De'Longhi MultiFry EXTRA FH1363 - multi cooker

We purchased this oct 2015 two years on I was looking for a pan replacement as our handle rust locks in place. The other day it released while hot and droppped back on my hand. So we handle it with a oven glove. Other than that it’s brilliant we use oil spray not spray light as it ruins Teflon. If we could get a replacement handle or pan we be really happy but we can’t seem to find them.

Fabulous. Convert after the Tefal Actifry. A lot more sturdy

Very handy, well made, good delivery

It is noisy but does what I need. I wasn't sure it would - the recipes and instructions don't cover scampi and chips and the more basic things I do, but with a little experimentation it works easily to achieve my goals. Also much easier to clean than my old deep fat fryer and doesn't leave oil everywhere.

Love it, cooks quicker than the actifry and more versatile as it has the base heated element.

BRILL EXTRA LARGE FOR A FAMILY

I had a black Actifry and after needing many spares to replace broken parts (including 2 paddles and a lid) it packed in, ceasing to rotate its paddle, a week after I spent £25 on the new lid. I'm mentioning this as it was the situation that caused me to buy the Multifry as a replacement (there was no way I was having another Actifry after the bother I'd had).The first thing that struck me on taking the Multifry out of the box was that it was of much sturdier construction that the Actifry.Secondly it had double-heating action, with a lower element like that of a kettle in the base. You use both that and the normal circulating hot air from a fan and element for most things.I've immediately found a couple of problems, however. Firstly the paddle doesn't have a locking device to push down when using but the result is the opposite of what you might think. The paddle pushes on over a plastic central spine by means of a metal clip inside the paddle's centre but you have to locate it properly before pressing it home, which would not be simple for the elderly or those with arthritis in their fingers. Worse still, the same applies to taking it off. It takes a good deal of pulling and there's nothing to grip but two indentations. Try gripping them when they're covered with oil. Once again this is no good for old folks or those with limited finger-mobility. Even my wife could not pull it off. Now that is two serious design flaws in one part.Another thing that isn't a fault but should be mentioned is that the paddle doesn't start rotating until about 5 minutes after you switch the unit on.The recipe book that comes in the box isn't a patch on that with the Actifry, being a black and white, no illustration affair comprising only a few English pages and around 10 recipes. If you go to the company web site on your smart-phone, however, you can down load a 250 recipe colour book but who wants to have to go to their phone and print out or write down a recipe every time? Personally I don't even have a smart phone and even if I did, when paying £130 I would expect that larger recipe book to be included in glossy, colour, hard copy format.I have given this a provisional rating as so much depends on how it lasts in use. I intend to update it with a comment if anything untoward happens, as it did with the Actifry, including total death, before it was 2 years old.On the bright side, the Multifry cooks "healthy" low-fat chip every bit as nicely as the Actifry. Making cheesy chips by putting in some grated cheese at the last minute, however, causes the chips to stick together in massive clumps which I don't remember happening with the Actifry.Addition 18/10/14: I forgot to mention a down-side - the removable timer display at the front bottom of the unit is tiny, difficult to read, difficult to set in situ, difficult to remove and difficult to put back in. Also the paddle has quickly discoloured to a sort of deep green. It has not cooked anything green or been in the dishwasher. It also (in the so-called recipe book) recommends use of the lower element (under the pan) cooking fish fillets but this overcooks, giving the bottom of the fillet a hard texture as if the skin were still on.

This is my second low-fat fryer. The first one was a Tefal Actify, which did an OK job of frying stuff, but was very very flimsy, especially the plastic lid, and lasted little more than a year before the catches broke off the lid and it would not hold shut.I made it go on for a further six months by placing a heavy object on the lid to keep it closed, then the motor went up in a puff of smoke and I took it to the tip. When I had looked for a replacement lid, firstly they were over £30 (rip off for a bit of clear plastic) and secondly nobody had one in stock anyway.The DeLonghi fryer is a far more solid affair, even the lid, and looks as though it will last quite a few years (six months gone so far, with no problem at all). I must admit I didn't buy it from Amazon, but got mine in a sale at Lakeland where it was reduced in a price match to £129, which is a far better price, so check there if you're thinking of buying one.On the cooking side, the Delonghi is far better than the Tefal too.The cooking bowl is about twice the size of the Tefal, which means that I've never had it anywhere near full. And this model has a dual heating system - hot air blown down from the top combined with a heating element underneath the bowl - which gives crisper chips and is slightly quicker. It takes 25 to 30 minutes to do a large serving of chips for two (four large potatoes) which is not bad.If you've never tried one, it's easy to use:First cut your potatoes into chips, or whatever shape you fancy. I now do little cubes (about half an inch/one cm) instead of chips as you get more golden brown crunchy corners, which we like, but do experiment with what you fancy.Rinse under the tap and pat dry with kitchen towels.Put chips into the fryer, turn on the fryer and activate the bottom heat switch.Leave running for five minutes for the fryer to dry the chips out (important they're dry so they go crispy) then open the lid and add a tablespoon of olive oil.Then just leave it cooking for 20 - 30 minutes or until they're as brown as you want them.Turn the machine off, turn out the chips straight away and eat!There is a timer on the machine but I've never bothered with it as it doesn't turn the machine off so I can't see the point.As I said, it's far sturdier than the Tefal and produces more and better chips. There is a cheaper version of this that doesn't have the bottom heating element, but I think the element makes it cook better, so I'd get this model.Just a note on the chips/potato cubes.The are NOT like proper French fries that have been double fried in deep fat, but then you don't have the trouble and mess of dealing with deep fat frying and you don't have the high fat content of the chips either. A tablespoon of olive oil per panful is pretty healthy I'd say, and we have chips several times a week with the DeLonghi fryer.But they are way way better than oven chips and the like, and better than most chip-shop chips where they single fry them.We love them and I'd recommend you give this fryer a try.