Just bought an air fryer

Irwin

Irwin

Well-known Member
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
I've been thinking about buying an air fryer and researching them for a while. Buying small appliances is tricky because they're made so cheaply and there's almost always some design defect.

Air fryers and toaster ovens are very similar. I almost bought the highly recommended (by web and YouTube reviewers) Breville Smart Oven Pro, which is cool looking and powerful. It has an LED screen with all sorts of electronic options and settings, but it's not really an air fryer; it's more of a countertop oven that can kind of air fry, but not as good as a genuine air fryer. It sells for $279. It's highly rated, but if you read the Amazon reviews, they don't last very long. For that kind of money, it better last ten years. A lot of people report them conking out after only a year or two — probably for as long as the warranty lasts. Plus, compared to dedicated toaster ovens, they don't work as well. What comes out seems more baked than fried.

After getting a bit frustrated, I started looking for just a basic but high powered air fryer/toaster oven. Basically, I just wanted 1800 watts of power and reliability. We have a Hamilton Beach toaster oven, which works well but it's just underpowered. It takes over an hour to make steak fries due to its low (1400w) wattage. But at $84, it was a good purchase. We use it for all sorts of things... well, mainly just toasting and reheating. Oh, it's good for cooking fish, too!

I came across this Hamilton Beach air fryer for $149 on Amazon:
81X2CnQqRcL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

It looks more like a restaurant appliance than something for a home kitchen — nothing fancy, but it has 1800 watts of power and it seems to be reliable from the reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VC3M4JQ/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The most common complaint was that the outside gets extremely hot. I can live with that. In the summer, it might be a problem, but not in the middle of the winter. I don't mind if it heats up the kitchen, as long as it doesn't catch on fire, which actually can happen. Food can catch on fire because of the high amount of power in such a small appliance, and the manual tells you to not leave food unattended when in broil mode. I can do that. I never leave our oven unattended when I'm broiling something — mainly because I don't want the food to burn. The high power in a small amount of space is what makes it an air fryer.

It's supposed to arrive on Sunday, the 23rd. I'll provide a review when I get it. I'll try some baked potatoes and home fries and chicken breasts and fish... I have plans for this baby! :ROFLMAO:
 

I had plans for mine as well, bought a couple of months ago.... it’s smaller than yours and fits nicely in my kitchen, so far I’ve used it only a few times, French fries and potato wedges cook well, I must make more effort

Good luck I’ll follow your progress :)
 
Alligatorob said:
Looks a lot like my grandmother, and I am sure it's what she would be thinking!

Click on the text for a link to the picture. My grandmother did the best fried chicken I have ever had, but she would not have approved of the air fryer!

We have one and use it a lot, I like it. But it ain't my Grandmama's chicken!
Click to expand...
My grandma, too! Hers was even better than KFC!

I'll give chicken a try in the air fryer and if it doesn't come out good, I'll go back to the frying pan. And there's always Shake-and-Bake, which is actually pretty good.
 
So far I'm pretty happy with my air fryer. It heats up fast and cooks evenly. So far, I've cooked beef for stew and steak fries. The even cooking is due to the four elements in the top of the air fryer. It also has two elements in the bottom. I have no idea how many other air fryer have. Our old toaster oven just has two on top and two on the bottom.

A few comments...

The positives:
  • It heats up fast and cooks evenly.
  • It seems to be well made and doesn't feel cheap like a lot of the air fryers/toaster ovens out there including a KitchenAid, which I thought were supposed to be good quality.
  • The controls are solid. Granted, it only has three: temperature, mode, and timer.
The negatives:
  • It doesn't have any indicator to tell you the current temperature inside the oven.
  • There's no pre-heat indicator that tells you when it's up to temperature. I guess that could have been expected since it doesn't have electronic controls.
  • It scratches really easily when cleaning with a Teflon safe scouring pad.
  • The timer only goes up to 30 minutes.
I'm going to cook a turkey breast on Saturday. I'll post the results.
 
OP, if the oven gets hot on the outside that means it is poorly insulated. I would return it. Do the instructions warn of the exterior getting very hot? Never heard of any oven getting hot on the outside. Call the manufacturer on their toll free line.
 
fmdog44 said:
OP, if the oven gets hot on the outside that means it is poorly insulated. I would return it. Do the instructions warn of the exterior getting very hot? Never heard of any oven getting hot on the outside. Call the manufacturer on their toll free line.
Click to expand...
The outside heat isn't actually a problem. It got hot when I ran it to burn off the manufacturing oil, but that was on the max setting. At 400°, which seems to be a commonly used temperature for air frying, it gets warm to the touch, but nothing approaching "dangerous" as some reviews claimed.
 
Irwin said:
I've been thinking about buying an air fryer and researching them for a while. Buying small appliances is tricky because they're made so cheaply and there's almost always some design defect.

Air fryers and toaster ovens are very similar. I almost bought the highly recommended (by web and YouTube reviewers) Breville Smart Oven Pro, which is cool looking and powerful. It has an LED screen with all sorts of electronic options and settings, but it's not really an air fryer; it's more of a countertop oven that can kind of air fry, but not as good as a genuine air fryer. It sells for $279. It's highly rated, but if you read the Amazon reviews, they don't last very long. For that kind of money, it better last ten years. A lot of people report them conking out after only a year or two — probably for as long as the warranty lasts. Plus, compared to dedicated toaster ovens, they don't work as well. What comes out seems more baked than fried.

After getting a bit frustrated, I started looking for just a basic but high powered air fryer/toaster oven. Basically, I just wanted 1800 watts of power and reliability. We have a Hamilton Beach toaster oven, which works well but it's just underpowered. It takes over an hour to make steak fries due to its low (1400w) wattage. But at $84, it was a good purchase. We use it for all sorts of things... well, mainly just toasting and reheating. Oh, it's good for cooking fish, too!

I came across this Hamilton Beach air fryer for $149 on Amazon:
81X2CnQqRcL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

It looks more like a restaurant appliance than something for a home kitchen — nothing fancy, but it has 1800 watts of power and it seems to be reliable from the reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VC3M4JQ/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The most common complaint was that the outside gets extremely hot. I can live with that. In the summer, it might be a problem, but not in the middle of the winter. I don't mind if it heats up the kitchen, as long as it doesn't catch on fire, which actually can happen. Food can catch on fire because of the high amount of power in such a small appliance, and the manual tells you to not leave food unattended when in broil mode. I can do that. I never leave our oven unattended when I'm broiling something — mainly because I don't want the food to burn. The high power in a small amount of space is what makes it an air fryer.

It's supposed to arrive on Sunday, the 23rd. I'll provide a review when I get it. I'll try some baked potatoes and home fries and chicken breasts and fish... I have plans for this baby! :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
When I was doing a lot of food formulation for our business I used a countertop Breville
Oven. It didn't last long until it started making noises. I gave that away and got another one from Amazon. That one didnt last long either. A testing associate at Bon Appetite said they tested several of the ovens and recommended the small Hamilton Beach oven - it looks like a pizza oven. Its been fantastic for 10 years.

Sold the business, but this little oven keeps on baking. Have two other big ovens in the kitchen but use this little countertop one everyday. Hamilton Beach is American made and in this case you can really tell it. Good choice you made, there. Enjoy.
 
I have been hearing about air fryers for months so decided to check them out, what a let down.
The air fryer is essentially an amped-up countertop convection oven which I have been using for years.
 

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