Was it Worth it? Air Fryer Edition

Was it worth it is back baby! I’ve bought a lot of new kitchen appliances since my kid was diagnosed with food allergies, but after running out of cabinet space, I had to hold off on something I had my eye on for a while- an air fryer. But Christmas came around this year and guess what was waiting for me under the Christmas tree? (Thanks, bro!)

Air Fryer

Was it worth it? An air fryer is essentially a small convection oven. It doesn’t really fry, just bake with a fan. But “small oven” doesn’t sound nearly as exciting as an “air fryer” so I’ll give it to the marketers on that one.

Oh, she may just be a tiny oven, but she's a shiny, new, tiny oven!

Is it helpful in the kitchen?

Yes! It is really good at roasting things quickly. It preheats way faster than my oven. With the fan circulating the hot air, it crisps up food really well. It’s easy to clean and since you clean the entire removable drawer, you don’t have to worry about crumbs burning and setting off your smoke alarm. So far, we’ve made a sweet potato hash (delicious), tofu (amazing), frozen chicken patties (way better than the microwave), fish filets (so easy), and frozen French fries.  Anything that is good in the oven seems better (and quicker) in the air fryer.

I asked my wife to take a picture of the fries and this is what she came back with. It's like a Rorschach fries test- I see a tree.

Downsides

The main downside is it’s another, completely separate kitchen appliance. Which brings my kitchen appliance count to… a number so high I don’t even want to think about. While it’s really large to store in a cabinet, as far as cooking space goes it’s a lot smaller than our oven. When we made french fries, it cooked them quickly (8 minutes!), but we had to do 2 rounds.

What allergies is it helpful for?

I don’t know that it’s good for any one specific food allergy, but it's a great alternative to a deep fryer. Because oil in a deep fryer is not often changed, we were told by our allergist to avoid anything deep fried at restaurants. Fries should generally be safe for our kid to eat, but when they are tossed in the same vat as chicken tenders that may be dredged in buttermilk, it's not worth the risk. Wheat, egg, milk, flake fish, shellfish, soy may all be floating around in a deep fryer (not to mention they could be floating around in peanut oil!). So having a at home (healthier but still delicious) easy alternative so our one kid doesn't feel left out is great.

So, is it worth it?

Honestly, for french fries alone, yes it is worth it. French fries are something that both my kids love. My older kid gets them a lot from restaurants and it’s not like we can just warm up some frozen ones for the younger one in the microwave. And it doesn’t seem worth it to turn on the oven for a few fries (especially now that we know that gas ovens are terrible for us). So delicious, frozen french fries in 8 minutes? The little one not feeling left out? Definitely worth it.