Tower T17021 Family Size Air Fryer with Rapid Air Circulation, 60-Minute Timer, 4.3L, 1500W, Black

So, I have ummd and arrd about getting an Air Fryer and decided to get this cheap one as a test to see if I liked them before paying into the hundreds. What can I say! The tower is about as complex as a kettle and 100% worth the price, I paid £37 on Black Friday. Had some sausage rolls in the fridge, the back of the packet said 20 mins in the oven. Dropped in the air fryer basket for 10 mins and they came out red hot, golden and crispy, perfectly done. No pre-heating like you have to do with an oven either. Then I tried bacon (I am a fried bacon lover for over 4 decades). Placed 3 slices in the air fryer, set temp to 200, timer to 10 and walked off to do something else. I heard it ping, looked inside and wow, all the fat on the edges had crisped up and rendered down and the bacon looked awesome, no flipping half way through was needed either. The taste, texture and crispness was as good as the best I can do in a frying pan or skillet, without the splatter mess and standing around. With a frying pan I would have had to pre-heat the oil, then stand there while frying, then try and get rid of any white flotsom!, then flip it, and eventally place onto paper towel. Results vary based on how cold the bacon is, how thick it is etc. The air fryer takes all the skill out of it, you would know what I mean if you are a bacon connoisseur like myself, I have perfected the art in a frying pan. Anyway, just drop 3 slices in, set two buttons for temp and time and can walk off to do something else. I even dropped a slice of frozen bread on it afterwards and gave it 10 seconds, it half toasted it! then the butter was too hard so in that went on the toast for another 10 seconds. My mornings now just got a lot more interesting. You can not beat a bacon butty yet I never had the time as everything is to the minute from waking up. This way it will take me about 20 seconds then I can leave it to do its thing. Cleaning is a doddle, took me 60 seconds to wipe down while it was still warm, if that. So if you find yourself wondering about Air Frying. I say go for it. Yes. Even if it just for bacon butties in the morning or a late night snack. Will be trying Pork Belly from the butchers next. I find that takes time and care to get right in an ordinary fan oven. Will see how the Air Fryer does it.

Bought this for my mother due to the simplicity of the controller as she is not good with technology. One nob for time, one nob for temperature, it couldn't be easier. Cooks quick, has a good size frying area and looks pretty stylish too.

Large capacity perfect for families. Cooks food evenly with rapid air circulation. The timer is very handy. Easy to clean and good build quality.

This wee air fryer is simple and brilliant. I had to return as someone gifted me one but owned one before and loved

I’m really amazed about how this tower air fryer works. Very easy to operate and saves time used in frying. Got value for my money.

Nice air fryer not too noisy and cooks my chips perfectly Bought Tower liners and I’m happy with the quality There is also a little light that you can see how things are cooking Very happy with this air fryer

This is a beautiful little air fryer! But ideally for no more than 1 person as the capacity and shape within the drawer is small. I think it is an ideal gift for a student or just useful for small additional dishes. Incredible price and elegant little fast cooker.

What I like: this is a fairly compact device. It's definitely smaller than a stove top chip pan and there is the huge advantage that you don't need to pour 2 litres of oil into it. Also there is no oil to get stale, and cleaning and washing it is as easy as could be. It has a reasonable mechanical timer and easily adjustable temperature dial that goes up to 200 C, which is plenty. It heats up very fast, so preheating it takes two or three minutes instead of the 10 or 15 of an oven. What I don't like: food cooked in an air fryer is not as delicious as deep fried food. It's also not as nice as oven baked food. Nor is it as nice as grilled food. With frying you obviously get that fantastic combination of captured flavour and crispy outer and well cooked centre. Oven cooking or grilling allow the food to really fill with flavour from its own moisture or juices. None of this happens with air frying. You definitely can get a nice crisp outer, and a good texture, but the flavour just isn't there. Now I know why air fryer recipes are packed with different types of salts and spices and oil based marinades or sauces. It's to disguise the loss of the essential flavours that you get with oven cooking or frying. Where a sprinkle of salt used to be all that was required, now you need complex mixtures of salt, paprika, pepper, flavourful oils, chilli powder, garlic powder, onion powder - all to disguise the fact that when you cook food with hot air on a ventilated basket you lose much of the natural flavour! In the last couple of days since receiving the air fryer I've cooked cubed aubergines, spiced tofu, oven chips, made "roasted" spicy mixed nuts, and heated up pre-prepared stuff from the supermarket that would usually be done in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 C. It's all been OK but definitely not as good as using the oven or a fryer, though obviously much more convenient than a fryer. I was mostly interested in being able to use this for some recipes that require deep frying various items before letting them soak up more flavour in a simmering sauce, but I think it's not quite up to it due to the blandness it seems to impose. It's not terrible. The textures of cooked items are really good but there just isn't the same flavour even as traditional baking in an oven dish, or grilling on a grill pan with a bit of foil. I think this might be one for the charity shop. edit: a few weeks later. These things shouldn't be called air fryers. They are reheating and baking devices. And the extremely high airflow is very drying, so they are not quite like normal baking. I've found that an air fryer is excellent at reheating and at heating up pre-prepared food. It is fabulous for some kinds of baking i.e. for making baked potatoes. It's good for cooking oven chips and similar so long as you ignore the manufacturer's instructions and do use some oil otherwise everything turns out too dry. But for cooking from raw ingredients it's just too uneven, even with turning. And there is no comparison with frying. It is *not* a substitute for frying. Anything you can fry in a pan in a few minutes takes far longer in an air fryer and is not nearly so nice. I don't think it's even a money saver unless you use it only for reheating and very simple baking. It takes so much longer than frying or grilling that it must surely be more costly than those methods. Maybe it should be marketed as a great baked potato machine. Anyway I got bored with it and went back to traditional methods and rediscovered tasty food, and spent less time cooking too.

Box was ripped in one side when it arrived. I hope it works in case of guarantee and that the air fryer is not faulty. I will try it this week.

Very happy with my purchase. Quick and efficient.