Kitchen Appliance Review: Philips Airfryer

A lot of reviews have already been written about this Airfryer and a lot of other companies have joined the bandwagon to develop similar appliances focusing on frying food with minimum oil. We were eager to see if the Philips Airfryer really does wonders and would eating fried foods finally make us stop being guilty. The answer is yes and no.

How It Works?

The Airfryer is a neat, stylish looking appliance which is sure to add beauty to your kitchen. The shiny black body of the Airfryer doesn’t take up much space and it’s not too bulky either. It is very easy to operate; it just has two main switches which you need to play around with – the timer and the temperature knob. Its operation is very simple: plug in the fryer, pull out the frying basket, place the food that needs to be fried, push it back in, set the time, set the temperature and listen to your favourite music whilst the appliance does the hard work. It works on the principle of “super-hot air” being produced in a short time.

(Kitchen Appliances Review: The Best Toaster In India)

Cooking With It



 

We tried frying a number of items in it to test its full potential. To begin with, we tried to fry 500g of frozen French fries. As per the instructions, we set the temperature to 200 degrees and the timer to 12 minutes. We shook the basket of fries in between just once to make sure that they were getting evenly cooked. At the end of the timer operation, the result was a big plate of crispy, golden fries which didn’t take long to finish. We didn’t need to put even a single drop of oil in it; the fat already present in the frozen fries was enough to make them crispy.

We moved onto another frozen potato product – the chilli garlic bites. In just 12 minutes, out came another plate of crispy, zero oil, deep-fried snack.

Kitchen Appliance Review: Weber Gas Grill Q 1000

Next, we thought of making home-made aloo tikkis. Usually we put breadcrumbs or fresh bread in the potato mixture to prevent the tikkis from splitting open in hot oil. But in this case, since we are not immersing them in hot oil, we avoided the bread completely and made small bite-sized tikkis. We brushed the surface of the tikkis with a little oil as per instructions, and it took around 25 minutes to cook them. But, they didn’t turn out to be as crispy as their frozen counterparts. The result was similar to the browning of tawa patties instead of deep-fried aloo tikkis. Still, they might be a better bet for people who prefer less fat than the real deal.



 

We then tried making onion pakodas in the fryer. The challenge was to make a batter with the least possible moisture; the batter shouldn’t be flowy, it should be thick so that you can put spoonfuls of it on the base of the basket. We put on the timer and temperature, but were disappointed by the results. We were left with a semi raw besan mixture, with a few burnt onions.

We then tried chicken lollipops where we dipped the chicken wings in a thick batter and placed them at the bottom of the basket. The result was again not too appetising as the pieces looked semi raw and overcooked at some spots.

Cleaning and Benefits



 

It’s very easy to clean the Airfryer – you just need to remove the basket chamber, split the basket and the container and wash them with soapy water. One benefit of the Airfryer is that there is no oil spilling outside of it as compared to frying in a kadai. You need not even stand beside the AIrfryer to monitor your food being fried as opposed to a kadai where you need to stir the food regularly to cook them evenly. Moreover, it doesn’t turn your kitchen into a smelly room, which normally happens when you are frying food in the kadai. There is also no issue of the oil getting rancid and then wasted in the process, thus saving you a lot of money.

The Conclusion



 

The Philips Airfryer is a good appliance if you want to indulge in frozen fries, nuggets or crumb fried products. You will get almost the same results as you would in a kadai filled with hot oil. But, if you want to entirely depend on the Airfryer to satisy your cravings for deep fried food fantasies without guilt, then it may not be the complete solution. It cannot fry pakodas, medu vadas, or any batter fried foods. You would need to completely avoid them or go back to your good old kadai to savour those pleasures.

Price range: Rs. 14, 995

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.