I often see people asking whether people recommend spending a bit extra on the Tefal Actifry or if a basic air fryer is just as good. After trying both I thought I would share my thoughts with you. Of course, you may have tried both and feel differently!
Whilst there are so many things which can be cooked in an air fryer we all know the most common one is chips. If you cannot cook tasty chips in it then it will easily be put away and never used again. What a waste!
The difference between a Tefal Actifry and basic Air Fryer
The Tefal Actifry is different in appearance from most of the other air fryers on the market. It is wider and not as tall.
That is not the only difference though. The Actifry has a stirring paddle to turn the food around during the cooking process.
Both appliances work by basically blowing hot air at the food to cook it. This is a great way of cooking food without needing to use oil.
Many people use Frylight or a little oil just to add some flavour but the choice is yours. You can go without.
An easy way to think of the difference is that the Actifry is like a washing machine.
It doesn’t just add the hot air, it keeps the food moving around so that everything gets a zap! Imagine if a washing machine just put the water in and didn’t move the clothes around. The concept is similar.
With most basic air fryers you need to keep stopping the appliance and shaking the chips to ensure that they all get cooked evenly. This is not the case with the Actifry.
Do I prefer a basic Air Fryer or Tefal Actifry?
I have used both and have found the Tefal Actifry to be far better than a basic air fryer for chips. Whilst it still works, the air fryer involved lots of shaking the food around to ensure relatively even cooking.
The Actifry does this for you and also as is continuous there is definitely no danger of a raw chip hiding in the bottom. This means there’s less for you to do.
I would, however, say that if money is an issue then you will get a lot of use from a basic air fryer and it will help you to make healthy chips.
If you are likely to use your gadget for other things then an air fryer would be much better as it has a bigger basket and is easier to choose the temperature to cook at.
If you do have the extra money though and generally will only use it for chips, it will be well spent on the Actifry.
My Actifry
I have recently bought the Tefal Actifry Genius XL 1.7kg. It cost £164.90 on Amazon which was the best price that I found at the time and has a 1.7kg cooking capacity.
I had previously owned two different older models but both were bought around 5+ years ago and had lasted well with lots of use.
The Tefal Actifry genius models have some preset functions to cook certain items and you can also use them manually and change the temperature and cooking time yourself.
I love the glass lid so you can see how your food is doing and the whole thing feels as sturdy and robust as the previous models we had.
If you do accidentally drop and break it then you can order parts separately online too.
Some of the parts are dishwasher-safe. The cover, latch, paddle, cooking pan and removable filter can all be popped in the dishwasher to clean, saving you even more time.
Cooking in the Actifry or Air Fryer
If you think of what you usually cook in the oven then most of these things can be cooked in an air fryer or the Actifry instead. The Actifry app has some great ideas too for some delicious dinner inspiration.
If you are struggling with what to make with certain ingredients you can search the app using the ingredients too which I think is pretty cool.
Now I have so many more things to try and the Actifry will get used for even more than I do now.
If you have a basic air fryer, some of these recipes may be suitable for that but a lot will depend on the style of the cooking basket used. Silicone liners are perfect for this.
Some have holes which obviously don’t suit some recipes which have spices!
Do you have any favourite recipes you have cooked using hot air technology with these kinds of appliances? Do let me know your favourites so I can get experimenting!
Please note that I have purchased this with my own money and all opinions are my own.
