Christmas Gift Idea - An Air Fryer?

https://www.academy.com/p/blackstone-4-burner-griddle-station-and-air-fryer-combo?gmc_feed=t&&ogmap=SEM%7cPLN%7cGOOG%7cSHOP%7cc%7cSNR%7cIM%7cNon-Brand-PerformanceMax-SportsRec-Recreation%7cRecreation%7c%7c18325033100%7c0&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAhJWsBhAaEiwAmrNyq3C9qQdZ2g7bo2YzEwoaXgkxzIMxu-Eztih3WdyVa2rAIlNDQl58jxoC0qAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm a fan of going big, if you are going to go at all.  This is a Blackstone griddle with a double drawer air fryer.  It'll handle pretty much anything and is portable.  

1984 called and wants its hot air popper back. You're gonna need to get a microwave.

It's noisy, but air-popped popcorn tossed with olive oil, garlic powder, and Adobo (red top) seasoning is tons tastier -- and much healthier -- than microwave stuff.

Amateurs. Whirley pop for the win!

https://www.whirleypopshop.com/category/popcorn-poppers

Wasn't the air Fryer's fault. It does its job well enough. It just proved too cumbersome for regular use. It's like having a pancake griddle or a waffle iron. Great for making pancakes and waffles, but how often are you going to have pancakes and waffles?

Hey XM, Merry Christmas brother, I have the Emeril Lagasse pressure cooker/ air dryer combo that looks like a crockpot type.

I love it, more so the pressure cooker part, I do make fries and tater tots in it and it works great that way but when I tried to make fried chicken it didn't work as well because the chicken pieces were stacked on top of each other and couldn't fry evenly.

I highly recommend the air fryer oven types, go on amazon for a wide selection, they might have an adequate sized model.

The keys to enjoying a long term relationship with an air fryer are two-fold:

 - recognize what it's uniquely good for.  In our case, we just love how it cooks vegetables, e.g. carrots, brussel sprouts, potatoes in many forms, and if you like fish tacos, Gordon's whole (un-chopped up) crunchy cod fish sticks become restaurant grade when cooked in an air fryer.  YMMV, but there is likely something out there you like to eat which is best prepared in an air fryer.

- get one that's easy to clean.  That means the cooking pieces are dishwasher safe and, as someone mentioned above, you can buy circular (and perforated) parchment paper inserts for the bottom of the bucket.  Speaking of buckets, that's the easy kind of fryer to clean, NOT the ones that look like toaster ovens.  It should have the removable circular rack at the bottom.  We like the Ninja version of the fryer, particularly the one with the digital temp controls and a preheat function, but that's mostly icing on the cake.  What's critical is being able to clean it.

I suspect there is a bread machine and a rice cooker in that cemetery. 

Proud member of the Pothead Cult.  I think there’s an air fryer version but I have the conventional one and I can attest to the flavors of the stews and generally how well they come out; I also have a great curry recipe that is a big hit with my family.  The footprint is the only downside that I can think of but as you note, that’s easily dealt with.  

Our InstaPot is stored in a drawer, so we pull it out when needed.

We use it mostly to make mass quantities of rice and beans. Dry beans cooked there taste much better than the canned stuff, and have less salt. We can store them for future use in soups, to refry or with rice. And it's great to have them on hand in the middle of the week when you need something quick and easy for dinner.

Helpful hint: Put a thin layer of coconut oil in the pot before you put in rice and water. It makes for easy cleaning and doesn't affect the taste of the rice.