Ok… this worked out pretty well, hopefully it helps.
I fried 5 potstickers in a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat for a minute or two (turning regularly). Then reduced heat to medium, added 2-3 tablespoons of water and covered for 6 minutes. Removed the lid and at this point the water was pretty much gone.
Turned them over and they were actually lightly browned on that side (but not on the edges). Continued cooking until the bottoms were golden brown (maybe 2 minutes).
Ended up lightly crispy, moist, a bit chewy, and no black hard edges.
The only drawback to the Lahey style no-knead Dutch oven bread is that with the over 400F temperature, the parchment sling used to transfer the dough into the preheated DO crumbles away if you try to lift the baked loaf with it. But if you are baking cookies or crackers at medium temperature - under about 375F - you can reuse parchment for several batches before it starts to fall apart.
I’ve not yet attemped NKB in the new Breville, but I don’t have a problem dumping the boule directly into the ECI oven from a banneton. My loaves turn right back out.
I can appreciate the scorching issue, though, for using parchment to slide fresh pizzas onto a steel or stone.
The obvious advantage of an AF is no oil. The disadvantage is that you can not concentrate that heat to a specific area like you can in a pan. So as you have experienced, the thin/unfilled edges of the wrapper are going to get nuked before the filled body cooks/browns.
I suppose you could try boiling/steaming them before putting in the AF, but I doubt you’ll get the browning you’re after.
My AF (actually a flash oven) is great for many things… but inconsistently shaped/filled food is pretty much off limits.
Do you think the combination of far + near infrared produces any different results? Do you believe that setup really eliminates the need to preheat anything?
Things that are flat (leftover pizza, bread, fries/onion rings laid out flat) work out very well. But even with something like a corn dog I see the areas facing top and bottom a bit more done than the sides (but it is not an issue - the different textures are pleasing).
If I use a baking setting (as opposed to the quick flash modes) the heat is more even as the elements rotate more frequently, but I usually get better results in the conventional/convection oven… so when I have the time and want the best possible outcome I use it.
I never have to preheat… the cooking is instantaneous, and incredibly consistent with the things it works well with (toast - 2min, fries - 7min on hashbrown, cold leftover pizza - 6min on quick reheat, etc.).
BTW… I did a search for “air fried potstickers” on YouTube… and every vid I skimmed (some spraying with oil and others not) had them coming out way more done on the edges. The cook was mostly around 8-10min on or around 370°F. Problem was they had very little browning on the body of the dumpling.
I also have a tabletop unit too but it’s only 2 quarts. A one-serving, dom sized unit. It’s fast and even, but useless for more than 1 person, or two tiny people. It’s my instant gratification machine, bue en it requires a flip or shake.
Sorry about the typos. Fact is, nothing is ever totally even. Not the Breville, not the Instant Mini. I just make it a habit to open the door/yank the basket every so often and mix things up a bit.
