I used an air fryer to cook meals for a month; here’s how it went

It didn’t take us a lot of convincing to bring home an air fryer. In fact, I even remember us walking into the store for an OTG oven but coming out with the Philips 5.6L digital air fryer instead. There’s no doubt that it left us starry-eyed almost immediately, with its LED touch display, elegant transparent window, and a price tag that we could most certainly live with. The air fryer is among the hottest (no pun intended) gadgets to currently own, whether you’re a culinary enthusiast – or just plain lazy, like me.

But the ‘showroom effect’ wears out almost immediately, and no sooner, you’re only staring at an appliance taking up space on the kitchen countertop. However, for my mother (a practising dietician) and me (who is dangerously curious about tech), that turned out to be a lightbulb moment. “What if we use it every day for a month?” I asked her. And somehow, despite her apprehension and sheer lack of trust in my commitment, she agreed. And so, we did; of course, we have some pearls of wisdom we picked up along the way.

30-day air fryer challenge: Starting small

Figuring out the controls wasn’t the problem; we even had an at-home demo session with a Croma technician to help us get started. Sorting out which recipes were a befitting task for an air fryer, on the other hand, seemed more of an obstacle. We decided to begin with recipes we couldn’t mess up.

Paneer seemed like the ingredient we couldn’t go wrong with, and so we began, almost gingerly, air-frying paneer for a side dish or for a paneer butter masala. While it was evident that we were using far less oil than we normally would, it wasn’t really putting the appliance to the test, per se.

ALSO READ: Philips Air Fryer HD9257 review

With a little more confidence, we progressed to frying potato chips. Anyone who has attempted frying chips the traditional way already knows about the occupational hazards it brings. Simply put, the air fryer successfully minimised the risks of oil burns, and we didn’t even end up wasting a whole lot of it in the process.

The chips, although quick to make, sometimes lacked the ‘crunch’ we craved. Maybe we were too careful? Who knows. But that didn’t stop us from air-frying other vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, or sweet potato, and relishing them as chips.

30-day air fryer challenge: The intermediate stage

Cooking gained momentum after the first week of usage, and we realised that we were a little more convinced with concoctions that were otherwise worrying us. At this point, we were pretty much trying our hand at cutlets and patties. If you’re born and raised vegetarian, you’re already well-versed with your dietary constraints.

Philips has provided three modes for non-vegetarian grub and has left only one pre-set option for vegetarian fare. Of course, that initially left us feeling disappointed, but it didn’t stop us from experimenting with other temperature settings and modes.

One evening, when mother and I were gutsier than usual, we decided to give baking a shot. Being a passionate baker, she was vocal about her discomfort with switching her instrument of choice from an OTG oven to an air fryer.

Some of her primary concerns surrounding space, serving size, and overall judgments were valid, and she decided to begin with humble, savoury muffins. It required the appliance to pre-heat to 160 degrees before setting in a batch of six. She had no complaints, and neither did we as we chowed it down.

30-day air fryer challenge: Mastering the air fryer

Towards the last leg of our 30-day challenge, we found ourselves experimenting with random recipes without bothering about the outcome. By then, we were more than familiar with the modes, and the time taken to navigate around the workings of the air fryer had considerably diminished.

Some dishes turned out exceptionally well, others… not so much. At a family gathering, we attempted a spinach and baked egg plate. The recipe included layers of bread, eggs, spinach, onion and tomato, along with seasoning and cheese.

Baking it in an OTG oven would have typically taken us a lot more time; however, the air fryer astonishingly took only 12 minutes after assembling the ingredients. We were able to whip out plate after plate without having to make anyone wait for a second helping, which seemed like a win on its own.

Using the air fryer for 30 days had its own ups and downs, but we knew we had mastered it when mother ended up baking Jowar Bread and acing it in the first attempt. And by then, it was unsurprising that the air fryer only took a few short minutes to get it ready for us. Not only did it taste exquisite, it also looked sumptuous, almost store-bought, if you were to ask us!

30-day air fryer challenge: Is it a healthier alternative?

The answer to this will largely rely on what you end up cooking. For us, everything that required shallow or deep frying, the air fryer did well to cook it with minimal oil usage. In fact, there were instances where we were extra cautious with our oil usage, where could’ve been more liberal – but that didn’t stop the food from turning out great.

ALSO READ: Is food prepared in an air fryer healthy? Here’s all you need to know

Continued usage of an air fryer can be beneficial in the long run, but only if you are someone who commonly consumes fried food as a habit. But if you don’t, you’re probably going to use it only on occasions where you need to save time.

The appliance is quick, takes up limited space, and will not impede you if you are serving a family of four to six people. For a gathering larger than that, you might not be able to rely on the air fryer as it can only cater to so many people.

30-day air fryer challenge: 5 key learnings

After finally seeing what all the fuss was about, we have curated a list of five key learnings that we think would help those trying to make a better buying decision.

1. The air fryer is versatile

Don’t limit yourself to only frying when you have all the means to try something new. A good thumb rule is to keep checking on your food’s progress, and pre-heat it enough before you dive in.

2. It can be cumbersome to handle

An air fryer will get extremely hot to handle, especially the pull-out tray. It also heats up considerably from the outside, and it’s best to handle it with the right pair of kitchen gloves.

3. It may need additional accessories

Your air fryer does not always come with accessories. For instance, toasting bread might require a stand, and baking one may need the right mould. As these don’t come in the box, you’ll end up having to shell out a little more.

4. Cleaning will never be easy

Let’s face it: you’re dealing with oil, and it’s never a breeze to clean oily surfaces. While you can use a dishwasher for some parts, you might still have to scrub the rest to get it squeaky clean. We advise using a tray or foil to reduce the mess. But make sure it is perforated so as not to obstruct the airflow within the device.

5. Apt for smaller tasks

You don’t have to wait for an occasion or a grand get-together to use an air fryer. Simple tasks like reheating food or toasting bread will also seem easy to execute once you get the hang of it. Unlike the microwave oven, there is always a risk of heating it for too long, but as mentioned above, popping in to check progress is a practice that will certainly help you avoid this.

To sum it up, the air fryer undoubtedly lives up to the hype. Whether you’re passionate or just a beginner, the air fryer is easy to use and doesn’t make cooking a chore. The cherry on top (still no puns here) is definitely its modest price tag. So, if the appliance was on your list this year, this is a sign from us to give it a go.