Do your homework on how your model works, and you’ll soon be cooking up healthier chips, quicker roasts and super soups
I was given an air fryer for Christmas. Where do I start?
Emma, Leeds
According to a report by Lakeland, 45% of UK households now own an air fryer, and for Poppy O’Toole it’s not hard to see why. “They really are the answer to ease and comfort in the kitchen,” says the author of Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Air Fryer Cookbook. “There’s less washing up, less faff, and you don’t compromise on taste.” In fact, as hot air circulates around whatever you’re cooking, you’ll get pleasingly crisp results, and with “hardly any oil, so it’s a healthy way to cook, too”, adds Hayley Dean, author of How to Make Anything in an Air Fryer. Perhaps the biggest win of all, though, is how efficient air fryers are. “They can do all the things you can do in an oven, but super-fast and economically,” says Niki Webster, author of The Vegan Air Fryer. “You can roast vegetables in 20 minutes rather than an hour.”
For newbies, the first thing to note is that not all air fryers are created equal. This is why Webster recommends doing something she never normally would, which is read the manual. “It’s really worth spending a bit of time understanding your machine, because they’re all different,” she says. A sentiment echoed by O’Toole: “Some models are more ferocious than others, [so] test out a few basic recipes so you can gauge timings.” It’s no different from getting acquainted with a new oven, and just like ovens, air fryers need preheating. “People often wonder about this, but it will ensure even cooking,” Webster adds. And don’t do anything daft like diving straight into the sweet stuff. “You see all these amazing desserts online, but they’re quite tricky to do,” warns Webster. (If you are going to do this, get yourself a mini metal baking tray – “that’s my absolute best tip, because it ensures an even bake”.)
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