Air Fryer tips and ideas

[MandysMom]

Ill start. Please add your own ideas.
Each AF is slightly different. After trying a few things, you will learn whether yours cooks fast or slow amd whether 400° for 6 min setting will finish a frozen steak or if you need to flip and cook longer. Over all AF are amazing.

Air Fruers are Easy to use, easy to clean. (and keeping it clean is key to no smoke). Last nights dinner: chicken bars! Any ground meat will work just might take few more or less minutes. Open pack of ground chicken. Season as desired. Flip into Air Fryer. Season bottom side, which is now up. Use a non scratch spatula or table knife to divide/score pound of meat into 4-6 "bar" shape pieces, don't mess with them, just score them.. Set AF for 400° for 5 min. Check internal temp with instant read thermometer . Turn AF back on 400 ° for another 3-5 min, depending on how close it was. When done, plate and eat.
After food on plate. Pull out basket/bucket part. Lift basket out and pour out any grease. Wipe with paper towel to get remaining grease out. Set both parts-basket in bucket, in sink. Add squirt of Dawn or favorite liquid dish soap. Add hot water. Go enjoy meal. When done eating, quick run a soft brush or sponge around bucket/basket, rinse, and leave upside down to dry. Take a single paper towel folded and dampen it and (unplug AF) wipe all inside surfaces. Go watch tv. When basket dry, put back in for next time. Throw box away, you won't need it any more.
Google "favorite meat or veg" and the words Air Fryer. You name it, someone has the "formula" for air frying, but soon you will get to know your new favorite kitchen buddy and will be able to judge.
Ideas
Look up Fabulously Frugal , owned by Cathy on you tube. She puts out great ideas for AF, which I modify for us.

Put together your favorite combo of veg, cut in mostly similar size pieces. Spray with olive oil, season, dump in AF and roast to perfection.
Virtually any meat will be good done in AF.
Got those frozen hash brown patties? My son thinks AF makes them the best.
Got summer peaches. Cut in half, remove out. Put cut side down on parchment- just always be carefu
With parchment- you need enough food on it to keep paper weighed down so it doesn't blow into fan. I just bought a silicone pad meant to take place of my rare need for parchment.bake peaches until just tender. Flip and fill cavity with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts if you like. Bake until bubbly. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
I use AF often multiple times a day.
Cut a steak or chicken breast in reasonable chunks, season. Cut onion, pepper, other veg in similar size. Toss in oilive oil and season. Chicken cooks fast, so if doing hard veg like potato or carrot, you might start them few min ahead, then add meat and soften veg. AF at 350° 12-20 min until veg tender and meat at done temp.
Got a frozen steak you want but forgot to thaw. No problem. AF on steak setting. Flip and AF again until at done temp inside- I like no more than 125 for steak internal temp.
I love garlic steak bites!
Have fun. Experiment. It's your new best friend. Joe will love sharing succulent bites?
Velda

[Bethers]

I started to put this in morning coffee, but think it's more appropriate here

I know I've said it before, but I'll repeat myself. The air fryer is my absolute number one favorite kitchen appliance. I just wing it most of the time. I should buy a thermometer, but I prefer my meat more well done, so I'll never have to worry about undercooking it lol. And, Anne, you don't have to go to the lengths your son does. I sometimes slice my own potatoes, but more often than not I but frozen ones and throw them in. Frozen hash brown patties are delicious. I often "roast" veggies. Yum. Better than in the oven. If you ever have leftover pizza, it's the best way to reheat. I don't even use any oil most of the time. Oh, and I make a grilled cheese with no butter or oil .. I love it that way. And if you carefully put the cheese not quite to the edges, it doesn't melt into the pan.

I have 2 air fryers. The smallest one Chefman makes is with me in the RV. Then a larger Chefman that looks more like a toaster oven with two shelves. I can go crazy with that one. Because I'll be here 7 months again next summer and have the use of the kitchen in the motel office, I believe I may bring the larger one and put it in that kitchen where I'm sure I'll do all my cooking. I realize I'll have a real oven there, but I haven't used my RV oven since I've had my air fryer. Just play with it and some simple foods. One of the first things that got me hooked was experimenting with making spicy baked carrot slices. Hard to explain, but right after college I worked at a place next to a bar that we'd sometimes go to after work. They made these wonderful carrots and I've tried to replicate them over the years. I'll never get the spices quite right (I've reconciled with that) but have made the best ones ever in my air fryer! I also always make my hard boiled eggs in mine, too.

[BarbaraRose]

When do you use oil when you cook in the AF? What kind is best to use and how much?

I really want to try my frozen hash brown patties. I love the ones from Arby's but they don't offer them anymore and the ones at McD's are really pricey. I also have some chicken breasts in the freezer that I should try.

It took me a long time to try out my toaster oven but now I use that a lot. So hopefully, I will learn to use and love my AF. It is one of the smaller ones, 2 qt I believe. Just looking at the instruction booklet, the cooking times seem kind of high, like frozen potatoes are 20 to 30 minutes. I could cook them in less than half that time on the stove or in the oven. Does that sound right? I don't want to wait a half hour for a hash brown.

[MandysMom]

Frozen hash brown patties do not need oil, they have it in them already. Most items dont need oil! Only if cooking fresh vegetables, would I add oil, tossing cut veggies in a bowl with a teaspoon or two of olive oil, is plenty and helps seasoning to stick! Do not spray the air fryer as it can damage the coating. If its something sticky, use parchment that comes cut to fit, or a silicone perforated liner. If something like a roast, where you want herbs to stick, rub with a tiny bit of olive oil then apply herbs, but I seldom need that, as most seasoning sticks without. I would never ever use processed oils such as corn oil, safflower oil,vegetable, canola oil or soy oil as all turn to a sticky nasty residue on surfaces and are proven dangerous to your health. Best oils, if you need for a specific item are olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil, usually I have at least 2 of them here in a spray can on shelf. It's called a air fryer for a reason! It cooks by circulating heat and air, vs immersing in oil for heat transfer.
If you use parchment (mine came with a few sheets as sample), always make sure there is enough food to keep it weighed down!
Save small containers such as plastic tubs salad comes in at deli, to pour drippings in. I just wait until I'm done eatmg so they are warm, not hot and dump in container. I keep container on counter until 3/4 full, then put in trash. Jars work too. Bacon grease I keep in clean jar to reuse for eggs and other skillet cooking.
Keep as much fats out of your sink as possible, by dumping first in old container, then use a half sheet size piece of paper towel to wipe as much grease as you can from basket/bucket of AF. Then fill with hot water and a little Dawn and soak a few min before running sponge or brush around and rinse and set upside down to dry. Saves your kitchen drain!
I prefer my Instant Pot for hard cooked eggs, but they can be cooked in AF- consult Beth on that.
One thing I really like is, you can freeze chicken or steaks in single serving bags in freezer and pop meat in AF, if you forget to thaw.
There are some fabulous recips for mixture of small pieces of meat and veg tossed with tiny amount olive oil and seasoning and dumped in AF to cook. Typically that's called a sheet pan dinner. Cathy of Fabulously Frugal has several recipes on YouTube like that.
She also has recipe where you wrap a double stuff Oreo in a biscuit from one of those tubes and bake in AF! Supposed to be ooey gooey delicious when done. I dont eat that junk anymore but my son hopes I'll make them soon for him.
If you have hash browns in cubes or shreds, google a recipe for AF. The shreds might fall through. Tne ones that are in a preformed patty work great amd my son loves them! A "grilled" cheese sandwich is fabulous in the AF too! A quick search will tell you time and temp to start with. You really only need to close babysit an AF until you get familiar with he process.
The hash brown patties I buy at grocery , for my Cosori 5.8" cook at 380° for 10 min, then flip and cook 2-3 more min, depending on how brown you like them.
A fresh potato is cheap and easy to AF. One recipe I saw, which claimed to make really crispy fries, called for cutting potato in desired shapes, then soaking in cold water 30 min to get starch out, rinse amd repeat twice so soak water becomes clear, then dry potatoes on a clean dish towel before cooking. I haven't tried that but son might like them so I'll experiment.
Velda

[OregonLuvr]

I love everyone posting their tips and tricks for the Air fryer. Guess I am a rebel in some ways. I have a pastry brush that I use to lightly paint the bottom of the basket with Olive oil when I am cooking things like wings or salmon. I dont do it for the frozen hashbrown patties of course. I also have an oil spritzer to spritz my veggies then add my seasonings. I dont pay much attention to the times that are often posted because most of the time they are so off. I overcooked many things starting out. Now I just open it, eyeball it, test it with my thermometer if it is meat or fish, otherwise I just flip it over and add a couple minutes. Nothing to stop me from taking it out and seeing if it is to my liking. I love baked potatoes done in it. I rub them with a little olive oil, sea salt, and check them after about 30 minutes depending on the size of the potato. BUT my caveat is I usually pop them in the micro for a couple minutes to kick start them LOL Then put the olive oil and salt on them and pop them in the AF. I cook meatballs, salmon, fish in a glass pyrex dish as it contains the grease from the meatballs, butter from the salmon and fish. I buy my wings frozen, Foster Farms Chicken Wings come in a 4lb bag and last a long time, they come with different sauces too depending on your taste. There are several brands but I get these at Costco. I also buy the bags of chicken tenders. The nice thing is you can pop 3 or 4 in the AF frozen. I do like to thaw mine but they thaw really fast or pop in the micro for a minute or two. They cook fast in the AF tho because they are small. I have mostly learned by trial and error. I sometimes order a burger and fries and when I get home pop the fries in there for about a minute and they taste just like when I ordered them.
I cook a steak every once in a while but nothing beats a cast iron frying pan but with the AF I have no big mess. I always preheat mine for a couple minutes before cooking a steak. When I have Chinese food I heat up the fried shrimp or Mar Far chicken and it comes out crispy like when I ordered it instead of soggy like the micro. So those are my tips. I havent liked a couple things I have cooked in there mainly because I overcooked them............but now if they arent done I just pop them back in for a couple minutes.

[snowball]

I don't have an AF so why am I posting here??? cause I have a couple of questions or observation .... I found a recipe for coconut shrimp this summer where the shrimp is sauteed in a bit of oil on the stove it was a really good recipe but had leftovers so froze them the other day I took them out to let them thaw in the fridge I then microwaved them and regretted it ... made them not crunchy like they were originally... that that something you could do in the AF? from beginning to reheating?
have heard that reheating fries onion rings ect is the way to go
so Beth what is the spicy carrot sticks?
sheila

[MandysMom]

Yes, absolutely an Air Fryer will do better job reheating shrimp!
Velda

[BarbaraRose]

Have any of you made potato skins? I also want to make a small precooked turkey breast for Thanksgiving and wondering if I can do that in there too?
I also pre-cook baked potatoes in the microwave before putting them in the oven or toaster oven. I need to try them in the AF.
For boneless chicken breasts, do I need to do anything special to those beforehand?

My AF bucket is about 6" across and 3" deep. Do I always need to use that trivet in the bottom? (the booklet says to always use it).

[snowball]

have any of you watched Emmy Made it or something of that nature... fun video's to watch on FB anyway she did potato skins the other day made a dish she was actually making a poorman's dish does that every once in awhile this was potatoes chopped onion chopped and hot dogs not that they are particularity cheap but she didn't want to waste the potato skins so she put a bit of oil on them salt and pepper and popped them into the oven for about 15 mins not sure of temp but betting they would work in the AF
sheila

[Bethers]

Yes, Barbie, you always have to use it in the bottom. No reason you can't do the turkey breast and your boneless chicken breast. I suggest you Google air fryer recipes for them to help with cooking time, etc. I kind of wing it. Getting a thermometer like Karen suggests would make it easier.

Sheila, they totally could be made in the air fryer.

[MandysMom]

Barbie, that trivet is known as the basket and is what allows air to circulate around the food on all sides, thus the name Air Fryer. Your key with chicken breast is a thermometer as Karen suggested. I use mine with almost everything I cook.
Velda

[Shirlv]

Just had a Sam’s club frozen angus burger in a Chefman 3.6 qt air fryer 370° for 10 minutes, flip half way, was delicious.

[OregonLuvr]

I love those, I buy mine at Costco

[Shirlv]

Been buying for years but never tasted as good as tonight in the airfryer. The cooking thermometer comes tomorrow. I’m so excited.

[snowball]

I saw a AF at the store and think it was the same brand that you mentioned Shirl do you like it?
is that 3+ quart one big enough for two people? like two pieces of meat or should I look for bigger?
sheila