Avalon Bay AB-AirFryer100R Air Fryer

An air fryer is a small, counter-top appliance that cooks by circulating hot air around the food at high speeds.  A heating element above the cooking chamber provides direct, radiant heat to the top of the food being cooked, while a powerful fan circulates hot air around the chamber and through the food.  I had heard about these in the past, but never really considered buying one for myself.  Because of my fondness for fried foods I received one as a gift last week for my birthday.

The model I received is an Avalon Bay AB-AirFryer100R.  The fryer comes with a perforated basket for cooking items that would normally be deep fried, like french fries, a solid, round baking pan and a rack.  So far I've only had a chance to use it a few times, once to make fresh cut french fries and again to cook frozen, pre seasoned curly fries from the supermarket. 

Raw fries with seasonings

Fries in basket after 10 minutes

For the fresh cut fries I took a large baking potato, cut it into batons about 3/8' thick and let them soak in cold water.  After about an hour I dumped the starchy water, rinsed the potatoes , covered them again with cold water and let them sit in the refrigerator until I was ready to use them later that evening.  To prepare the fries for cooking they were drained, patted dry in paper towels and placed in a bowl for seasoning.  For seasoning I used granulated garlic, celery salt, kosher salt, hot chicken spice mix (from my Nashville Hot Chicken post), and paprika.  About 1/2 tsp olive oil was added and everything was mixed together until the spices were evenly distributed.  The fries were put in the basket and the basket inserted in the frye.  The temperature dial was set to 400 and timer set to 10 minutes.  After 10 minted the basket was removed the I shook the fries to turn them over, then the basket was replaced and the timer set for another 10 minutes.  At that time they looked like they needed a little more time so I shook them up again and returned them for another few minutes, total cook time was around 24 minutes, this would be reduced if I had cut thinner fries.

Finished product

The end result was pretty good, the fries had a nice crispness on the outside while the inside was fluffy like a baked potato.  I wouldn't mistake these for good, deep fried french fries, but they were pretty close and much healthier.

For the second experiment I wanted to see how frozen french fries would fare in this air fryer.  I bought a bag of cheap, seasoned curly fries that were on sale at the grocery store.  These were by Mariano's house brand, Roundy's.  I took the fries directly from the freezer and put them in the basket, turned the temperature dial to 400°f and set the timer for 10 minutes.  As before, the basket was removed at that time and the contents shaken up.  The timer was set for another 10 minutes and I pulled the fries out and shook every 2-3 minutes until they were done.  Frozen to done took about 18 minutes.  These turned out really well, very crisp on the outside and moist on the inside with nothing added at all.  I've never been one to keep bags of frozen fries in the freezer, but I think I'll now have to keep some on hand for a quick snack.  Next I'll have to see how frozen onion rings work out...

Frozen curly fries

The air fryer comes apart easily to clean, not that there was much of a mess with what I was cooking this time.  The recipe book that comes with the AB-AirFryer100 has some pretty interesting dishes, from fajitas to brownies.  I'll have to explore it more when I have the time.  Even though I never seriously considered buying one of these I must say that I'm impressed so far with how it works.  I'm looking forward to being able to make faux fried foods without having to go through the hassle of setting up a deep fryer, stinking up the house and having to filter or dispose of quarts of oil.  Obviously there are things that an air fryer isn't suited for, like battered items of falafel, but I can still break out the Paragon cooktop if I really want to indulge in those things.  I assume it would work fine for breaded items, I may have to try some air fried chicken before too long to test that out, or maybe air fried pickles!