Air fryer recommendations

Having received sterling advice from my fellow gardeners on the subject of induction hobs, I am now hoping to get assistance choosing an air fryer. 'tis all go in the ViewAhead kitchen!

My requirements are ...

1) a capacity of about 4l
2) no annoyingly loud beeping noises
3) no "hot plastic" smell during operation
4) roughly 12" or 30 cms tall; can be a little wider and deeper.

So far, I am looking at a Russell Hobbs 4l one, but some of the reviews say the beeps are so loud they can't actually bear to use it and disabling these does not seem possible, or the Tower Vortx 3.8l. No beeps as far as I can tell, but the build quality may not be great and the whole thing is plastic, so smell might be an issue (as it seems to be with many models).

Any better ideas? Preferably not too expensive. Defo under £100. Does not need to be all-singing-all-dancing, as I don't enjoy cooking because I can only manage a very limited range of foods. Non-stick would be helpful as I wouldn't want to heat a silicone liner.

BTW, I am getting along just fine with my induction hob and new Scoville pans!

 

I have a Phillips (the smaller one for two people). This is our second one. The first lasted over ten years. It is used almost daily. In a hot country it is not conducive to use an oven. It has a relatively small footprint. I bought a pan to go in it and make meatloafs and lyonnaise potatoes. Takes minutes for part-baked rolls.

 

Will have a look at the Phillips. Thanks, @Victoria.

 

We have a small one that came from Asda for something like £22. Anything bigger wouldn't fit into the available space in our kitchen. We use it for one or two portions of things like sausages, fish fingers, quorn things and so on. Our cooker has two ovens, a large one and a small one, and I generally use one or other of those for larger amounts, and choose meals to maximise the use of the oven if it's going to be on.

 

Is that a George of Asda one, @JennyJB ? I think that one has a capacity under 2l.

 

We have one of the smaller Manual Tower Airfryers and it just has a simple single Ding from the old fashioned Clockwork Timer, would Assume ? the bigger Manual Tower units like the one you mention have the same type of timers .

As for smell, nothing plasticy at all, just the smell of the oil you may use if you are not fastidious about cleaning the bowl every time.

They do take some time in getting used to and sorting out the right time and temperature, not as easy as a conventional oven as they can so easily burn or dry out some foods.

 

I realise this is probably different but I use a combination microwave all the time, never use a big oven as I only have to cook for myself.
It can do much more than I ever use it for.
But it cant fry.

 

I think a manual one would solve my beeping volume problem. Glad to hear the aroma of hot plastic is not infiltrating your dinner, @ricky101.

 

It's this one, 3l capacity Sites-ASDA-INT-Site
There's a 6l and a 9l dual version as well, but we have very limited space. OH wanted one when he retired, and mostly uses it to cook things for his lunch - fish finger butties and suchlike. I don't use it much myself although I have used it to do roasties when I'm not putting the oven on for anything else.

Edit: I think it only beeps to tell you that it's got to the end of the cooking time that you set (like a microwave does). It's not excessively loud and it doesn't beep during cooking. I can't see why that would be necessary.

When we had a combi microwave I only used the microwave function so when it stopped working we replaced it with a much cheaper model without the grill/oven features. I won't give up precious work surface space for appliances that will get little use.

 

Once upon a time, @pete, I survived for 6+ yrs with just a microwave for cooking. No fridge either, just a freezer ... which was fine as I don't drink milk and pretty much everything else can be frozen. No washing machine was a bit trickier, though I did have a spinner that very efficiently got water out of handwashed stuff.

By contrast, I have all mod cons now!

Ah, that's a nice sized on, @JennyJB!

 

It's easy to use too. One dial sets the temperature, the other sets the timer. No fancy programming needed.
It does have a fan noise while it's cooking, but I would think they all do because that's how they work, blowing hot air onto/around the food. It's no more noticeable than the microwave or the oven fan.

 

I rarely use the microwave on combi, that's a bit too technical for me, but I do use it as just a fan oven or a microwave, I could get rid of the gas oven as its never used, but I need it for the grill.
Thing that bugs me with all these things is, why do you have to give it a time?
I just keep an eye on it and stop it when its cooked, knowing the exact time something is going to take before you even started is, to my mind, stupid, in fact the microwave has an, "add time", function which makes the rest of it pointless.

 

I have an air fryer but rarely use it. I prefer to use the oven as I can then put the baking dish/tin in the dishwasher. The air fryer can't go in the dishwasher so needs washing separately.
If I ever have to buy a new one (other people in the house use it) I will look for one that is dishwasher proof.

 

I’m just curious to know, is fried air tasty?

 

Not really, but it's very low-calorie!