Originally Posted by
peaceandjoy
My husband surprised me with one at Christmas last year. He wanted one, lol.
No, the food does not taste like traditional fried food. It's like the cauliflower pizza crust/bread sticks. It's not bad, but it's not the "real" thing.
Sorry, we've never tried to do doughnuts, so I can't say how they taste. There are lots of recipes for them on Pinterest.
I assume that they come in different sizes. Ours seems pretty big to me - it takes up a LOT of room. Just measured it - 15" high, 15" deep (front to back) and 12" deep.
I'd see if any friends have one that you might borrow, or bring ingredients to use in making something at their home. Personally, I don't like it and, had I spent the $ on it, would be disappointed. But DH bought it, and he likes it. It gets used once a month or so for french fries (I really don't like them) or wings (pretty good, but I think that regardless of how they are cooked, they are fairly unhealthy). I do like oven fried potatoes and oven fried chicken, so would rather go that way than have a little-used, cupboard hogging appliance.
I was afraid that the food just wasn't up to par. I too like 'oven-fried' potatoes and chicken but I really don't expect them to taste like they were fried. I would, however, expect something that is called a fryer to produce food that taste like it was fried. Not food that is cooked and happens to have a crispy/crunchy outer layer.
The detailed information you provided has been more than I could have hoped for. Thank you so much!