Ultra Processed Foods - UPFs.

[Workingman]

They are implicated in 32 physical and mental health problems.

Yes, that's your pre-packed meats, ready meals, street food (McD and KFC) and takeaways.

Why do we eat this glop when we, apparently, all have air-fryers, slow cookers and microwaves that can do the meals for a small fraction of the price and quicker than it takes to get a delivery?

It's because we are lazy, can't cook (allegedly), and are taken in by the adverts - conned.

TV is overloaded with popular cookery programmes of foods we will never eat, but some versions of them are so simple, yet we never try them - we order in.

If we bought fresh and cooked from scratch it would be a lot cheaper and we would be healthier

I can do loads of meals from fridge to table in about 45 mins; C-con-C, spagbol, curries, stir frys, pizzas, burgers etc. quicker if I batch cook, and I know what's in them. They are not hard to do and are cheap as chips. Very few cooking skills are needed - if you can fry an egg you can cook.

The often used "I'm time poor" excuse is tosh.

[cromwell]

I agree.
We very rarely eat highly processed foods - maybe with the exception of a biscuit!
If we have a cottage pie or a bolognese we make it ourselves. We regularly have porridge for breakfast, never cereals.
MrsC sometimes has a pizza express pizza at weekends, that's about it. I can't remember the last time we had a takeaway.

Where does leave the vegans though? Some of their fake meat products are very highly processed.

All I can say about cookery programs is that they must be very cheap to make, there are so many of them!

[cruiser2]

I alternate between porridge and cereal for breakfast.

Lunch can be soup with some soldiers. Or a slice of smoked salmon with some cherry tomatoes. For a change I may buy a freshly made roll from a stall
in the market. Theyhave beef, gammon, turkey and sometimes lamb.

Evening meal is some form of meat from a butcher. Can be pork loin, sausage, or bacon. Tonight it is stweing stek with vegand potatoes.
Have bought a piece of fish for dinner tomorrow.
I sometimes get a packet of rice with other ingredients for my dinner. I do not have any other prepared food. I buy fresh vegatables and fruit.

[Suff]

When I came back this time I bought an air fryer on the mistaken premise that Mrs S had suggested it.

Apart from when out I have eaten virtually zero pre packaged/processed food this last month. Listening to my boss who loves his air fryer I bought the double drawer and it has been really good. I can pull stuff out of the fridge, drop it in the fryer, set the time (or the match) then just let it go.

For someone who doesn't want to use oven or hob in an apartment let it has been amazing. No I'm not losing any weight just yet but my BP has gone down quite a bit. Probably due to the near total lack of salt in my cooking.

Normally I'd just use pre packaged meals and eat out a bit as cooking when you are in a short term let is a real PITA.

Now Mrs S is going to nick my dual drawer air fryer and foist me off with the single drawer she insisted on buying for home. OK buying is a bit strong, we got it free with our Gifi € on the card. We get a load of Gifi money to spend every November to be used in Jan. This year it was an air fryer.

I may donate it and get another dual drawer if it doesn't work out for me.

[Workingman]

Air Fryers are a modern fad.

You can pull stuff out of the fridge, drop it in the air fryer, set the time same as you can with a counter-top oven with fan. As for salt, pepper, herbs, they are up to you to use whatever cooker you have.

I watched a biased Air Fryer promo on C5 the other day and some of the meals were nothing like the real stuff, they looked dry and not very appetising.

[Suff]

Well I won't use the oven in the apartments and I have a counter top halogen oven. I find the air fryer much more usable.

[Kaz]

I love my air fryer

[medsec222]

I love my air fryer too. I wouldn't be without it now. Going to do an All Day breakfast in it shortly.

[Workingman]

With air fryers being the current fad, it is almost impossible to find an equitable review of them versus other cooking methods. They all start out with "air fryers are popular, great and healthy" and then run with that.

Halogen cookers work with direct radiant heat so the cooking methods for the same foods are wildly different, same with microwaves and slow cookers. Difficult to compare.

My mini convection oven with a light and fan does everything a high-end air fryer can do but is more "traditional" to look at and cost a fraction of the price - it's one with a price tag more in line with basic air fryers, those which are good for not much more than chips and nuggets.

I have not used the main oven for years; it has become a pan drawer.

My mate, M, had her free-standing cooker taken out and a local installer put in a built-in fridge with a convection hob above. She now has a freezer where the fridge/freezer used to sit. It gave her more counter top space for a mini oven.

[Kaz]

Different strokes for different folks I hardly use the main oven now either especially since it's just the two of us. I use the microwave, the air fryer, the slow cooker, and the gas hob - all more energy efficient than the big oven.