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The best things and stuff of 2020

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Re: The best things and stuff of 2020

#11

Post by steve_adams_86 »

Nacdor wrote: post #9

> Life-changing technology “discovered”: Air Fryer They're just tiny convection ovens with a gimmicky name.

Are they though? I’ve had both. I really liked the convection oven a lot. It was glass, so I could see the food cooking. It didn’t get quite as crispy results, or cook as quickly as the air fryer. It also didn’t have the basket design which makes crisping certain foods very convenient.

I agree that it’s a convection oven but I think there’s more to distinguish them. Maybe I’m wrong though. I haven’t seen new convection ovens for over a decade.

Re: The best things and stuff of 2020

#13

Post by qPM9l3XJrF »

iamdamian wrote: post #6
baxtr wrote: post #3

Best item so far: Life-changing technology “discovered”: Air fryer — I just can’t go back to frying stuff in puddles of grease.

Air fryers seem to be all the rage these days, so I’m curious to hear from a no-BS crowd like HN: is there a meaningful difference between a small convection oven and an air fryer?

Why not just cook with healthy fats like extra virgin olive/coconut oil?

Re: The best things and stuff of 2020

#14

Post by poulsbohemian »

Nacdor wrote: post #9

> Life-changing technology “discovered”: Air Fryer They're just tiny convection ovens with a gimmicky name.

Maybe this is true, but the one I got is a lid on top of my Instant Pot. At that point I have one device (read: fewer things to store) that can be everything from a slow cooker, pressure cooker and now dehydrator and fryer. It was a great addition to an already functional device.

Re: The best things and stuff of 2020

#16

Post by poulsbohemian »

iamdamian wrote: post #6
baxtr wrote: post #3

Best item so far: Life-changing technology “discovered”: Air fryer — I just can’t go back to frying stuff in puddles of grease.

Air fryers seem to be all the rage these days, so I’m curious to hear from a no-BS crowd like HN: is there a meaningful difference between a small convection oven and an air fryer?

I saw this argument over on Twitter earlier today too, and I’m not sure where’s its originating... frankly, does it matter? Buy the one that has the form factor you want and cooks the way you want to cook. When I see “counter-top convection ovens” they are large things that take up a ton of counter space, but have limited functionality and capacity. Meanwhile, the “air fryer” I bought is a lid on my Instant Pot, which means I’ve got 6 quarts of space to “fry” things they way I want. It’s been a fantastic addition for us to quickly whip out fish and chips without gallons of oil and mess.

Edit: Suppose I should mention I have an in-wall convection oven in my kitchen as well. It does “fine” but frankly sometimes I’m cooking for a large enough group that I need both the convection oven and the Instant Pot air fryer going at the same time. Plus, my convection oven takes forever to come up to full heat, so often the “Air fryer” is a better choice in terms of capacity and time.

Re: The best things and stuff of 2020

#17

Post by elliotec »

diN0bot wrote: post #12

the ReMarkable has been life changing for me: https://remarkable.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiArbv_BRA8EiwAYGs23Ku05s...

I returned mine. In my opinion, it did exactly one thing, and one thing poorly. You're supposed to be able to write "like paper" but it's heavier than a notebook, has exactly the one feature, and doesn't even have a backlight.

Originally I was excited for the "hackability" but that doesn't exist on the latest model and when I looked into it, all the "hacks" were pretty useless like getting the front page of the NYT on the home screen? Like I have a phone and a notebook and both are way better at all the things they do.

Re: The best things and stuff of 2020

#18

Post by GloriousKoji »

iamdamian wrote: post #6
baxtr wrote: post #3

Best item so far: Life-changing technology “discovered”: Air fryer — I just can’t go back to frying stuff in puddles of grease.

Air fryers seem to be all the rage these days, so I’m curious to hear from a no-BS crowd like HN: is there a meaningful difference between a small convection oven and an air fryer?

No, not really. I personally find a regular non-convection toaster oven to be good enough (and much cheaper).

Here's the technical aspects I see no one talk about:

(1) Air fryers have much higher air flow than a convection toaster oven and the chamber is more aerodynamic resulting in better air flow around the food.

(2) Air Fryers have a basket, convection toaster ovens may or may not have one and buying an aftermarket one is surprisingly not cheap.

(3) Air fryers have a hair-dryer design, with a fan blowing onto a heating element. The convection oven has normal top and bottom heating elements with a fan blowing the air around on the side.

I find that the air fryer does do a better job at reheating (refrigerated or frozen) fried foods such as tots, fries, fish sticks and chicken tenders. But the trade off is that it's not as good at toasting and roasting things like waffles, bread, quesadilla, pizza or vegetables.

Re: The best things and stuff of 2020

#20

Post by iamdamian »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #16
iamdamian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Air fryers seem to be all the rage these days, so I’m curious to hear from a no-BS crowd like HN: is there a meaningful difference between a small convection oven and an air fryer?

I saw this argument over on Twitter earlier today too, and I’m not sure where’s its originating... frankly, does it matter? Buy the one that has the form factor you want and cooks the way you want to cook. When I see “counter-top convection ovens” they are large things that take up a ton of counter space, but have limited functionality and capacity. Meanwhile, the “air fryer” I bought is a lid on my Instant Pot, whic…

I would say it matters insofar as anyone wants to apply understanding of the fundamentals of cooking to new tools.

Should I expect to use an 'air fryer' to do things I can already do with other tools—like toast bread or roast/bake something small, even though none of those is 'frying'? What are important considerations / differences relative to the small convection oven I already have?

If air frying is a fundamentally new cooking technique, then I may not be able to apply a wealth of cooking knowledge & intuition when using it, other than basic food chemistry. If it's a rebranded convection oven, then I can decide if a different form factor is worth it for things I already know how to do.

Does that make sense?

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