Air Frying

Brussels Sprouts

My vegan girl got an air fryer a couple of years ago, and has raved non-stop about how wonderful it is. I was interested (I've eaten some good stuff she has cooked) but I can't add any appliances to my small kitchen unless I get rid of something to make room. I know that anything I store in the basement won't get used (except if it's once a year, such as the cookie press). I can't abide the thought of cluttering my already busy countertops with more things.

I finally figured out that Cuisinart (and probably other brands) make combined toaster ovens / air fryers. The section of counter I use for the toaster oven is small, with an overhanging cupboard. I saw something at Costco a few weeks ago I thought might fit, and a second visit with a tape measure made it clear. In the interim, I did some research on-line. The exact Costco model wasn't available elsewhere, in a typical move for them. But the nearest equivalent on Amazon was about $100 more expensive - not always the case, but knowing that made me feel good. I got it, and found a good home for my perfectly good old toaster oven with my boy.

Zucchini

Yes, guys, air frying really is wonderful. It is, actually, convection cooking. Convection ovens had a moment back in the 1980s, and in fact I had one. But they were considered tools primarily for cooking roast meats a little faster than in the oven - mine had no broiler type element for browning and really was a dud. I didn't use it much.

But now, in my mind, air frying is for vegetables! And right now is the season for roasted vegetables! I've made brussels sprouts, mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, butternut squash, vidalia onions.... The basic technique is the same for each. Cut into chunks (about an inch is good, things shrink dramatically as the air blows the moisture out). Put into a bowl, toss with olive oil and salt, perhaps some herbs or spices, then spread in the fryer basket. Cook for some variation of 400 to 450 degrees for eight to twenty minutes, stirring them up from time to time. Zucchini and eggplant each got extra steps of being salted in a colander for a few minutes before tossing with oil and cooking - it pulled moisture out.

I had to laugh at one recipe that was extremely precise on the temperature: 390 degrees!, but then said to cook for 8 to 12 minutes, requiring you to keep an eye on it. I'm from time to time checking recipes online to get an idea on timing, but mostly I'm winging it since recipes vary so much. My girl often steams the veggies in the microwave before crisping them up in the air fryer. I would do that for a special recipe, but so far I've been quite successful without that extra step. I think I might do that with potatoes - potatoes and sweet potatoes are my girl's standard breakfast.

Cauliflower

I recently roasted some butternut squash in the oven, with shallots, and it was quite a bit squishier than the air fryer makes it. The characteristic of air frying is less moisture, nicely browned, and less oil used in cooking them. The zucchini really had a nice nutty flavor, both better flavor and way better texture than recent sauteed dishes I've had. I did the cauliflower tossed with zaatar as well as olive oil - it was great! But I had to do the big head in two batches, a little too much for my small oven. I often buy cut up butternut squash at the store because I find handling the whole big hard squash to be enough of a barrier to keep me from cooking it. So now, I toss the already-cooked chunks into a bowl to toss with oil, and then toss into the basket and I have cooked winter squash in about 15 minutes from opening the fridge. I bought cut up portobello mushrooms and did the same thing. They were dry when done, and I put them in an omelet with onions and cheese and I liked them enormously. Brushed with liquid smoke portobello mushrooms are a form of vegan "bacon", adding umami and smokiness to dishes. I have some liquid smoke, and I'll give that a try. But just the shrooms without the smoke were quite tasty, with a somewhat firmer texture than when sauteed.

So I'm very happy with my new kitchen appliance. One word of warning - most air fryers, including mine, don't have a great deal of capacity. It wouldn't work for big family meals, not to make a big dish, unless it was possible to do things in shifts. But it might be interesting to use it to do something as an ingredient in a bigger dish - mushrooms, for example. But because mostly I'm cooking for myself, a meal featuring one really great vegetable with perhaps a little meat on the side is just fine for me.

My next experiment, probably tonight, will be air frying an apple (as an alternative to microwave "baking"). Toss with neutral oil and cinnamon, serve with a little butter and sugar.