Air can fry! - Philips Air Fryer

Honestly when I heard of oil free frying, I thought to myself, whom are you kidding! How can you call something fried, unless you use oil? When I was asked to try the Philips Air Fryer, I was very excited cause I love to use technology, to make cooking easy and enjoyable. 

At the first look of the appliance, I felt its sophisticated, high end techno gadget. It comes in two variant colors - Blue+White and Black. Black looks very classy and it will be easy to maintain. The Philips Air Fryer uses "Rapid Air Technology" which is basically hot air in combination with high-speed air circulation which allows you to use very less or almost no oil while cooking. I tried cooking 3 different types of food which I make at home most often in a kadai full of oil!

French Fries are an absolute favorite; I love them long, nice and crisp. I tried the first batch of frozen french fries by adding a little more than half a teaspoon of refined oil. The fries were so beautifully cooked, crisp and golden just the way you will get fries when you deep fry in oil. The second batch that I did, I did not use any oil and guess what? The fries of the second batch tasted and cooked same way the first batch with oil did. What struck me then is that the second batch looked oily too and then when I looked up on the packet of the fries, oil was mentioned in the ingredients! So depending on whether or not the manufacturer has added oil you can decide if you want to add oil. In case there is no oil in the ingredients then you may add a bit of olive oil if you feel necessary. 

How to make crispy French fries in the Air Fryer?

1. Set the Air fryer to 200 Degrees if you are using Frozen Fries and 180 Degree of they are homemade fries.
2. Open a pack of fries and drop it in the basket; ensure not to overload the tray. I would say 300 gms of fries for one batch of frying is good. (Thaw the frozen food as mentioned on the package).
3. Close the tray and set the timer to 12 mins and let the Fryer do its job!

* If the fries are thick, then you may have to keep then 2-3 mins longer in the fryer. 

Chicken Popcorn is a nice evening snack, when we are not really hungry and want to munch on something. But the deep fried version of it is quite unhealthy. When I made the Frozen Chicken Popcorn I was quite unsure of how crisp it would come out. To my surprise they were nicely crisp and cooked to perfection. It had a nice golden color and was soft inside; but due to the lack of fat content, it seems a bit dry but having it with some nice spicy sauce or mayonnaise will balance it. Looking at the way this Chicken Popcorn cooked, I am sure the rest of the range of frozen foods Veg/Chicken Nuggets, Veg/Chicken Fingers, Veg/Chicken Cheese balls, Fish Fillets/Fingers etc will cook perfectly in this Air Fryer. 

How to make hot n crispy Chicken Popcorn in the Air Fryer?

1. Set the Air fryer to 180 Degrees.
2. Open a pack of Chicken Popcorn and drop it in the basket; ensure not to overload the tray. I would say 250-300 grams for one batch of frying is good. (Thaw the frozen food as mentioned on the package).
3. Close the tray and set the timer to 8 mins and let the Fryer do its job! 

* The temperature for frozen food as mentioned above can be the same but you may have to alter the time based on the size of the individual pieces. 

The last one which I tried was the ever loving Papad which is a staple for most South Indian Families. Unfortunately it did not cook the way I expected. Since papad's are so light, one of the papad's flew to the air vent of the fryer and started burning. The other 3 papad's did cook well, but I guess its too risky to cook such food. Please don't forget that there is lot of air circulating in the fryer and anything that is as light as a papad is not really advisable to be cooked in it. I feel we will face similar issue if we try to cook popcorn in the fryer, because its very light and small which can enter into the air vents of the fryer. I am also not convinced that we must try cooking high fat content foods such as bacon. So better to stick with the list of food stuff mentioned in the instruction manual.  

The air fryer comes with a handy instructions manual which will help you get started. I absolutely loved this product and what amazes me the most is how the food we call junk when deep fried in oil instantly is transformed into healthy food. We can make them healthier by making home made snacks instead of using store brought processed frozen food. I am not very sure how good will runny batter dipped pakoras or bhajia will trun out in this because of the dripping texture of the batter, which may not hold well. On the outset product is perfect for frying, grilling, roasting and even baking. 

Other things that you can make in the Philips Air Fryer:

• Veg and Non-veg Cutlets

• Paneer Tikka

• Chicken Tikkas

• Veg/ Non-veg Kababs

• Cake

• Veg/Non-veg Samosas

• Fish cakes

• Grilled veggies

• Stuffed veggies

• Marinated Mushrooms

• Veg/Non veg stuffed pies

Please note the above mentioned are just a few that came to my mind, but the options are unlimited. Just analyze with your common sense and if you are a creative cook, you will end up creating some new recipes with the Philips Air Fryer. 

Key Features

• Rapid Air Technology

• Adjustable Temperature Control

• Timer

• Easy to clean and dishwasher-safe parts

• Aesthetically good looking

• Additional available accessory - Food separator
• Safe to use and has an auto power cut off when you pull the tray while the machine is still on
• High end-technology for an affordable price

Kitchen full of useful appliances is quite exciting but you need enough space to work around these appliances. So always I plan appliances based on how often I use them and do I have enough space in my kitchen. This is the first thing I suggest you readers to think before buying the Philips Air Fryer. It's big and bulky when compared to the usual deep fryers, but if you make fried

food often, then this will be a great buy.

For all the lovely food it promises to make and for the fat-free assurance it gives, I give the Philips Air Fryer a "Must Buy" status.