Air Fryer delight

My favorite dish of all to make in the AF are the fries. For one serving (myself) I've narrowed it down to 4 Idaho potatoes, peeled, cut, rinsed and soaked in water for 30 minutes, fully dried and tossed in a SS bowl with some safflower oil, kosher salt and pepper. It never fails. 400F/25 minutes. Each and every time they come out perfect. If I go longer they get crispier and more crunchy but you loose the real potato taste.

My favorite dish of all to make in the AF are the fries. For one serving (myself) I've narrowed it down to 4 Idaho potatoes, peeled, cut, rinsed and soaked in water for 30 minutes, fully dried and tossed in a SS bowl with some safflower oil, kosher salt and pepper. It never fails. 400F/20 minutes. Each and every time they come out perfect. If I go longer they get crispier and more crunchy but you loose the real potato taste.

I haven't tried homemade French fries, yet, but I love the way my air fryer does a russet baked potato.  It comes out much better than in my conventional oven.

Yeah, I'm not buying a dedicated air fryer. There's no room for it. I'll get a handle on the basket issue. Even if it means I just use the toaster/broiler/AFer as just the first 2 modes. After all the AF mode was an experiment, we really just wanted an T/Ber.

Guys, the recipe I took from the internet for tater tots called for pre-heating the air fryer to 350 degrees and then cooking at that temperature for 6 minutes, shake, and cook for 4 more minutes.  I was disappointed with the results the two times I tried that and actually preferred the results from my toaster oven.  Last night I preheated the air fryer to 400 degrees.  While I cooked the tater tots for the same ten minutes, I shook the basket at exactly the half way point (five minutes and five minutes).  The difference was definitely noticeable.  The tater tots were crispier and more flavorful.  I used no oil in the air fryer or on the tater tots, just threw them in frozen.  Cleanup was a breeze.  The point at which I shook the basket was really just a tweak but the temperature difference between the recipe and what worked for me was substantial.

I think one advantage to Brian's air fryer/toaster oven combination might be the ability to cook different things at the same time so that the food would be hot at about the same time.  Last night, besides the tater tots, I had a salmon patty and fresh broccoli and mushrooms.  The tater tots were done in the air fryer, the salmon patty in a frying pan, and the broccoli/mushrooms in the microwave.

Seasoned Roasted Potatoes - 400F @ 35min

Yesterday I got curious and sure enough, air fried Spam is a thing.
https://airfry.guide/how-to/can-you-air-fry-spam/

It's easy to do and the results are better than pan frying. It's faster too. I tried some Spam fries too. Yup, I'd make them again. Even the wife liked them.

Our basket is a PITA to clean by hand so I fit a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of it. That made cleanup a breeze.

When I fry Spam I make a bunch of it so that when it's time for breakfast it cooks in a jiffy. This AM I diced some of the fried slices and added them to the eggs. So fast! It's almost faster than pouring a bowl of cold cereal and adding milk. OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but it was fast. It also added the salt component to my eggs.

Yesterday I got curious and sure enough, air fried Spam is a thing.
https://airfry.guide/how-to/can-you-air-fry-spam/

It's easy to do and the results are better than pan frying. It's faster too. I tried some Spam fries too. Yup, I'd make them again. Even the wife liked them.

Our basket is a PITA to clean by hand so I fit a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of it. That made cleanup a breeze.

When I fry Spam I make a bunch of it so that when it's time for breakfast it cooks in a jiffy. This AM I diced some of the fried slices and added them to the eggs. So fast! It's almost faster than pouring a bowl of cold cereal and adding milk. OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but it was fast. It also added the salt component to my eggs.

Brian, as you know, I am not a lover of SPAM.  However, what you (and others out in air fryer land, I assume) did just shows the convenience of the air fryer for so many foods, although calling SPAM a food is definitely debatable   (I'm joking, of course.  I really must try a low salt version of it to see if it's any better than the full on version.  More than anything for me, it has always been the salt as in wayyyyy too much.)

Yes, I know what you mean about the sodium. It is definitely high in that. That's why I use it as the sodium component in my eggs. There are lower sodium versions of spam but this time I used "bacon" spam which isn't reduced sodium. I just took it into acc't with the eggs. I'm a sodium addict, but I monitor my intake and keep it under control. I tried an ultra low sodium diet until I found out that heart disease patients (that would be me) on such a diet have an 80% reoccurrence of heart attacks. Now I stay within suggested guidelines, approx' a gram per day. But I don't make a religion of it, some days over some days under. Just stay within limits and you'll be good. Be a label reader for a serving and the sodium delivered with it.

On a different note, I was surprised. I expected all sorts of grease in the parchment liner and got surprisingly less than expected. But maybe the frying pan makes it appeared "magnified"? IDK. Too, I didn't tip the parchment to concentrate it into a puddle as I would with a frying pan. Not that fat bothers me. I did my research and dietary fat doesn't bother me (or anyone else). But still, I expected all sorts of fat.

Some foods I just don't think are good candidates for the air fryer. Broccoli is on that list for me. The "flowers" always end up burned and the stalks wilted and cooked or (my preference) a bit crunchy. But I don't want burned broccoli. I went back to steaming and roasting it after a few experiments.

Beef short ribs in the air fryer. I bought some that just weren't as meaty as I like but I like almost any short rib and they were on sale, so try them in the AFer.

Short story, for me they need more work and meatier short ribs.

I used this recipe with the simple rub: https://airfrying.net/air-fryer-beef-rib...delicious/

Normally I BBQ short ribs, and by BBQ I DO NOT mean grilling. I mean low and slow, indirect heat, with smoke, that's BBQ. But I have this AFer, and they were on sale so give it a try. The recipe needs work and I need meatier short ribs. I like most any short rib and I like these but they just weren't the best short ribs I've even had, not even close. But I think I can fix it with a reverse sear and a slow "roast" to get the internal temp to 125ish , then a sear at high temp for a few minutes. For an experiment, not bad, and it's a starting point.

Cornish Game Hen 375F @ 40min