On condition that air fryers made their method onto our worktops with the promise of low-fat fries, more healthy cooked meats and even a complete hen, it’s comprehensible that that’s what many people are likely to cook dinner in them.
Nevertheless, most air fryers are able to providing extra, from straightforward snacks and breakfasts, to lending a serving to hand while you’re baking. Learn on to seek out out why you have to be reaching to your air fryer at each time of the day, not simply dinner.
1. Begin dehydrating
In case your air fryer can attain the low temperatures required for drying out (relatively than cooking), there’s a large number of meals you may flip into wholesome snacks. This contains turning thinly sliced meat into jerky (round 65-80°C/150-175°F). Beef is well-liked however you can even strive much less widespread meats, resembling venison or buffalo.
Or you may dry out slices of fruit (round 55-60°C/130-140°F), resembling apple, pineapple, banana and orange. Six to eight hours ought to give them a chewy texture or you may dry them out longer for a crunchier outcome.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
You’ll be able to even use your air fryer for making meringue: cook dinner it at 120°C/250°F for 20 minutes, adopted by a drying-out temperature of 95°C/200°F for 70 minutes. Depart to chill for an hour within the basket and the outcome needs to be crisp meringues for desserts.
2. Whip up a batch of yoghurt
Some air fryers have a devoted yoghurt setting however even when they don’t, so long as one of many presets dips as little as 42°C/107°F and runs for at the very least six hours, you may get fermenting. A ‘proof’ preset can typically double up for making yoghurt.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
It’s advisable to make use of a microwave or hob beforehand, in addition to a thermometer, to warmth the milk as much as 82°C/180°F (this kills any micro organism and tends to lead to a thicker completed yoghurt), earlier than quickly cooling it in a water or ice bathtub to round 47-52°C/117-126°F.
Then you may combine in a beneficiant spoonful of dwell yoghurt, pop it in lidded containers that match inside your air fryer basket – glass jars are ultimate – and set for something as much as 12 hours to ferment. As soon as the programme has completed, depart the container or jars to chill to room temperature then place them within the fridge.
3. Be a greater baker
Making truffles, bread rolls, doughnuts and even bagels has historically meant turning on the oven however when you’ve got an air fryer you might not need to.
Not solely do many have a ‘proof’ preset (round 32-38°C/90-100°F) – good for serving to dough to softly rise with out having to stash it in an airing cabinet or operating your oven on low – you’ll additionally discover a bake setting (normally preset to 180°C/355°F) on most fashions, permitting you to bake nearly all the pieces you may in your oven however on a smaller scale.
As a tough information, set your air fryer at 20°C/70°F decrease than the temperature specified for baking within the oven, and scale back the time by 20-25%.
4. Obtain good eggs
No pan? No downside. You need to use your air fryer to ‘boil’ eggs: simply ensure you cook dinner them for longer than on the hob and never at air frying temperatures.
Eggs can crack, or in excessive instances explode, in an air fryer in the event that they’re cooked of their shells utilizing intense warmth. It is because a excessive temperature causes steam to construct up too rapidly contained in the egg, growing the strain and bursting the shell.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Utilizing temperatures of 170°C/340°F and above will trigger them to crack. As a substitute, set your air fryer at 150°C/300°F, and cook dinner for 8 minutes for smooth boiled and 12 minutes for arduous boiled, primarily based on a medium-sized egg. For bigger eggs, improve the time barely.
Air fryers may also be used for different varieties of eggs, resembling poached (7 minutes at 180°C/355°F) in ramekins containing just a little scorching water.
5. Puff up your pastry
The excessive temperatures and quick cooking occasions in an air fryer imply you may make something from a batch of canapés or apple turnovers to shortcrust mince pies.
The important thing to getting it proper is within the preheating: whilst you can cheat and pop some meals in an air fryer from chilly, pastry must go in when the air fryer is already at 200°C/390°F. This helps it to rise correctly and be gentle and crispy. It’s additionally a good suggestion to not crowd the basket as this prevents warmth from circulating because it ought to. Cook dinner in batches relatively than making an attempt to do heaps concurrently.
Pastry can burn rapidly so test on it midway via, particularly if it’s skinny, and maintain a skewer handy to test if crusts are performed.
Given the big variety of makes use of, even when kitchen worktop area is scarce, your air fryer is bound to earn its place.
Searching for an air fryer? To browse our suggestions, take a look at our round-ups of the very best air fryers, the very best Ninja air fryers and, for extra cooking capability, the very best air fryer ovens.
