I airfried a whole chicken in the Philips Airfryer XXL and my family didn’t stop talking about it for two days. So good was it, and so appreciative my in-house food critics, that I ran off to roast two more chickens, quicker than the Colonel himself.
But that’s not all. My chicken experiment gave the family air fryer fever, so I cooked other things – things that you’ll never ever believe came from an air fryer basket. And my family gobbled those down too. Come see for yourself…
First-timer and a baptism of Airfryer fire
Let me be clear from the get-go, folks. I’m a first time air fryer user with no previous air frying experience. I may have even said in the past air fryers aren’t for me because I don’t fry a lot of frozen food. So now, with the Philips Airfryer XXL perched on my bench top, I’m full of regret for saying such a thing. Oblivious to its versatility, I was. The truth of the matter is, this air fryer IS for me, a perfect match if you will.
Size matters
Extra extra large by name and by nature, I was surprised by what you can fit in the generously sized 1.4kg capacity basket. Excellent for family cooking, Philips say you can fit two bags of frozen fries in there and I believe them. They even go as far to say that you can air fry a whole chicken which sounded like a fabulous first task to test my air fryer skills, of which I have none.
Challenge accepted, I air fry a chicken
I give the chicken a quick massage with a teaspoon of oil, a BBQ spice blend rub and tentatively popped it in the basket, pushing the magical machine drawer to a close. It seems odd that there’s no preheating required or anything and I hit the preset button, select the roast mode and set the cooking time. I hear the Philips Airfryer XXL whir into action and throw caution to the wind. Could it actually be this easy?
Yes, yes it can be that easy. I turn the chicken over half way through the cooking time. I can hear the crispy skin against my tongs and it’s looking mighty delicious. Frankly speaking, I can’t believe it and vow to never use my oven again. It had all the glorious crunch of a rotisserie BBQ chicken, with succulent, tender meat coming away from the bone, without so much as a hint of dryness.
For reference, I used a 1.3kg chicken and it took just under 40 minutes – smaller birds I imagine would take even less time. Amazeballs, talk about dinner in a flash.
Hand cut potato wedges
Say goodbye to limp, lifeless potato wedges! Potatoes one minute, crunchy golden wedges the next. My daughter was particularly pleased with this one and let me tell you, you can fit a whole lot of wedges in the Philips Airfryer XXL basket! Just one teaspoon of oil rubbed over them and left to their own devices. No shaking or turning required, just let the air fryer work its magic and presto, 15 to 20 minutes later you’re looking for the chilli sauce.
Frozen Dimsims
A favourite heat and eat style snack or meal, the cooking of solid frozen dimsims blew my mind. I cooked two batches – one with a teaspoon of oil and one without, both times they came up trumps in just 12 minutes. TWELVE MINUTES PEOPLE. Goodbye steamer basket over a saucepan, hello to my new bestie, the Philips Airfryer XXL.
Lemon and Raspberry Muffins
Time to bake! I adapted this recipe from the Philips Airfryer XXL recipe book to suit what I had at home and set about baking a batch of muffins in the air fryer. What could go wrong? As it turns out, nothing. These muffins were beautifully golden on top, cooked throughout and not at all dry. Perfect for last minute lunch box prep or morning tea. Done in 15 minutes, no preheating, just in and out to the cooling rack. Hats off to you Philips for a great recipe too.
Self Saucing Chocolate Puddings
A sneaky late night indulgent dessert, sign me up. Four one cup capacity ramekins fit beautifully inside the basket and delivered brilliantly spongy puddings with molten chocolate sauce underneath, in just 10 minutes. You can’t ask for more than that!
What do I make of the Philips Airfryer XXL?
I’ve got to admit, I was just so very wrong with my perceived idea of what an air fryer can do. It very much acts like an oven – only it’s even more versatile than an oven. Frying, grilling, baking all within one machine and all with no preheating required. If you do want to preheat, it’s only a matter of minutes before reaching set temperature. It’s so quick, it’s flabbergasting. Take a look at the Philips Airfryer in action for yourself.
The health benefits of air frying are plentiful, using less oil to cook and even less oil being consumed. Your food isn’t sitting in a pool of oil to cook, nor is it dunked and drained in extra fat. The airfryer actually withdraws excess oil and fats from your foods using impressive Twin Turbostar technology. It’s that hot air hectically swirling around your food which cooks it to perfection.
So easy to clean
Cleaning up is a cinch. The Philips Airfryer XXL drawer components all come apart for easy cleaning in soapy water. The machine itself cleans easily cleaned with a damp cloth. That’s much less arduous than cleaning a deep fryer or oven, am I right?!
All in all, I have to say I am seriously impressed my first air frying experience. I love the idea of saving time on cooking, not running an oven for ages for a single batch of cupcakes. Also not having those fried cooking odours wafting through our open plan home, will be fantastic.
It’s safe to assume Philips has converted me and the Philips Airfryer XXL ($499) has landed itself right at the top of my wanty-needy list. Now please excuse me while I go and roast another roast chicken!
Like our Philips Airfryer XXL review and want to try this marvellous machine for yourself? Philips is offering $50 cashback on the Philips Airfryer XXL for a limited time. Click the button below to find out more.
This is a sponsored article for Philips
