Kitchen appliances chat

That is pretty cool!

Thanks too @bazschmaz

The Magimix one has glass elements (like in an electric fire) to do the actual toasting. After a while they become brittle and break. If you don't replace it you can sometimes wedge the broken element back together, but periodically it causes your kitchen to fuse. A new element costs about £35. To replace the element you have to take the toaster apart which takes a while. After about 6 replacements of this you get fucked off, throw the toaster away and buy a black Bosch one which toasts adequately and costs much less.

See also my previous comments on kettles...

Asda one it is then

Aldi do one too - quite possibly the same

Being able to see exactly how done the toast is, is a major performance upgrade

I'm saving for a commercial rowlett (or dualit).

That's saving in a spousal approval sense not money, she doesn't approve of 4-6 slice toasters with toastie cages

Two votes for the Lodge, give the post from @scapa909 the other day. I'd considered it, but had no review - will probably get it now. Thanks both!

Has any one got any recommendations for an air fryer? Or is it hype

I picked up aRowlett 4 slice before Christmas, I sent it back, it was as wide as the fridge and looked completely out of proportion with everything else. They are amazing though, I used to manage Hotel restaurants and we had them in the kitchen/on the buffet and they never went wrong.

I think they’re really good and worth getting - plenty of reviews. We have a Phillips one because it has one big basket which means you can do a whole chicken/fish etc

They are excellent.
Make sure it’s digital.

Asda have a large one for only £40 at the moment which is excellent for the price, nothing fancy.

I have an Instant single drawer one which is brilliant, has an internal light and a viewing window. Also has different modes for baking, roasting, dehydrating and a larger temperature range.

I got one recently. It doesn't do anything that an oven can't but it does it quicker and easier.

I've got a ninja one that is also pressure cooker, etc which is useful but does have less cooking space than a dedicated one (although you can still fit a full chicken in).

Main thing to consider is that they are pretty sizeable and I wouldn't say it's worth it if you're going to put it in and out of a cupboard, you'll need worktop space.

Re-usable silicone liners are good to save washing the basket

Cheers. May have to temper my dreams and get a 2 slice

Neff have a plain stainless steel tepanyaki pan, same shape but no ridges. We have both devices and use them on our neff induction hob.

Both are great as they use the full size of two zones combined so you get maximum cooking area.

Do these accommodate artisanal sourdough, or just sliced white?
Most toasters seem to be shaped for sliced white.

@tw https://www.cookersandovens.co.uk/Neff-Z9417X2-Teppan-Yaki.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiApKagBhC1ARIsAFc7Mc4GL8NoSSJ7iTl5A-uxN7okSwc8THC2vys2vaSnsf-hxtG6mAjU5RQaAp6dEALw_wcB

Any experiences with Siemens stuff? I know it’s Bosch group so likely much of a muchness? Need new integrated bits for new (not 40k) kitchen, hood, fridge, dishwasher, micro. Given that most of it will be behind doors as it’s integrated I’m not super married to everything being matchy matchy - but equally would quite like contiguous.

Oven is from Bertazzoni.

Siemens integrated appliances in the ~14 year old kitchen that came with my house. Nothing much to say about it which I suppose is a good thing.

They're a decent value proposition. Seem to last well in tenancies. I've seen fewer problems with their dishwashers than the Bosch ones but this is from a very small sample.

They are a game changer if you have a small family/kids. But then there are larger and dual basket ones for bigger families. I was holding out until one day I found myself turning the oven on to do two fish fingers. I ended up buying three more for members of ms_com's family to help try to save them energy and they are all now obsessed with them. I still cringe at the verb, to "airfry" something. It's just a small oven, it's not magic. But it is heating up a much smaller volume and the heat source is closer to the food. The family whatsapp is full of "can I airfry X", with responses of "if you can do it in the oven, yes". I did at one point have to stop one person from filling the basket with oil and trying to deep fry something, such was their confusion.

Big +1 on the silicone baskets too. And another +1 for getting digital if you can. There are fine margins between cooked and burnt, so accurately managing the minutes easily is a must for me.

Rowletts are no longer made in the UK, right? Had a relatively expensive toaster fail in under 2 years (Cuisinart) and need a replacement. Are they any good? I've always hated dualits when I've used them. Uneven toasting and annoying to use

Air fryers

1. really good, can do stuff straight from the freezer no waiting for it to warm up, and quicker to cook - so frozen veggie nuggets, hash browns, fries, baked potatoes, but also aubergine spears, halloumi cubes to really well
   
2. it turns off once the timer stops. Small thing but if you might be distracted or need to do something its not going to keep roasting your thing - with small kids i think this is an overlooked benefit
   
3. it is big. we have ninja max i think - would have liked to browse a bit more and find a microwave-shaped one so can put things on top. I think people generally recommend square/ rectangle basket over circle but glad we bought anyway
   
4. it needs cleaning more than i assume... i should clean it more. will get the silcone liners thanks
   
5. assume 4-6 weeks or looking at everything through the lens of 'can i do this in the airfrier'
   
6. it takes some learning how long and what temp to do stuff, but with the digital timer it's much easier to replicate once you nail them
   
   

Am I missing something here? You appear to have just described a normal fan oven.

[Edit]

Other than they are tiny, I realise.

I'm not quite sure how I missed this when I looked on the Neff site. It's literally just below the one I posted.

Still - 2 ton for a tray is a bit punchy.

I was holding out until one day I found myself turning the oven on to do two fish fingers

While this may not persuade me to buy a standalone mini oven, a microwave combo job might be on the horizon.

The quicker to cook thing is not to be understated.

1) Airfryers get to temp in 2-3 minutes (although you generally you put the food in as soon as you turn it on). Also for many foods, the cooking time is cut by 1/3 - 1/2 the time, so if you compare against the preheating time for a normal fan oven and the increased cooking time, you can generally have food on the table in half the time.

Because its on for less time, and lower volume of air/food you are heating, you save considerable energy, and running at 1200-1500w max while you're using, rather than 2000-3500w for twice the time.

2) I think the important thing is that when the timer stops and the food stops cooking as the fan and temperature drops quickly. You could then leave it for 5-10 minutes with little impact. On a larger oven, the oven temp stays fairly close to cooking temperature, and continues to cook the food even when the timer stops.

3) Big - Not sure about this point, as fan ovens are clearly bigger. Some air fryers are definitely big enough for larger family requirements with multiple compartments with different cooking temperatures and timings. I personally didn't want a double drawer one, because it takes up too much worktop space, and too large and bulky to put in a cupboard or drawer.

For the silicon liners, how does it impact the cooking? Does it not block important airflow under the things you are cooking? As an example, if you are cooking fish fingers the side in contact with the silicon might stay soggy? Also the grease/oil excess water draining effect would be limited?