I'm hoping to save others some money by sharing my experiences of new products. I love gadgets, clea...
I'm hoping to save others some money by sharing my experiences of new products. I love gadgets, cleaning stuff and anything for the hair or face. Mum of 3 - Boys 13 and 11, girl aged 4 with two part-time jobs so anything timesaving will be tested.
Member since:07.02.2007
Reviews:47
Members who trust:15
The Hype
Imagine being able to fry a batch of real home-made chips with just a tablespoon of olive oil. Sounds too good to be true?
Place up to a kilo of freshly cut chips into the cooking pan, then measure your preferred oil with the scoop provided, pour it over, and set the timer. Patented technology circulates hot air around your fries, whilst the mixing paddle evenly disperses the oil. The result is chips that are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, with only 3% fat content. And there's more good news to come:
The Actifry can also be used for cooking frozen chips, scampi, chicken drumsticks, stir-fried vegetables and lots more besides - recipe book included An odourless filter keeps your kitchenfresh, and you can check on
progress through the viewing window Everything except the base can go into the dishwasher, and of course there's no oil to filter after frying.
The truth
I have seen this demonstrated on shopping channels and was really tempted to get one as we love chips. We use the deepfat fryer occasionally but I hate cleaning it and have read various reports about how dangerous it is to reheat oil a number of times.
We do eat oven chips but I find them a little dry and feel they are edible rather than enjoyable. The only thing putting me off was the price. £150.00. I saw a forum thread last week saying that the actifry was on offer at Amazon for a short while at £99.99 and the comments attached from owners claimed that it was a wonder, especially those on weightwatchers and that the chips were as good as deep fried ones so I bit the bullet and ordered one.
It arrived within a few days and I was immediately down to the local shops to buy real potatoes, I peeled, chipped and washed them, then had to dry them thoroughly (helps for crispness). Once they were chipped I put them in the actifry added the one spoon of oil switched in onto the timer for 40 minutes and admittedly kept coming back to it just to watch the chips moving, browning and cooking.
Once the timer went off (a little too quietly if I hadn't been in the room) I couldn't get the chips out quickly enough.
The chips didn't look exactly like deep fried chips but were more inviting than oven chips. They were beautifully crunchy and made a lovely chip buttie (smothered in brown sauce of course). I thought I was in heaven real chips in a chip buttie, but healthy, only 3% fat.
My children cleared their plates and were very complimentary, willing to eat them everyday if I wanted them too.
There was no smell of deep frying and the few droplets of oil left in the machine simply wiped clean with a paper towel. The twirling plastic blade which moves the chips around was removable and rinsed clean easily. Clean up took less than a minute.
You can do potato wedges, sausages etc. see www.lakeland.co.uk for these recipes Real chips Curried chips Paprika chips Almond chips Peanut & bacon chips Potato wedges with herbs & spices Cajun-spiced potato wedges Sweet potatoes with sesame seeds Sauces & dips Chicken with pineapple Thai-spiced chicken with courgettes Turkey with three peppers Madagascan beef Sweet & sour pork fillet Chilli con carne Sausage & bean cassoulet Crunchy green vegetable stir-fry with prawns Baby new potatoes with garlic, tomatoes & prawns Tasty tuna sauce Jardinière of mixed vegetables Spiced root vegetable medley Tomato & basil pasta sauce Apple, hazelnut & potato medley Roasted pineapple with fresh figs & acacia honey Apple wedges with cinnamon sugar
I am going to try a type of saute potato next, don't see why it wouldn't work simply slice the potatoes, pour on the spoon of oil and cook the same as chips. I might even try adding some garlic butter for the last few minutes.
Downside
They claim it feeds a family of four, maybe we are very greedy but we dished out very small portions between two adults and three children, the youngest aged four only had about ten chips and my boys and hubbie would definitely have eaten more. Waiting 40 minutes for a second serving is too long.
Conclusion
Ideal for weightwatchers, healthy eaters and chip lovers, expensive but worth it if you love your chips and have to avoid them at the moment.
Good Points
Put it on and walk away Low fat Healthy chips Cooks sausages, chicken, meat Much nicer than oven chips No more reheating old oil No smell Easy clean up
Low Points
Expensive Takes up quite a bit of couter space Only cooks enough for 2-3 people with greedy appetites 40 minutes to cook a serving of chips
Highly recommended - I'm sure another manufacturer will bring out a similar machine in the next few years but if you can't wait buy it.
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40 minutes seems an awful long time to cook a portion of chips! Much safer than a chip pan though xx
brittle1906 25.05.2008 01:13
Good review, lots of info. I have something called a 'Dryfry pan' which does more or less the same, you merely grease the thing in the same way as you would a cake tin, and use on the hob. Sounds like yours is an electric update on mine! Mind you, mine costs a fraction at around £20!!!! Linda x
Advantages: Can make fresh low fat chips and wedges, easy to clean Disadvantages: Bit big so takes up room, takes quite a long time to cook, caught on fire
Ishouldbesolucky 24.08.2008 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Tefal FZ 7000 Actifry
May 24th, 2008
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