Ninja Foodi/Air fryers/Rice makers

[Taipan]

Overcooked, cheap nasty sausages.

I loves a cheap sausage, supermarket budget ones are the bestest.

My actifry does them perfectly, but they have to be frozen. If you put chilled ones in the paddle just mashes them before the skin thickens.

Hmmmm, sausage.

Tesco frozen cumberlands. 10mins at 200 degrees. Perfect.

[Count Steer]

EN&AO 'sausages'? Heathens!

(I worked with a Polish chap who said the English have bread in 3 forms. White, brown and sausages).

[Horse]

As everything, it's a compromise.

We already have a microwave (with grill - never used) and a slow cooker.

I'll measure it later. Claimed to do 500g of chips.

Basket internal dia 18cm height 9 cm

[Count Steer]

Well, for better or worse I've ordered a Ninja Speedi. Because it will steam as well as air fry/bake, it was £50 off and I had a 10% off voucher from Lakeland too (and they give a 3 year warranty on everything).

I imagine it will spend it's life baking spuds or steaming new spuds/veg.

[Demannu]

Well, just baked some bread!
Nom nom nomnom!
Now need to bake some MORE bread!
The steam bake bit really does the job aerating the bread. Beats putting a cup of water in the bottom of the oven

[Count Steer]

The Speedi has landed! If they'd been about 30 minutes earlier it would have been used but I was in full 'Muppets Swedish Chef' mode when it arrived.

Obs: it's quite chunky, the manual and recipe book are minimal and there's not much to get hold of for lifting the inner out. (They will, of course, sell you Ninja silicone gloves, tongs etc).

So...given the paucity of the info with it, what's the go-to web resource for info? BBC looks promising.

Had a look at air fryer books on Amazon. There's a raft of almost identical large format, thin paperbacks. Some claim to be 'UK edition'. The same people, all called things like Walter Higgins have given them glowing 5* reviews in English that look like Korean put through a translator. When you delve into the 1* you find that they aren't UK at all - Boston butt, cilantro, tilapia, °F etc and they're pretty pony. You'd think that Amazon would do something about such obviously fake reviews....

Oh...it appears that some of them are 'Printed in Great Britain by Amazon'. Surprise.

[Noggin]

For the Instant Pot, I use the FB page and they are really really helpful. Would probably work for Ninja as well. If you use FB, let me know and I'll find the page name and post it here

[Count Steer]

For the Instant Pot, I use the FB page and they are really really helpful. Would probably work for Ninja as well. If you use FB, let me know and I'll find the page name and post it here

Thanks Nogs but I'm not on FB, I've found lots of useful stuff on the BBC Good Food site though (which has been stuffed with ads since I last used it. Might have to use their app (which they say is ad free...seems a bit unlikely/odd...unless it's ad free if you pay a subscription).

[Count Steer]

Used the Ninja Speedi for the first time today. Just steaming new pots, cauli and green beans as part of my 'signature' dish - chicken dinner.

Worked a treat. *burp*

[Demannu]

Spiced Currant buns. A bit over done but not complaining.

[ZRX61]

Just bought a Ninja NF701 food processor. It's fucking HUGE.

[Count Steer]

Nearly a fail today.

Tried to do baked spuds in the Ninja Speedi. (Normally the size spuds I use ie about 300g each, would get 70 mins in a 200° fan oven). Did them on 'steam/air fry' but added a tad of extra water and added 5 mins to the recommended 35 mins. Looked good, outside nice and crisp but rock solid in the middle. Gave them 5 more mins air fry. Nope. Cut them in half and steamed them for 5 mins.

It seems that the steaming time is simply dictated by the amount of water you use rather than anything clever. So next time I'll double the water and add to the time. TBH you could probably steam them until cooked, cool 'em, stick 'em in the fridge until you need them, oil them up and the blast them with air fry. Might get a temperature probe though.

Not quite as idiot proof as they're supposed to be these Ninjas (and the manual is absolute pants).

[Noggin]

Nearly a fail today.

Tried to do baked spuds in the Ninja Speedi. (Normally the size spuds I use ie about 300g each, would get 70 mins in a 200° fan oven). Did them on 'steam/air fry' but added a tad of extra water and added 5 mins to the recommended 35 mins. Looked good, outside nice and crisp but rock solid in the middle. Gave them 5 more mins air fry. Nope. Cut them in half and steamed them for 5 mins.

It seems that the steaming time is simply dictated by the amount of water you use rather than anything clever. So next time I'll double the water and add to the time. TBH you could probably steam them until cooked, cool 'em, stick 'em in the fridge until you need them, oil them up and the blast them with air fry. Might get a temperature probe though.

Not quite as idiot proof as they're supposed to be these Ninjas (and the manual is absolute pants).

This is basically what I do with them - although I use the pressure cooker, cool and freeze.

After working in pub kitchens years ago and getting boxes of frozen 'baked' potatoes delivered, I figure it's the easy way to store potatoes!! They recook better if I defrost and then airfry, but that's cos my ancient microwave is on it's last legs!! LOL

[Count Steer]

Nearly a fail today.

Tried to do baked spuds in the Ninja Speedi. (Normally the size spuds I use ie about 300g each, would get 70 mins in a 200° fan oven). Did them on 'steam/air fry' but added a tad of extra water and added 5 mins to the recommended 35 mins. Looked good, outside nice and crisp but rock solid in the middle. Gave them 5 more mins air fry. Nope. Cut them in half and steamed them for 5 mins.

It seems that the steaming time is simply dictated by the amount of water you use rather than anything clever. So next time I'll double the water and add to the time. TBH you could probably steam them until cooked, cool 'em, stick 'em in the fridge until you need them, oil them up and the blast them with air fry. Might get a temperature probe though.

Not quite as idiot proof as they're supposed to be these Ninjas (and the manual is absolute pants).

This is basically what I do with them - although I use the pressure cooker, cool and freeze.

After working in pub kitchens years ago and getting boxes of frozen 'baked' potatoes delivered, I figure it's the easy way to store potatoes!! They recook better if I defrost and then airfry, but that's cos my ancient microwave is on it's last legs!! LOL

I was just told that you could buy frozen baked spuds (who knew? ) and guessed that must be what they do with them - by far the cheapest way of cooking stuff in bulk. Hadn't thought about that being what you get in pubs but it figures....you wouldn't want to cook a load on spec....although baked spuds do make mash*.

*A suggestion from Tom Kerridge iirc.

[Count Steer]

Just to round off. (This will only be of any use if you have a Speedi type steam/bake machine). I cracked the baked spuds prep! 250-300gm spuds, 250ml of water, 45 mins@200°C on 'Steam/bake'.

Cooked through and crispy skins. Yay for me!

(Still haven't used it on 'air fry' it's a whizz at steaming veg though ).

[Count Steer]

Finally got round to testing the air fryer function - on 6 M&S 'chunky' frozen fish fingers (ah, releasing my inner gourmet....I wanted to test the upper and lower elements before I ditched the packaging).

Looked at the instruction manual: 8-9 minutes @200°C for 10 frozen fish fingers - weighing 280g. These 6 weighed 440g. Looked at the packet, something like 24 mins @ 180°C in a convection oven. Compromised at 18 mins @ 200°C and they were fine, a tad crispy on the breadcrumbed outer surface but cooked through. (I've bought some more as a freezer standby meal. Got to laugh at the 28g/fish finger though. They must be 50/50 fish/breadcrumb ).

So, my dilemma is, air fry is just a small convection oven, there's no real reason it does anything faster other than maybe it moves the air around a bit more is there? Just doing stuff at a higher than recommended temperature isn't particularly revolutionary. So, in future I think I'll just treat it like a convection oven and do stuff like that according to the packet. (If I want to make stuff from scratch I'll try it as the manual suggests but I think I may have bought an expensive steamer ).

[Noggin]

So, my dilemma is, air fry is just a small convection oven, there's no real reason it does anything faster other than maybe it moves the air around a bit more is there? Just doing stuff at a higher than recommended temperature isn't particularly revolutionary. So, in future I think I'll just treat it like a convection oven and do stuff like that according to the packet. (If I want to make stuff from scratch I'll try it as the manual suggests but I think I may have bought an expensive steamer ).

One of my mates here is very dismissive about air fryers because "they are just mini convection ovens" !!

I don't really care what he says negatively about them, if you are cooking for one (or maybe two) it has to be cheaper to use an airfyer/mini oven than turning on a huge normal sized oven to do the same amount

[Count Steer]

So, my dilemma is, air fry is just a small convection oven, there's no real reason it does anything faster other than maybe it moves the air around a bit more is there? Just doing stuff at a higher than recommended temperature isn't particularly revolutionary. So, in future I think I'll just treat it like a convection oven and do stuff like that according to the packet. (If I want to make stuff from scratch I'll try it as the manual suggests but I think I may have bought an expensive steamer ).

One of my mates here is very dismissive about air fryers because "they are just mini convection ovens" !!

I don't really care what he says negatively about them, if you are cooking for one (or maybe two) it has to be cheaper to use an airfyer/mini oven than turning on a huge normal sized oven to do the same amount

Oh, absolutely. Using the main oven for 6 fish fingers or a couple of pieces of fish seems a bit wasteful now. The Speedi is also more than 'just an air fryer' too because you can steam/bake, air fry/roast, slow cook etc etc so it's pretty versatile and will get a lot of use...particularly now I've cracked baked spuds.

Eg. When I do the Friday chick'n dinner, the chook goes in the oven (with the plates in the top oven to warm above the main oven), the spuds, broccoli and green beans all get steamed in the Ninja. Then only the gravy gets done on the gas hob. It's made the whole process easier.

[Mussels]

Finally got round to testing the air fryer function - on 6 M&S 'chunky' frozen fish fingers (ah, releasing my inner gourmet....I wanted to test the upper and lower elements before I ditched the packaging).

Looked at the instruction manual: 8-9 minutes @200°C for 10 frozen fish fingers - weighing 280g. These 6 weighed 440g. Looked at the packet, something like 24 mins @ 180°C in a convection oven. Compromised at 18 mins @ 200°C and they were fine, a tad crispy on the breadcrumbed outer surface but cooked through. (I've bought some more as a freezer standby meal. Got to laugh at the 28g/fish finger though. They must be 50/50 fish/breadcrumb ).

So, my dilemma is, air fry is just a small convection oven, there's no real reason it does anything faster other than maybe it moves the air around a bit more is there? Just doing stuff at a higher than recommended temperature isn't particularly revolutionary. So, in future I think I'll just treat it like a convection oven and do stuff like that according to the packet. (If I want to make stuff from scratch I'll try it as the manual suggests but I think I may have bought an expensive steamer ).

An expensive and slow steamer.

I've tried a few gadgets, some are more hassle than without (rice cooker) some are slower (anything involving heating water), some can't cook for four (air fryer) and some are just not worth the worktop space (slow cooker).
If I'm cooking for eight people then they are useful as a normal cooker needs some help but mostly I've found them to be a waste of space and money. My concession to new gadgets is a combi microwave as it doesn't take up any more space than a normal one.

[Count Steer]

Finally got round to testing the air fryer function - on 6 M&S 'chunky' frozen fish fingers (ah, releasing my inner gourmet....I wanted to test the upper and lower elements before I ditched the packaging).

Looked at the instruction manual: 8-9 minutes @200°C for 10 frozen fish fingers - weighing 280g. These 6 weighed 440g. Looked at the packet, something like 24 mins @ 180°C in a convection oven. Compromised at 18 mins @ 200°C and they were fine, a tad crispy on the breadcrumbed outer surface but cooked through. (I've bought some more as a freezer standby meal. Got to laugh at the 28g/fish finger though. They must be 50/50 fish/breadcrumb ).

So, my dilemma is, air fry is just a small convection oven, there's no real reason it does anything faster other than maybe it moves the air around a bit more is there? Just doing stuff at a higher than recommended temperature isn't particularly revolutionary. So, in future I think I'll just treat it like a convection oven and do stuff like that according to the packet. (If I want to make stuff from scratch I'll try it as the manual suggests but I think I may have bought an expensive steamer ).

An expensive and slow steamer.

I've tried a few gadgets, some are more hassle than without (rice cooker) some are slower (anything involving heating water), some can't cook for four (air fryer) and some are just not worth the worktop space (slow cooker).
If I'm cooking for eight people then they are useful as a normal cooker needs some help but mostly I've found them to be a waste of space and money. My concession to new gadgets is a combi microwave as it doesn't take up any more space than a normal one.

I'm not sure I agree with it being a slow steamer...the 'steam up' time is pretty short as long as you use the right amount of water. I have a combi microwave and rarely use the microwave function other than for fast defrosting but the convection oven function gets used a fair bit.

Rice? For two: 5fl oz of Tilda basmati rice, lightly heated with a bit of olive oil just to coat the (unwashed) rice in a heavy based pan, 10 fl oz of water boiled in the kettle. Stir. Well-fitting lid on. 15 mins on minimum heat...5,10,15. Serve. Perfect. No draining. Thank you St Delia.

Tried a slow cooker in the 1980s (a neighbour had bought one, used it once so I borrowed it). Meh. Too much prep time if you want food that looks edible rather than just 'safe to eat'.