Air fryers have been around for quite some time, but their popularity has never been so high.
As food and energy bills continue to soar, households are turning to the devices to help cut costs. Dad David Small was ahead of the game when he started experimenting with his Ninja Foodi during lockdown.
Unable to find any recipe book for mostly British food - with metric measurements - he started creating his own recipes, with dishes judged by his children Emily and Liam.
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It soon became apparent he had enough material to put together his own cookbook, so that's exactly what he did. And it's become a huge success, so much so it's been referred to as the 'bible' for air fryer users.
Having self published on Amazon, at the back end of last year he celebrated the sale of his 50,000th book - 'a feat I never imagined', said the 47-year-old.
"My kids rate everything I cook between one and 10, with 10 being the highest," he said. "So everything scoring nine or 10 made it into the book.
"It was finally ready in January of 2021. I knew there would be demand for the book as it was something that so many UK-based Ninja Foodi Facebook group members kept repeating. I didn't expect to sell anywhere as many as I did however."
David, orginally from Newport in South Wales but now living and working in Germany, says apart from family and friends, the things he misses most about living in the UK are strong tea, bacon, British-style pork sausages, decent baked potatoes, HP sauce and malt vinegar.
So his book is focused on UK food and only includes ingredients that are available to buy from UK supermarkets. Many of the recipes can be used with any air fryer, but there are also some pressure cooking recipes and ones to grill, bake and roast, which are most suited for those with the multi-cooker.
For David, who was a single dad when he began his Ninja venture, it's the ease of cooking with it that is part of its appeal.
"Cooking during lockdown and also trying to cook and feed my kids within an hour was no mean feat," he said. "I picked up the Ninja Foodi, knowing that I could cook well with it and quickly, eat and be back to work before the boss noticed that I was offline.
"I used it at least two, usually three times a day. My kids very much enjoy eating British-style dishes, often preferring it over the German-style cuisine.
"It has always been an important decision for me to feed my kids at least one home-cooked hot meal per day, so the ability to cook healthily, quickly and cost-effectively made the decision to use the Ninja Foodi a no-brainer for me."
David, whose children are now 17 and 15, said they are 'proud to tell their friends that their dad is a best-selling cookbook author' and has received messages of support from those who have used the book.
"Over the last almost two years, I have received many lovely messages from readers via Facebook who have thanked me for the ridiculously simple way that I have written the book, giving them confidence in using the scary-looking gadget as well as allowing them to show-off to friends and family with the diverse variety of dishes that can be prepared in the device," he said.
"I have never really used a cookbook much, so I tend to over-explain everything in my book, just in case someone like me was to pick it up. The book has featured in the top 10 of the UK Amazon Cooking charts on a few occasions, usually after Christmas and Black Friday and currently sits in the top 100 of all books in the UK bestseller list, something I was absolutely not prepared for."
Among his most popular recipes are Sticky Beef & Broccoli, Winter Warming Irish Beef Stew and Indian Vegetarian Tikka-Masala with Chapati.
His book is currently on offer in paperback for £14.38 and can be ordered online from Amazon here.
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