Healthy eating is all about making swaps from unhealthy foods to healthier alternatives and that is where the air fryer comes in. If you had said 20 years ago people would be using air fryers I am sure you would have been laughed at but it’s now more and more common.
When I first started Slimming World I bought a well-known brand of air fryer before they were as common as they are now. I was intrigued when I was offered a VonShef digital air fryer to review how it would differ.
The big names are often a lot more expensive than ones like this but I am not sure they are that much better. Time to put it to the test!
What do I use an air fryer for?
The main thing I cook in the air fryer is homemade chips. I am sure I am not alone in this and that is the main reason others buy them too so it is important they make nice chips or they are likely to end up collecting dust and not used.
I also use an air fryer for cooking my Quorn Sausages, cooking anything breaded like scampi/chicken nuggets or even just cooking vegetables like butternut squash or mushrooms.
How to decide if an air fryer is big enough for you
Unfortunately reading the capacity isn’t always enough. Some brands refer to the capacity of cooking space, some refer to the amount of hot air and others just call them family size etc.
I think the main thing is to look at the actual cooking part and read reviews and see if it sounds like it will hold enough for your family. Of course, there is nothing stopping you from returning it unused if you open it and don’t think it will be big enough.
What is the VonChef Digital Air Fryer like?
As you can see on the pictures in this post and also on the product information it is a drawer pan type air fryer rather than the sort with a paddle. I am used to one with a paddle so this took a little getting used to!
The style of the air fryer means that the product only really cooks well on the top so every 5-10 minutes (depending on what you are cooking and the amount in the pan) it needs shaking around or mixing up a bit.
The pan/drawer holds a good amount and if you are prepared to shake it up every now and then cooks things well.
I love the fact that the VonShef digital air fryer has an easy-to-work display on the top allowing you to change the time and temperature at which you cook.
It automatically shuts off when the time runs out so there is no risk of not hearing the timer and burning your food. The instructions with it also give some guidance on cooking temperature and times.
I found that the deeper pan than my usual air fryer meant it was great for cooking jacket potatoes in. Depending on the size of the potatoes they take around 45-60 minutes and need turning a few times.
I was very impressed with how they came out oven-crispy and obviously using less power I am sure than a conventional oven.
My overall thoughts
Whilst in some ways I prefer an air fryer with a paddle to keep the chips etc moving I feel this one is great for the money and certainly does the job. It will definitely become my new way of cooking jacket potatoes.
The manual says that you can cook joints of meat in it but I haven’t tried that yet. Do you cook anything unusual in your air fryer? Or maybe you don’t have one yet and fancy a look at the VonShef range of fryers including air fryers on the Domu website. This particular model is available for £57.99 including delivery on Amazon.
Just bought one. I never thought of using mine for jacket potatoes. Thanks for sharing.