Early Risers.

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, BoD said:

May I pick the collective brain cell of ERs regarding the aforementioned air fryers.

 

Do they work?

Do they save money over say, an electric fan oven?

Are there any features/pitfalls I should look out for if we decide to buy one. Some of them can be quite expensive. Almost a Deltic.

 

We have a Cuisinart and it has been used extensively since we got it. Great for making crispy bacon 😃

[monkeysarefun]

Had a score this weekend. It's council clean up time, where you put out all your  old junk you no longer need but haven't y et taken to the tip, then drive around and collect up other people's old junk and bring it home.

Got myself this dinky aluminium framed stand which had been junked I assume because the ply top was all split and warped. Replaced with a spare  bit of melamine,  and added the bottom shelf and some wheels from an old stand of Gary The Parrot.

 

I now  have somewhere to put 3d printers number 4 and 5 which I finally unboxed after  sitting unopened  for  months due to lack of bench space.

 

As a bonus, being on wheels it  becomes a kind of mobile 3d printing setup, I can 3d print something over here, then roll it across the floor and 3d print something over there!

 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[PeterBB]

A son has an air fryer and for 'two' says it is sufficient and has already saved on electricity.  It was also used as an extra at Christmas.

Great to see a labelled photograph of the 'Brains Trust'.

[AndyID]

We've been streaming "Astrid" with Sara Mortensen this week. It's French and the version we get has very good subtitles. Some of our correspondents might not need the subtitles.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Ava and I played trains this morning, she thoroughly enjoyed it, especially when I let her play as well, she’s a natural! I’m sure once the layout has been built, I’ll have a very willing assistant! 

 

We’ve watched all the “Astrid” episodes before Christmas and we both enjoyed it. Sara Moretensen plays the part very well, we’re looking forward to the next series. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, pH said:

… or the new (in their second season) NHL team in Seattle:

The Puget Sound is home to the Giant Pacific Octopus. (A colleague's husband used to dive in the Sound and she shared they were there. He had to use 'dry' suits - the water is too cold for 'wet' suits.) Apparently they can regularly be 50kg.

 

So there's a reasonable local connection to maritime sea monsters for the team.

 

The mythical Kraken is well known to viewers of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise - "release the Kraken" being a catchword.

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The mythical Kraken is well known to viewers of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise - "release the Kraken" being a catchword.

And to Sydney Powell fans.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

Couldn't get to sleep then had a very disturbed night, very noisy with the wind howling around, and many joints complaining.

 

It's gusting 45 mph at the moment forecast to drop to 35 mph by racing time. Low tide is 12:15, so not much tide to worry about. A westerly with a hint of South in it , that means the wind will be blowing down the long straight....

 

Much thought during waking times on bending the ply at cup holder end of the centre console. How to hold it in position / not break it / get the maximum curve.

 

I'll be having a small bowl of porridge shortly, as bacon butties will be available at the club later.

 

But first, Ben the I want out Collie, is giving big hints.

 

Time to go out ...

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  It's not blowing a hooly this morning, it was last night.  It was good to see the Brai s trust and raise a glass of Penderyn in memory of Chris, John and AndrewC.  

 

Our part timer friends came round for a meal last night.  We often offer this to arriving friends.  Beth excelled herself with a mushroom rissotto followed by home made treacle sponge.  I was allowed to do the custard.  A good evening was had.  They are in the process of selling up and we will miss them.  

 

Not a lot to do this morning.  This afternoon we are off to a friend's for a Gallette.  I will try and avoid breaking any teeth on the little porcelain figure, if it's in my piece.  One year I was unlucky enough to get Marine le Pen.  Go de-mystify les rosbifs.  A gallete des rois is a ring shaped brioche cake about 10" diameter and somewhere in each is a little porcelain figure about 1.5" high.  Whowever gets the figure is then expected to wear a little crown for the remainder of the party.  The figures are often caricatures of politicians etc.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

11 hours ago, BoD said:

May I pick the collective brain cell of ERs regarding the aforementioned air fryers.

 

Do they work?

Do they save money over say, an electric fan oven?

Are there any features/pitfalls I should look out for if we decide to buy one. Some of them can be quite expensive. Almost a Deltic.

 

Bear has had an AF for nearly 4 months - love it, highly recommended; I have this one:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07N8QY3YH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The oven is only used for Pizza now - only because of the size, nothing more.

The AF warms up very quickly (180 C in 4 minutes), cooks a bit quicker and a slightly lower temp too.  As I don't yet have smart meters that actually work 🤬 I don't know the energy saving, but it must be significant.  It takes up little room in the kitchen; it's ideal for one person and probably would be fine for two as well.  Two year warranty if you register for 2nd year.

Well worth 2/3rds of a Deltic.

 

11 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Further to the remarks above the best air fryer is a Ninja according to the pundits. They are also the most expensive with the top of the range setting you back £200.

 

Some Ninjas are the wrong side of £300; in general they seem to do well in Which? magazine tests (not all models - I have access if you want further info).  The more expensive tend to be the large models with dual cooking zones (for different temperatures).

[BoD]

Morning all

 

Thank you for the replies regarding the air fryer.  It would appear that ‘fryer’ is a misnomer and that they are, in effect, small but more intense fan ovens.  Reviews say that they can’t be used for everything but the items for which they can’t be used are things that you wouldn’t do in an oven anyway.  
 

There are only two of us here and, even before the hike in energy costs, I would often blanch (see what I did there) at the thought of heating and using the oven for relatively small amounts of food.  We try to use a slow cooker as much as possible and to cook in bulk and freeze where possible  but that is not always suitable.  The next step will be to compare the different models.

 

Have a good day folks.

[polybear]

11 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

They are basically a small portable fan oven and anything you can do with a fan oven you can do with an air fryer. The one thing that they are not good at is frying. The advantage is their economy, they use little more power than a microwave. One little tip, don't get one with a normal fryer basket, the better ones have a pan with a perforated bottom. 

 

Agreed - calling them a fryer is very misleading; there are warnings in the instructions not to go pouring oil into them, though I'm sure some people have....

Bear has a perforated bottom (I blame the curry...🤣) but use one of these:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BBRJ7ZJQ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

It makes cleaning up a doddle - just wash the liner as required instead of the tray; I pre-heat the AF without the liner installed (though it's heavy enough not to get blown around by the fan - some have pre-heated their AF's with paper liners installed - which are blown around and touch the heating element.....).  The liner - with food inside it - is then placed in the tray in one go.  I've not noticed that the food cooks any less efficiently using the liner as the bottom is ridged to allow airflow anyway.  Highly recommended; different liners are available if these won't fit your AF tray.

One last note - if it's food that kicks out a lot of oil/grease during cooking I'll line the liner with cooking foil to keep it clean.

 

10 hours ago, PhilH said:

Another benefit is that you use much less oil to cook with, a quick spritz from a pump dispenser is all that’s needed so, in fact, can be much healthier than other forms of cooking.

 

I've not used any spray oil in mine but may try a squirt on the chips/roasts next time just to see what happens

 

10 hours ago, PhilH said:

As I say, it has been a revelation in our house and undoubtedly has saved money in cooking costs due to no preheat and shorter cooking times. In fact I would say it’s up there as one of the most useful tools I’ve bought.

 

Agreed 100%

 

edit: I believe the model I have was recommended by GDB as he has the same model.

Edited January 15, 2023 by polybear

[polybear]

Bear here....

Reasonable weather over Bear Towers so it looks like Bear can make some noise with the mitre saw today - the plan is to do the framing for the Leccy C.U. Box.  That should keep me amused for a while.

Bear gone.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Blue skies, sunny and breezy here.  Should stay mainly dry but there is the chance of the odd shower. Currently 5°C, might reach 8°C.

Another air fryer fan here and tend to agree  with Phil @PhilHand PB @polybear who have summed things up pretty well.  As PB says I have the Cosori and find it ideal for the two of us.  Am selective with when to add oil or not.  I use a paper liner between the basket and outer tray so normally only have to clean the basket.  Hot soapy water is usually sufficient but if really dirty have put in the dishwasher with no ill effects so far.  I've also bought some stacking wire trays that fit inside which help in spreading things out.  Some people say you can fry or poach eggs in them but I've had no success with that.  Nor would I cook a steak as that only takes a few minutes in a frying griddle pan and I spoon lots of butter over them which would be rather difficult in the AF.  Had a failure with a chicken but I'd coated it with a honey glaze and the skin burnt a bit.

Like PB I don't have a smart meter but it must be a saving because of the smaller cooking space and quicker times.  Of course you need to factor in the initial cost of purchase.  Also as far as I'm concerned I need the head banging emoji because just over a year ago we forked out about £1200 for a new double oven and hob!  Ouch.

Time to put some bacon, sausages, tomatoes in the AF.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited January 15, 2023 by grandadbob

[jjb1970]

This must have been quite amusing to watch:

 

https://mothership.sg/2023/01/monitor-lizard-kopitiam-review/

 

I can't help feeling sorry for the poor lizard, goes for a walk and is met with screams and chairs being brandished in its face. This is quite a young one, if you go into the water catchment areas and nature reserves these grow to huge sizes, and some of the other species look properly scary.

 

I think this may be a case that those people who enjoy the outdoors feel comfortable around the various creatures that live here, but those who seldom venture outside malls and apartment complexes may feel a lot less comfortable.

[Gwiwer]

9 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

"release the Kraken" being a catchword.

Also a euphemism for performing Number Twos. 
 

Good morning all. A bright and quite brisk morning has ventured itself Upon the Hill of Strawberries. Coffee has been quaffed; croissants have been consumed. Laun-wet is becoming laun-dry and the sheets are in the sloshing machine.
 

I am assured that g*****ing will occur at some later time when Dr. SWMBO “gets (her) ar$e into gear”.  Currently the aforesaid is in neutral along with the rest of her whilst blaming His Furship for “emitting sleepons”. 
 

A mostly-good night’s sleep was disturbed only twice. Once by Labrador (Upstairs) woofing like crazy at around midnight and once by Neighbours (Upstairs) roaming the night in lead boots and yelling at each other at 2am. All duly noted on the Log of Disturbances. 
 

Keep safe and warm. And if the excess of rainfall over river capacity is affecting you then hopefully stay dry as well. 

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

We don’t have an air fryer or a 3D printer. The only thing stopping me buying a 3D printer is the effort of having to learn to use CAD programs. 
I don’t think we will be getting an air fryer. Our microwave is also a mini convection oven and we hardly ever use that setting, preferring our main oven. 

[jjb1970]

15 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I've got a jar of that in the fridge, along with about 5 different versions of soy sauce. Actually over the last 20 years or so Australian home cooking has become very Asianised, stirfries and salads are much more common now than the previous meat and 3 veg style that we got endlessly served up until the 80s. In turn we are adding Australian touches, one tv chef here uses Vegemite in his sauce  in some dishes. 

Might all be doing some good, the Bureau Of Statistics released last year's information about statistics like they do and we've snuck into 3rd spot in the life expectancy league, though probably due mainly to our minimal COvid death rate in  2020 compared to many other places. We took a bigger hit last year  so next year's results should  show a bit of a drop.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-09/qld-health-life-expectancy-australia-dodges-covid19-decline/101625656

 

This kind of thing (achieving a result due to others bungling or misfortune) is called "Doing A Bradbury" here, named after speed skater Stephen Bradbury, who won our first ever Winter Olympic gold medal by crossing the line first after the rest of the field, that he'd been trailing, crashed into each other and all fell over on the final corner, he was too far back to be affected and just sailed on past.

 

33 and sunny has been organized for today, pretty perfect.

 

 

We've seen a similar evolution in the UK, despite all the jokes I find British people are nowadays very open minded when it comes to food and tend to eat quite a varied diet. At one time if you wanted fruit or veg other than traditional staples like potato, cabbage, carrots, or apples, pears, oranges you had to either go to the more upmarket shops which served amateur gastronauts or look for specialist shops like Chinese supermarkets. Now shops like Aldi, Morrisons, Lidl etc do a good range of fruit and veg, spices, herbs etc.

 

My wife used to sometimes whinge, but most of the things she wanted to cook SE Asian food could be found at regular supermarkets, and the more obscure stuff was relatively easy to find in Asian stores which can be found in most British towns of any size.

 

It's something that used to annoy me slightly when I'd go to meetings in Europe and get the same tired jokes about Britain being the country food forgot etc. I missed the variety we took for granted when visiting much of Europe. I haven't been to Australia for over 25 years (I'm hoping to have opportunities while we're here in Singapore), but one of the things I love about visiting the USA is the wonderful variety of food.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Wet, dull and windy here and no, that’s not a description of my mood! They’ll be no work done outside today and if I want to go to either the shed or workshop, I’ll have to Time my visits carefully! So a day of unspecified pottering in the cellar is on the cards today. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

We have a wide variety of good food available in the UK. Fresh veg and fruit is available to all who want it. Noticeable  that in some parts of the world veg and fruit are not included in restaurant meals.

 

Baz

[PhilH]

13 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Morning all.

We don’t have an air fryer or a 3D printer. The only thing stopping me buying a 3D printer is the effort of having to learn to use CAD programs. 
I don’t think we will be getting an air fryer. Our microwave is also a mini convection oven and we hardly ever use that setting, preferring our main oven. 

Just a quick note Tony…..there are literally millions of files for 3d printers which can be downloaded for home printing for most things you can think of. Some are free, others aren’t but the point is you don’t necessarily have to learn CAD….having said that at 73 and a bit I am having a go at learning Tinkercad and am up to what I would call basic plus level. I find it quite intuitive, there are literally hundreds of tutorials on the internet and, the two biggies, it’s free and, for me anyway, fun to learn.

 

I have three printers now, a filament type and two resin jobbies and find the whole process really interesting.

[grandadbob]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

I've not used any spray oil in mine but may try a squirt on the chips/roasts next time just to see what happens

 

 

Definitely recommend that on chips and french fries (Mccain's usually here and give them a good shake halfway).  Also if you like a jacket potato with a really crispy skin then massage spud lovingly with oil, salt and pepper and then, depending on size of spud cook for 40-50ish mins at 200°C.  Certainly works for me.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning. Just.

 

Awful night's sleep, constant turn-overs due to hip pain, and now the foot has joined in. Pah.  A shame as we had a nice night out at Jayne's, although the planned Thai carry-out from the pub/restaurant very close to her house was closed, emergency Chinese got from the bright lights of Ramsey instead - it was heaving despite the foul weather, but a warm fire and welcome awaited.  She finally is emerging from her years of depression and mourning after losing Gary in the RTC (and more recently his parents to natural causes) and we once again see the vivacious, intelligent woman she is.

 

7c on the rock and still very windy, but it is at least dry. Boring day forecast, Mrs NHN doing....something.  Best keep out of range.