Ninja AF100UK air fryer review: small, yet powerful As the smallest air fryer available from Ninja, the AF100UK is also their cheapest model at £129.99. With its 3.8 litre capacity it’s a great size for two person households, but it can cook up to 900g chips, so will serve four at a stretch. It’s the perfect choice for smaller kitchens, it requires minimal space on your worktop and if you don’t want to leave it out all the time, this lightweight air fryer is easy to lift in and out of a cupboard. It’s not just for air fried chips though, it can also roast, dehydrate and reheat. So it’s equally useful for warming last night’s leftover pizza or drying fresh herbs from your garden. It might be the smallest and cheapest model from Ninja but this air fryer isn’t lacking anything when it comes to performance. Everything I made in it was crisped and browned to perfection, plus it’s fast and very easy to use. It’s certainly one of the best air fryers on the market. Ideal Home rated 4.5 out of 5 stars Reasons to buy: Simple to use Compact footprint Dishwasher safe Recipes and cooking charts included Great performance Reasons to avoid: Expensive for size No automatic preheat Ninja AF100UK Air Fryer Specs Material: Plastic Colour: Grey Capacity: 3.8 litres Modes: Air fry, roast, reheat, dehydrate Weight: 5.2kg Power: 1550W Size: 36 x 25 x 32cm (h x w x d) Unboxing This Ninja air fryer comes in a sturdy box that’s not too big to lift onto the kitchen worktop. On opening, I was pleased to see it’s protected by easily recyclable cardboard inserts, with very little plastic in the box. It comes with a handy quick start guide that includes some recipes for inspiration as well as cooking charts. The cooking charts give you guideline cooking times and temperatures for common foods, which is particularly helpful if you’re new to air frying. The air fryer itself has a simple control panel that doesn’t take much working out and I didn’t need to consult the instruction booklet at all. It’s got a button for each of the cooking functions: air fry, roast, dehydrate, and reheat. The time and temperature settings are controlled with up and down arrows for each and whichever one you’re adjusting will be displayed on the small screen. The non-stick ceramic coated cooking pan pulls out easily thanks to the large handle. It comes with what Ninja call a crisper plate, which is a perforated cooking plate that allows air to circulate around food, as well as allowing excess oil to drip away into the pan below. The crisper plate is removable, but when in position three rubber feet grip the pan so it stays put even when tipping food out. Using the Ninja AF100UK Air Fryer As I’ve already mentioned, there’s not much to get to grips with, the uncomplicated control panel makes it easy to get cooking straight away. And although I didn’t feel the need to read the instruction manual, a quick browse through it alerted me to the fact a preheat is advisable. Ninja recommend preheating the air fryer for three minutes before adding food. But unlike some other air fryers I’ve reviewed, it doesn’t have a preheat stage built in. You have to start it up with the timer set to three minutes. This is mildly annoying because once you’ve added the food after the preheat, you then have to reset the time and temperature for cooking. Another point worth noting is that there’s no reminder to shake or turn your food part way through cooking, so you’ll have to remember to do this to ensure you get even results. When you select the air fry function, it doesn’t remember your previous settings, it always defaults to 200oC and 20 minutes. I don’t mind this, but if you frequently cook the same foods, you might find yourself wishing it remembered the time and temperature from last time. It can air fry at temperatures between 150oC – 210oC and the timer can be set from one minute up to one hour. The timer will count down and an audio alert will let you know when your food is ready. This isn’t a silent appliance, it emits a low pitched hum that’s equivalent to my extractor fan on it’s middle setting. Cooking bacon in the Ninja AF100UK Air Fryer To air fry bacon I followed the suggested time and temperature in the cooking chart. Before adding my bacon, I set the air fryer to preheat for three minutes at 180oC. Then I placed the bacon on the crisper plate, but there’s only enough space for three to four rashers. I managed three on my first attempt but squeezed in four the second time I used it. Although if you want to cook more you could probably get away with overlapping them a little, because they will move apart as they shrink. I set the timer for eight minutes, but after five minutes the bacon was cooked and the fat had crisped up enough for me. A pleasing amount of fat had dripped into the pan below the crisper, which definitely made it feel healthier. And with no bacon grease to clean up from anywhere other than the pan, it was mess free in comparison to pan frying or even grilling. Heating frozen fish in the Ninja AF100UK Air Fryer In my experience breaded foods always crisp up really well in air fryers and this Ninja was no exception. After the three minute preheat, I placed two frozen breaded haddock fillets onto the crisper plate and opted for the settings suggested in the cooking chart, which was 200oC for 14 minutes. Although I checked them a couple of times, I didn’t turn them. Despite this, both fillets were evenly cooked and had crisped up well on the base. The breaded coating had a great crunch, yet the fish was still…

The post Ninja AF100UK air fryer review: small, yet powerful first appeared on Freelance Photographer in Dubai, UAE.