Power Airfryer Review: Healthy Cheese Sticks

Ok, I guess if you came into this post expecting healthy cheese sticks, you are probably going to be disappointed.  There is no such thing, except maybe string cheese, but we all know that isn’t what we are talking about.

Over the summer I got into a frying kick where I bought a cast iron pan and fried chicken, mushrooms, and other delicious delights.  This made me realize how much I hated cleaning up.  I love eating fried foods, but there is just no good way to get rid of a pan of oil without making a huge mess and feeling like you are covered in a film of slime.

I was at Wal-Mart one day, and I remembered that a friend had told me about these new air fryers that look like an egg-shaped UFO.  Basically, they are a self-contained convection oven that quickly cooks most things that could be fried.  I have two kids that survive off of chicken nuggets and french fries (don’t judge me), so I knew that I would get my money’s worth.

I ended up buying the Power Airfryer that comes in two sizes, a regular 3.4 quart version and an XL 5.3 quart version.  I got the regular because of counter space reasons, but also most of the time I am making single servings of things so it works better for me anyway.

I learned pretty quickly that I didn’t want to cook anything wet in here, so anything batter-dipped was out, but I tried potatoes, frozen french fries, mozzarella sticks, “fried” mushrooms, and chicken nuggets.  Honestly, they all turned out very well.  It takes some trial and error to figure out the settings, and you may have a burnt batch or two.  Eventually you will get the hang of it and love that you can whip up nuggets for the kids in 8 minutes flat.

Pros:

• Easy to clean.  The base comes apart very easily, and it is dishwasher safe.
• Fast. Nuggets in 8 minutes. Fries in 15.
• Doesn’t heat up the house.  The device itself gets somewhat hot, but not bad.
• Food gets crispy and tastes good with less fat.

Cons:

• Food doesn’t taste quite as good as cast iron frying, but what does?
• Timing can be finicky, with some foods easy to burn.
• No “wet” foods.  They say you can do it, but I won’t try it.

Overall: What can I say?  We use it all the time.