answered lot of my questions. I got a bounce-back from the email I sent Gourmia Customer Service. My generic questions required the Date Code from the unit as well as a copy of my receipt. They're strict! I assume you take the crisper tray out every time to make sure it's properly cleaned. Maybe none of the recipes say anything about the crisper tray because it's meant to be used for everything.