Air Fryers have taken the whole world by storm. Everyone and their nanna has one at this point, but are they actually that great? We’ve taken it upon ourselves to investigate these famous air fryers and see if they really are as great as everyone makes them out to be. 

We spent the morning cooking up some lunch for the office using the Philips Essential Touch Smart XL Air Fryer, which was provided to us by Crosscraft. The first thing we did once we got the appliance, was to have a look at all of the cool features it has. If you never know what to cook, this air fryer comes with an app that is filled with both meat and veggie dishes.

Picking a recipe 

No matter if you have an air fryer or not, you can still download the NutriU app for some great dinner inspo. You can download it either from Google Play or the App Store. From tasty snacks to a full-on dinner, you’ll always find something to cook. 

After some browsing, we landed on serving up some spring rolls as starters, followed by this tasty BBQ Chicken recipe. We then ended things off on a sweet note by frying up some imqaret. 

Frying up food 

Now that our lunch plans were sorted, it was time to power up the bad boy. Figuring out times and temperatures was pretty easy as the air fryer has seven pre-programmed settings for you to use. 

Cooking up the spring rolls was simple. All we did was put them in the air fryer’s basket, set the temperature and time, and pressed start. Seven minutes later we had a tasty treat to snack on whilst getting some work done. 

To cook up the chips, we followed this recipe. We washed some Maltese potatoes, chopped them up, and soaked them in cold water for 30 minutes. After that, we put in the temperature settings and let the air fryer do the rest of the work.

I mean, look at that crunch… simply divine

Now, it was time for the main course. All we did was marinate the chicken with some BBQ sauce and let the air fryer do everything else. The air fryer has a pre-programmed setting for chicken, which took out all the guesswork of cooking. 

Lovin Malta’s two chicken aficionados approved these drumsticks! 

Last but not least, a sweet treat to finish off our lunch was on the menu. Although there is no pre-programmed setting for imqaret on the air fryer, cooking them was still super easy. We looked at the instructions on the packaging, put the imqaret in the basket, and let the air fryer work its magic.

Cleaning Up

Cleaning up all the BBQ sauce from the basket sounds like a nightmare. Thankfully, the process afterwards was nowhere near as time-consuming as we thought it would be. The cooking basket can be removed and placed in the dishwasher for quick and easy cleaning. 

Getting connected 

Once you download the app, you are asked to connect your appliances to your account. Simply pick your air fryer, and you will be met with recipes you can prepare with your new device. Now that you’re connected, you can control your gadget from your phone! 

Pros and Cons

Now that we tested out this appliance, we can tell you a bit about the pros and cons when it comes to cooking with an air fryer. 

Pros: 

✅  Super easy to use  

✅  Healthier than traditional frying while keeping the same great taste

✅  No oil necessary

✅  Rapid Air Technology offers faster cooking than your oven 

✅  Prepare a variety of dishes with just one appliance

Cons:

❌  Basket might not be big enough on smaller models  

❌  Setting up the app takes some time  

❌  Takes up valuable counter space

❌  You can’t see your food while it’s cooking 

When it comes to the negatives, they are all things that you need to consider before taking the leap and investing in your own. To make sure you always have enough cooking space, make sure you buy the appropriate size for your needs.

Basket sizes range all the way up to 7.3L in capacity, so you’re sure to find one that’s big enough to feed your family.

Setting up the app does take some time, but once it’s up and running you’re all set! Furthermore, even though you can’t see the food while it’s cooking, you can put your mind at rest thanks to the pre-set cooking programmes, which automatically set the ideal temperature and recommended time. So really the con is just the fact that you need to spend some time understanding the app before you can use it.

Frying is notoriously bad for your health when you fry the traditional way using oil.

This air fryer gives you that crunchy crisp that everyone craves in a chip without the extra calories. Each dish prepared was cooked with 0% oil. However, if you still prefer to use a little bit of oil for that extra shine, you also have the option to add small amounts of oil.

So, do air fryers live up to the actual hype? We’d say, yes!

They’re easy to use, quick, and hassle-free. Although they look a bit bulky, the wonders they work in the kitchen are absolutely worth it.

Check out the latest range of Phillips air fryers here. 

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