Our halogen oven / air-fryer is a delight, and amazing technological improvement from the, already wonderful, invention of the air-fryer itself.
Having just cleaned my halogen air-fryer for the third time, since getting it last November, I thought eulogise it here, rather than boring people on Facebook with all the detail, I'll just point here, so most people can ignore it.
Yes, it is so easy, and satisfying to clean that I've cleaned it to sparkling clarity three times - it took ten minutes this time, because I'd made the mistake of cooking pastry (salmon en croute) on the grill, rather than on a piece of foil, usually, after its 'self-clean', it takes a minute to wipe it down.
Meanwhile our conventional oven has probably been cleaned annually over the past few years, maybe a little more often, but always an unpleasant, tedious job, including lots of powerful, pongy chemicals and the need to wear gloves.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, an 'eulogy' (eu = good, logy = words) is not only for the dead, our air-fryer is still in robust good health being in use most days, often for the perfect toasted cheese snack.
Over Christmas, I remarked, when we'd just had loin of wild venison, with roast potatoes - all cooked in 25 minutes. The venison is, accounting for the recency effect, the best I've had. Pink in the middle, succulent, moist, and tasty beyond my imagining.
In a conventional oven, it'd have taken much longer, and would certainly have been dryer (despite the bacon wrapping and sauce), with a less full flavour. I'm very deply impressed!
The versatility is hugely impressive. The only single thing I've had to cook in our conventional oven is the Christmas goose, simply because it was too huge to fit - it only just fitted in the oven. Everything else, including the goose pie, made from that goose, has been halogened - I think a verb form of 'halogen' is now required.
Being able, with no effort, to see the food as it cooks, is a huge benefit, and the lovely warm glow of the oven makes the kitchen, in Winter, seem even more welcoming than usual.
The have to be some things that are less than perfect. The main one is that, the top, being very hot after cooking, can't be put down, so you have to get things out one-handed. The solution will be to put a large, sturdy hook above the oven, where the lid can be hung when getting things out - I'm going to make sure it's high enough and properly positioned so it's difficult to burn your forearms whilst doing this.
Apart from that, it is is quite magnificent.
TheT lhat halogen oven is quite something! We've just had loin of wild venison, with roast potatoes - all cooked in 25 minutes. The venison is, accounting for the recency effect, the best I've had. Pink in the middle, succulent, moist, and tasty beyond my imagining.
