Course description

You bought an air fryer to cut the cost of cooking, or you're thinking about it. This course shows you how to use it for far more than oven chips: breakfasts, lunches, chicken, fish, vegetarian meals, sides, cakes and puddings, with clear temperatures and times, careful food safety and an honest look at running costs.

An air fryer can use less electricity than a full-size oven for small amounts of food, but it doesn't always save money. You'll learn to work out what any cook costs from your own unit rate, measure it if you want to, and choose the appliance that suits each meal.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, and each one ends with a short, practical exercise. You follow Shelley, a ticket office clerk in Mansfield, through most of a year with her new air fryer: the steam marks on the cupboard, the scratched basket, the chicken that looked done but wasn't, the uneven chips, the foil that lifted in the fan, and a planned week of meals with a shopping list. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, example answers, a cheat sheet and recipe cards, plus tools such as a setup and safety checklist, a liners and foil card, a running cost calculator, a food safety card, an oven conversion card, a meal planner and a shopping list.

What you'll learn

• Getting to know your air fryer: how hot air and a fan brown and crisp food, basket, dual-drawer and oven-style models, what to check before you buy, and setting up safely.
• Safety, cleaning and running costs: heat, steam, children and cables, what to do if it catches fire, liners, foil and paper, caring for the non-stick coating, and working out what each cook costs from the wattage, the time and your own unit rate.
• Food safety and core techniques: cooking meat through, leftovers, rice and allergens, temperatures and times, oil and single layers, converting oven recipes with a rule of thumb, frozen food and going for gold.
• Breakfast: baked eggs, a two-stage cooked breakfast, breakfast potatoes, baked oats and eggy bread sticks.
• Lunches and snacks: quick jacket potatoes, toasties that stay together, crisping leftovers safely, roasted chickpeas and pitta chips, and packed lunches.
• Chicken and meat: crisp chicken thighs, juicy breasts and goujons, pork steaks, burgers, meatballs and koftas, sausages, lamb chops and steak, all checked properly.
• Fish: salmon fillets, white fish and homemade fish fingers, fishcakes, prawns, frozen fish by the pack and a fish and chips night.
• Vegetarian and vegan: crispy tofu, halloumi skewers, stuffed peppers, falafel and bean burgers from tins, crispy cauliflower and a vegan main course.
• Sides, vegetables and family meals: chips and wedges from fresh potatoes, roast potatoes, green vegetables, small Yorkshire puddings, timing a family meal and batch cooking.
• Baking, desserts and your weekly plan: small cakes and muffins, cookies, scones, flapjacks, crumble and baked apples, and a final project: a week of meals with a shopping list.

Who it's for

UK households who've bought an air fryer, or are choosing one, and want quick, cheap everyday meals. You can follow a simple recipe; you don't need any other cooking experience. The recipes were written for a 5.5-litre basket air fryer, and every method tells you what to look for, so you can adjust them for your own model.

What this course is, and isn't

This is a practical home cooking course. The safety information on air fryers, food, allergens, burns and fires is general guidance for home cooks based on advice from the Food Standards Agency, the NHS and fire and rescue services, and your air fryer's manual always comes first. It isn't professional food safety, electrical safety, financial or nutrition advice. No brands are recommended.

What will I learn?

• Explain how an air fryer cooks, and choose between basket, dual-drawer and oven-style models for your household
• Set up and use an air fryer safely, including placement, liners, foil and paper, children, burns and what to do if it catches fire
• Clean the basket and crisper plate and look after the non-stick coating
• Work out what a cook costs from the wattage, the time and your own unit rate, and judge when the air fryer saves money and when it may not
• Cook chicken, pork, mince, fish and prawns until they're safely cooked, and handle leftovers, rice, frozen food and allergens safely
• Convert oven recipes to the air fryer using a rule of thumb as a starting point, and check food as it cooks
• Cook breakfasts, lunches, snacks, vegetarian and vegan meals, sides and family meals in an air fryer
• Bake small cakes, muffins, cookies, scones and fruit puddings at the right temperature
• Plan a week of meals with a shopping list, using the air fryer where it suits the food

Frequently asked questions