A few months ago, Kristaps introduced the “Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer” hot air fryer and told what possibilities such equipment can provide. As you can read in the review, the impressions were very good, and it is generally a great helper in the kitchen, which will allow you to prepare delicious food even for those who are left-handed in the kitchen or just want to save time.
Taking into account that I had already heard good reviews about hot air fryers or air grills and that the oven finally needs a little rest, it was decided to buy the “Philips Premium Airfryer XXL”. Its volume is 7.3 liters, which is twice as much as the “Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer 3.5L”. Therefore, theoretically, it will not be a problem to cook a whole chicken.
Technical specification
- Weight: 8 kg;
- Volume 7.3 liters;
- Dimensions 43.3 cm x 31.2 cm x 31.5 cm;
- Jauda: 2225 W;
- Working temperature: 40 – 200°C;
- Functions: fat separation technology, Rapid Air technology for crispness, timer, automatic shutdown, buzzer, heat preservation function, quick heating, preset cooking programs, QuickQlean technology for quick and convenient washing of the device;
- Materials: plastic, non-stick coating;
- Model: HD9650/90
Appearance, equipment, management
The Philips Premium Airfryer XXL is one of the largest air fryers available, if not the largest. Therefore, it should be expected that it will take more space, about 1.5 coffee machines. Its volume reaches 7.3 liters, which allows you to cook a whole chicken or, for example, 1.4 kg of French fries without any problems. The manufacturer states that with the help of the device it is possible to prepare food for a whole family, or up to six portions.
The fryer itself is made of plastic. The material inside is non-stick and extremely easy to wash, which pleasantly surprised me. On the other hand, there are rubber feet at the bottom of the device, which ensure that it stays firmly on the surface. Similar to the case of the Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer, the Philips hot air fryer has a heating element built into the top, above which there is a fan that blows hot air onto the food.
The basic set of “Philips Premium Airfryer XXL” includes one food tray – a strainer that is placed at the bottom of the food container. It serves for fat separation and air circulation. Therefore, such a set allows you to cook one dish at a time. This is a certain drawback when compared to the same “Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer 3.5L”, which also comes with a grate that allows you to cook a meal in two layers and thus get two ready meals at the same time. However, in the case of Philips, this shortcoming is compensated very well, in my opinion, by the dimensions of the container.
The device is equipped with an LED display, with smaller buttons located along the edges, with the help of which you can manually set the cooking time, temperature, as well as choose one of the five pre-set cooking programs (fries, meat, fish, whole chicken and chicken drumsticks). On the other hand, with the large rotary knob, it is possible to start cooking, as well as to adjust the cooking time and temperature as needed.
It should be noted that unlike the Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer, the Philips Premium Airfryer XXL does not offer control of the device via a mobile app. True, the device has a companion app, more on that later.
What features does the Philips Premium Airfryer XXL offer?
Considering their characteristics and the principle of operation, hot air fryers can be considered as a mini oven. But all the salt, why they seem so attractive and are great helpers in the kitchen, lies precisely in the speed of food preparation and, to hide there, often also in quality.
“Philips Premium Airfryer XXL” is equipped with several functions that allow you to quickly cook tasty, crispy, fat-free and all-round enjoyable food. How is this achieved?
- The device has a degreasing function that separates and collects excess fat, reducing its volume by up to 90%. Therefore, the prepared food is healthier.
- The built-in “Rapid Air” technology is of great importance – it creates seven times more air flow, making the food crispier in this way.
- Another good thing is the keep-warm function – while the food is in the fryer, it will stay warm for up to 30 minutes, allowing you to serve it at a convenient time.
- Of course, speed is also of great importance – “Philips Premium Airfryer XXL” will cook food on average 1.5 times faster than in a conventional oven. This is thanks to instant heating and fast airflow technology.
Food preparation
Preparing food with the “Philips Premium Airfryer XXL” is quite simple and will allow you to cook delicious food even for those who don’t need it. It is important that the fryer does not need to be preheated – it can be used immediately after turning it on. On the other hand, when the food is ready, the device will notify you with a sound signal and turn off automatically.
The first experimental dish we decided to cook in this fryer was marinated chicken wings. We sprayed a little oil, and inside the container. As it usually happens the first time, there was not much confidence that everything would work out and that the chicken would be really ready. But no disappointment. The wings arrived on the plate ready, crispy, juicy, but at the same time without the greasy fat that usually comes with cooking them in a pan.
After such a meal, of course, you also want something sweet, so later we decided to fry the frozen buns in the deep fryer. We set the cooking time and temperature indicated on the package and watched what would happen. This time, however, we concluded that the buns were fried a little more than we would like. This means that when frying this type of product with the Philips Premium Airfryer XXL, it is advisable to remove a few minutes from the intended cooking time. We made sure of this on other occasions as well.
Hazelnut chocolate buns turned out to be very tasty. Baked for a shorter time, they tasted even better.
The other day we made french fries in the deep fryer. To make them even more crispy, it is important to stir them from time to time. I’ll tell you how it is to get good fries, you don’t have to go to “McDonald” anymore!
The manufacturer emphasizes that it is also possible to cook a whole chicken in the Philips Premium Airfryer XXL. Since we usually bake a whole chicken in the oven for about 2.5 hours, there was a lot of curiosity about how and how quickly the Philips fryer would cope with this task. We sprinkled with spices, put a little oil on top and put it inside the container. The chicken was baked in it for about an hour, which is a fat plus. We checked the progress from time to time, turned the chicken to one side, the other side. The end result was good, maybe a little, a little bit longer. True, the outside of the chicken was very crispy and you could clearly feel that there was less oil and fat.
Since pizza is very popular in our house, we wanted to try baking it in the “Philips Premium Airfryer XXL” fryer. It has room for a pizza with a diameter of about 20 cm. When cooking from the flour mixture, you get about four such pizzas. We put the pizza dough, ingredients on a strainer, sprinkled a little oil on top and baked for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. In all cases, the result was pleasing – the pizza was neither burnt nor undercooked, but at the same time it was firm and juicy. Like from a pizzeria! I will note that in addition to the standard set, it is also possible to buy a pizza tray, which will perhaps make it easier to bake a pizza. I managed very well without it.
The fat and oil left over from the food accumulates at the bottom of the dish, clearly showing one of the best features of the fryer – fat separation. It is also important that the food container and all other removable parts, including the strainer, can be washed very easily thanks to the non-stick material with which they are covered. I wash by hand, but you can safely entrust it to the dishwasher.
In addition to cooking, I would like to mention that the basic set of “Philips Premium Airfryer XXL” can be purchased separately various accessories, which will allow you to expand the use of the fryer and allow you to cook even more dishes. For example, a pizza tray, accessories for preparing snacks, etc
Mobile app – recipes for different tastes and more
The Philips Premium Airfryer XXL also comes with a companion app called NutriU. True, it does not provide as many options as the next Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer, including device control. The application offers many different recipes – both more familiar and more exotic. Therefore, everyone will be able to find the best for their taste buds, prepare an unprecedented dish and expand the use of the fryer.
You can search for recipes by type of meal, product categories or by typing the name of the product in the search box. When opening the selected recipe, the user can also get acquainted with the nutritional value of the meal, as well as add personal notes. The preparation process is shown step by step, supplemented by pictures. If you like the recipe, the user can also save it and make a compilation of your favorite recipes in the app.
Also, the NutriU app contains useful articles on cooking tips, tips, diet planning recommendations and all other useful information that a fryer user needs to know. Similar to recipes, these articles can also be saved.
Conclusion – a great helper in the kitchen
“Philips Premium Airfryer XXL” and hot air fryers as such show that soon a person will no longer have to do anything in the kitchen, because the devices will do everything themselves. Philips Premium Airfryer XXL is very easy to use and requires very little effort to have a delicious meal in no time. Personally, I was most impressed by the speed, quality, and healthfulness of food preparation. Therefore, it can be said that the deep fryer has almost completely replaced the oven.
The volume of the Philips Premium Airfryer XXL is 7.3 liters, which is more suitable for a larger family than a two-person household. However, in my case, this is not a disadvantage at all. If the cooked meal is left over, it can be conveniently and quickly heated in the deep fryer or several dishes can be prepared at the same time.
The meal with this device turns out to be really tasty, there is a pleasant crispiness, especially in the case of fries. At the same time, the inside of the food is not dry, as one would expect, but on the contrary – juicy, which could be very well tasted in the meat and pizza.
Compared to the “Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer” reviewed by Kristaps, I would like the “Philips” fryer to be a little smarter. For example, it could be operated and controlled via an app. This, in my opinion, is very convenient in the sense that you don’t even have to physically be next to the device and you can basically cook food from another room.
In terms of price and availability, I use the Philips Premium Airfryer XXL model HD9650/90. It is available in many popular online stores (Philips.lv, Tet.lv, 1a.lv etc.) and at the time of writing this article can be purchased in the price range from 299 to 350 euros.
