No, a real American would burn them in his backyard. /s
I would think the answer is yes? That’s basically the premise with half of HGTV’s shows. Then you do an $8k kitchen rebuild and install a convection oven.
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I grew to love the rice cooker when I had an even odder schedule than I do now. It let me start dinner and then take the dog on a walk without having to worry if the rice would scorch while I was gone.
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Psshaw! The grinds are fun to chew on or spit out.
Agreed. When I make a stir-fry meal, there’s at least 3 dishes going thru the wok, plus heating egg rolls in the oven. Rice cooker just lets me forget about rice so I can concentrate on putting the correct ingredients into the wok.
Truth be told, rice cooker has been replaced by an Instant Pot, which I have come to love.
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I used to turn up my nose at rice cookers until it sank in that there might be a reason that they sold a hundred different kinds of them at the Asian supermarket, and it likely wasn’t because all those Japanese and Chinese folks were less demanding than me when it came to rice.
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@DukeTrout But then again, those fancy windows come with optional mosquito netting in a frame that can be removed easily, cleaned with a garden hose and clicked right back in.
It doesn’t interfere with the function of the window, because there’s space left in the window frame for just that purpose.
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"Worst Things for Most People"
Listicles
and
Defenestration
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Given that air fryer is basically a small convection oven, but typically under $200 (I bought mine for less than $50) seems the comparison is guilty of the wrong matchup completely. Lamenting a “personal” device not performing to the level of pro-kitchen device is just bull****.
And I find the “morality argument” on glue vs snap trap rather… odd, in an article about effectiveness (or not).
There’s also an interesting observation about tower fans… In that it’s compared one on one with a similar floor fan of the same price point. But that’s assuming you have the floor space to spare, isn’t it? The cheaper traditional fans either require a LOT more space, or does not swivel automatically. Different use cases completely.
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Sorry, I don’t want to be enabling but deep frying is not necessarily that unhealthy. The problem with domestic fryers is getting the fat/oil hot enough to flash seal the batter/coating. Deep frying is mainly about creating a crisp crust with most of the cooking actually being steaming the contents. Foods like Tempura are a good example, if drained sufficiently on a paper towel there is actually very little oil on the food.
Lower heat domestic appliances can’t seal the food quickly enough so the oil/fat will penetrate into the food being cooked and is then a bad health option.
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I’m sorry but you will not find ANY cardiologist on the planet who will say “yeah. Sure. Eat deep fried foods just adjust the method”.
Deep fried foods are not healthy. At all. Period. End of story. The science is in on this one.
As i said I wasn’t wanting to enable but to illustrate that cooking techniques get misrepresented.
As far as cardiologists go, as surgeons they are glorified mechanics. That was the way my partner who died awaiting her second transplant put it.
I don’t take lightly what I posted as I’m a chef and wanting to dispel misconceptions around healthy eating. If the wonderful joy of food is something important to you then I would suggest maybe you research what is good and bad for your health.
I would suggest a cardiologist hasn’t the time to have any other than a reductive opinion about good eating… they hardly give their patients the time of day. Which is probably a good thing from a heartless mechanic… we need good technicians that don’t treat a body as a person.
The science is never out for me until you can show me the science.
Another chef I know has had a heart transplant but refuses to not enjoy the life of good food. That was all I was offering.
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Hey, just had to add an apology. Sorry. Just re read the thread and you seem to be getting hammered here. Wasn’t wanting to be so aggressive but I thought I could add a positive idea for you.
Cheers
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I understood your point, and yeah not sure why me posting to Mark that calling out a very convenient and popular kitchen gadget should be met with a “Well, why don’t you just ignore the post” from certain people. I don’t see that suggestion made to others on other threads.
It is a legitimate criticism that the authors on BB post things like this while also posting “Oh check this new item out now 40% off in the BB store”. That’s some hypocritical bullshit as far as I am concerned. Especially given that while kitchen gadget silliness has risen 1000 fold in the last ten years…an all purpose cooker is a tried and true and incredibly useful item! Rice cookers and air fryers are merely the natural evolution of the crock pot which is one of the most useful items in my kitchen (also a home chef btw).
My simple counter was that no Dr worth their weight will ever recommend anything fried to someone who suffered a heart attack from a full inclusion and now has a stent in one of the arteries. Even air frying is going to be a “Yeah, don’t have that more than a few times a year”.
I have an air frying convection toaster oven, and it has completely replaced my oil pot for frying; we actually prefer it to deep fat fry for most things. (It’s not quite the same.)
Anyway, during the pandemic freezer space became problematic, and frozen French fries became harder to store than fresh potatoes… And with working from home, the labor to cut them from fresh became more realistic.
I’ve found that slicing the peeled potatoes into French fries, putting them in a bowl (or wok), and tossing them with a very small amount of olive oil really makes them crisp up and act more like fat fried fries. You can also season at this step; either just with salt or you can go further afield (salt, garlic powder, pepper, Italian seasoning, and shaker cheese is good; so is salt, pepper, paprika, cayane, garlic, and onion powder.)
If they are not single layer, they don’t get as crispy; where the potatoes touch they won’t crisp. Be careful not to burn them!
I’ve got a little steamer box and like to put my (small) spuds - jacket on - in the microwave to steam for 8 or 9 minutes. When I bring them out I flatten them to about burger height with a potato masher - trying to keep them from breaking out of their skin too much. Then I load them with salt and pepper and olive oil and air fry them, turning a few times. Delish and still creamy on the inside. I’m too lazy to cuts spuds into chips.
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Thanks for your response.
As a professional chef I tried to reach out and offer other ways of thinking about cooking and health.
I think we’re talking at cross purposes so I will leave this discussion.
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[Tower fans]
After years of testing, we’ve found that tower fans are rarely as powerful as standard room circulators, and they are exceptionally difficult to clean.
Ok, but all air conditioning indoor device are based on this tower design, almost.
Are you suggesting that it’s not working?
I love my air fryer. I can use it in a fraction of the time needed for a convection oven. Another product I like that Wirecutter hates is the Litter Robot. This thing is great, is not that hard to clean, and the cats are fascinated by it when it runs. I have an older model, before wi-fi was an option, which is fine.
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I wouldn’t even go there. The engineering, design, and physics of “fans” is pretty well understood. I mean you have shop blowers that move tons of air using cage design impeller (similar to an air conditioning system). The differences all balance out. Cost, noise, abilities, performance, ect… For home use I think everyone is right. A tower fan can move similar air to a standard fan but in a different way. And at equal cost I would expect the regular fan to last longer. On the industrial side cage fans produce better flow and pressure which is why they are typically built into machines. We have plenty of regular floor fans at work, which are good at their job of wide diffuse air movement.
And then you Dyson…
Cause if it was really that much better I could find one like it in an industrial catalog.
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With all the hype air fryer’s get, it’s good to know that you can do the same in a convection oven. I have a convection oven and I totally drank the air fryer kool-aid, primarily served to me right here.
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