It’s snowing outside. Wet. 5″ Deep. Cold. It’s better to be inside working on this blog.
I have had several requests/questions on how to convert a recipe from the stove/oven/frying process to an Air Fryer or Instant Pot. Air Fryer info can be a little hard to find, but it is there if you look. I recently received a book by Ben Mims, Air Fry Every Day, 2018 Clarkson Potter, New York ISBN 978-0-525-57609-9. A really good book and one you should add to your Kitchen Library.
“I’m a food writer, cookbook author, and recipe developer. I’ve formerly worked as the Test Kitchen Director at Lucky Peach magazine, Food Editor at Saveur magazine, a food editor at Food & Wine, and the pastry chef of Bar Agricole restaurant in San Francisco in 2013. I’ve authored three cookbooks: Air Fry Every Day: 75 Recipes to Fry, Roast, and Bake Using Your Air Fryer (Clarkson Potter, 2018), Coconut (Short Stacks Editions, 2017), and Sweet and Southern: Classic Desserts with a Twist (Rizzoli; 2014), in addition to recipe development for Tasty Ultimate: How To Cook Basically Anything (Clarkson Potter, 2018), Matcha: A Lifestyle Guide (Dovetail, 2017) and Munchies: Late-Night Meals from the World’s Best Chefs (Ten Speed Press, 2017). I’ve also written for the Wall Street Journal, GQ.com, Jarry, Lucky Peach, Epicurious.com, Rachael Ray Every Day, Real Simple, Southern Living, and Food52.com.” [Ben Mims Website].
OK. So how do I convert from stove top frying to the Air Fryer? Mr Mims suggests that in general, you should reduce the temperature by 25ºF and the cooking time by 25%. If you are using a packaged/frozen product, or a recipe that you have used for years and the directions say to cook at 425ºF for 25 minutes, cook in the Air Fryer at 400ºF for 18-20 minutes. “… Because the heat in the air fryer is more intense than a standard oven, reduce the suggested temperature by 25ºF to 50ºF and cut the time by roughly 20%. So, if a recipe calls for cooking in the oven at 425ºF for 60 minutes … instead you can air-fry the chicken at 400ºF for about 40 minutes.” [Meredith Laurence] Just remember to check your product at the lower cooking time to check for doneness. For instance, I cook bacon at 400ºF for 12 minutes. It comes out just the way we like it – crisp, but not burned – and it will burn! I always, especially when cooking bacon, line the drip pan with aluminium foil. Clean up is easy. Two other suggestions: (1) Do not over fill the basket. The product needs airflow, and (2) Some items need to be turned – chicken thighs for one. French Fries probably need only a shake. Experiment and have fun.

Now. The Instant Pot. This is really an All-Purpose appliance. Slow cook, pressure cook, sauté , make soup or yogurt. It’s amazing! Several things to remember [The PlateJoy Blog]-

1. Always use some type of liquid. Water, sauces, etc. No wine until the final process. Like a slow cooker, recipes with a bit of liquid content will do best in the instant pot.
2. Do not over fill! Instant pots hold a smaller amount than a typical stockpot or slow cooker, so you may need to adjust the proportions of ingredients when you’re adapting your recipe.
3. Brown in the pot. Rather than using extra dishes, complete prep steps like browning meat or sautéing garlic and onions right in the instant pot on the sauté setting.
4. Calculate cook time. As a general rule, meat recipes will require about a third of time a standard oven recipe takes. Pasta and grains will take about half the time.
5. What to omit. Like slow cooking, diary should be added to your recipe at the end. A nice function of the instant pot is that you can remove the lid and continue to simmer without pressure once the pressure-cooking portion is done. This is a great time to add these more finicky ingredients and will round out the flavor of your dish beautifully…Wine and cooking alcohol may not break down as well as if they had hours to evaporate, so you might consider adding these in after browning meat or onions (but before adding the rest of your cooking liquid or ingredients), just to give the alcohol a bit of time to break down.

Just have fun with these appliances and experiment. Cheers!