Here's a discussion from the Kitchen Table Forum. Save your money.

When T-Fal first came out with them, they were for Germans with postage stamp kitchens with no ovens to be able to fry schnitzel on their single burners and also have (pre-made, frozen) French fries at the same time. :) It's basically a convection oven which blows right on the food, with a stirring arm.

Chowhound has discussions on air fryers.

http://www.chowhound.com/post/air-fryer-930128

I think I'd love one, but have way too many kitchen gadgets as it is.

Grainlady, I trust your experience, so please tell me, what's the difference between your appliance and standard "oven fry"? Thanks!

Great feedback to help with my decision!

Another countertop gadget made in china. I prefer to invest in good quality pots and pans...enameled cast iron and learn to use them. Not an argument at all but i don't understand not using basic good cooking with the ovens we have in every kitchen. Experimenting and learning how to use them efficiently.

Maybe i just find simple good food, being on holiday now, using a wood fired oven with a flat single solid cooktop with no electric appliances at all and enjoying making good food with simple cast iron and no microwave and no TV!

If you must have one, read reviews because of delaminating fake surfaces claiming to be stainless and plastics that deteriorate.

(i just roasted two tiny chickens in a cast iron dutch oven with a tight lid and took them out to roast un-covered) ...they were as crisp as fried and tender delish and threw us off timing thinking they needed another 1/2 hour to crisp. So many basic ways to make good food.

I agree some appliance gadgets are useful. I do cherish my sous vid being a reasonable price now. Panini is so much better on a cast iron with a weight on top like a kettle...that electric press was disgusting and the surface delaminated...garbage. Two waffle irons garbage. I use a cast iron one that will out live me....

Gadget envy is fine. I do like my ice cream maker that you freeze the container and electric the spinner, : ()...once a year maybe.

Remember the first microwaves ? Mine came with a giant cookbook and was the new thing where you could bake cake and cookies and just about every meal devine. (haha) A wedding gift from my in-laws and it was HUGE. My FIL was a gadget freak but had no idea how to cook an egg, boil water for tea. He liked gadgets. New technology ...try baking a cake in that microwave. (cruel first married year trying that disaster cooker).

Now i'm being annoying lol.

I'm such a jerk.

We have one of those oil-less turkey "fryers". My only excuse is that Elery bought it for $10 at the on-line auction, new in the box. It makes an OK turkey, definitely not the same as deep fried, though, and no better than my turkey roasted in the oven.

Save your money is my vote.

Annie

I agree.... you can't expect a good fried taste using air.

Thank you all for your input.

I like fried foods :( but don't like keeping up with the oil in my Fry Daddy so listening to the ads I thought about the Air Fryers. But knowing how misleading ads are I wanted feedback from folks I know.

plllog-

The difference is:

- The amount of space that has to be heated - which usually means less energy is used because it's small.

-Less heat in the kitchen than from a full-size oven.

-It takes less time to do the job.

-The air fryer has more air circulation in the small space than the convection feature on my oven OR my convection/microwave oven.

-The design of the air-fryer (a round basket) is for a specific purpose - to fry foods in a short period of time using a small amount of oil if it's raw/fresh food, or NO oil if it's a frozen snack food choice that has already been deep-fried.

-It does the specific purpose it's designed for very well and is just one more "tool" in the kitchen.

-It's FUN!!!!

Thanks, Grainlady! So the big cooking-functional (rather than energy, space, fun, etc.) difference is the greater amount of air flow, which makes sense because it's blowing right into the food, rather than just meant to circulate and even out the air in the space.

I have one of those NuWave ovens and use it a lot instead of my bigger double ovens, especially in the summer. But I'm wondering if the smaller air fryer would be just as handy. How high does the temperature go? One thing I don't like about the NuWave it that the temp maxes out at about 350. In spite of the ads, it's not that great for inside "grilling" of burgers, chops, or steaks.

shambo-

The high temperature is 400°F (low 175°F). There is an automatic off-switch as a safety feature if the pan is removed, even partially, during cooking. It also has "rapid heat technology" which instantly reheats the appliance if you open it. We usually pull it out once to shake the contents during cooking. It also has an "overheating protection system".

It's great for reheating leftovers like grilled burgers/steak/chicken.

-Grainlady

I have one of those countertop ovens too, but mine is old. It makes good baked potatoes but isn't great for anything else I can think of. Definitely don't try to bake anything like pie or biscuits in it, ugh, although the temperature is supposed to go up to 400F.

I ought to dig that out and sell it at the auction, I can't talk anyone in my family into taking it. I'd better check to see if it even still works, it's been stored in the pole barn for 3 years now...

Annie

Just a thought if your still interested. I'm looking over at shopgoodwill.com which is something I do every Saturday morning. There is a Big Boss oil less fryer currently up for bid. It appears large, 1300 watts. Ending on the 6th but my guess it could be had very cheaply and may be a good option to test it. You can go to the website and do a search for item number 29554946. I don't know anything about these but had been considering one myself.

I got an e-mail from Wal-Mart this morning, and if you order on-line they have the Black & Decker PuriFry air-fryer for $99.97 - which is what I paid for it (was $149.99).

-Grainlady