Bought an air fryer and wow, am I amazed

I've heard people talking about the majesty that is air fryers for a few years now. I was kind of turned off by how ecstatic the owners of these machines were because they were so excited about their new appliance that it started to sound to me like a cult or a multi-level-marketing scheme. The other day I was sitting with a friend of mine, probably one of only 3 people that I genuinely trust in this city and he told me that he owns one and it really is as easy and awesome as people say. That, and the fact that I was able to pick one up for a mere $25 new, was enough to sell me on the idea.

I intentionally bought "bottom of the line" when I made this pick because I have made mistakes in the past of choosing something super-high quality and then ended up not using it. This was the case with my recent horrible purchase of $400 glasses that hurt my eyes and absolutely suck! So I didn't want to make that mistake again and I figured if I love it, I can always order another one and give this one to a friend. For the time being I have no intention of giving this one away even though it was slightly damaged when it arrived. That was annoying but I already knew that the process involved with returning it would be a pain in the butt and not worth the $25 price I paid for this including shipping. I decided if it works, I would just deal with the fact that the exterior plastic is smashed from where someone dropped the box at some point. It's fine

I have been looking online for recipes and have to keep in mind that I don't have access to just everything that people in Europe and America have access to. We have very limited access to spices here so anything outside of say, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder you can basically count on it not being readily available here. There are a ton of recipes though and now my spice rack size is growing because of it. I never really thought I would have paprika in my house but there are a lot of meat recipes that call for this.

My first foray into using this thing was reheating pizza and breadsticks from a take away. All I can say is "wow." This thing made those two items taste better the 2nd time around than when it was first delivered. Of course this is likely because I prefer my pizza crispy and nobody here seems to understand that when I am ordering it.

Then I made some pork belly, which is something I love but since high-rise condos are not allowed to have gas ranges, we only have electric induction cooking which if you haven't used it, is absolutely terrible. My pork belly that I made in the past was always greasy and over-cooked because there is no other way to do it. In the air fryer though, it was crispy and delightful. The only problem was that I put too much salt on it before cooking because I got the teaspoon and tablespoon mixed up on the ingredient list. Live and learn!

Things got really adventurous for me when I went to the nearby butcher to get some pork chops because I love pork chops. They didn't have any pork and I suspect this has something to do with the new year. Even though I wasn't excited about it, I picked up some chicken breast because the only alternative was overpriced and probably out of date New Zealand steaks. I'm not confident enough in my abilities with this machine yet to take on a project of that magnitude.

So chicken it was. You can't really tell from that picture above because the window is small but I do like that we can look in there to see what is going on while it is cooking. I'm afraid of chicken when it comes to cooking because if you cook it too long, it is dry and tasteless. If you don't cook it long enough you could get seriously ill. I will admit I was a little apprehensive when I opened it up and decided that I had cooked it long enough.

When I pulled it out and cut into it, I was delighted to see that it was cooked all the way through. The mushrooms were very dry but that is my fault for not coating them in anything. I still like them though because I love mushrooms.

Now for those of you that are actually good cooks this probably doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment but I want you to understand how much of "NOT A COOK" I am. I have never been good at cooking and this includes when I worked in kitchens at restaurants in my teenage years. This thing was juicy and wonderful as well as cooked all the way through. I'm not going to say that it is the best chicken I have ever had because that would be a lie but it is certainly the best chicken I have ever cooked for myself.

The main takeaway here is that other than the foil that I put in there - which as it turns out isn't necessary because air fryers are really easy to clean - the entire process was exceptionally easy.

I just coated the piece of chicken with some simple spices that were the following

• paprika
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil which I didn't have so i put canola oil instead

Then you cook it for 6 minutes at 180 degrees (C) and then flip it and cook for 4 minutes more.

I was thinking that there is no way that is long enough but I'll be damned, it was just perfect.

Even Nadi received a tiny bit of it while I was eating which I am sure made her happy because it was driving her absolutely crazy all the nice smells that were in the condo while I was making it.

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So far, this is the best kitchen purchase I have ever made and I look forward to trying out new things with it. This is extra important to me because after my trip to Mexico where I accidentally lost 5-10 lbs because of drinking less and eating mostly home-cooked meals at my parents' place, I realized that I need to eat out less and learn how to make my own dinners.

There are so many things that this air-fryer can do and well, if it is a cult, then I am now one of the members.