Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
I have wanted to try an air fryer for ages, having heard a lot about them and seen on Instagram what they can do. Why would I want an air fryer though when I have a perfectly good electric fan assisted oven? Without trying one, I wasn’t going to find out if this would be an easier and perhaps cheaper way of cooking, so when the Tower 6 Litre Vortx Air Fryer arrived, I wasted no time checking it out!
The website gives a lot of information about air fryers in general and how they work, but I was pleased to see that the Vortx technology in this Tower air fryer is even better at circulating the air and heating it up, making it quicker than an oven by up to 30%. This variety is also 6 litres, which is a generous size to be able to cook a family meal or large volume baking, thereby saving energy as well as time.
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As air fryers work by cooking the food with air at high temperatures which is circulated quickly around the food, there is no need for any fat as you have to do with electric or gas ovens. The air convection mechanism uses a lot less energy too, and this Vortx Air Fryer uses 70% less energy for cooking than oven, which with the price of energy is also a bonus.
The machine itself is pretty big; bigger than a bread maker or about as big as a mixer. However, compared to a built-in oven, it’s much smaller and obviously mobile, so taking it away to university would be ideal. I like the fact that it stays on the worktop like a microwave would so all the panels and buttons are at eye level and the drawer can be opened with one hand if needed. It’s not so heavy that you need two hand, and I also like that you don’t need oven gloves to take the drawer out. Much safer with little children around and anyone with a disability and unable to bend down or lift out heavy grills will find this much easier. In fact, the Tower Vortx Air Fryer is designed in a way in which elderly or anyone with a disability can adapt how they use it to be able to lift the drawer and carry food.
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The front panel is touch controlled, which lights up when you switch it on with the control panel button, but don’t forget to switch it on at the wall first! It’s easy to set the temperature from 80 Centigrade up to 200 Centigrade. You can also choose some of the pre-sets for easier cooking such as fries, steak and cake.
Once I had worked out the controls panel, it was time to start testing the Vortx Air Fryer! I started with some simple oven chips. As you don’t need any oil, I just piled a layer into the basket and used the pre-set controls for cooking them. After the 15 minutes cooking time, the Vortx Air Fryer emits a sound and you take the drawer out, emptying the fries onto a plate. There’s very little clearing up to do because there’s no oil involved, and the chips are crisp on the outside and still fluffy on the inside!
Once I had mastered fries, it was onto cooking more of a meal! I cooked a piece of beef, being careful to work out the cooking time with regards to the weight. Like any new appliance, it takes a while to get used to the cooking times and how evenly it cooks so I checked on the meat a few times by opening the drawer. The beef was nicely cooked on the outside, along with the layer of mustard I had smothered on top to give it some extra flavour! You can see in the photo how it looked as soon as I took it out of the air fryer and put it on a plate – medium rare, and that was in 20 minutes of cooking.
The Tower Vortx 6l Air Fryer can also be used for cooking vegetables, baking, roasting and even dehydrating such as these pieces of apple which I put on at 80 Centigrade (the lowest temperature possible) for 20 minutes. Most of the moisture was taken out, without any burning and just the flavour of the apple left behind. This will be lovely as part of a salad later in the week and puts to use the windfall apples from the garden this time of year!
Healthier than a microwave and more versatile than an oven, the Tower Vortx Air Fryer is brilliant for going to university and not having to worry about ovens and hot grills.
Available from £79.99 in 6 colours at:
https://www.towerhousewares.co.uk/air-fryers/vortx-6l-colour-air-fryer-midnight-blue-t17127mnb