The appeal of the air fryer is well documented. The gadgets are flying off the shelves with claims of energy-saving and health benefits fueling the public's desire for one of these coveted appliances. The only set back is supply and price. For while air fryers come in all shapes, sizes and prices, they'll still set you back around £40 at least.
With this in mind, a reporter at Nottinghamshire Live's sister publication, Birmingham Live, spotted a gadget that claimed to 'turn your oven into an airfryer!' Of course, it had to be tried, so Graham Young took on the challenge. Here's what he discovered.
Graham explained: "Toasters aside, perhaps not since microwaves first became universally affordable in the 1980s - followed more recently by the public's appetite for smoothie makers and coffee machines - has a device seemingly been so sought after.
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"But if you don't want to splash the cash on the assumption that you can never miss what you've never had, what's the next best alternative? At John Lewis, they think they've found the answer with a product that costs just £11 and which, according to the packaging, will 'turn your oven into an airfryer!'"
What is it?
The NoStick reusable 'Oven Crisper Basket' carries a Teflon label and claims to shorten cooking time, offer 'healthy cooking' and will see 'foods crisp fast and easy' thanks to 'optimum hot air circulation'. Depending on your view of what's a 'healthy' food, it says the basket is 'ideal for the preparation of oven chips, nuggets, pizzas, onion rings etc without having to use butter or cooking fat'.
The rear label adds: 'The grill openings allow optimum hot air circulation and thanks to the perfect non-stick coating, the food will never stick to the crisper basket'. Among the listed 'advantages' of using a crisper basket are these claims:
- Perfect non-stick cooking surface
- No more tossing
- Easy to clean in warm soapy water - dishwasher safe - reusable.
Graham goes on to explains that the product is said to be heat resistant up to 260C (500F). But you are advised to remove the basket from the oven if it has a self-clean cycle about to begin.
Now for the taste test
Graham said: "I tried the Nostik Oven Crisper basket to cook some source-unknown oven chips and coated chicken that had been stripped of their identities once bagged up in the freezer. And yes, it seemed to make everything crispier, quicker than expected.
"Onion rings, pizzas and 'nuggets' never come my way, but especially so at home. So, more than a week later, McCain triple-cooked oven chips went into the basket and I tried again. Once more, the chips were done on time and were crisper than they've been before. They were cooked at 200C for 25 minutes and were not turned.
"And that's despite McCain's online instructions saying 'preheat the oven to 230°C/220°C Fan/Gas Mark 8. For best results use a DEEP edged baking tray WITHOUT HOLES and preheat the tray for five minutes. Spread a single layer of chips on to a baking tray and pop it into the top of the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning them every now and again, until they’re lovely, crisp and light golden'.
"So if that makes the basket an air fryer that isn't an air fryer, then good luck to nostik.com - especially as the basket would have been the first non-chocolate product I've ever knowingly bought that had Made in Belgium on the label."
And the verdict...
Like all gadgets that seem so promising in the beginning, Graham says that the "ultimate test will be if it's still undamaged and in use in a year - always assuming of course that we can afford to put our conventional oven on in the first place".
He adds: "I've no idea how much power my oven consumes - we don't have a smart meter and cannot understand any of our fuel bills beyond not using the oven much, cutting back on heating, switching off all unnecessary lights and hoping for the best in the months ahead.
"The usual problem of trying to cook oven chips at 220C is that you can overheat the other foods (typically 180C) you were also trying to cook together in a bid to save you money that way. But another good reason for still using a conventional oven is that it's the perfect place to warm plates up to keep your meal hot once served.
"So if the basket works as it appears to do, then it should pay for itself eventually - perhaps if we eat chips more than once a fortnight - without having the bigger outlay of buying a fully-fledged air fryer we might soon get fed up with.... Rather like that seemed-like-a-good-idea toastie maker etc at the back of the cupboard."
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