;^) What's your favorite thing to cook in the air fryer

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
I use mine mainly at Lent for cooking frozen fish. It's also great for onion rings, and Cardinal does blintzes in hers.

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My counter space is limited, so my air fryer is in the basement right now. In the winter, I cook about 90% of my dinners (pork chops, chicken breast, meat loaf) in my toaster oven, about 5% in a frying pan, and the other 5% in the slow cooker (like stews, and then I freeze those and reheat them in the microwave).

I live in Central Iowa. The fish is horrible here, except at Lent, so that's basically the only time I eat it. The air fryer maintains its crisp outer crust. Ditto onion rings. Otherwise, I'd just use my toaster oven. The air fryer was a gift . . .
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
There are several air fryer cookbooks cheap on Amazon Kindle.

We removed our toaster oven and replaced it with the air fryer. It does anything the toaster oven could do with no problem.

The main things I air fry are fries and corn dogs. I use it to bake canned biscuits regularly and to make toast. I recently bought a couple of the silicone dishes for air frying. I used one for reheating Thanksgiving leftovers for my youngest son when he was here recently. Used it as a convection oven. I've also air fried frozen egg rolls and frozen cheese sticks. I've baked frozen soft pretzels and take and bake monkey bread from Papa Murphy's Pizza.

I will try some recipes from the two air fryer cookbooks I got after we get moved. My wife is wanting to make jerky with the dehydrator mode on it.
I've wondered about the dehydrating mode and how well it works. I didn't realize until after the fact that the one I ordered didn't have one.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
And cleaning up after cooking chicken is a big pain too. In my opinion.
Other things I tried weren’t such a big deal to clean up after.

The nonstick stuff is wearing off on mine, so probably why such a pain.
Using parchment paper in the bottom helped out a LOT too, by the way.

get the parchment paper rounds, or squares, for air fryers from Amazon. I hear this makes clean up really easy.
 

Wildwood

Veteran Member
I wanted to update...I'm loving the air fryer life!!!

To start with, I bought the first one (Instant Slim) and I liked it a lot but I'd also considered the Cosori Dual with elements in the top and bottom...the one Border Collie Dad likes so well. I had second thoughts and since I got such a good deal on the first one, $77 including tax...it's a good bit higher now, and my DIL's air fryer is completely worn out, I decided to order the Cosori, do some comparisons and give her one of them.

The two air fryers are so close in function that I couldn't pick one. The Cosori does have the top and bottom elements but the convection action on the Instant seems stronger so it actually browned a few things better on the bottom than the Cosori but that was just pieces of dry toast. Everything else was a draw so I let my DIL pick which one she wanted. She picked the Instant because she has a few of the pots and she is very happy with them. It was a good choice because the basket is 88 square inches and there are four of them. The Cosori dual is 85.5 but it is square while the Instant is oblong, roughly 7.2" x 11.3" inside measurements. I'd easily recommend either. The Cosori is about $70 higher at $179 before tax.

Anyway, I'm learning to cook in one and it is so easy once you get started. To start with, I'm not going by suggested times or temps. I'm using my own intuition and checking things often and even though one of the Cosori's selling points is you don't have to turn stuff, I do anyway...for now, and will continue to do it that way until I learn on my own. I bought one of those thermometers with a sharp metal point and that's how I determine when the meat is done. It is cooked perfectly, slightly brown but succulant with the best taste.

So far, I've cooked boneless, skinless chicken thighs and breasts, hamburgers and bacon. I give most everything a light spray of oil including the veggies. I've done lots of broccoli, brussel spouts and sweet potatoe fries...I sprinkled the fries very lightly with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. They were caramelized to perfection. I put garlic salt on most everything else except the eggs and bacon. It toasts pecans to perfection too but you need to check them often because they will burn quickly. I just pitch a small handful in daily and turn it on for a minute or two.

This morning I made the best bacon I've ever tasted and fried eggs. I did the bacon first, took out the grate and cooked the eggs in the bacon grease that was under it. Until I learn, I'm cooking everything at 360 and set the time for ten minutes which allows me to quickly open the drawer to check the progress. I'm going to start taking notes now that I understand how it works and will probably start experimenting with the other settings.

I was making this whole thing much more complicated than it really was. I recommend getting one, doing a little studying on the instruction and cook book if it comes with one and then just throwing a few things in there and turning it on to see what happens. Just remember, most foods but not all, need a light coat of oil. I'm using avacado oil because I've heard it gives a good, light crisp and works best with air fryers. I ordered a sprayer and bought a bottle of avacado oil to go in it but I'm not linking to it because I'm not sure I like it and may send it back and get another one.

Instant Slim

Cosori Dual

Meat thermometer from WM
 
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Cardinal

Chickministrator
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I love cooking bacon in mine.
My sis sent me a Kohl's gift card for Christmas and I used it to get a combo air fryer toaster oven. Should be here later next week.
I'll let y'all know how that one is.
I have never bothered spraying my food, although when I roast potatoes, I do coat them with Italian dressing.
They come out tasty and there is no vinegar taste at all.
 
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