#oneaday Day 343: Fryup

My mother in law bought us an air fryer the other day… well, technically she bought it for my wife as a birthday present, but we're both benefiting.

I haven't actually tried using it as yet, but I've been pretty impressed with the food that comes out of it so far. We've tried cooking bits of chicken (both on and off the bone) as well as "chips" (after a fashion) and they've all come out really well without the distinctive greasy sloppy oiliness of a regular old fryer.

I've been particularly impressed with the meat, actually. (That's what she said, I know, I know.) All of the cuts of chicken we've tried cooking in there have come out cooked perfectly through, and retaining plenty of juicy moisture. I generally find chicken a bit dull and bland, especially if it's been cooked to bone dryness, but the stuff the air fryer has produced so far has been very tasty.

I'm interested to see what else is possible using it, or how it can be incorporated into the preparation of more complex dishes. So far we've only done simple things, but I suppose there's no reason you can't use it to cook the meat that is going to go into a curry or something like that, then finish the sauce off on the hob. I don't know. I'm no cook. I chuck stuff in a pot that I think might taste nice and sometimes it does. (Sometimes it doesn't, too, but if I feel that might be likely to happen I'm usually just cooking for myself.

So, well, early impressions seem to indicate that if you've been hungry for another bulky gadget to take up what little worktop space you had left in your kitchen, an air fryer is a good choice. (A slow cooker is also an excellent investment, but that's another matter entirely.)

Well, you think of something interesting to write for 343 days then!