FollowWell, as some of you may know, that is, if you have been following my blog for sometime, I had the opportunity to do a product test and review for a family-sized actifry. However, I will state that I did not get to keep the unit, I only got to try it for two weeks. Was quite surprised that they actually told me that they did not have enough units to give out. Not as lucky as some of the bloggers south of the border, whom some have gotten a unit to test and keep, and also offer one up as a giveaway to one of their blog readers. AND so………………..
I waited and hoped and even emailed back the Canadian office with no luck.. and so I waited until the unit went on sale and actually went and bought a unit. Mind you, I bought it because I like the convenience of the unit and want to make sure that our meals are healthier. I actually got a great deal on my unit. It regularly sells for 299.00 and up and I was able to get it for 199.00, so that was a great shopping deal cause I saved 100 bucks!
However, there are a few trials and errors that I should warn you about should you think about getting one for yourself.
NOTE …. THE UNIT DOES NOT SHUT OFF WHEN THE TIMER COUNTS DOWN TO ZERO. I found this out the hard way when I put in some frozen sweet potato fries. And with me being in the other end of the house, upstairs, I did not hear a thing. So, needless to say, those fries were, well quite crispy. So if you are thinking about cooking something in it, set the timer, but remember to keep an eye on the time. You will have to go to the unit and lift the lid in order for the food to stop cooking.
I, of course, made fries in it and several other things. Battered food does not do so well in the actifry, especially those in large sizes such as a breaded fish fillet. However, finger-sized chicken nuggets do not do so bad. Another thing to note if cooking meats with a sauce.. is to put it on top of the meat when it is about half way done cooking.
This was also a trial and error process as I made some boneless pork chops the other day and topped them with a mixture of barbecue sauce as well as sweet and sour sauce. The sugar in the sauces blackened the inside of the unit by the time the meat was done. Thank goodness, I was able to figure out how to remove the top plastic cover so that I could gently clean the burnt sugar off.. by hand, no dishwasher here, I might add. Thank goodness we have one of those sprayers attached to our sink, I find it comes in handy to spray out the food residue that gets trapped underneath the spindly arm that turns the food in the unit.
Will keep you posted on my trials and errors with cooking with the actifry, just in case you are thinking about getting one or perhaps have a unit already.
