My mom's air fryer comment made me rethink everything

Last week my mom said 'you're just making hot fast food, not real cooking.' She watched me throw frozen fries in there. Got me thinking. I realized I was only using it for reheat jobs and frozen stuff. Anyone have recipes that actually feel like real cooking, not just warming up?

3 comments

3 Comments

linda_reed2d agoMost Upvoted

Mom's got a point though, doesn't she? I had the same wake up call when my sister said my air fryer was just a fancy toaster oven for lazy people. Then I tried making salmon with a little lemon and dill in there and holy cow it actually tasted like I tried. My go to now is chopping up some potatoes with rosemary and garlic, tossing them in oil and salt, and it feels like I'm actually roasting something. Also did chicken thighs with a dry rub and they came out with that crispy skin you'd get from a real oven, so that's my "I'm a real cook now" meal.

quinn1611d ago

Right? The "real cook now" thing hits hard. Once you figure out that air fryer is just a tiny oven that goes brrr, you stop treating it like a gimmick. For me the game changer was realizing you cant just throw frozen stuff in there and expect magic. Thats what I did for months. Then I started doing what you said with the potatoes and it actually feels like cooking. Also pro tip if you have a wire rack that fits in the basket, use it. Keeps the bottom from getting soggy and makes everything crispy all the way around. Your chicken thighs sound awesome, I gotta try that dry rub next.

davis.olivia1d ago

Quinn's wire rack tip is gold (I learned that one the hard way with soggy fries). @linda_reed you're totally right about the salmon too, that was my gateway to realizing this thing can actually do delicate stuff without drying it out.