Turn Me On And I'll Stay On! (Tefal ActiFry)

Member Name: janharper

Product:	Tefal ActiFry
Date:	17/12/08 (699 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great for healthy cooking

Disadvantages: Design faults potentially dangerous

The Tefal Actifry is a neat little machine that appealed to me the first time I saw it, but at £149 I really couldn't justify it, even if I could afford it. However, I kept my eye on the price of this fabulous fryer and eventually bought it on Amazon for £89.

It's a nicely shaped and sturdily constructed piece of equipment but it is a bit heavy if you need to keep moving it around. It is grey, silver and white in colour and quite contemporary in design. I actually like the way it looks which isn't something I can same about many kitchen devices.

The lid on this short handle banjo shaped unit opens when you push the locking buttons. Inside is a green plastic measuring spoon stored on a spindle so that you don't lose it. This is what you use to measure the oil when you fry.

There is a paddle inside that keeps the food moving all the time so that it cooks and browns easily.

This unit can fry using just one spoonful of oil. You use the green spoon to measure this and drizzle it over your food. I have substituted a spray bottle of olive oil which I use to give the food a quick blast before cooking.

Using this is simplicity itself. You put your chips, potato wedges, chicken, fish, vegetables to roast, or whatever you fancy in the machine. It holds up to one kilogram of food. Drizzle with oil, or squirt like I do, set the timer, press start and away you go.

Chips, if you use fresh potatoes and cut thinly will be golden brown in 20 minutes. Thicker chips can take up to 40 minutes. I have also done roast potatoes in here. The frozen ones are gorgeously crispy cooked this way and you don't need to add oil. If you prefer fresh potatoes you need to par boil first, or they take for ever to cook.

Roast vegetables are excellent done in here but you need to add seasoning after cooking to avoid damage to the unit from salt, etc.


There are lots of other things you can cook in here and it really is frying without oil (well, a spoonful of oil!)

I didn't like fish fingers cooked in here as the paddle knocks the breadcrumbs off during cooking and makes a mess. This would apply to anything covered in crumbs.

Sausages cook well in this unit but you can't cook anything with them because of all the fat you get, even from the best sausages. It makes chips black, so it isn't a good idea to do them together.

Design wise this looks good but it does have two major faults. Firstly, the bell that sounds when cooking finishes is very quiet and I have started to set a kitchen timer so that I don't miss it. This is vital because of the second design fault. The unit does not switch itself off when the timer runs out. It just keeps going.

This, of course, is a potential dangerous situation. This is a great pity because this is a very efficient, good looking and easy to use unit.

Summary: I wouold still recommend one of these, but be careful.

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