User Experience: Baking and Grilling with the Philips Avance XL Airfryer

Having experienced the sweet success and simplicity of the Philips Avance XL Airfryer and overcoming my hesitation of using a new machine, I went on a cooking spree. Yup, a cooking spree that lasted for 2 days! From making Hainanese Pork Chop Rice to western meals such as Baked Fish Fillets, I was on a roll! I wanted to try out the technology on how this machine can fry, bake and grill too!

It is mainly due to its patented technology: fast and precise circulating air that mimicks frying AND its unique starfish design which cooks food evenly without turning. 

Along the way, I picked up some nifty tips. Now, if you have a small household like mine (with 4 members including our helper), these tips may be useful for you!

:: 1. You can bake with the Philips Avance XL Airfryer and this is not just limited to cakes!

Check out my baked white clams! It was perfectly done and was oh-so-delicious!!!! The clams were sweet and succulent having been baked in this divine butter-wine concoction. It was just all so Ooo-lala! (Pun intended - recipe shared further down in the post).

:: 2. Foil is my new best friend

Having a preschooler means that I prefer to eat healthy and would at times choose to bake / roast my food. I found out that foil is the way to go! I picked up this trick from some online recipes as well as reading up on some sharings by some really talented ladies in the I Love Philips AirFryer Facebook group.

From perfectly roasted potatoes:

To baked fish fillets:

My items were all moist and yummilicious! What you do is to place the items on the foil and then fold it up like a parcel. Put into the basket of the Philips Avance XL Airfryer and cook away. If in doubt, it is always good to start at a lower temperature. But as a general rule of thumb, 180 degrees is pretty good for most meat (including the fish fillets above).

:: 3. You can save time by baking and roasting in the same basket, at the same time! 

Say what? Yup, you read it correctly; you can bake and roast some food items at the same time! Here’s the proof!

How is that possible? It is simply because of the 50% larger capacity (1.2kg cooking capacity which feeds up to 5 people) which this new model sports! What I found out during my ‘experimentation’ was that I could bake and roast the potatoes all at the same time (see above photo)!!!

And both turned out beautifully done! How’s that for time saving? For a working mum like me, that’s superb news!  Check out my baked potato below! (Topping was baked separately with the Philips Avance XL Airfryer after the potato was done)

 :: 4. The Philips Avance XL Airfryer is wonderful for seafood!

One thing I found out is that the Philips Avance XL Airfryer is not just for frying meat. I have a love affair with seafood and I decided to try my hand over the weekend in preparing some seafood items. Besides the clams (1^st photo above), I baked some crayfish too and look how it turned out! J Impressed yet?

I decided that in true Christmas spirit, I shall be generous in this post and share not 1 but 2 recipes!

These 2 recipes are great especially if you have friends over for Christmas dinners ~ not only are they yummy, they are really pretty awesome looking too!!! 

:: Recipe 1: Baked Butter Crayfish 

:: The Gathering List

1. Half a kg of crayfish (half a kg yielded me 3 of them)
2. Salted Butter (a small slab of 2 inch long x 1cm thick)
3. 1 teaspoon of Garlic
4. Salt
5. Pepper
6. Cream Cubes

:: The Cookout

1. Pre-heat fryer to 180◦ for about 5 mins
2. Wash and scrub the crayfish thoroughly and place it bottom side up in aluminium foil (see photo below)
3. Dice up the butter and cream cube spread all over crayfish. Because I used salted butter, I used only 2 pinches of salt and sprinkled sparingly over the crayfish
4. Sprinkle pepper (I used ground black pepper)
5. Foil up the foil like a parcel and fold down sides. Ensure that all sides are sealed.
6. Slide out drawer and place parcel in the basket.
7. Bake on 190 degrees for about 20 mins. 

Were our crayfish “dried up”? In fact, in my humble opinion, because of the shells, it worked in favour for these crustacean as it trapped the moisture within. Check out the how moist the meat was! 

While the crayfish was baking, I quickly boiled some spaghetti and added some tomato spaghetti sauce to it. Here’s how our pretty our lunch looked! This would definitely be a great crowd pleaser for any Christmas gatherings! 

:: Recipe 2: Garlic Butter White Clams in Wine!

:: The Gathering List

1. 1 kg of clams
2. Salted Butter (a small slab of 2 inch long x 1cm thick)
3. Diced Garlic (about 2 teaspoons)
4. Diced Ginger (about 2 teaspoons)
5. Salt
6. Pepper
7. Rice Wine

:: The Cookout

1. Pre-heat fryer to 200◦ for about 5 mins
2. Wash and scrub the clams thoroughly and placed it bottom side up in aluminum foil
3. Diced up the butter, garlic and ginger and spread on the clams. As I used salted butter, I used only about 2 pinches of salt (similar to the crayfish) and sprinkle sparingly over the clams.
4. Sprinkle pepper (I used ground black pepper)
5. Start to fold up the sides of the aluminum like a tray and pour in the wine just before placing in the airfryer. Once wine is poured in, seal up all the sides immediately.
6. Bake at 200 degrees for 14-15 mins. The clams should open up like below.
7. Discard away any unopened clams.

Note: it is a personal preference regarding what wine to use. I have previously used a regular chardonnay which I felt tasted a tad “sharp”. Hence I have since used Chinese Rice Wine or you can substitute with beer instead.

There will be a pool of briny juice collected in the foil ‘tray’. Keep and put it aside. For myself, I ate the clams with freshly toasted French loaf dipped in a small serving of the juice.

For Dumpling, I prefer not to serve this to her typical vongole style (where it sits in the briny juice). But instead, I tossed the cooked pasta in a pan and on “high fire”, I poured in about 3 table spoons of the clam stock. I tossed it for a while longer to coat the pasta evenly and voila! 

This is definitely another crowd pleaser as it simply tastes amazing - it’s smooth because of the butter yet fragrant with the diced garlic and ginger. The wine adds on a lovely flavor to the whole dish too. Definitely something easy and doable for Christmas!

Disclaimer: I was invited to share my User Experience using Philips Avance XL Airfryer. All opinions and sharing I have given are mine and may differ from others. 

Cook with Air today! Quote Beanie N Us and buy the Viva Digital Airfryer at $399 (Usual price: $459), FREE $50 SHOPPING VOUCHER andAvance XL Airfryer at $479 (Usual price: $539), FREE $50 SHOPPING VOUCHER at the PHILIPS EXPERIENCE SHOWROOM. This promotion is valid from 1^stDecember till 31^st January 2014.

Limited to 1 Airfryer per person. IC must be produced.

PHILIPS EXPERIENCE SHOWROOM

Address: 620A Lorong 1 Toa Payoh Building TP4 Level 1 S(319762)

Tel: 6882 5800

Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 9.00 am – 7.00 pm Saturday: 9.00 am – 1.00 pm. Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.

The Viva Digital Airfryer and Avance XL Airfryer are also available at regular prices in leading electronics stores, department stores and supermarkets island-wide.

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