Love this thread.
Just received a ninja air fryer yesterday, opened but still unused. Looking forward to comments and tips.
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Bang Bang Cauliflower or shrimp is really easy in an air fryer.
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I’m an air fryer newbie myself. Generally speaking, I’ve found frozen fries that have some starch additives for crisping (but not too much of it) and an adequate amount of oil in them turn out better than those that don’t have that. These are the fries I’ve liked best so far, cooked straight from the bag with no additonal oil added.
Grown in Idaho Hand Cut Fries
Kroger Extra Crispy Crinkle Cut Fries
Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries
Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Crinkles
Alexia Yukon Select Fries
Checkers/Rally’s Famous Seasoned Fries
Fries cook somewhat faster in the air fryer than oven.
Frozen onion rings I’ve liked best are Nathan’s Thick Sliced Battered Onion Rings and Alexia Onion Rings. Those cook much faster in the air fryer than oven.
I’ve had six more fries I’ve tried in the air fryer that I thought were okay (but I wouldn’t buy them again) and one that I did not like. I’ve had two more onion rings that I did not like at all.
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We tried Nathan’s O RIngs for the first time 2 weeks ago in our old but functional Oster toaster oven-- definitely 
three thumbs up! Wife wants to try Alexia’s. Wanted to do Nathan’s Fries too but supermarket (Hannaford) was out & substituted their store brand-- which were fine. If I had to guess I’d say they were made by McCain’s.
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I made some fried chicken in mine with a method I use in a regular oven which involves putting 2-3 T of oil in the bottom of a pan, what a mess! I’m not sure how to clean the thing. They don’t seem to want you to use much other than very mild cleanser. I especially don’t know how I’ll clean the heating elements. It smoked for a while until all the grease burned off. It is working fine but eventually it will probably get gummed up beyond help. This is probably why these units tend to fail on people after a year or two. I don’t know if dedicated air fryers clean up better. The Breville not being a true air fryer in most people’s idea of a air fryer. I still like it.
I can only imagine what a mess it makes if you only use the screen without a pan like I used.
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Brussel sprouts.
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I use an olive oil spray. Pam would work as well.
A light veneer of oil gives the fried food taste we crave without the mess you encountered.
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I’ll try that next time.
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I was going to do that but the recipe for oven fried chicken I make includes a dip in a mixture with egg whites whisked to peaks. I was afraid that spraying with oil would make the air bubbles pop.
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Put it in the air fryer until it skins over, then spray with oil to finish browning.
The key to air frying is to use as little oil as possible
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Reheating leftover pizza and Peking Duck
Here’s mine. Mine came from Target, but it looks like Kohl’s has a better price than what I got it for. No complaints other than that the drawer can be a little stubborn to close sometimes.
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So far:
Bone in chicken breasts sprayed w olive oil & some thyme and s&p. He thought they were better than oven cooked (I don’t eat birds:)
Made French fries for 2. Excellent but takes a while.
Cooked 2 lamb chops for him. Looked good & he enjoyed
Just did a piece of toast and it was def better than the breville toaster oven. Crispier. But don’t think I could do many pieces in my 5 qt ninja.
I think it will be more useful than the instant pot which gathers dust in the pantry.
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I was amused to see that my new GE gas stove has an ''air fryer" mode. I’d thought that part of the reason air fryers work is the small cooking volume, so lots of hot air could move quickly around the food. But I tried it out last night with some McCain’s frozen fries, and today with TJ’s breaded cod fillets (for fish tacos). They both browned up nicely, in just 15 minutes or so without any pre-heating.
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