Ethan is the most down to earth cooking channel....He isnt fancy, doesnt try to show off, etc.....He makes me feel like hes a regular dude just trying to help people out....Much respect, sir!
You asked what folks do with their air fryers. A not so brief list of mine: Crispy pork belly (I pour off the fat periodically into silicon cupcake trays and freeze them for stews and other cooking), roasting a small batch of pre-prepped frozen kumura, potato and pumpkin for sides and more often, smaller serving sizes of vegetable soup, making a batch of 2-3 fresh cookies from frozen cookie dough, cooking and crisping canned chickpeas to use as 'croutons', crisping up nacho chips with cheese on top for reheated nacho mince. ^.^
I've come to learn that a greek yogurt heavy white sauce is like a cheat code. I've gone without using any type of mayo/fat before aside from maybe pan drippings from grilled steak or chicken. It's a ton of flavor, adds moisture to your dish, is very low on fat macros, so it's just a super protein rich sauce with limited carbs/fat. Also, instead of frozen french fries, I've done some super basic potato wedges with my own seasonings and olive oil (similar to home fries I guess?) which is a much healthier alternative to frozen fries. Doesn't hit quite the same, but still a great amount of crunchy surface area to fluffy interior for way less calories.
This has easily become my favorite cooking channel on RU-vid. Unlike your mainline channel, I don't feel like this is trying to educate me, but instead just give me some tips and ideas on dinner tonight. And it all just looks amazing. Wonderful job Ethan! Keep it up!
I love this type of video! I’ve been really exhausted by constantly following recipes and wasting random ingredients that I was instructed to buy. I’m gonna try to do something similar to this tonight with the veggies I have left in my fridge and some left over chicken. It feels like improvising like this is the “next level” once you’ve gotten more comfortable in the kitchen.
7:22 I use the air fryer for frozen fries too. For roasting vegetables, if I’m cooking for myself then it’s just faster to toss them into the air fryer for me. If I’m cooking for me and my partner then we’d do it in the oven. But I use the air fryer a good bit to cook meats too. Chicken especially for me is just easy to marinade, stick a thermometer in it, and throw it into the air fryer until it’s ready. So for me, it’s just when I want smaller batches of food since it heats up/cooks faster than in an oven.
I totally agree that if you have the fridge and freezer space it’s more efficient to do stuff in the oven but the air fryer works so well at reheating though and I feel like you are too confident grilling on the stove so you don’t really use the air fryer for protein but that’s the main thing I do in there.
Oh yeah I totally forgot but I use it for breakfast food too. I have frozen breakfast patties and some muffins in the fridge, throw them both in. When it’s time to flip the patties, I take out the muffins to cool. In the meantime, I could make some eggs on the stove.
People more commonly do chicken thigh/breast/wing recipes in the Air fryer, but I think the Maryland cut is kind of slept on. One of the few cuts with skin on you can get at most supermarkets without having to spend time breaking down a chicken (air frying is all about time saving), and the skin protects it so it doesn't dry out so easily. Dry seasoning, salt, spray of oil, maybe 20 minutes skin side down, turn for another 10 minutes. Comes out nice and crispy skin. If you have an air fryer with non stick tray/basket, you can use the drippings to make a gravy or add flavor to another dish.
I have a toaster oven air fryer and it’s great. Big enough to roast a 1/4 sheet of vegetables or 3 large chicken quarters. Perfect for weeknight meals without having to heat up the oven
So this might be a stupid request, but would it be possible to make a video explaining the shelf life of vegetables, like an onion cut in half, to say the salad or the cooked chicken? I feel like I'm a bad judge of determining if something is good or not and prematurely toss food away.
I've been trying to use up leftovers for years and sometimes make very bland and boring neals. This channel definitely inspires me to think outside the box and ve more creative.
English is not my first language so it would be great if pop-ups with ingredient names would show in video, especially for the spices you use. Great video by the way
I use my air fryer pretty often. I love heating up leftovers in it (such as pizza), and I'll roast veggies in it too. Recently my wife and I got some spring roll wrappers. Instead of frying them in oil, I sprayed them with oil and put them in the air fryer. They worked really well!
I love my air fryer for all types of foods! Soft and hard boiled eggs are so easy in it. I also cook everything from chicken to steak to fish in it, with so much less mess than the stove. I also do a ton of veggies in it - broccoli, asparagus, artichokes... Depending on your air fryer, you can also take out the drawer tray and use it almost like a wok for stir fry or saucy recipes. I also like to use it for things like crunch wraps, a full meal like egg in a hole and bacon or sausage. I also use it to make croutons. I probably use my air fryer more than any other kitchen tool, including my slow cooker and instant pot. There are great youtube channels and blogs out there with a ton of ideas for healthy air fryer meals. :)
TBH the air fryer gives me a weird hesitation because I view it as a 'fryer,' thinking it's unhealthy, even though there's no oil! Logically I know it's not the same, but I still associate it with unhealthier foods.
For people who cannot eat acidic foods due to gastroesophageal disorder sumac is a great substitute. It gives it that acidic taste without the acidity.
I have joked out loud that I like the air fryer, the only thing is that it facilitates me eating unhealthy things, since that's basically the only thing I use it for. It is really great for reheating a fair bit of stuff (especially if the outside is supposed to be crispy).
Love how fly by the seat of your pants and improvisational this form of cooking is.. it's how I cook when I'm digging through the fridge instead of doing some much needed grocery shopping. Only thing is I still taste along the way, but Ethan gives NO f's in this video.
I live alone, and the air fryer is my goto for roasting carrots, broccoli, and similar. It's always fighting for space with my Instant Pot since I can't have both out at the same time.
7:03 I do alot of healthy cooking with my air fryer - I have one that has a few trays in it instead of being the basket style. I'll do chicken thighs on the top rack, some chopped up potato and onion on the second, and then whatever veggies I have laying around on the bottom rack. That's the like, default 'I dont wanna cook' meal - but I also like using it as an oven that preheats faster for things like asparagus, broccoli, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, etc.
I use my air fryer as a mini oven for all sorts but I’m only cooking for one person so it makes sense rather than waiting for the main oven to heat up with all of the wasted energy involved. I don’t really “fry” anything in it
Air fryer is great for reheating meal prepped chicken thighs or making salmon or cooking salmon patties. I also use it to roast veggies just for me, I dont really have access to an oven.
I did not realize Cambro made such clear containers. I thought it might have been glass instead of plastic at first. Doing some research, it seems these ones are the Camwear line, made out of polycarbonate instead of polypropylene like the more translucent containers.
i cook a ton of stuff in my air fryer. maybe it's a bigger consideration because i live in florida but i will not run the oven during the daylight hours for heat/efficiency reasons and an air fryer solves that
I do TONS of spices on my chicken like that. But usually I mix in greek yogurt as well. Then I put the chicken under the broiler for........6 min per side and I get perfect chicken every time.
Recently made bone in skin on chicken thighs in the air fryer just season them and toss the whole thing in it comes out cooked perfectly with super crispy skin
I use my air fryer probably more than anything else in my kitchen. Similar to what you're doing with the chicken, I'll season up 4 chicken thighs and throw them in at around 400 for 10-12 minutes. Quick and easy.
i use air fryer a ton for everything... but to be fair my stove top isn't ideal. but most of hte time the air fryer is "one set meal" where its almost all of it
I live alone so my air fryer is basically my oven. You're right though, I do overcrowd it with vegetables a lot. I have a small bench top oven too with a perfect sized tray fit veges. I do overcrowd that too come to think of it. I fkn like broccoli and cauliflower, what can I say 😂
Honestly, I'm quite surprised at how often I use my air fryer. I used to use a big cast iron pan on my gas stove in the last place I lived at for searing meat, but in my new place my kitchen is quite small, and I don't have an absorbing unit, so high temp cast iron searing gets really smoke really fast, so I've been using the air fryer for mayo-marinated chicken thighs and (dare I say it) maybe I prefer it more actually?
22:27 me every time I make a wrap. If anyone has the secret to getting a well filled, tightly wrapped wrap, without busting the bread or spilling everywhere please let me know!
hey ethan, another great video. your cooking process is extremely similar to mine! hey can you share what that plastic container is you're using for the salad? That looks really useful
Just curious, do you use vegetables other than tomato, onions, cucumber, and lettuce sometimes? No hate, just noticed they’re repeated in almost every recipe video
I'm not the resident expert on temperature and time, but I have heard from people who know more than me that the fat doesn't really get as good a chance to render at those temperatures. The extra temp and time pretty directly enhances the experience rather than just being a "safety zone" for overcooking. I follow this pretty consistently and haven't been let down by it, but I haven't done any quality side-by-side tests or anything.
7:46 why do americans sell their fresh veggies in a plastic bag/container? wouldn't it be cheaper, more eco-friendly and convenient if they sold them loose?
It depends on the store you purchase from, but what I often see is stores selling bulk produce in a bag for a bit cheaper than their loose offerings. I see this a lot with potatoes in particular. Might be $1.50/lb loose, but only $1/lb. if you buy the 5 or 10 lb. bag. Those kinds of offerings are typically sold in a plastic bag of some kind. That said, I've definitely seen some items, like the small sweet peppers, only available in bags rather than loose, so I'm not sure where the deciding line is on that. To your point, yes, it's absolutely more eco-friendly to not do it that way, but if that's what the store offers, that's what you gotta put up with.
