When we ordered our van, I decided not to have an oven. The one I had in our previous van took me three days to clean when we were selling the van! Maybe I should have paid more attention to it while I was using it, but it wasn’t until I was on the floor looking into it that I realised how much cleaning I needed to do.
What Now?
So, I made the decision – no oven in the van for me. The only problem with that is that I love cooking with an oven, it’s a major part of my kitchen. So, I used a Turbo Oven for a long time, but after burning myself a few times getting things out, I retired that too. That’s why I went looking for this new fangled idea – the Air Fryer. Well, new fangled to me anyway. Once I started looking at them I decided I wanted one that replaced my oven. Thankfully I found an Air Fryer that works as an oven.
Friendly Tips
Then it was time to learn how to use it. I googled lots of air fryer recipes, and most of them seemed to be for the single pot style. I needed help. Lucky for me I went to the Option RV Owners Group event in Casino and caught up with some great friends, including Kerry. Kerry uses her air fryer all the time so she gave me some great insight into using an Air Fryer. A main one was basically just to use your ordinary recipes. You don’t have to change how you cook and what you cook, just learn where to put it in the oven and adjust the cooking times.
The Hard Proof
To show me what she meant, Kerry cooked a stunning batch of scones, loaded them with jam and cream and invited us for morning tea. The recipe she used was from a cookbook she was given when her family moved to Temora, NSW. This book was put together before the world of Air Fryers had arrived. I took her lesson and information and got my air fryer oven out and had a go. The meal was pork chops, potatoes, tomato, mushrooms and beans. The beans went into the microwave – they don’t need much time to cook to our taste.
My Approach
I put the pork chops onto one of the wire trays, and all the vegies under that in a Pyrex dish. The outcome was a pretty good meal. Next time I will put the meat in tinfoil so that it keeps the juices and doesn’t let it dry out so much. The potatoes were fine, but if I wanted roast spuds they needed a little longer. Mushroom with garlic and tomatoes were perfect. So, I reckon I just might make good use of my Air Fryer Oven thanks to Kerry’s help and Peter’s understanding that I am always trying something new!
Words and Photos by: Alison Huth
