Philips is one of the leading Technology companies focused in the areas of Electronics, Healthcare and Lighting.  The company has its headquarters in Amsterdam.  It was founded in Eindhoven in 1891, by Gerard Philips and his father Frederik. It is one of the largest electronics companies in the world and employs around 105,000 people across more than 60 countries.

The company has always been stretching itself to continuously innovate.  These innovations have applied to lighting product.  But in the recent 5-10, Philips has been bringing in new products in Home Appliances and Consumer Products.  Latest in this list is the Philip AirFryer, to revolutionize healthy fried cooking.

About Philips Airfryer

Philips Airfryer uses unique Rapid Air system fries to perfection with little or no added fat. Optimal temperature and precision air circulation produce a cleaner, safer, economical alternative to oil frying.  Airfryer is fast and effective for baking, roasting and grilling.

I personally love eating fried food like most of us around.  The first item that comes to mind always is the French Fries.  We all love it, even after hearing the negative comments from Dietitians and Health Consultants.  The only sources of French Fries for me has always been the fast food joints.  Simple technique used by them is to pre-heat the oil, put the potato slices and then take it out after 5-10 minutes.  When we try replicating at home, it is difficult get the same quality.  With the use of new Philips Airfryer, anyone can make their favourite items like Cheese Ball, French Fries, Potato Bites quickly and get the same quality, with less hassles.

Product Review

Philips Airfryer is a very compact looking product which is quite easy to store.  Let me dissect the product in detail.

Size

The product is small and is nearly 287 x 315 x 384 mm which is quite compact.  It can easily fit into any shelf and stowed off in some corner.  When the Airfryer is place next to Microwave, it looks cute.  Though it looks small, it can cook items that can serve nearly 4 people at one time, which is good.

Usage

Cooking is an art which many of us don’t try to venture because we think that it is a complex process.  But if you can make it easy, anyone would love to attempt it and make some wonderful items.  Philips Airfryer is the best product for Family person, Bachelor and Students.  The usage is quite simple.

• Open the main tray by pressing a small level and the main container section comes out.
• Place the items that needs to be fried on the grill mesh.
• Set the temperature to a desired degree.  Refer the receive book for standard temperature required for cooking various items.
• Set the timer to the desired number.
• Cooking immediately starts and goes on until the desired time.  If you think the temperature set is high, it can be reduced.  There is a light indicator to know when the product is heating.  The indicator switches off if the product has already reached the desired temperature.
• Soon after the timer stop, take the container, push the grill mesh down and food items just fall onto plate for immediate consumption.

Benefits/Advantages

Ease of Cooking – It took minimal effort from my side to prepare items.  The food coming out is much healthier as it does not use oil.   When we eat out, we end up staining the oil from the fried items, here there is no need to do so.

I prepared 3 items– French Fries, Smiles and Potato Bites (McCain Products).  It took just 15 minutes and the food that came out was Crispy from outside & soft from inside.  The cooking was quite consistent across all side of the food item.

Quick Clean

The product is very easy to clean and it can be cleaned with Kitchen Tissue or Wet cloth.  I think the bottom of the Fryer has Chromium finish, which does not let oil stick to it.  This makes cleaning much easier.

Instant Heat

There is no need to cook and then put base ingredients inside the fryer.  It starts cooking immediately.  In the fast food joints, we see that they would pre-heat the oil and then add the ingredients.

Safety

This is one of the most critical aspect in a product.  The product is very well packaged & finished with no leading cables.

Compact

The product is compact compared to the bulkier Microwave, which also seem to have the Slim Fry option which does not work as expected.

Variety Cooking

French Fries and Smiles as not the only Fried items that can be made.  Philips has given a Recipe booklet which has listed multiple items that can be made using the product including – Potato Gratin, Ratatouille, Creamy Mushroom & Pancetta Lasagne, Vegetarian Wellington with Potato Corn Peas Fetta & Herb salad, Tapas Plate, Sweet & Sour Prawn, Roasted Asian Chicken Wings, Crispy Pork Belly with Warm Mustard White Beans & Spinach, Charsui Pork Bites, Chicken Schnitzel with Salsa Verde & Green Beans, Crispy Sesame Salmon, Soft centred ricotta pudding with honey glaze & toasted nuts, Pancetta capsicum and pea frittata with mixed leaf salad, Crispy spices rice balls with roasted peach & salted caramel sauce and many more.

The recipe booklet also has information regarding Cooking times and temperatures for dishes.

Handy Accessories

There are plenty of accessories available for the product like – Non-stick Grill Pan, Double-layered Rack, Baking Pan.

Improvement/Suggestions

Start/Stop Option

There isn’t a way to start/stop the AirFryer as it starts & stop automatically after timer is set.  I would urge a small change which will enable a person to stop, look into the item and reinsert the container.

Cooking Options

There can be special buttons for cooking some of the dishes, which can automatically set Timer and Temperature.

Transparent Window

It will nice to have a glass window showing the food being fried inside.

Pricing

The product will become a big hit among the Indians because of love for freid food.  I think they can plan to bring down the price by 15-20% to attract every household.

Overall Verdict

This is one of the best product I have come across in the market for being able to make Healthy Fried Food.  I loved the ease product usage, technology, compactness and final food product that comes out.  There are a few improvements that I have mentioned which can be easily incorporate in the next versions.  The product will become quite popular in the market and I believe the some of the fast-food joins may start using this, instead of the traditional means.

My current rating for the product is 9/10.

Criteria used for review
Features – 8/10
Safety – 10/10
Appearance – 9/10
VFM – 8/10

Reference
Philips Airfryer
https://www.philips.co.in/c-m-ho/cooking/airfryer-top
Philips History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips