Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

WARNING- This is an in depth review to help people make a buying decision. If you prefer a short summary, see the section marked THE BOTTOM LINE ---------------------------------- When I got this, I thought my family was going to relocate me to the yard. "What the heck do we need THAT for?" When it came to our house, no one even wanted to look at it, let alone use it. Finally one day, I was able to clear space to give it a whirl and - well, let's see what happened. WHAT IS THIS AIR FRYER LIKE? This is a very round large unit which has a smaller footprint than I expected. We put a large thick wooden cutting board on our gas stove top (not while being used) and it sits on there nicely (about 15 inch square). The unit has a dial on the top for temperature setting. The front has a timer on it which is mechanical and does not stop when you open the drawer. There is a deep basket inside with a removable tray with holes in it that allows the air to circulate and the items to drip should that be necessary. The plug is rather short- not quite 3 feet. The insides are coated with non-stick. It claims that this is dishwasher safe. More on that later. HOW DOES THIS UNIT PERFORM? The idea is that you put the food in the basket on top of the removable tray. You turn the temperature to the appropriate place (see the booklet for the info) and then put the drawer with the food in the unit. Turn on the timer for the FULL time you want to cook and let it go. The idea is that you get the effect of fried food with just using circulating air. I must say that we have made quite a few things in here and we loved them all. CAN YOU REMOVE THE DRAWER WHILE COOKING? You can remove the drawer while the unit is cooking- the cooking stops but the timer keeps going. You can flip, shake, or check the food until it is done. WHAT HAVE WE MADE IN THIS UNIT? So far, we have made sausages, green fried tomatoes, sweet potato fries, and fish fry. DESCRIBE THE FOOD The food that comes out of this thing is amazing. The outsides are crispy but the inside is very tender. We even were surprised at how beautifully the fish fry turned out. It was WAY nicer than a traditional fish fry- tender fish inside, crispy outside but no overwhelming oil feeling when you are done. The fries wee perfect and the green tomatoes were just right. The sausages are also good. DO WE LIKE THIS? My family does not think I am crazy anymore. Although this takes quite a bit of counter space in our small kitchen, we set it up when we want to have something and then put it away for a future use. It takes a little bit to cool down, but it is really handy. CLEANING They say that this can be put into the dishwasher, but I also found that some people complain about the finish wearing off of the basket and tray, so I am only handwashing this. RECIPES There are recipes in the pamphlet, but there is also a nice recipe base on the company web site to give you plenty more ideas on how to use this air fryer. LONGEVITY I will update on the longevity of this product. So far it has lasted for almost two months of use. THE BOTTOM LINE For a oil free way to enjoy anything from a fish fry and sweet potato fries to fried green tomatoes, this unit makes food crispy on the outside but very tender on the inside. The larger capacity feeds a family of five or so comfortably. MY RATING FIVE STARS so far. I will update if there is any problem in the future, but for now, this is a great unit. We all are enjoying it. HOW DOES IT COOK?