Recipe Box, Air Fryer Update
I wanted to share more of my Air Fryer experience with you
We tried, and tried, and tried, and tried again…
Onion rings, potatoes, sweet potato fries, and chicken nuggets…
The onion rings looked pretty but they had no flavor
The chicken looked awful and tasted worse…again zero flavor even though it had been marinated in buttermilk and then dill pickle juice, and coated with seasoned flour…like the copy cat Chick Fila recipe… Parts got too brown and other areas remained white even though we followed the recipe booklet exactly, shaking the basket part way through cooking and not overloading…
We ended up frying the rest of the nuggets in oil, the old fashioned way…
Even the grilled cheese sandwich was dull and tasteless 😞
We had better luck with vegetables. Tossed in 1 tsp of olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper they cooked like vegetables roasted in the oven, but in 5-6 minutes rather than 20-25 minutes.
I was really trying to learn to love this monster on my counter that sweet HH bought me for Christmas…but this large, heavy $350 appliance was not pulling it’s weight in my kitchen
HH is such a great guy, he agreed that it wasn’t working for us and offered to return it for me…
It was trotted back to Williams-Sonoma, where they took it back and credited his card immediately, even though it had been over 2 months since purchased
I am so relieved, and happy to have it outta here 😅
If you have an air fryer and love it, I am so happy for you! I think it’s a very good concept, and a healthy way to cook, but I just didn’t have good luck
If you are thinking about buying one, here are the positives and negatives I’ve found:
Oil: foods cook with less than 2 tsps of oil
Clean up: easy to clean, and parts are dishwasher safe
Size: it takes up a lot of counterspace and is heavy, not something you want to have to drag out of a cabinet or pantry
Time: most things take longer to cook than a conventional fryer because you have to cook in small batches. The appliance is large but the cooking basket in fairly small. You also have to shake the basket for many things during cooking time and often cook partially at one temp, then raise or lower the temp for finishing
Taste: I couldn’t get the batter fried things to taste anything but bland. Roasted vegetables tasted good, and cooked a little faster than the oven, but not worth justifying the price of this appliance
In conclusion, this appliance is not user friendly and produces mediocre food. I suggest treating yourself to a piece of real fried chicken or an onion ring or two once in a while
I can recommend this Picnic Chicken , it has a crunchy potato chip coating and is baked, you might want to give it a whirl
And these Tempura Battered Onion Rings are fried, but they are surprisingly light and don’t taste heavy and greasy
It’s kinda like the lipstick on a pig thing, you know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig…🐷 💄
Fried things just need to be…ahem… FRIED!
Note: This is solely my opinion, based on the food my son & I prepared in our kitchen. I am not being compensated by Williams-Sonoma in any way, but wanted to share my positive experience in shopping with them.
If you have mastered the Air Fryer, I send you kudos and hope you will share your tips and tricks in the comment section
You can read more about my Air Fryer experiences here
Coconut Fried Shrimp pictured above recipe here
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Jenna, An air fryer sounds like a great idea. I don’t have space for an extra K-cup on my kitchen counter here at the lake so it would have been a no-go for me. Thanks for the review, it’s nice to hear they happily refunded your hubby 🙂
This fryer came to my attention a couple of weeks ago. Until then I didn’t know that an “air fryer” existed. The concept is great but it seems like they have a few bugs to work out. I wasn’t thrilled about the price at all and ended up buying one by Waring. Thanks for the review.
Keep me posted Sandra, I would love to hear how it works for you-
Thanks for the honest review, some things just don’t live up to the hype. Glad the return was painless:@)
Thanks so much for the review, Jenna. I saw the air fryer and wondered.
Jenna, thanks for the review. We love our fried food in the South and I guess the way our mothers and grandmothers did it can’t be improved upon. So glad they refunded you!
Thanks Pam! >
thanks for the info – i completely trust your advisement 🙂
Thanks for such an honest review. I’m sure it feels better to be air-fryer free!
Wow…for $350 you would think that it would be a great item…..sorry it did not work out. WS is such a great company and stands by their products…that is why I love doing business with them…
Yes, I was pretty excited they took it back after I’d used it for 2 months and didn’t even have the box! >
Wow!!! I am completely amazed that you have so much trouble learning to use your air fryer! ! I do not find it takes much room at All ( I have the Phillips with all the accessories and also a different brand) It is the best ever and your food comes out so moist, tasty and healthy. You must be overcooking your food and you Do Not need to keep adjusting the temp!! We’ve made the best grilled cheese ever, all varieties of fish, chicken, pork chops and you name it! We roast veggies, make omlets, fritattas, wings, every thing you can imagine into fries etc etc. Usually a spritz of olive oil or any oil or sometimes none. You can steam and roast and its the best and most versatile appliance you could want. I’d never be without it!! Philipp and many others have Awesome cookbooks for the air fryer if having this much difficulty. You can’t give bad reviews if you haven’t played with and used enough to learn the wonderful healthy aspects of the product! It doesn’t have to be a Phillips, just any good brand and learn to use it and it will become your go to favorite way of cooking.!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing Kathleen, I knew that lots of cooks must have luck with it but I really did try a variety of things. I really wanted to use it for traditionally fried foods, not meats, veggies or even cakes, as some cooks have done. I had the Philips app and cookbook and followed directions carefully. I ultimately found it too much trouble, and too large. Thank you so much for commenting, I’m so glad to know about your positive experience.
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I saw this and thought it was an interesting concept but let’s be honest, real fried foods are just going to taste better! I think though it could be a good lower calorie alternative, is it better than baking?
hi Angelina, I have baked eggrolls, taquitos, chicken and loved it. I have tried baked onion rings and had less success with those, but I have several baked fry recipes in my recipe section that are really good, and you’ll never miss the fryer version. I just never could get a tasty enough result to justify this appliance, but I know some people love it- >
Thanks for the review. I think I’ll stick to my oven-baked fries and saving the “real” frying for the experts – KFC! 🙂
I know some people love them, I was disappointed, but glad I cut my losses, it was too much trouble for me! >
Thank Kathleen. Air fryer is great. And Philips air fryer with Rapid Air Technology is the best out there.