Remembering the week my old oven died and the air fryer saved dinner

It was a Tuesday in late October, and my oven just stopped heating past 300 degrees. With three kids and a tight budget, ordering takeout for a week wasn't an option. I pulled out the air fryer I'd mostly used for fries and got creative. We had 'roasted' chicken thighs, crispy potatoes, and even a small batch of brownies over the next five days. It made me realize how much I'd come to rely on that little machine for more than just snacks. Has anyone else had to use their air fryer as a main cooking tool for a stretch of time?

4 comments

4 Comments

nguyen.angela1mo ago

Not sure I'd call it a full on "air fryer wizard" situation though, seems a little dramatic. @michaelgrant is right about the cleanup being a pain and the dry food, I tried making chicken breasts in mine once and they came out like shoe leather. A hot plate and a slow cooker sound way more practical than trying to cram regular meals into a tiny basket.

michaelgrant2mo ago

Wait, you guys really cooked full meals in an air fryer for days? I tried that once and the cleanup was a nightmare, plus everything tasted kind of same-y and dry to me. I ended up just using my slow cooker and a hot plate until the oven was fixed.

lewis.mila2mo ago

That air fryer hustle is real, we basically lived out of ours during a kitchen reno last year.

harper9142mo ago

Oh man, I feel that so hard. My stove top went out for like two weeks last winter and I became an air fryer wizard out of pure need, lol. We did everything from pork chops to those little frozen egg rolls, and I even tried making a weird mini meatloaf in there. It was kind of a mess but it worked. @lewis.mila knows the struggle, living through a reno with one is next level commitment. You start looking at every food and just wondering 'but can it air fry'.