Tefal Actifry Reviews

Many people look at the Tefal Actifry and find it hard to believe that you can get that fresh, crisp deep fat fried taste by only using a 100th of the oil used in a tradition deep fat fryer. The best way to show you this is to provide you with some reviews from customers who have bought their Tefal Actifry from stores like Amazon.

Tasty fried chips with minimal effort

25 Oct 2007
By S. Thomas (UK)

I have owned one of these for a couple of months and have not regretted it for a moment. I do not like deep fat fryers so have previously relied on oven chips or baked my own chips in the oven, until this great item came along.

The chips really do taste like they have been deep fried and take about 40 minutes to cook. The quantity you can produce is reasonable for two people, probably three, and you do only need a spoonful of oil to do so.

It is really easy to use and wash up (the tray lifts out and the lid is removable). It comes with a recipe book that indicates you can cook lots of other things in it, such as chicken, but even if you only make chips I'd say it is a good buy.

Other than the size, which seems a little on the bulky side, the only other drawback is that the noise of the timer is drowned out by the noise of the machine when it is working. The machine is not noisy overall; you do have the sound of the air circulating around the food but I would say it is no more noisy than the sound made by my fan oven in operation. The 'problem' is that the timer is just too quiet to be heard unless you are standing right by the machine and the actifry stays running and cooking the food until you switch it off. I have overcome this by using my oven timer to alert me when the food is ready but I think it is a small design fault (I sent one actifry back as I thought the timer was so quiet it was faulty, but the replacement is exactly the same).

Best bits: the food produced and it is easy to use and clean.

Not so good: timer seems redundant and it is a bit bulky.

An Excellent Alternative

4 Mar 2008
By J. Mckenzie "Chig" (Bourton - On - The - Water)

I was very dubious about buying an Actifry after reading the mixed reviews, but after using it a few times I'm won over.

One of the main benefits of this machine is the ability to cook 1kg of chips at once, and unlike a traditional fryer where you have to continually check progress, with the Actifry you pop the chips in, add a spoon of oil, set the timer, and you can happily leave it doing its thing while you do yours.

You have to make sure fresh chips are totally dry before you put them in or they do come out soggy. We also use a full spoon of oil and find this gives much tastier results.

It gives off very little smell while cooking, and after a hour or so you would have no idea chips had been cooked in your kitchen ( unlike a deep fat fryer that leaves a horrid linger for ages )

I agree the timer could be better and should switch off when the cooking time is up.

But apart from this its a great buy!

Tefal Actifry for a family., 16 May 2008
By Jane ((Cambs, England))

I had read a lot of reviews about the Actifry, I have a family of 4 and many of the reviews I had read seemed to say that it was suitable for 2 to 3 people. I went ahead and purchased one, hoping that the capacity would be enough.
I have owned this for 2 weeks now and I am pleased to say I am very happy with it. The maximum quantity of chips it cooks was just enough for 4 people (not huge portions, but enough)and being able to use Olive oil is great - one tablespoon REALLY is enough. I have not owned a deep fat fryer for years, I have instead been using oven chips up until now. The results were wonderful, good home cooked chips. I was careful to follow instruction and ensure the raw chips were dry before cooking.
The one downfall with the Actifry is something that I had already read before buying it and that is the timer alarm, it really is very QUIET and would be difficult to hear if in another room. I personally don't find it a problem as I am normally in the kitchen when I am cooking tea.
I have tried a few of the recipes that come with it. The cinnamon apple wedges are lovely.
I have also cooked oven chips in it (I still had some left in the freezer) and although I will not be buying them anymore the Actifry cooked them a lot more evenly than my fan oven.

The machine is SO easy to clean. The pan comes out easily and although it is dishwasher proof I think its a lot easier to wash it up, the non stick pan is great. The lid detaches with a touch of a button to clear also.

I think the best thing to do with this is to try out the recipes and then find similar dishes to cook in it, eg A recipe for Chilli con carne comes with it (along with many others) so I have chosen to use it to make a Bolognaise sauce to go with Spaghetti using the Actifry.

The only reason I have rated this 4 star is due to the timer alarm - I can't believe Tefal did not realise this problem!

See what others have to say about the Tefal Actifry here; Amazon Reviews for the Tefal Actifry.

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