The Low Fat Air Fryer vs Other Hot Air Fryers

Even if you already own a low fat air fryer, you may still find this site useful as there are several decent recipes and ideas that will help you make the most of your new kitchen aid. If you are thinking about getting one, you will find this site really useful in helping you to decide whether to get one, or which one to get!  If you have arrived here as you are trying to lose weight or for medical reasons you have to cut down on your fat intake, don’t go away! These machines are ace for low fat cooking (especially chips!)  So, you may have guessed, there are two types of low fat fryer – a combination more ‘standard’ type and then the low fat air versions such as the Philips AirFryer or the Tefal Actifry which are both well supported.

Where traditional deep fat fryers will require you to submerge the food in hot oil, the Tefal and the Philips circulate very hot air heated up to 200c to heat the food and provide a crispy outer layer. The air is pushed around the food, albeit chips, fish or chicken to brown them off making this type of frying a much healthier option. Food is cooked quickly and cleanly with handmade thin cut chips taking from as little as 12 minutes depending on the model, and frozen oven ready French fries taking a little less time as they are partly cooked.

Philips Air Fryer

An air fryer is also useful for people who are nervous of traditional chip pans and deep fat fryers, which are well known to be the start of many a fire in our homes (including my mother-in-law who walked off and forgot it, resulting in a hefty insurance claim). In fact, there are around 12,000 chip pan fires every year in the UK alone and, as a direct result of these fires, about 50 people will die. They are also useful for people who find it difficult to grip pan handles or who tend to shake a lot, as they will not be involved in dealing with boiling fats.

Where the low fat air fryers benefit the most is of course the fact that they use much less fat when cooking. This can be as much as over 80% less fat than conventional types of fryer require to cook and brown your food. In fact, if preparing your own fries, you can get the fat level down to 1.5%.  Although the jury may be out on that one, it’s not rocket science to realise that there is an enormous saving in terms of the amount of fat you put into your body!  It has been estimated that in the UK, where chips are particularly popular, that we get through approximately 240 thousand kilos of this type of hidden fat each and every year.

If you happen to be trying to lose weight, then chips and chocolate are probably high on your cravings list. Obviously, air fryers can’t do much about the chocolate side of things, but by their very nature, they can allow you to still eat ‘proper’ chips and deal with that particular craving. So, if you have a dislike for the cardboard taste of some oven chips, this may be your answer, as manufacturer’s claim they taste just like the more fatty variety.

You can put fresh or frozen products in Tefal and Philips Airfryer which of course work independently of any oven, so you can get a meal on rapidly if you’ve been out all day. A bonus for many!

NOTE.………..  And The Best News – The Tefal Actifry is NOW REDUCED TO £99 if you follow the links on this page for the Tefal ActiFry FZ700015 Low Fat Electric Fryer. The Philips AirFryer (pictured above) is currently reduced to £116. (The deals can vary from day to day so you may need to check all of the models.)

NOTE………… For the United States ONLY, you can get this Tefal Actifry by  CLICKING HERE. You also have an alternative, although not the Philips – with the Secura Infrared Convection Countertop TurboFry Low-Fat Fryer.

Is There A New Air Fryer On The Market? The Breville Halo

So, finally there is a new kid on the block in the form of the Breville VDF065 Halo Low Fat Health Fryer. This new competition for the Philips and Tefal Air Fryer has recently been launched and is basically a re-vamped halogen oven with wings and bells for preparing your starters, main meals and desserts with the minimum of oil.

Now, I haven’t personally tried this machine, but it does seem to be gaining a fan base quite quickly. As it is usually cheaper than the Tefal or Philips if you go for the white version (black is quite a bit more expensive), it makes it an attractive proposition.

More similar to the Actifry, the Halo has a capacity of 1 kg and if you are cooking chips or wedges, you need just one spoon of oil just the same. There is a removable ‘rise and fall’ paddle that is placed in the non-stick rotating bowl to move the food constantly around the pan. With the overhead halogen heat source (useful, as it means there is no need to pre-heat the unit), the food will be browned and crisped up evenly.

You can bake, fry, saute and roast a variety of foods and with the addition of the roasting rack, you can cook more delicate foods such as fish without it breaking up. You do have to cook everything at the same temperature though as there is no facility to change this.

The non-stick cooking parts are dishwasher safe and the unit has an automatic cut off and timer and also comes with a recipe book.

On the down side, a couple of reviewers have noted that the rise and fall paddle an get stuck because of food getting trapped underneath it.

The Halo is basically a great improvement on previous halogen type ovens and is top in the class. However, it is a bit bigger than the Actifry but is fairly light to move around. If you are cooking chips with the minimum amount of oil, these may take a little longer but the results will be similar to the Actifry and the Philips.

I’m not overly concerned about the lack of temperature control although others may be. The Breville Halo seems to have passed the ‘acid’ test of cooking chips but that these may cause the paddle to get stuck! Personally, I’m still for the Philips but when they sort out the teething problems with the Halo, it may be one to watch.

Go and check out the Breville VDF065 Halo Health Fryer now and see what you think.

Gastric Bands, Air Fryers and Hypnosis

It stands to reason that owning a low fat air fryer is a very useful thing to have if you are trying to lose weight. One other thing I’ve recently come across and which you may have seen on the television is the use of hypnosis to make you believe that you have had a gastric band fitted. Now, to me gastric band hypnosis sounds too good to be true and I feel would make an interesting discussion. That said, I’m a fool for a quick fix and will be trying it out now I’ve found a source that provides the service for just £22. Others are changing an absolute fortune while praying on people’s desire for this kind of solution.

From memory, the first thing to consider is that the original gastric band hypnosis research involved subjects being hypnotised in an operating theatre and coming to in an environment that they would have had they actually had the operation. In psychology it is well known that we can recall things better when we are in the same location as we were when we learned something. This probably follows on from that idea. Now, this type of process is expensive and whether you believe in hypnosis or not, that can be prohibitive. So, will a much cheaper version work?

The answer to that question is I don’t know. What I do know is that hypnosis works for some people but it is not a ‘one off’ session, but a series of them. This actually make sense in order to reinforce behaviour patterns. Again, multiple sessions cost more money. I would suggest that anyone interested should ask for recommendations before spending their money.

Now, what about this £22 product? Well, obviously it does not include one-to-one sessions, nor does it include a visit to the hospital operating theatre! This is a downloadable mp3 file with instructions and email back-up that you simply listen to when you have a spare 1/2 hour in your home. You can also get other related material, for example, curbing the sweetie cravings, keeping the weight off and avoiding comfort eating. If you add extra sessions, these are at a reduced price.

My opinion? Well, as yet, I don’t have one as I haven’t tried it. But I’m certainly going to at that price. The worst thing that can happen is that I’ll be £22 down, the best is of course I’ll lose weight more easily. I don’t intend giving up the chips made in my Philips Air Fryer, nor some of the other recipes I’ve managed to adapt, but hopefully, I won’t be eating so much!!

I suggest you read all the testimonials on the website which you will find by following THIS LINK or click on the banner above, or the relaxation banner on the bottom right.

If you have tried this gastric band hypnosis program, please let me know how it worked for you. Wish me luck!

UPDATE …………… I found this program the most useful when I couldn’t sleep!! Pretty good for that, but didn’t affect my eating patterns at all. I’m not saying it won’t work for some, but it didn’t for me. I’ll just stick with my air fryer which I’m still loving!