DR-KAF002

I am a blog writer for food and beverage. My absolute two favorite activities in this world are to write and to eat. I like to explore much more and learning new things. This time, I tried dreo air fryer! Air fryers have found their way into many kitchens within the past year. They offer a fast and convenient way to cook a variety of foods via the circulation of hot air. That way, you can have crispy, delicious air-fried food without the extra calories from oil. What's not to love? First Impression- Super Compact !!! The Dreo air fryer has a sleek and compact design with a great punch of power when it comes to cooking food. Its small size doesn’t take up too much counter space and its presets make it incredibly easy to use. I tried my hand at cooking five different recipes in the Dreo air fryer- two vegetables, an appetizer, a frozen food, and a dessert. Here is how they turned out. Mini Diced Potatoes There is a recipe in the cookbook that comes with the air fryer on page 3 for breakfast potatoes. The ones I made are very similar. The main difference is that I used mini potatoes and diced them into cubes instead of wedges. I used all of the seasonings that were listed in the recipe in the book- oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. I also added dried oregano and fresh rosemary. After coating the diced potatoes in the oil and seasonings, I arranged them in a single layer in the air fryer basket. It’s important to not overfill the basket to ensure that all of the contents cook evenly. I used the French fry preset which was 380 degrees Fahrenheit. Since they were small, the potatoes only needed about 15 minutes to cook to a beautiful golden brown. The potatoes were crispy and crunchy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. It was the perfect ratio. I was very impressed with how quickly the air fryer was able to cook them as well. Chopped Brussel Sprouts Many vegetables cook amazingly in an air fryer and brussels sprouts are one of my favorites to make. Like potatoes, brussels sprouts are also a great side dish, but they are much healthier. I began by cutting four brussels sprouts into quarters and then dicing each of them into bite-sized pieces. The leaves tend to separate, which is fine. Those are the bits that end up becoming the crispiest. I then tossed the chopped sprouts in a bit of olive oil and seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and dried oregano. The vegetable preset cooked the sprouts at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. I set the timer for 5 minutes and then cooked them for an additional 4 minutes. A feature that I really like about the Dreo air fryer is that a few of the presets remind you to remove the basket to shake it. This helped all of the brussels sprouts to achieve a delightful crunch. I served them with crumbled feta cheese on top. Mini Pizza Bagels Air fryers are excellent for cooking frozen foods and the Dreo brand is no exception. I was hungry for something that was quick and easy but didn’t want to have to assemble anything. It would be really easy to make your own mini pizza bagels, but I purchased these in the frozen section at my local grocery store. They were really easy to arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cooked very quickly. I cooked them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 8 minutes. There was no need to wait for the air fryer to preheat before putting them in. They were the perfect snack to accompany a Friday night of binge-watching shows on Discovery Plus. Jalapeño Buttons Something that I really love about air fryers is that they can cook foods that are typically deep-fried in oil. They still come out very crispy and golden-brown but without the extra grease. I made homemade jalapeño buttons by slicing one jalapeño pepper into slices that were about a quarter of an inch thick. Next, I coated each of the slices in a dredge of flour, followed by a dip in an egg wash, and then finished with a coating in breadcrumbs. Before placing the buttons in the air fryer basket, I sprayed it with an olive oil cooking spray. Also, a tip to get any air-fried food extra crispy is to spray them with that same cooking spray, but don't overdo it. I air-fried the jalapeño buttons at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes. They were so easy to make and tasted better than ones you could buy at a restaurant. They were the perfect appetizer! Chocolate Chip and Coconut Shortbread Cookies This recipe is from page 8 of the cookbook. The title of it is “Cranberry Cookies,” but I didn’t have any dried cranberries in my kitchen. I used shredded coconut and chocolate chips instead. The only other ingredients were butter, powdered sugar, an egg yolk, flour, and a pinch of salt. After mixing everything together, the dough needs to be rolled into a log in plastic wrap and put in the freezer to harden. I air-fried the cookies at 305 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. I checked them about every 5 minutes to make sure they weren't meshing together. The cookies in the photo in the cookbook do not look like what the end result was, but they were still delicious. They are shortbread cookies, so they are very crumbly and buttery. Serve them as a dessert after dinner, or have them with coffee in the morning! I really enjoyed using the Dreo air fryer. The foods that I made turned out great. The basket and tray insert are also very easy to clean. There is such a wide variety of recipes that can be made in a short amount of time and they are sure to impress your family and friends.

People have always highly recommended air fryers since I am not particularly great at cooking, and I wish I got one sooner! I have overcooked, undercooked, and straight-up burnt food so many times I can’t even count. But with this air fryer and the extensive recipe book, every single meal I have made has tasted amazing. I even decided to branch out, get brave, and try some new recipes on my own. This air fryer, in particular, is also the perfect size for me. I only live with my boyfriend, so the portion sizes are perfect for us. The Dreo air fryer only takes up a little bit of counter space and stands about a foot and a half tall, which is perfect for a smaller apartment. It even fits nicely inside the cabinet, so it doesn’t take up space when I am not using it. The interesting part about an air fryer is that they don’t even really need to be in the kitchen. As long as you have an outlet, you can make these full and delicious meals. I wish I had one when I was living in the dorm rooms in college! As a beginner home cook, this air fryer is great for making quick, easy, and healthy meals. 1. Lemon Pepper Shrimp Whenever I go to a hot wings restaurant, I always go for lemon pepper wings, fries, and anything else lemon pepper flavored. So, it’s no surprise that when I found this recipe for lemon pepper shrimp, I just had to try it. The lemon pepper flavored marinated perfectly into the fresh and crunchy shrimp and it was truly fantastic. The shrimp made for a light entree that would be perfect for a dinner where you may have had a big lunch earlier in the day. I truly could not recommend this dish more. I put it with a side of some white rice and boiled broccoli for a clean, healthy, and balanced meal. The lemon pepper shrimp had a nice tangy flavor that was not too salty like some of the lemon pepper wings that the restaurants serve, but salt can also be adjusted to personal preference. The flavor and texture of the shrimp are just so delicious I think even those who do not typically enjoy seafood would like this dish. 2. French Fries I have always thought homemade french fries would be very difficult to make since I thought they required flour, cornstarch, or some other ingredients, and the idea of deep-frying was always terrifying to me. But when I saw that there was a recipe for homemade french fries in the recipe book, and all it required was a potato and some spices, I knew I had to try it. I was interested to see that I would soak the potatoes in water, which I assume was to get rid of the starch. I would like to make it once without soaking the french fries to see if it actually makes a difference. These french fries overall exceeded all expectations. They came out crispy and not too oily, which I really liked! Sometimes french fries at restaurants are just too oily, and they even make my skin break out if I eat too many, but these were just perfect. I even left the skin on, and the fries looked very professional and rustic. I also hardly used any oil, which was exciting since it was so crispy and delicious even without needing to deep fry the french fries. I am excited to add french fries to all of my home-cooked cheeseburger meals and even as a quick and easy snack. 3. Fried Tofu I love ordering fried tofu at Chinese restaurants, so I was thrilled to try cooking them in my new air fryer! I followed the instructions given in the recipe book, and I cut them up into little cubes and added soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and paprika, and sprayed it with avocado oil before putting them into the air fryer. Before I knew it, the tofu was finished and it was great! I will even make this as a light snack if I get hungry. The only change I would make to the recipe next time would be not to add sesame seeds. The sesame seeds added an excellent flavor to the tofu, but it was not strong enough to be worth all of the seeds stuck between my teeth. Now that I know the timings for perfect fried tofu, I will try making them plain with just a bit of salt and pepper like the Thai restaurants do and make a peanut sauce out of peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce to dip the tofu into. This is a great recipe for anyone who may be gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, or really just anyone who enjoys a good tofu dish. 4. Salt and Pepper Scallops As a lover of all seafood, I was definitely determined to find a way to make scallops in the air fryer. Whenever I go to a seafood restaurant, my go-to order is always a bed of pan-fried scallops in garlic and butter, but I wanted to find a healthier, cheaper way to make these at home. I made two batches of scallops by spraying them with avocado oil spray and lightly seasoning them with salt and pepper. I put the first batch of scallops in for 8 minutes at 400 degrees, which was a recipe I found online, and then I flipped them at the halfway mark. Unfortunately, this first batch of scallops came out slightly over cooked and could be considered cooked medium, so then I altered the timings just a bit to 6 minutes. These scallops were perfect! They were not too rare or overcooked, and they were perfectly cooked medium-rare. At the time, I did not feel like adding garlic or butter to it, but I imagine it would be delicious to drizzle some chopped garlic and butter over the top of these scallops. These scallops came out looking professional, and I could see myself making them next time I have people over for dinner. I’m very happy with this Air Fryer and highly recommend it.

We have always loved the idea of an air fryer but have tried a couple (a $40 one that was just smaller than this and a $300 huge one that has other settings and abilities) and were just never thrilled with the results. They usually took just as long as the oven to cook and the one just didn't have enough space for more than one portion. They also didn't cook fries and nuggets at the same time proportionally - one would always take vastly longer than the other. Our friend moved in with us for a while and brought his air fryer. We fell in love. Once he found his fiance and moved out, he took it with him and we went back to ours. Enevitably, we were unhappy and decided it was time to just purchase the same one he had. 😅 We love this air fryer. It cooks fast and evenly. It beeps and the halfway point so you can shake it and get a better result. It is ergonomic, easy to clean, and easy to use. The only problem I have ever had with it in the couple years he was with us was that it randomly changed to Celsius instead of Fahrenheit somehow. The instructions we had didn't tell us how to fix it. We found the answer online, it was a series of button pushing and once done, was back to normal. It never happened again but the instructions are online somewhere in case it happens to you!

A simple design with cooking functions on the top. Very quiet and easy to clean. Make sure you pre-heat at max temp for 15 min to release the plastic gases and then clean it with soap & water before cooking anything. Not the best intuitive initerface. You have to toggle through all the functions in order to pick the one you want. If you miss it you need to go though all the menu items again. It woiuld be better just to touch the function you want, like you touch the changing the temp and time. Also, the controls are sensitive. I brushed against one and it started. There is no "stop" button, just a pause button. With pause you can't change anything. All you can do is continue. NOWHERE in the user manual does it say how to STOP or RESET. I'm not kidding. I had to do an internet search to see how to stop a function. It's simple. Hold the pause button down for 3 seconds. But the manual does not state this.

Wow - we love it. Very easy to use. We use it on almost everything now... rice, hamburgers, fish fillers, tater tots, more. Trick - add spray of oil at start, at shake / halfway. 💕💕♥️♥️♥️❤️♥️ we use 380-385° 14 or 15 min for almost everything. No preheat. Uses alot less oil than pan frying. Good capacity for 2 adults plus one kid.

I have been looking into getting an air fryer for the past year, and I was undecided about whether to get one in the oven style or get one with a basket since I wasn’t sure which would be better. I ended up going with this Dreo Air Fryer with the basket, and let me tell you, it is AMAZING! If you are in the same situation, you should definitely go for the basket. The basket is big enough to make dinner for me and my mom, and the air fryer itself is very user-friendly with easy-to-understand cooking functions. The air fryer is about a foot long and fits perfectly on my countertop. It is short enough so that it does not bump the bottom of any cabinets, but yet it still does not compromise the size of the basket. With that said, if you are looking for a fantastic, easy-to-use air fryer, this is it! I also tried a couple of the recipes from the recipe book that came with the air fryer, and I was surprised to see how many different types of food you can make with this simple machine. I would have thought many of the recipes needed to be made with a pan, oven, or grill, but every recipe I tried was absolutely delicious (and some even tasted better than if I had made the how I usually would have)! Of the recipes that I have made with this air fryer, my top five favorite recipes would be the bacon, french fries, buffalo chicken wings, kale chips, and the grilled cheese sandwich. 1. Bacon Seriously, it is absolutely ridiculous that I ever fried bacon in a pan. The air fryer bacon is a million times better tasting than bacon from a pan. This bacon is crispy and crunchy, but it does not have that burnt taste that the pan gives. It is also obviously far better than chewy and floppy microwaved bacon. Honestly, I can never go back to making bacon in a pan ever again. Besides having a superior taste, the air fryer bacon does not spray everywhere while it is cooking. This means...no more oil burns all over your arms!!! Now, whenever I want a quick and easy breakfast, I just put a couple of slices of bacon into the air fryer for 8 minutes, and they come out flawless. If you make bacon often, I would suggest buying this air fryer just to make breakfast. 2. Buffalo Chicken Wings Oh boy. The air fryer buffalo chicken wings were amazing!!! Much better than even most restaurants. I hate soggy chicken wings that are just slathered in sauce, but the air fryer made the crispiest chicken skin. Since they are homemade, the quality of chicken is also much better than if you were to get frozen wings or restaurant wings. With the air fryer, I had plump, juicy buffalo chicken wings that were miles better than any wings I have ever had. Of course the benefit of making your own wings is that you can also choose your favorite brand of buffalo wings sauce. These buffalo chicken wings were so good that I even tried to make them with cauliflower and WOW they were good. 3. Kale Chips Ok, so I know what you are thinking. Yuck kale. But no! Hear me out! Kale chips are healthy, nutritious, and seriously some of my favorite chips out there. You can choose how much oil, salt, and seasoning you want on your kale chips, making them extremely healthy. Plus kale is a superfood. I don’t usually like kale, but kale chips are delicious! Kale chips are also very expensive to buy a small amount at stores like Whole Foods or Erewhon, but if you make them at home, they are just a fraction of the price for much more chips. My family and I are all addicted to these kale chips. Seriously, they are so good. If you are looking for a fail safe recipe, definitely make these. 4. Grilled Cheese Sandwich I didn’t think you could make a grill cheese sandwich in the air fryer, so I was totally intrigued when I saw it on the recipes list. I just had to give it a try, and surprise surprise, it was delicious just like all of the other recipes! The cheese was perfectly melted and the bread was had a great crunch and texture. Since the air fryer ‘fries’ 360 degrees around the food, I did not have to flip the grilled cheese or worry about one side burning, which make for a quick and easy lunch or snack. If you need to pack your kids lunch, this air fryer is great for quick on the go meals.

This is a very sharp looking and easy to use Air Fryer. I 'upgraded' from an older AF with the same capacity that just had 2 knobs for temp and time. This one has a digital control panel on the top with several presets. It's much smaller on the outside, and *very* quiet. Instead of a basket that lifts out, it has a 'grate' that sits in the bottom for airflow. Super easy to clean - dishwasher safe, but I don't even bother with that, just a little soap and water, quick and easy. Comes with 50 recipes if you need that kind of thing. Bonus you can register it and extend the warranty to 5 years (no cost). And by all accounts, they are very responsive to inquiries. The only negatives are (1) there are silicon spacers on the grate, but no spares, so if you lose them you might be out of luck (maybe customer support will replace them?); and (2) the grate just sits in the bottom so you have to be careful if you 'pour' out whatever you've cooked (like fries or onion rings) -- that grate will come falling out too and is very very hot, can burn you if you aren't expecting it. But still it's an awesome Air Fryer for 1-3 people, small, nice looking, and quiet. I bought two more for friends. ** UPDATE ** OK I've had this for about 6 months and I still love it! Use it for something or other several times a week. After reading some of the negative reviews I decided to address a few things: 1) to get to 450deg you have to choose the 'steak' setting. it's that simple. otherwise it limits at 400. Same for preheat (which i use to dry it after washing) - choose 'steak' if you want to get the extra minute and/or higher temp. 2) the controls can be a little confusing at first, but once you understand them it's pretty simple. first select the preset you want, or preheat if you want to preheat (NOT REQUIRED as some people seem to think). press on/off to accept, then on/off again to start (that's the confusing part - you have to press twice for the selection to actually 'take') - it will beep a few times so you know it is actually started. THEN you can change adjust time/temp to suit your needs. (most of the time i just use the default, start it, then adjust the time/temp to suit; but if you cook a lot of different things regularly the presets can be handy) 3) press the button on the handle to remove the basket. the AF will pause, then resume where you left off when you put it back in. make sure it's all the way in so it starts/restarts. i thought my first one broke after a week because apparently i didn't push it all the way in; now i have an extra lol. 4) if you leave the basket out for a while it will shut off automatically. if you want to close it but turn it off, press off/on TWICE - once will change it to OFF, twice will EXECUTE that selection. the 'twice' thing can be confusing, but it keeps you from accidentally changing something or turning it off when you don't want to. even now i *still* sometimes forget to press the start button twice, i'll think i started it and then realize i'm not hearing anything (and it is very quiet), realize i need to actually start it. Once you nail the controls it's a super AF for people who want something that looks sharp, is small, and easy to clean. Just watch out when you empty it, the rack will come out if you don't hold it there with a fork or something, and it is very hot of course. here's a nifty "recipe": like croutons (eg, for a salad)? take a decent bagel (i like einsteins 'everything' bagels for this), cut or tear it into chunks, throw them in the AF at 400 until they are browned to suit. soooo good, can make a whole bagel's worth and just reheat later. * OK so i've had this for 18 months and counting now. still love it, use it all the time. usually just drop the basket the grate in the dishwasher with the spacers on. i guess technically if you wanted to be super hygienic about it you would remove the spacers. at any rate, i noticed that at least one of the spacers was starting to degrade and come off... ...so the gist is that DREO customer support was on it. after i verified my order (screenshot of amzn invoice), they are sending me a new set of spacers. they aren't sold on their site, so this was really great! * (incidentally i just received their new 'chefmaker combi fryer' today (on sale 40% off) and can't wait to add that to my counter!)

How to choose a good air fryer? A good air fryer is a convenient appliance that you can use to create traditionally deep fried foods without the added hassle of dealing with a deep fryer, or the added calories of all that oil. An air fryer is essentially a small countertop oven that heats up very quickly and blows hot air around the food to cook it evenly. A couple of good choices for an air fryer are the DREO and the Ninja AF101. Both of these provide a lot of value for the price, but when comparing the two, they perform quite differently. Features Difference Using these two air fryers is quite a bit different. The DREO has a beautiful top display that shows the time and temperature, while the Ninja has a small front display that switches between temp and time. The DREO also shuts off the fan when you pull out the basket to check or shake the food, while the Ninja keeps blowing. Also, the DREO is whisper quiet (about 55 decibels), whereas the Ninja is much noisier (about 70 decibels). On the counter, the Ninja is slightly larger than the DREO’s sleek, compact design. Cooking Results Comparing features and hardware user experience is fine, but the ultimate test of any cooking appliance is the food it can create. I tested several foods with these units running side-by-side, and here are the results. Steak The secret to a good steak is getting a nice sear on the outside while leaving the inside tender and juicy. My first pass with steak yielded OK results from both units, but was honestly a little lackluster. I ran both air fryers at 400° and started taking temperatures at 6 minutes. At that point, the Ninja was already to a medium-well temperature. The DREO ran for 8 minutes before reaching medium rare. The sear on both of these steaks was disappointing, but then I remembered that the DREO can go up to 450°, so I made another pass, and ended up with a much better steak. Since the Ninja has a lower temperature range, the DREO won this round easily. Brussels Sprouts I usually roast Brussels in the oven for half an hour. Both of the air fryers cooked these up in way less time. I set both air fryers to 390° for 15 minutes. At the halfway point, they were both done. In the case of the Ninja, they were over done. I think the Ninja is just more harsh on the food. The DREO had clearly better results for this side dish. Chicken and Broccoli Cooking chicken is similar to steak in that you want a good sear. The main difference is that you want to cook the chicken all the way through. I’m glad to say that both air fryers produced tasty and juicy chicken at 390° for only about 8 minutes. The broccoli default time on the DREO is 300° for 10 minutes, which produced great results for both the DREO and the Ninja. I’d say this dish was a tie between the two air fryers. Banana Chips One interesting feature for both machines is the dehydrate function. The Ninja has a bit of a leg up for this feature, because it comes with an extra rack so that you can lay out two layers of food to dehydrate, making the most of the small space in the 4 quart basket. After 10 hours at 135°, the bananas were still a bit chewy, but super sweet and tasty. I’d call it a draw between the two air fryers for this snack, also. Chicken Wings This dish was the ultimate test. The one and only reason I keep my deep fryer is to make Buffalo chicken wings. Deep frying provides a signature crispy skin with juicy, tender meat inside. For this test, I used the DREO chicken wing preset of 380° for 20 minutes. However, the Ninja can’t select 380°, because it changes in 15° increments for some reason, so I used 390° for 20 minutes. Here’s the final results without and with sauce. While the Ninja produced slightly crispier wings than the DREO, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with these results, so I did a follow up test with the DREO. I cooked this drumstick at 390° for 20 minutes, and then finished it at 450° for 3 minutes to crisp the skin. Once again, I didn’t repeat this with the Ninja, because it can not go above 400°. This was much closer to a deep fried wing, and with a little tinkering on the technique, I’m pretty sure I could put away my deep fryer for good. Conclusion With so many options on the market, it can be difficult to choose the air fryer that’s right for you. These two options are both highly rated on Amazon, but with a few days of hands-on use, it’s clear that the DREO just outstrips the Ninja AF101 at every turn. Its sleek design, quiet fan, and consistently better results make it a clear choice between these two, and it’s retail price of $89.99 compared to the Ninja’s $119.99 offers way more value.