Air fryer for the boat?

[MtB]

For those wondering what an air fryer actually is, the term is a misnomer. They don't fry, they just blow hot air around the food container. 

 

So they are analogous to an electric fan oven, but smaller. Much smaller. 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Chris John said:

They’ll be confined to the back of the cupboard with the bread makers, toasty machines, nutri bullets and all the other must have kitchen gadgets when the next fad comes out. 

 

I've had mine for three years now and I still use it most days.

 

 

[Chris Lowe]

20 minutes ago, Tonka said:

You will have to Google it but for only £15 is it not worth a try?

Yes I use one camping and it works well.

 

31 minutes ago, RichM said:

Would recommend a Ninja Foodi multi cooker over a conventional air fryer, specifically the new style one with the smart lid. (Original ones have 2 lids making it cumbersome)

 

Air fryers are somewhat limited in terms of what they can be used for, but the Ninja Foodi multi cooker adds so much more functionality, e.g.

- Pressure cooking 

- Sear/saute

- Slow cooking

- Steam

- Bake/roast

 

And more... 

 

Personally wouldn't limit myself to an air fryer when the multi cooker can do that and more. I now never use my oven at all and the gas hob is very rarely used. Everything takes so much less time to cook with less mess and fuss. Very well constructed. Can't fault it but it did take a little getting used to.

 

It does say in the instruction manual that it's not to be used on boats but it's very sturdy so unlikely to be an issue on calm waterways. 

 

This is the one I have but I think I only paid £230 for it.
https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/product/ninja-foodi-11-in-1-smartlid-multi-cooker-6l-ol550uk-zidOL550UK

 

They are somewhat big/bulky and quite heavy too. Probably not ideal if you only have a small galley with limited worktop space. Also need to ensure there is sufficient room to open the lid. 

 

 

Same on that I got & it does take some getting used to, I over cooked my first lot of oven chips as I used the temp & time on the packet.

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

 

Are they any good?

 

Probably not as good as an electric one but a reasonable substitute.

 

A genuine one comes in two sizes and with tools.

 

https://tinyurl.com/y5ecjhds

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

Same on that I got & it does take some getting used to, I over cooked my first lot of oven chips as I used the temp & time on the packet.

 

This seems to be a very common issue that people find in various reviews. You simply cannot rely on the cooking times stated on food packaging and have to time and often temp. adjust downwards due to the intense way they cook. Often resulting in spoilt meals initially.

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

For those wondering what an air fryer actually is, the term is a misnomer. They don't fry, they just blow hot air around the food container. 

 

So they are analogous to an electric fan oven, but smaller. Much smaller. 

 

yes but they are a bit different from an electric fan oven. That heats mostly by convection and radiation, with a bit of assist from a fan for evening out the temperature. Whereas the air fryer is all blown hot air. It is more like cooking your chips with a heat gun, only easier!

[Alan de Enfield]

2 hours ago, howardang said:

No wonder the shops have sold out of air fryers - you've cornered the market!😒

 

Howard

 

 We had the 1st one about 5 years ago when I was diagnosed as Diabetic, very high blood pressure, dangerously high cholesterol and needing to lose over 5 stone in weight

Within 1 year I'd lost the weight, and the blood pressure pills were stopped. The second year I was deemed to have the Diabetes "under control by diet" and came off the Diabetic pills.

Still on the statins for the chlorsterol but it is at an acceptable level - without the airfryer I doubt I'd have survived.

[mrsmelly]

3 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Air fryers, the latest kitchen must-have, apparently.

 

We have a bit of a problem in that the boat has a full size gas fan oven. It is great in many ways but it does chuck out a lot of heat, both during cooking and for quite a while afterwards when the fan continues to run blowing air between inner and outer casing to keep outer casing cool. All of which makes the kitchen area very hot even in winter, and last summer we had to avoid using the oven because it was too hot even before we lit the oven. And if it’s raining we can’t have the kitchen sliding windows open. Problem!

 

Bring on the air fryer. Yes it does use 1700w max but once up to temperature the power consumption decreases a lot (not quite sure to what, research at home ongoing). But what is noticeable is that the outside of the air fryer remains cool, it hardly gives off any heat so all the energy goes to heating the food, very little is lost to the kitchen.

 

Last night we had chicken and new potatoes done in it, chicken remained moist and potatoes were rather nice.

 

We are lucky in that we have about 6kwh of battery power but to be honest, even if it meant running the engine for power I think it would still be useful in summer weather.

 

Has anyone else tried them?

Had one for years on our liveaboard. Great bit of kit, used many many times. Still going strong in this boring house downgrade. Can be used for all manner of cooking.

[IanD]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

yes but they are a bit different from an electric fan oven. That heats mostly by convection and radiation, with a bit of assist from a fan for evening out the temperature. Whereas the air fryer is all blown hot air. It is more like cooking your chips with a heat gun, only easier!

Most modern fan ovens have small elements and quite powerful fans, they work pretty much the same way as an air fryer -- I use both, and find the two produce pretty much identical results in the same cooking time at the same temperature.

 

The air fryer heats up a lot faster and uses less energy, as you'd expect -- unless you need to cook a large amount so it needs more than one batch, then the fan oven is quicker and similarly economical.

[LadyG]

Aldi has some for sale today.

I might have a look, do I need a big inverter?

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by LadyG

[IanD]

17 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Aldi has some for sale today.

I might have a look, do I need a big inverter?

 

 

 

Yes, probably at least 2000W and even that might be pushing it, air fryers draw up to 1700W or more -- which means 150A out of your batteries for some time, so make sure they can deal with this too...

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Aldi has some for sale today.

I might have a look, do I need a big inverter?

 

 

 

Which model?

 

They do two.

 

A dual drawer one and a smaller single draw one.

 

The single drawer is 1000 watts and the dual drawer up to 1800 watts.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by M_JG

[roland elsdon]

7 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

Diesel and oil flavoured bread!

Sounds delicious (to a boater)  😜

No the rising  bread is in bags and the lister runs on virgin olive oil.

( honestly)

I think we need to update. What is this mains electricity that people speak of?

I have none here this morning ( in australia) and neither does the boat in englands cool and turbulent land.

 

 

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

Yes, probably at least 2000W and even that might be pushing it, air fryers draw up to 1700W or more -- which means 150A out of your batteries for some time, so make sure they can deal with this too...

I checked mine using a wattmeter. About 1650w during warm up (3 or 4 minutes) then on and off at 33% duty cycle, ie 1650w for 15 secs, 25 watts (just the fan) for 30 secs. So to cook a meal eg chicken and chips taking 30mins is about 450wh or a bit over 40Ah for a 12v system.

[MtB]

A few weeks ago I looked carefully at leccy consumption in my hovel.

 

Both my air fryer and the full sized electric fan oven in my range cooker have a duty cycle of approx 50% of time ON, and 50% OFF once up to temperature. The air fryer however gets up to 180c temp in about three minutes while the oven takes eight. The biggest difference though is the power. The air fryer is 1,500W while the oven is 3,000W when actually drawing current. 

 

One thing the air fryer can't do though is bake fantastic crusty white bread. It simply isn't big enough. 

 

[nicknorman]

15 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

One thing the air fryer can't do though is bake fantastic crusty white bread. It simply isn't big enough. 

 

Make smaller loaves?

[Sea Dog]

8 hours ago, buccaneer66 said:

My rented place in Corby didn;t have a cooker...

Bet it had a trouser press though, eh? 

[Chris Lowe]

1 minute ago, Sea Dog said:

Bet it had a trouser press though, eh? 

🤣 no but my Dad used to work for Mr Corby

[sueb]

Using heat from the solid fuel stove is the most economical for cooking on a boat.

[rusty69]

7 minutes ago, sueb said:

Using heat from the solid fuel stove is the most economical for cooking on a boat.

Not in the summer it ain't. 

 

Unless you have access to free fuel. 

Edited December 5, 2022 by rusty69

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, sueb said:

Using heat from the solid fuel stove is the most economical for cooking on a boat.

 

How does one air fry using a stove?

 

This being what the thread is about.

[MtB]

2 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Make smaller loaves?

 

Still not enough height....

 

Even so, I'm tempted to experiment making mini-loaves! 

 

[roland elsdon]

To air fry on aboat.

1 buy airfrier

2buy bigger inverter

3 buy new batteries

4 put food in air frier

5 start engine

6 heat air,water,alternator,wires, battery, atmosphere , oh and food .

7 Eat run out of diesel wash up. Build new cupboard to house s

airfrier.

 

8 replace alternator belt and alternator.

Love my gas oven

 

 

[MtB]

5 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

To air fry on aboat.

1 buy airfrier

2buy bigger inverter

3 buy new batteries

4 put food in air frier

5 start engine

6 heat air,water,alternator,wires, battery, atmosphere , oh and food .

7 Eat run out of diesel wash up. Build new cupboard to house s

airfrier.

 

8 replace alternator belt and alternator.

Love my gas oven

 

 

 

 

Yep. The main point of a 1.5kW air fryer is to avoid using the 3kW electric oven.

 

On a boat the air fryer is WAY more expensive to use than the Calor gas oven, unlike in a house where it is usually competing with an electric oven. 

 

For comparison, back in September a kWh of Calor gas was approx 25p. A kWh of house mains electricity was 37p. A kWh of diesel was about 10p. But the diesel needs to run the engine, turn the alternator, charge the batts, run the inverter and heat the air fryer, all of which introduce inefficiencies. 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by MtB
Add a bit.

[frangar]

As we don’t even have a microwave onboard we won’t be getting an air fryer. Quite happy with the gas oven & hob supplemented by the back cabin range! Like a microwave you can only cook one element of food at a time….I can do multiple items in a gas oven! Why make life complicated? 

[IanD]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

 

Yep. The main point of a 1.5kW air fryer is to avoid using the 3kW electric oven.

 

On a boat the air fryer is WAY more expensive to use than the Calor gas oven, unlike in a house where it is usually competing with an electric oven. 

 

For comparison, back in September a kWh of Calor gas was approx 25p. A kWh of house mains electricity was 37p. A kWh of diesel was about 10p. But the diesel needs to run the engine, turn the alternator, charge the batts, run the inverter and heat the air fryer, all of which introduce inefficiencies. 

 

 

Exactly -- use one instead of an electric oven (if you have one, probably on shore power), not a gas one.

 

The only exception -- obviously! -- is if you have a gas-free or hybrid boat with a diesel generator and LFP batteries, which can provide enough power and is a lot more efficient than a diesel engine/alternator.

 

In this case the cost of running an air fryer will be less than a gas oven on a boat with one.