Since we already have a microwave oven at home, my family was not sure whether we really needed an air fryer. We kept hearing from friends and seeing people online talk about air frying as a way to cook with less oil and make everyday food healthier. But there was also a simple question: what would an air fryer actually add to a kitchen, especially one that already has a microwave? Well, I can tell you my experience. I have been using the Philips 1000 series 7.1L Digital Airfryer (model NA154/00) for about a month. During that time, we used it for a variety of foods and cooking tasks, from snacks and vegetables to reheating and larger portions. It has been interesting to see where it genuinely makes cooking easier, where it falls short, and how often we actually reached for it. Here’s our full review.
The Philips 1000 series air fryer has a rectangular cuboid shape with a sober yet neat-looking black colour. The touch-based control panel is present on the top, with two golden-accent handles on the front. There are sufficient controls, and the touch response is fine. The separate controls for the left and right sides are also intuitive, as they let you assign each side its own temperature and cooking time rather than compromising with one setting for everything.
Now, while buying it, note that at 367 mm, the Philips Airfryer does take up a fair amount of counter space. It weighs 3.26 kg. Philips lists a 0.8-metre power cord and a 2450W power rating. So placement needs some thought in a typical kitchen. You can’t just place it anywhere or plug it into an extension board.
Moving to the internals, the Philips Airfryer has a double drawer. When you hear the ‘double drawer’ branding, don’t think it is simply two completely separate baskets sitting next to each other. Rather, Philips has used one large 7.1-litre cooking space that can be divided into two 3.55-litre sections using a removable divider. Take the divider out, and you get one large cooking area again.
On some days, we used the two sides independently. That meant putting one type of food in one section and something completely different in the other. There is no need to mix the two foods or make space for separate cooking cycles. For example, one day I air-fried papad on one side and potato fried on the other side.
On other days, having the full cooking area made more sense to make Pulao for our family of five. This implementation, I feel, is better as it gives more flexibility and choice to the user than a fixed dual-basket design.
Overall, the 7.1L size was enough for our family’s use. As per Philips, the 1000 series air fryer can handle up to 900g of fries, 1.2kg of vegetables, or two 1kg whole chickens when used as a single larger basket. But I didn’t want to eat air-fried chicken. The taste doesn’t match.
You can’t go about making every meal in it. But if you care about health over taste, it would make sense. You can make crispy snacks and food items that don’t require large quantities of oil. I would apply a light coating to some and none to others. Philips’ RapidAir technology circulates hot air around the food, which gives the surface a dry heat environment rather than submerging the food in oil. The air fryer also employs its starfish-shaped base design to circulate the hot air.
Also Read: Havells Aquas Pro 3X review: Does a water purifier really need no filter change for 3 years?
The results were also quite consistent once I understood how the air fryer behaves. With the latter, I mean you shouldn’t overfill or disorderly arrange the food items. And over time, you’d also learn how to set the right temperature for different dishes. You should also shake, turn, or take out and put in the tray. You shouldn’t just place the item inside and walk away expecting perfect results always.
My family and I did go through a few attempts to learn how to use it. But eventually it does become easier to use. There are six preset programmes for common food types and cooking requirements. Well, that’s a good place to start; you can make a lot of things. And you can use the HomeID app to get recipes and guidance on using this device to cook different dishes.
In my experience, for food that is meant to have a crispy exterior, an air fryer came out better than the microwave. This made it particularly useful for leftover fried snacks and similar foods. The microwave, on the other hand, is better suited for soft exteriors.
You can use the Philips air fryer for frying (of course), baking, grilling, roasting, and reheating. The two sides can have different cooking times, but the timing is synchronised. So you can prepare different parts of a meal and have them finish together.
But if you cook two completely different food types, that removable divider won’t just cut it. I’d suggest using it once, cleaning it, and then trying the other item. And while cleaning it is easier than a kadhai, you have to take apart different components and clean them separately. The removable parts are dishwasher-safe, and the appliance has a non-stick coating. So, don’t use abrasive scrubbers. I’d suggest using air-fryer compatible trays and paper liners.
Even with a microwave, we found the Philips 7.1L air fryer useful, especially for cooking or heating crispy food items. Based on your health consciousness and taste preference, you can add little to no oil. For what it’s meant to do, it worked well for snacks, papad, potatoes, and roasted food, and the 7.1-litre capacity was sufficient for a family of five in our experience.
But for the taste-conscious people, the food cooked in an air fryer does not taste exactly like food deep-fried in oil. But it is by design. Speaking of which, the removable basket divider gives you the flexibility to use the full space for a larger quantity of food or slide it in to cook different foods or different parts of the same food.
At Rs 14,648, it is not an affordable product. It doesn’t look, feel, or function as one either. If you know you’d use an air fryer regularly, the flexible basket design and the overall offering may appeal to you. I think the Philips air fryer makes the most sense for families that want to reduce their dependence on deep frying and regularly cook foods that benefit from hot-air circulation. It is also a useful companion to a microwave because the two appliances serve different purposes.
So, would I buy it for our kitchen? Yes, I found it useful, and if you are buying an air fryer, it is a good place to start buying from the pioneer of air frying: Philips. Its 7.1L Digital Airfryer does provide a practical way to cook everyday food with less oil and less mess. And buying it would make sense if you expect to use it regularly.
Keep reading Digit.in for similar reviews.
Also Read: I used the Beyond Appliances Quantum Pro Gas Saver Stove for a month and these are my takeaways