I made the famous Bristol Chef takeaway in a Philips air fryer which is cheaper than the Ninja brand

I love takeout, but recently there have been some signs that I need to stop. I can feel and see the effects of my metabolism slowing down as I watch the money quickly leave my bank account as soon as I get paid.

My next sign was the need to replace my air fryer, I previously owned a small unknown brand on eBay that could only make a small batch of fries every 20 minutes. To upgrade my kitchen, I was keen to buy a new high-tech air fryer that looked stylish and could make large portions of food in a quick amount of time.

Most air fryers rave and rave about the Ninja brand, but it’s way too expensive for my budget. However, I found this Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer on sale for £149, down from £219.99, which I thought was a great deal. After more research I found the Philips Rapid Air Technology Dual Basket Air Fryer for just £139.99 at John Lewis, its stylish charcoal gray and gold color caught my eye as well as the touch screen controls.

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Despite the Ninja being popular, Philips is the original inventor of the air fryer. The Philips fryer is designed to balance meals just the way you like them, either crispy, tender and evenly cooked.

It comes with 2-drawer air fryer, which is perfect for large families: the large drawer is for mains, and the smaller drawer is for sides, vegetables and snacks. The air fryer promises no more burning or undercooking and comes with very easy to follow instructions.

My first action when I got the air fryer was to make a healthy version of an authentic Chinese dish. In a classic Gen-Z move, I headed straight to TikTok, where I came across Bristol-born chef Dean Edwards, who has a ‘fakeaway’ series on the app.

Dean burst onto the scene in 2006 when he came second on the BBC’s MasterChef. He’s known for cooking on Lorraine and ITV’s This Morning, but now he’s helping viewers on his social media channel make the best dishes inspired by the dishes he makes in an air fryer. . I was so mesmerized by the rich burgundy and crispy looking beef that I had to try his recipe anyway, the beef being so expensive I made crispy shredded chicken instead.

After lightly seasoning, cutting and coating 5 chicken breasts in egg and cornmeal, I stuck them in both air fryer pulls. To be honest, I didn’t read the instructions at first, the screen seemed pretty simple to follow because the settings were so easy to read.

I pressed the power button, followed by the drawer number and then the type of food I was cooking. The settings have a chicken sign so you don’t have to enter the time or temperature yourself. However, I made a serious mistake as only one pan cooked while the other didn’t, after a quick look at the manual it was easily rectified.

While the food was cooking, the car wasn’t too bad, the sound was quite muted and sounded like a very subtle air conditioner. I only checked the chicken once because I put several pieces on top of each other, but if I had spaced them out I wouldn’t have to.

The chicken was cooked to perfection in just 10 minutes, but I let it cook for the recommended time as it maximized the level of crispness and crunch that I didn’t get in a deep fryer. After putting the chicken in the sauce, it kept its coating impressively. I served this dish on a bed of toasted white rice topped with sesame seeds.

Once done, cleanup was quick and easy, you can remove the pan liner from the inside and quickly wipe off any access meat or in my case the cornmeal that was left on the bottom. As an experienced cook who is looking for healthy ways to cook food but still loves that fast food flavour, I recommend the Philips Air Fryer which is currently trending on the John Lewis website.

Customers have given the product a 4.7 star rating, with one person commenting: “Very easy to use and very stylish. It does what it says. Love the color combination. It cooks quickly and takes no time at all. Keep the family happy means a happy life. .”

Another added: “I’ve had air fryers in the past and they were ok. This is by far the best I’ve had. It cooks so well and the food tasted amazing. It cooks our chicken in so little time. It also looks gorgeous and sits so elegantly on the counter. It’s easy to use and I love that it has 2 compartments and you can only use 1 if you reheat I love this and would recommend to everyone.”

Another said: “Although it’s a stylish air fryer I had to return it as the instructions on top of the machine were too poor. It was impossible to read at night or in sunlight. The overall quality is good.”

The Philips Air Fryer comes with personalized recipes in the NutriU app, which gives you step-by-step guidance and hundreds of meals with specific settings for your double basket air fryer. Alternatively, Dean Edwards is selling an Air Fryer recipe book on Amazon for just £16.65, down from £20.