Opinion ~ Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Turkey Fryer

[Blackhawkxp]

Made 2 turkeys over the weekend in the oil less fryer/roaster.  Both turned out better than expected.  The only draw back is that the skin does not get crispy like it would if it was deep fried.  With that said most of my guests thought it was fried in oil.  I injected the turkeys the same as i would when i deep fry them and the final product was the same with exception of the skin.  Breast meat was moist and tender.  Took about 10-12 minutes a pound so my 12 pound turkey were ready in a little over 2 hours.  Being fully electric the cleanup was a breeze and definitely cheaper than buying oil.  I would definitely purchase one again.  Keep in mind that air temperature and wind does affect the temp.  I had mine setup in the garage with air temp around 40 degrees.  Finished product:

[PurpleFloyd]

Your experience is like mine. I replaced my deep fryer with an air fryer some time ago and the one thing that I miss is a crispy outside. I have sprayed oil on the outside and other things but I just think the temp doesn't get high enough. IME you need 400- 450 degrees to get crisp outsides and these things peg out at about 350. I purchased one of those Nu Wave cookers recently and they have a bigger capacity than air fryers and cook the same. Not crispy but everything is always juicy and tastes great. Simple clean up.

 

[Big Dave2]

We recently threw out our fry daddy type deep fryer and I was thinking of getting smaller air fryer for french fries and things like that. Anyone here have any experience with those? Do they work good? Can someone recommend a specific brand?

 

[PurpleFloyd]

16 minutes ago, Big Dave2 said:

We recently threw out our fry daddy type deep fryer and I was thinking of getting smaller air fryer for french fries and things like that. Anyone here have any experience with those? Do they work good? Can someone recommend a specific brand?

 

That's exactly what I did when I was getting flack from the daughter about my oil fryer. The brand I got was Chefman and it was junk. Everything rusted even though we hand washed it, we got a replacement basket under warranty and that one rusted quicker than the first one.

It's hard to get the food crisp on the outside IME. I ended up getting a NuWave which is basically an air fryer but holds more food and it does cook things quickly but even spraying down with oil doesn't get them crisp. I'm kicking around going back to the oil fryer for wings and fries. Fries in an air fryer are just not the same. Much like using the oven. 

[rundrave]

13 hours ago, Big Dave2 said:

We recently threw out our fry daddy type deep fryer and I was thinking of getting smaller air fryer for french fries and things like that. Anyone here have any experience with those? Do they work good? Can someone recommend a specific brand?

 

I have the cozyna model air fryer and it works great my family loves it. I like the quick convenience of it and it doesnt heat up the entire house in the middle of summer like an oven does.

I have found you need to experiment a little bit but we use ours all the time for fries, cheese curds etc. I just spray on a bit of oil over the fries shake them up in a bag or bowl to get them covered and then throw them in. I usually pull out the basket and shake them a time or 2 while they cook. 

Its quick easy and painless and our basket has probably been through he dish washer once or twice a week since we got it months ago and the non stick surface is holding up great.

[Cooperman]

41 minutes ago, rundrave said:

I have the cozyna model air fryer and it works great my family loves it. I like the quick convenience of it and it doesnt heat up the entire house in the middle of summer like an oven does.

I have found you need to experiment a little bit but we use ours all the time for fries, cheese curds etc. I just spray on a bit of oil over the fries shake them up in a bag or bowl to get them covered and then throw them in. I usually pull out the basket and shake them a time or 2 while they cook. 

Its quick easy and painless and our basket has probably been through he dish washer once or twice a week since we got it months ago and the non stick surface is holding up great.

Rundrave,

have you tried frying breaded or battered fish? And if so, how did it turn out

thanks

[rundrave]

When I eat fish I typically bake or grill our walleye and perch. I keep it really simple with no breading. Just put on foil,  lay down some onion and then lightly coat the fillets with some butter, sprinkle some dill weed and some lemon juice.

I have done some breading in the air fryer though. I just don't like to go to the effort of dipping etc., coating etc.  But I have tried panko, shorelunch, crushed crackers/chips etc. They all worked great and the air fryer did the job just fine. 

As I mentioned earlier it may take a little bit of experimenting, and lots of folks like different textures and crunchiness so what may work for some may not work for others. The air fryer will get the job done though.