If you love the taste of fried foods but want to watch the waistline, it may be worth investing in an air fryer. The latest air frying gadgets can cook a wide range of tasty meals quickly and evenly, with very little or no oil needed.
Guilt-free crispy chips? You got it. A low-fat Chinese stir fry? Coming right up. Tefal’s Actifry Original Plus, for example, has a unique patented heat pulse system and rotating stirring paddle that cooks a variety of meals with minimum effort required by you – simply listen out for the timer so you know when to dish up the plates.
We've been seeing these compact cooking gadgets crop up as Cyber Monday deals following Black Friday, so we thought we’d take a closer look at the Tefal ActiFry Original Plus here. You will in fact find it for £99.99 / $129 / AU$190 in Amazon’s Tefal ActiFry Original Plus Black Friday deal, down from £229.99 / $296 / AU$438
It’s worth noting that there are other brands offering equally stylish solutions to suit a range of budgets. Read TechRadar’s in-depth review of the best air fryer here, where you’ll find more detail on designs by the likes of Ninja, Wilko, Princess and Swan.
The Bottom Line: Got a lot of mouths to feed? 20% larger than the Tefal Original ActiFry and only slightly more expensive, the Tefal ActiFry Original Plus lets you cook up to five portions at a time - as opposed to four.
Pros: You’ll be surprised at the variety of healthy recipes you can cook using the Tefal ActiFry Original Plus. The design lets comes with an inspirational recipe book that includes dishes such as ‘Garlic King Prawns’ to start, a Vegan Thai Noodle Bowl with Peanut Sauce for main, and ‘Lower-fat Doughnuts’ for pudding. There’s also a My ActiFry app that gives you access to 150+ recipes.
Cons: While the Tefal ActiFry Original Plus is ideal for serving up to five people, if you have a particularly large number of mouths to feed, you may want to try a larger design such as the Tefal ActiFry Genius XL, which has a 1.7kg capacity and costs £149 / $192 / AU$284. You can read our in-depth Tefal ActiFry Genius XL review for more details.
Tefal ActiFry Original Plus: Everything you need to know
Tefal is an established brand that has been going for 60 years. As the story goes, in 1956 keen fisherman and Tefal inventor Marc Gregoire realised the benefits of using a non-stick coating on his fishing line. His wife then suggested he apply the same technology to kitchen pans to stop food from sticking. Shortly after, he designed Tefal’s first non-stick coating on a pan and the rest they say is history. As well as ActiFry the company now produces a wide range of ergonomic household equipment including non-stick frying pans and steam irons.
Over on the Tefal website, we’ve found up to 14 air fryer models available – all in varying shapes and sizes. As well as cooking convenience foods such as chips, you can use them to prepare casseroles, risottos and curries for a delicious home-cooked experience. Here are a few key features of the Tefal ActiFry Original Plus that are worth noting:
Size: Launched in 2014, the Tefal ActiFry Original Plus is effectively a Tefal ActiFry Original with a bigger capacity - 1.2kg versus 1kg. While the Original will allow you to make up to four portions, the Original Plus will take it up to five. For a family of six however, you may want to cast your eyes on the ActiFry Original Family, which has a 1.5kg capacity and a larger steam-free viewing window.
Design: It’s space saving 43 x 31 x 24 cm body is discreet enough for tight worktop spaces and it comes with dishwasher safe parts including the lid, bowl and stirring paddle, for easy cleaning.
Clever features: The ActiFry Original Plus includes a patented hot air pulse system and stirring paddle to ensure your food is crisped well on all sides, with no pre-heating, stirring or mixing by hand required. It features a timer to let you know when your meal is ready, while a large steam-free transparent lid makes it easy to see how your food is doing without you having to open the lid and disturb the process.
Tefal ActiFry Original Plus: the final word
If you want to have a go at cooking traditionally fried foods such as soy and sesame salmon or chicken Tikka Masala without the added oil, this device could just provide the healthy alternative you desire. At sale prices, the Tefal ActiFry Original Plus shouldn't be missed.
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TechRadar is scouring every retailer and rounding up all the top deals over the Black Friday period, and we’ve put all the best Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals in easy-to-navigate articles to help you find the bargains you’re looking for.
