I Thought Air Fryers Were a Gimmick, Then I Got One and Fell in Love
I have had a fraught relationship with air fryers for at least a year. I would see TikToks about them, or recipes that used them, and I’d think, “Well, I simply must get one!” But I also have a nice kitchen now, where I can actually open my oven door while standing in front of it (saying my old apartment had a galley kitchen would be... generous). Plus I don’t need more kitchen gadgets! I have enough! Plus, again, where would I PUT another small appliance? And air fryers are just countertop convection ovens! These were all great arguments, but they didn’t stop the air fryer siren song from luring me in.
Finally, I just got one. It got it at Target (on sale!), I could always return it, and at least then I’d KNOW if an air fryer was right for me. Turns out, I’m obsessed. I only wish I had gotten one sooner.
I got a PowerXL 3qt Vortex Air Fryer, on sale for $60 (it’s even cheaper now!). Air fryers come in all kinds of sizes and varieties, so it just depends on what will work for your household. For me, the 3qt was perfect. I live by myself, but sometimes cook for more people or meal prep, and I planned on putting it away when I wasn’t using it, so I wanted something that I could pick up and store easily. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was using the air fryer so often, I needed to just keep it out all the time. I ended up rearranging my kitchen so I could have my air fryer on the countertop. I mean, if that’s not a perfect endorsement, I don’t know what will convince you.
I also didn’t realize all that air fryers can do! I got rid of my toaster! Now anything I would have put in the toaster goes in the air fryer. There’s also no preheating, and I put frozen stuff in there all the time (most of the time, to be honest). I used to roast sweet potatoes in the oven, and I’d have to preheat the oven, then cook the halved sweet potatoes for a good 45 minutes. I would put them in after a workout, then go take a shower, then prepare the rest of dinner, and STILL I’d have to wait a bit for the sweet potatoes to be done. I’d often plan on them for dinner, but by the time I got around to it I didn’t have a spare hour to devote to dinner prep, so I’d just eat something else. The air fryer cuts cooking time down exponentially. It’s a lifesaver. And if you have cranky kids or you are a cranky adult who needs food NOW? Air fryer to the rescue.
@ollierose_ Wtf have I been doing with myself?! ##airfryer ##instantvortexairfryer ##momlife
♬ original sound - Lauren
There’s only one caveat to the air fryer, at least for me, and that’s having to look up how long/what temperature to cook things, every time I make them. Eventually you will memorize some cooking directions for the things you make all the time, but I still like to check! My solution is a Google Doc. When I find cooking directions that work, I write them in the doc. It’s not fancy, but it’s faster than Googling “air fryer frozen broccoli” and then opening five different recipes to see which one was the one that worked that one time. Here’s a screenshot of the doc (the last on I’m still experimenting with, as you can see).
This is not a doc I intended to share with anyone, so it’s not exactly clear, but I know what it means so it works for me.
My last two air fryer tips are for cleaning. At least with the one I have, there is a removable tray that actually holds whatever you’re cooking, and the basket underneath. The tray can go in the dishwasher, but I end up hand washing it half the time becasue I need to use it again ASAP (I have considered buying a second tray, but I think it’s too expensive). The basket gets all the drips and crumbs, and that cannot be washed. The best tip I read was to treat it like a cast iron pan. You can use a wet paper towel and wipe it down, but you don’t actually need to clean it. The food never touches it anyway, and I’ve never had anything I couldn’t get up with a damp paper towel and maybe a plastic scraper, in extreme circumstances. I also clean it right after using it, so as long as you don’t leave sauce in it overnight, it should clean up just fine.
My air fryer has become one of my most-used kitchen gadgets. It’s saved me time, energy, and stress around cooking. If it suits your lifestyle, I cannot recommend an air fryer highly enough.
