My old air fryer had retired. Got a new one, KHIND ARF3000, for RM200+ as it was on offer. Original price was RM400+. There were a few brands to choose from. I decided to buy this mainly due to the stainless steel base in the basket. The size is similar to my old one too. Here’s the unboxing video of the air fryer. The details of the air fryer can be seen in the video too.
Capacity
The 3L air fryer is suitable for cooking food for 2-3 pax. I had made grilled chicken wings twice with it using manual setting instead of the preset menu. Haven’t cook other food with it. It worked as intended. I noticed that it can actually fit more pieces of meat than my old 4L one even though this is only 3L. Likely it is due to the shape of the basket. The shape is square while the old one is round.
Basket Depth
The depth of basket the is shallow compare to my old one. So, this means it’s nearer to the heat source and the food gets cooked faster. So far, for the chicken wings, I used 20 minutes to get it cooked and browned. Back then, it’s around 23-25 minutes. You have to know your air fryer’s temperament and adjust it accordingly based on trials and errors. Just like oven, every air fryer is different even with the same brand and model.
Basket
The base of the basket is stainless steel instead of non-stick surface. While the body is non-stick. I opted for this because my old one was with non-stick coating base. The wear and tear was rather fast but cleaning it was easy. With this stainless steel one, I’m not worry about losing the coating but cleaning it isn’t easy.
The stainless steel base can actually be removed but I’m worry that with constant removal and installation. The non-stick coating at the wall of the basket would be scrapped off sooner or later. This is because you need to use quite a bit of force to push the base out and vice versa. Hence, I try to not get the food near the edge of the basket and/or use an air fryer liner for easier cleaning.
Touch Panel
The buttons are digital unlike the old one with temperature and timer dials. It can be a bit hot to touch when the air fryer is running or just completed the cooking process. I feel that the old-fashion one is more practical and long lasting(I guess). The preset menu is nice to have but quite unnecessary. I really don’t know how long the touch panel will last. Oh well… You can’t have all the good things in one anyway. Just give and take.
Conclusion
Overall, I’m satisfied with the air fryer as it does the job as it should. We’ll see how long it will last. The old one lasted 5 years plus. You can get them on Shopee if you want https://invl.io/clkh2d0
Check out the mini popiah I made using the old air fryer here: Easy Air Fryer Crunchy Meat Floss Spring Roll (Popiah)