I love my air fryer, and so does the family.
It's what I won last December in a white elephant gift exchange at work. It's a Dash Compact Air Fryer, which holds enough food for 1-2 people in the basket. It's pretty easy to operate: it has a temperate control at top and timer dial on the side. There's an orange light that goes out once you reach the set temperature, and a green on/off indicator.
I was a little skeptical about air frying at first, since I'm always suspicious that healthier food might not be all that tasty, but I've been pleasantly surprised at how good some things prepared in the air fryer are. It takes some very ordinary things to new heights. Some of our favorites so far:
• Meatballs. Throw some frozen meatballs in the air fryer, and minutes later you have beautifully crusted, moist-on-the-inside meatballs. 8 minutes at 350-400°, rotate midway (some experimentation needed).
• Hot dogs. Yep, hot dogs. Split them lengthwise for extra crispness. 6 minutes at 390°, flipped midway, then 1 more minute in the buns. I get top results with Hebrew National franks and Artesano brioche hot dog buns.
• Coconut shrimp. Or so my wife tells me—she has yet to share any with me!
A few lessons learned:
• Expect you will be doing a bit of experimentation. You often don't get air fryer-specific cooking instructions on frozen food. You can extrapolate from oven instructions by reducing temperature by 25 degrees and reduce cooking time by 20%. You may also find someone's posted something online.
• Preheat to the desired temperature.
• Time things well. I tend to use a microwave timer rather than depending on the Dash's timer dial.
• Clean it after every use. That's pretty easy, just soap and water on the basket in the sink.
• Hot air vents from the back. We originally had this in front of a bread basket. One day I realized the venting hot air had melted a bag of hot dog buns and tortillas. You don't want to start a fire, so leave some space behind the air fryer.