I've gained sixteen inches ... of worktop space that is not me personally.
I couldn't resist that title, sorry. 😄
I decided on the spur of the moment the other day to put the air fryer away and claim back my worktop and my double hob. I realised that I have been cooking in a completely different way since I have had it, and I want to go back to how I used to cook.
This is how it looked on the worktop with the air fryer in situ, and the top picture shows that the toaster and kettle now fit back in their old places taking up much less space widthways too, and I get to use the back ring of the hob without having to move the kettle out of the way.
With such a small worktop space in my kitchen every inch matters and sixteen inches is a lot to lose, especially when it's something that only gets used every couple of days. Obviously I have no space in my tiny kitchen for the air fryer to live in any of the cupboards, so it is temporarily living in the bottom of my wardrobe while I decide if it is something that I want to keep.
It feels completely different in the kitchen now with so much more of the worktop showing, I have to admit to really liking it again. We'll see how it goes and I'll report back.
It made me think more about my breakfast this morning.
I used the last of those Mediterranean veggies, I thought I better had before their birthday came around, and had them on a toasted oven bottom roll. Normally I would have put the hummus spread, veggie topped rolls into the air fryer to melt the cheese, but I just sprinkled less cheese and left them as they were.
It was even more delicious than usual. 💚
Sue xx
I agree about how much space the air fryer takes up on the worktop coupled with the fact that it’s black makes it seem even bigger. I keep thinking how I could get it into a cupboard but so far my brain has failed me! Breakfast looks tasty and filling. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI only have two cupboards in my kitchen, one is the under sink cupboard and has all the pipes in and the other is the single one next to the fridge-freezer and that has the consumer unit inside it, so not enough space in either even if I reorganised all the contents. I was stood there racking my brains thinking where to put the damn thing ... then I thought of the wardrobe!!
DeleteI'm tight on space in my kitchen as well, but I have been converted to using an air fryer.
ReplyDeleteCould you, perhaps, get a smaller one, if it is something you use fairly regularly?
Having it has changed the way that I have been cooking and not in a good way. I want to see if I can go back to not having one. It's now been proved that filling your oven and having it on only a couple of times a week at the most is actually cheaper than running an air fryer daily.
DeleteI'm interested to see how you feel in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteI have just done exactly the same thing.
I was feeling increasingly frustrated with the lack of workspace and the fact that I can't use my hob and airfryer simultaneously.
Mine has been banished to the garage while I consider the options.
Like you I think I prefer food cooked on the hob especially if I want to bulk cook.
Sue.
We'll both have to report back on how we get on. Now I'm wishing that I had a garage, mine takes up a lot of space in the wardrobe. 😄
DeleteI’m trying to downsize all my stuff and I think I remember when you were in Wales you had a Kitchen Aid mixture, do you still have it as they take up a lot of space, I used to love mine but since I became a widow and the family has all grown up I don’t seem to use it now but I’m battling with parting with it. How do you allow yourself to let things go. Heather
ReplyDeleteYes, I have the smallest sized Kitchen Aid food processor, it fits neatly in the cupboard if I separate the bowl from the motor. Funnily enough, since I've not had much room on the worktop I've not used it once!
DeleteI let things go easily, if I get on well without the air fryer, I will most likely sell it, after asking family if they would like it first.
I also still have Ken, my Kenwood mixer and liquidiser. He lives in Alan's kitchen cupboard as Alan didn't want to part with it. He's never used it!! 😄
I definitely think that air fryer ownership has not helped me in the healthier eating quest. Mine is noisy too, at the moment it stays in the utility room so the noise doesn't bother me but when we inevitably downsize I struggle to think how we might accomadate it, so bulky and noisy. And there are quite a few things it just doesn't do well imho - baking being one of them, although I realise there will be people who disagree with me.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Yes, the noise was always a factor if I was at my desk trying to take a phone call. I also have four burn lines on my right wrist thanks to struggling to get things out or turn things over in the air fryer baskets. 😔
DeleteSo interesting to know . I've been wondering if I should get a cheap air fryer to try - but lack of worktop space has put me off. I already have bread maker, food mixer, kettle, toaster and my coffee machine standing out and all get used regularly. Plus I'm never keen to learn how to use new things anyway!
ReplyDeleteI will say it was easy to learn to use. But even answering these comments is setting in my mind all the downsides to it.
DeleteI have my kettle and toaster on the worktop, and a food mixer in the cupboard. The toaster is used almost every day, so it was a bit annoying having to keep it on the little shelf unit next to my food cupboard and move it backwards and forwards every time. Now it's ready for action. 😄
This is interesting.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the air fryer has peaked.
A lady I know was telling me she has banished so much from her kitchen and has gone back to favourite pans, knives, chopping board. etc - decluttering as her circumstances change.
She says she's becoming interested in cooking again!
Mine has peaked for sure. 😄
DeleteGood for her! I always ask myself 'can I do that with a knife?' when I see new fangled chopping gadgets of any description. Even my garlic press was jettisoned years ago and I just use a knife for chopping or smushing.
Your worksurface looks really lovely, sometimes a clear out and re-arranging stuff is very theraputic.
ReplyDeleteSorry but I never 'got' the airfryer thing. I did have one - for a whole weekend - but it wasn't working properly and thankfully Lakeland took it back with a full refund. Even if it had not been faulty I would not have wanted to keep it - on reading the small print it used 1800W of LX per hour but the oven it was 'replacing' only uses 1700W. I know the oven needs to be heated up a bit but ours does not take very long to get to temperature.
Really interesting to read all the 'have air fryers peaked' comments.
Yes, it looks so much better without that big black box doesn't it. I think a lot of us that like cooking more from scratch, are now realising that air fryers while seeming to be 'the next best thing ' just aren't.
DeleteI did laugh at your title!! I don't have an air fryer. I don't even have a toaster! I'm not really a gadget person. I do love my slow cooker and my microwave (mainly for reheating batch cooked stuff) but that's it :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteHaha , I couldn't resist. 😄
DeleteI'd be lost without my toaster, if I had to choose one food to live on forever, I think it would be toast 🙂
Me Too!
DeleteIt looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThe worktop feels much better to work on now that I can spread things out a bit. 😀
DeleteI'm glad you gained 16 inches...of counter space, that is! :D I suppose if one wanted an appliance badly enough, one would always find space for it or make space for it, no matter what. The fact that you decided you preferred to have the counter space to having an air fryer is a good indication that you are done with the air fryer. :)
ReplyDeleteI think it pretty much is isn't it. I'll leave it in the wardrobe for a while though and see how things go.
DeleteNow that is a great deal of space to reclaim. I am lucky and have a place where I can store those larger items.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It would be much better stored in the kitchen, but it can stay in the wardrobe until I decide it's fate. Alan has a big shelf space that I thought was available but it seems he has a stash of alcohol there!!
DeleteI have not fallen victim to the air fryer madness as I prefer my food cooked normally and, to be honest, the price put me off - it seemed to me you would have to use it a lot to claw back the purchase price in savings. I have my main oven on twice a week, once on Sunday for the traditional Sunday and midweek if I make a pie or somesuch. When I have the oven on I batch bake so I might do a cake, biscuits and a couple of puddings that will last two or three years. Fiona x
ReplyDeleteEr - that should read two or three DAYS!! : - )
DeleteMy oven was broken and the only thing I missed was the occasional pie, so I bought a small plug in oven, this did me for a few years until the oven and the hob were replaced. Moving on a few years we had solar installed with back up batteries, the only thing it dies not power are the hot water tank and the cooker, so out came the small oven and I have been using that. Never had a wish for an airfryer but could not live without my instantpot. It all depends what you cook.
DeleteFiona: the air fryer was relatively cheap compared to the cost of replacing my Remoska when it broke, which was twice the price. I just chose wrong I think.
DeleteI would love homemade cakes and biscuits to last for years. 😄
Moira: yes exactly that it depends what you cook doesn't it. I have never had a reason to buy an instant pot, I think I am going old school and cutting back on electric gadgets as much as possible.
DeleteWhen we had solar and the battery back-up system, the only thing it couldn't cope with was the Aga cooker firing up at night, so we had to put that back onto the grid.
I never bought into the air fryer mania, it was starting to feel like a quasi religious cult at one point! Hooray for getting your work surface free again (more room for books!) xxx
ReplyDeleteHaha ... don't tempt me. I already have that long shelf in the kitchen full to capacity with cookbooks. 😄
DeleteWe downsized earlier this year and My kitchen is 6ft x 10ft with 8 cupboards compared to my old one 14ft x 17ft with 23 cupboards.
DeleteI got rid of SO much - sold it, threw it, gave to charity shop.
The crazy thing is that I haven’t missed a thing! It’s a similar story with other rooms. The older so get, the fewer things I seem to need
A smaller kitchen is so much easier to work in isn't it. Mine is literally just the hallway leading to the front door, but I had lots of fun designing it. 😀
DeleteHi Sue,I've just done the same thing,taken my Airfryer off my bench to free up some space,I have way too many gadgets,and not using them much,so I've put my Airfryer in my bedroom cupboard,as I have no where else to store it, its a tiny little apartment,and in this cupboard I also have my Breadmaker,my food processor,a pie maker,sandwich maker & on & on they go! I will keep them put away for a few months,& if I haven't used them,I will sell them off, I'm trying to simplify my life now,over having all the clutter, best wishes,Carol
ReplyDeleteI bit the bullet and sold the airfryer yesterday. I'm loving the space in my kitchen more than I loved the convenience of the airfryer, so it was an easy decision. 😀
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