My whole family is in love….with the Philips Airfryer!….It all started with an article in an online newspaper about healthier chips. My mum read the article and decided she would love to ‘review’ one of the Philips Airfryers that they were talking about. I set about contacting the right people and lo and behold she got her Airfyer to review and keep. To say she was ecstatic would be an understatement. She just couldn’t wait to try cooking with it!
The reason my mum had been apprehensive about just going out and buying one was the cost of the machine. At prices ranging between £140 and £215 it is not a cheap bit of kit. This is why we all love being My Mummy Reviewers. We get a chance to test out products and equipment without having to risk our cash.
The Philips Airfyer weighs 7 kilos so it is a sturdy piece of equipment that will not going moving all over the worktop when you are trying to remove the frying basket to shake up your meal during the cooking process. The electrical cord measures 1m and there is cord storage if you do not need to use the full length of the lead.
If you would like to see lots of videos and photos of the Airfyer then take a look at the Philips website as they even have a short video showing the cord storage that I mentioned. I think it is very impressive that they have taken the time to upload all these photos and videos so potential customers can get to see exactly what it is they are buying.
There are many websites I could send you to so you can buy a Philips Airfyer, Amazon being one of the cheapest…but today I recommend you visit Argos as they currently have the Philips Airfryer for sale at £129.99. What I love about Argos is that you can reserve an item to collect in store;so if you are thinking of buying an Philips Airfyer as a Christmas present for someone then I would say collecting from your local Argos store (as long as it is in stock) is a good bet as you don’t have to worry about waiting in for a delivery that may or may not arrive in time for the big day.
My mum would highly recommend this Airfryer. She has used it every single day without fail since she received it on the 17th November. Sometimes when there are people eating different things at different times it has even been used 2 or 3 times in a day. Philips do say you should let it heat up for a while but my family have tended to only give it a couple of minutes and then they start the cooking.
The first time my mum cooked me chips in the airfyer I was not convinced that they were as good as proper deep-fried ones. However and I mean a big HOWEVER…I have well and truly changed my mind. Every other time my mum has cooked frozen oven or frying chips in it they have been even better than normal deep-friend ones. You still get a slight ‘chip’ smell when they are cooking and the chips still taste a little bit oily…which is just how I like them. To me it is important that you get the ‘eau de chip’ smell as that has to be the best bit about eating chips…fried or airfried.
The frying basket comes with a divider so you can fry two different foods at the same time. For example scampi in one side, chips in the other.
The machine has a temperature control dial that goes up to 200 degrees and a 30 minute timer. When the time is up there is ‘ding’ noise and the airfyer automatically stops cooking. My mum loves the fact it turns itself off as if you don’t hear the noise you don’t want the food to just carry on cooking until it burns.
The removable drawer and the frying basket can both be washed in the dishwasher if required. So far my mum has found that there is no need to dishwash them as a quick wipe with a damp cloth and a wash in the sink get them both perfectly clean.
- Fray Bentos pie
- Scampi
- Chicken dippers
- Bacon and Sausages…(Philips do say that they don’t recommend you cook really fatty foods in the Airfyer – such as sausages and bacon. I don’t know if my mum had realised this or not as my mum has been happily cooking Bacon and sausages in the airfyer and says they are delicious. Even my brother looks forward to an airfried bacon sandwich when he goes round.)
- Baked Potatoes
- Chicken Lattice
- Scampi and chips
- Hash Browns …actually stay in one piece whereas they break up with every other cooking method.
- Apple Strudel
- Fried Bread…Sprayed it with oil
- Onion rings
- Potato croquettes…don’t burst like unlike every other cooking method
- Popcorn chicken
- Chicken kiev
- Fish fngers
- Chicken fingers
- Individual meat pies
- Mushrooms…sprayed with a little oil.
The only improvement my mum would like to see is more advertising of the fact that if you are making chips from scratch that you need to pre-soak them for 30 minutes in cold water. It doesn’t mention this on the Philips website description of the product and she only realised she would need to do it when she read through the accompanying leaflet for the first time. She has tried cooking them without pre-soaking but they are not as good as when you do soak them.
If the worst thing happens and this packs up in a few years…my mum will be straight out to go and buy another one! Like I have said before here on My Mummy Reviews, it is such a privilege to be able to test things out without having to risk our own hard earned cash. I think the biggest reason people, including us, don’t buy these new gadgets is because we worry that we are wasting our money on a product that doesn’t live up to our expectations. Now that my mum has seen just how useful and time-saving the Philips Airfryer is she would definitely not hesitate at buying another one again. My mum really does love the Airfyer so much! She can’t believe how easy, quick and convenient it is to use. It has exceeded all her expectations and for that reason she has classed it as her BEST PRODUCT OF 2011!!!
I hope this review has helped you with your decision to buy or not to buy a Philips Airfyer either this Christmas or in 2012.
To visit the Philips website please click here. Don’t forget to stop by Argos where it is currently on offer (at the time of writing).
* Photos courtesy of Philips.