All language subtitles for Air.Fryers.Christmas.Made.Easy.2023.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX

ALEXIS CONRAN: 'It's Christmas!

'Behold, we bring tidings
of comfort and joy.'

I love Christmas. I cannot wait!

I will always get excited
about Christmas.

It's the inner child in me,
I suppose.

'As the big day approaches...'

Christmas makes my every cell fizz.

'..The must-have gadget
on everyone's Christmas list..."

This could be
your Christmas saviour.

This is about to change your world.

"..is the air fryer!’

Suddenly, everyone's got one,
everyone wants one.

They drive my brother dotty
with delight!

It's incredible how quickly
air fryers have conquered

the British kitchen.

'Tonight, we delve into the world
of air fryers

'to find out why everyone's
so obsessed with them...'

Cost-wise, it's brilliant.
They're amazing in terms of speed.

Just the way it can reheat
many different things.

'..And how they could make
all our lives easier

'when cooking the most important
meal of the year.'

You can actually make great
roast potatoes in an air fryer.

Roasted vegetables
in an air fryer are fantastic.

'And Channel 5 didn't just hire me
to do the voice-over -

'I've got a challenge, too.

'To road test
the whole Christmas Day menu

'in an air fryer.'

So, literally everything
we're gonna put on

a Christmas dinner table
is gonna go in there?

Everything.
BEEP

Oh, it's hot!

'With tips for every kind
of Christmas food imaginable,

'will this year's
must-have kitchen bestseller

'be our saviour at Christmas?'

Cheers.
Cheers.

There are lots of ways in which
an air fryer really could be

not the grinch that stole Christmas,

but the gadget
that saved Christmas.

'Twas the night before Christmas
In a home so divine

'Not a creature was stirring
In the candlelight shine

'Except in the kitchen
They were cooking with might

'To deliver great expectations
In the cool winter light.

'Yes, we all have strong
and romantic ideas

'about what should be on
our festive dinner plates.'

I like it to look lovely.
I think that matters.

You know, that the turkey looks
all beautifully brown,

and the roast potatoes
are really just done to a turn -

they're golden, juicy-looking.

Brussels sprouts with chestnuts,
onion, and some lardons as well,

just to give it some flavour.

I'm dotty about a parsnip.

It's got a bit of nuttiness,
it's got sweetness.

I really feel
it's such an underrated,

egregiously overlooked vegetable.

Bread sauce, apple sauce, and gravy
are my top three,

which, on its own,
would be a terrible meal,

but on top of everything else,
it's delicious.

"How do you fancy Christmas dinner?"
they said.

"Where do I sign up?" I asked.

Turkey, gravy, parsnips, mince pies,
the lot. I'm in.

Then they said, "You have to cook
the whole thing yourself

"in one of these",
which, apparently, is an air fryer.

It's the gadget
that everyone's been talking about.

So, tonight, we're gonna be
putting it to the test.

A whole Christmas dinner
in an air fryer.

Could it possibly be
the easiest Christmas dinner ever?

Hi, Miguel. How you doing?
Very good.

'One man who knows his onions
and his sprouts,

'as well as his air fryers,
is chef and author Miguel Barclay.

"He's agreed to show me some hacks
for cooking our Christmas dinner.'

Let's get rid of this.
And we've got our air fryer.

Oh, you want me to wear
one of these, do you?

You wear one of those. I'm gonna
show you what it's all about.

The air fryer is here to stay.

I don't think it's a passing fad,
like one of those grill ovens

or sandwich toasters,
or something like that.

This is functional, and it's useful.

It's making my life easier.

'The stockings were hung
By the chimney with care

'In hopes that St Nicholas
Soon would be there

'With an air fryer humming
A modern display

'To roast sweet morsels
In the soft candles' sway.'

I got one!

I'm so excited!

'The latest research suggests

'that nearly one in two British
households owns an air fryer.

'That's nearly 15 million homes.'

I do have an air fryer, yes.
We use it all the time.

We make, like, chicken skewers,
little drumsticks and stuff

in the air fryer.

We won't be using it at Christmas

because my daughter's
gonna borrow it

cos she's having her in-laws and us,

so she needs two air fryers
to get everything on the go.

'The publicity blurb says that
air fryers offer three advantages

'over conventional cooking methods.

'They use less oil,
so the results have a healthy vibe.

'They cook much faster,
and they are wallet-friendly.

'All sounding pretty positive
so far.

'Running a basic air fryer
will cost you around £55 a year,

'while your electric oven

'will hit you with a bill
seven times that.

'Quite a saving.'

I think they do
a really worthwhile job

and do it very well.

I mean, if they didn't, we would've
fallen out of love with them.

It's a device that is giving you
a healthier option

of how to cook food
that is traditionally deep-fried.

It's all about chips, isn't it?
And stuff like that.

'But now, a whole nation
of amateur chefs on social media

'proves there is far more
to air fryers than just chips.'

Air fryer steaks hit hard, mate.

Mmm!

So I decided to create this festive
air fryer veggie Wellington.

It's the perfect gluten-free
veggie main this Christmas.

Can you make a Christmas cake
in an air fryer?

Yes, you can.

Oh, look how cheesy it is.
Just as good.

Let me show you how to make
mince pies in the air fryer.

'This social media buzz
reflects the fact that in 2023,

'as a nation, we spent a staggering
£112 million on air fryers.

'This Christmas will be
their biggest test yet,

'as people cook their festive food."

For anyone thinking
of getting an air fryer,

where do you start?

When you go online,
it's really obvious to see

that there's so many differences
in size, in price, and capacity,

so it really is worth spending
a bit of time

doing some research to make sure
that the air fryer you want

is right for you
or the person you're buying it for.

My brother, Jack,
bought his first flat this year,

and I said, "What would you like
best as a flat-warming present?"

And he said, "Oh, without question,
an air fryer."

So I kind of compared the market.

'Well, we've done that, too,
by consulting Harry Kind,

'a journalist for Which?

'They test thousands of products
each year,

'air fryers included, and Harry's
looking at three popular brands.'

The number-one thing to consider
is size

because if you are cooking
for a big family,

you're doing a lot of food,

you're gonna want
a massive capacity.

But if it's just yourself,

something medium-sized like this
is pretty good.

It's still pretty big,
you can get your head in,

but that is
the most important thing, is size.

This, for example, is huge.

You can get a whole chicken
in there, a turkey crown.

Some of these will allow you
to put in a tray

so that you have different layers,

but two drawers will be helpful.

That means that you can cook
your roast potatoes

at the same time
as your turkey crown,

at different temperatures,

which is a really good option
for Christmas dinner.

'And Harry knows a thing or two
about air frying festive foods.'

So, it's Christmas morning,

you need something quick and easy
for breakfast

that'll get you
all the way through the day,

and so, air fryer to the rescue
with... eggs and bacon.

Bacon round the outside
of these muffins,

and make sure
that they're watertight

so that the egg cannot escape.

This is gonna get noisy.
BEEP

I'm gonna take the basket out.

We put those just right in there,

and now, the eggs...

into our little saucers.

We'll check them after six minutes.

Let's have a look.

And oh-ho-ho-ho!

There we go.
Perfect Christmas breakfast.

'Breakfast is one thing,

'Christmas dinner
with all the trimmings

'is quite another.

'I'm looking forward
to putting Miguel

'and our new kitchen bestie
to the test.'

I'm expecting a Christmas dinner
more than just to feed you and me.

Yeah. I'd say, yeah,
four to six people, perfect. Yeah?

We've got two big drawers here.

I have to say, I'm kind of
quite taken aback by your optimism.

I'm used to cooking
a Christmas dinner in an oven

that's about this big.
This is a quarter of the size!

A little bit of planning
is all we need. OK, fine.

So, things have to take their turn.
I need to be positive.

I'm gonna be more positive,
and I'm gonna listen to Miguel.

'Spill the beans, then.
What are we cooking?'

Turkey, roast potatoes,
pigs in blankets...

Stuffing.
Stuffing as well?

Yeah. Veg. We might even have room
for Christmas pudding at the end.

I can't see anything
that's gonna trip us up. I can.

Yeah?
That will not fit into that.

'Stay tuned because we're about
to make dish-loads of delights,

'including the nuttiest nut roasts,

"some fantastic ideas
for air frying your leftovers,

'and those all-important
Christmas spuds.'

Oh, it's hot!

But you can hear the crunch.
That is impressive.

ALEXIS CONRAN: 'Christmas dinner
is probably the toughest meal

'that most of us cook each year,

'and when the entire family
is coming round,

'the pressure to get it right
is enormous.'

There's so much information,

so many articles
about what Mary Berry's doing

and what Nigella's doing
and what Jamie's doing.

And everyone else
seems to be doing something,

and somebody's choosing
just the right wine

for the prawn cocktail,

and you're just thinking,
"Oh, God, I don't know!"

"Our national love of turkeys
was expertly spoofed

"by comedy legends
Morecambe and Wise,

'who dressed up as a couple of birds
in their 1971 Christmas special.'

What do you think
is their favourite food

at this time of the year?

AUDIENCE CHUCKLE

BOTH: Us!
LAUGHTER

'And everyone has a turkey story
o tell from Christmases past.'

Granny became an advocate
of lopping off the legs,

making them into a sort of
a sausage shape and stuffing them.

I remember my mum
defrosting the turkey

under the hot tap in the bath
at one point

cos it was just...
just took forever, didn't it?

'Before you even think
about cooking your turkey,

'do make sure
it's properly defrosted.

'A rough guide is 24 hours
for every two kilograms of turkey."

Well, then you've got people
with a blowtorch, a hairdryer,

you know, bathing the turkey
in the bath, willing it to defrost.

'But forget about cold turkey.

'We have a size issue.'

And here's our first problem -
how do we get that into that?

OK, first thing we're gonna do -
we're gonna turn that into that.

Much more manageable.

It's still gonna feed
four to five people.

I suppose you can get the whole
turkey and do this yourself.

Exactly.
Legs in there, crown in there.

Do you mind that it's not gonna
look like that sort of iconic turkey

at the centre of the table?

'For some,
having a whole bird as a centrepiece

'is an essential part
of Christmas dinner.'

I never have turkey any other time,

and so the hankering for it mounts
from the 1st of December.

I do love the sight
of a whole roast turkey

being brought in on a platter,
but it's not a big deal.

Most people don't really know
how to carve very well,

so it all becomes
a bit of a nightmare.

You're not gonna have the
"how do you carve a turkey?" moment,

you know, that embarrassing bit?

You're halfway through pretending
you know how to sharpen your knife,

and then you go,
"Right... what do I do now?"

I think the important thing

is that the food comes out well
and tastes good

and everyone's happy
with the plate in front of them.

'The average Brit spends six hours

'planning and cooking
Christmas dinner.

'We want to see if we can reduce
that time, and the hassle, too.'

OK, first thing we're gonna do

is get a little bit of olive oil
on here. Yeah.

Easy as that.
Then a little bit of salt.

Do you wanna do that?
Yeah. OK.

And a little bit of pepper.

Right.
So, as simple as this.

You pull the drawer out.

So, wait, do you not need
to heat it up? Preheat it? No.

No preheating required.
Nothing?

Yeah, you just stick it in,
press the button, go away.

This is revolutionary.
MIGUEL CHUCKLES

When you have an oven, it costs
a lot of money to preheat that.

If you're looking
at roasting a chicken,

that would cost about 32p
in an oven

compared to about 17p
in an air fryer.

That is a pretty big saving - 50%.

My granny's method
of separating the crown and the legs

would work in the air fryer
because you've got the two drawers.

So, this is just, just big enough.

Can you see that?
That fits perfectly in there.

Look at that!

Exactly. You pop that in.
Turkey in a drawer.

'We're roasting our crown
at 190 degrees for 50 minutes,

'which is three times as fast
as an oven, with no preheating.

'That's great!"
BOTH: Start?

"Our bird is roasting away.

'Did you know the UK consumes

'a whopping ten million turkeys
each Christmas?

'But turkey is only
a recent tradition for us.'

Well, we tend to think
the classic Christmas dinner

was handed down in the Bible.

You know, that ever since then,

it's been compulsory
to have your turkey.

I really love turkey.

A lot of people I know really don't.

We don't have a turkey
cos we're both vegetarian,

but we do tend to have
a different centrepiece each year.

Recently, it's been a pie
or a Wellington.

Interestingly,
we didn't really get into

eating turkey on Christmas Day
till the 1960s.

Lots of turkey farms sprang up,

and we began enthusiastically eating
roast turkey on Christmas Day.

'A shortcut to cooking
a whole turkey on Christmas Day

'was epitomised in the 1980s

'by these charming
Bernard Matthews adverts.'

I'm Bernard Matthews,

and this little beauty
is the Matthews

one-and-a-quarter-pound
turkey roast.

Beautiful. Really beautiful.

'Ah, "bootiful" indeed.'

Turkey's in, and now we can
think about what we're gonna have

for our Christmas dinner.

'And what about the nibbles
to get us started?

'Most importantly, can we cook them
in our air fryer at the same time?'

I tend not to offer
too many nibbles at Christmas.

Well, I think
the greatest outpouring of love

is very often in food.

It does look awful
not to offer something

when someone walks into your home,
so, actually,

the air fryer is great for that.

When you think of all the things

that are happening
around a Christmas dinner,

those will work well
in an air fryer.

If you wanna cook canapes
in the air fryer,

you've gotta think,
"What advantage are you gonna get?"

Like, "What does the air fryer do
especially well?"

And in my opinion, it's crispiness.

'If you have one compartment
in your air fryer,

'it can only do one job at a time,

'but we are cooking
with a two-drawer model.'

That's a totally separate
compartment.

So, we could use this
to put other stuff in? Yeah.

Let's stick some sausage rolls in.
Stick some sausage rolls?

'Here are some we made earlier,

'and if you've made canapes
from scratch,

"you can reheat them in
the air fryer cheaply and quickly.'

For those sort of little snacks,
they heat up beautifully,

and they crisp up very nicely,

and you're not using
your oven space.

Stick it in.

This is idiot-proof.
I'm talking about me.

MIGUEL CHUCKLES

"As a meat eater, I do appreciate
a good sausage roll, but...'

There are other dishes to consider,
and plenty of vegetarian ones, too.

Look, vegetarians and vegans
are people, too,

and they deserve to have
a lovely Christmas

just like everyone else.

My partner, he did a nut roast

very early on in our relationship
for us...

WHISPERING:
..and it wasn't very nice.

And then I said that to his mother,
thinking she'd laugh,

and then she went,
"That was my recipe.”

Food is a lot about textures,

so if you can get a little bit
of crispiness on the outside,

a little bit of sogginess
in the middle,

that's what the air fryer
specialises in.

I think air fryers
are gonna revolutionise Christmas.

'Here's hoping you're right.

'Now, let's see
how those sausage rolls are doing.'

Right, we've got 50 seconds left.
Shall we have a look?

Oh, they look done, don't they?
Those are done.

So, what was that, six minutes?
Six minutes.

And they're... Ooh, they're...
These are piping hot.

Piping hot.
OK, let's get them out there.

MIGUEL CHUCKLES
Are we gonna do chef's tax?

Are we gonna...?
Yeah. I'm gonna have this one.

THEY CHUCKLE

Mmm.

Mmm.
Wow.

And it's not dry.

'I've been won over by the air fryer
as a reheating tool.

'It's great for your Christmas Day
shop-bought sausage rolls.

'We'll be trying a different kind
of sausage later

'when we attempt pigs in blankets
made from scratch.

'Our turkey has 35 minutes left
on the timer,

'so we mustn't waste a minute
and get cracking with our veg.

'What's crunchy on the outside
and soft on the inside,

'the mainstay of any roast dinner?

'You've got it -
the golden boy of the dinner table,

'the roast potato."

I love roast potatoes.

Everybody adores roast potatoes,

but I like them sort of
slightly oily on the outside,

you know, so they're still
kind of crispy and goldeny.

And then sort of soft
and fluffy inside.

Ooh, a bit salty as well. Ooh.

Cooked in goose fat,
preferably a King Edward.

At a push, a Maris Piper,

but for Christmas Day,
a King Edward.

First, peel your potato,
then parboil,

then you put the potatoes
in the baking dish,

you cover with oil.

You give the whole thing a shake

so that the rough edges appear
on the potatoes

where they've been bashing up
against each other.

They can absorb even more oil

so they fry even more sort of
thoroughly and more gorgeously.

In terms of roasting potatoes,

I don't think we've done
the traditional method

for about five or six years
in our house.

We've air fried our roast potatoes
for a long time now.

I don't know whether I'd risk
first-time roast potatoes

in the air fryer on Christmas Day.

I think what I'd do
is I'd go for a dress rehearsal.

Roasting potatoes, when I think back
to when I was a kid,

and it was, you know, a deep layer
of oil and them in there,

and when I think
of roast potatoes now,

I think of them dry-cooked.

I know that it's cheaper,
I know that it's healthier,

I know that less oil is used,

but is the net effect
what I'm really going for?

'Guys, what have I done wrong?

'Why isn't my jacket potato cooked?

'Air fryers are a great way
to cook all kinds of potatoes,

'from jackets to chips,

'but on Christmas Day,
it's all about the roasty.

'Thankfully, Miguel has
some super hacks for saving time

'on that fiddly-but-essential
Christmas meal ingredient."

So, what I've done is,
I've come up with a method

where you do a jacket potato...
Yes.

...you peel the skin off...
Oh.

...and when you peel the skin off,
it sort of chafes the skin a bit.

You get a craggy skin,
and it's fluffy in the middle. Yeah.

Loads of oil, bit of salt,
chuck 'em in,

and you get a crispy roast potato.

'I'm loving this potato hack.
Nice, simple and quick.

'But the proof
will be in the eating.'

Right, it's turkey time.
How's it looking?

Oh, wow.
Wow!

Wow.
That looks great!

See, look,
can you see the crispy skin?

What's amazing
is it's crisped all round.

Look at that.

That's the circulation of the air.
And it's taken 50 minutes.

Granny's turkey is...

There's always a fear, isn't there,
that it can be dry?

And she says
you must slightly under do it,

and then let it rest
and rest and rest and rest.

And I think that's true
because hers is impossibly moist.

That is really impressive.

METALLIC SCRAPING

A little bit of resting.
Resting?

Some people say,
"Well, if you're gonna cover it,

the crispiness is gonna go away,"
but...

It is a little bit, but remember,
we've still gotta cook some veg.

This is gonna be resting
for a while.

But it's all kind of easy
from here now.

We've done the hard bit.
It's coming together.

Now for the spud test.

Ooh, look at that.

It's like New Year's Eve.
Ten, nine, eight...

Ooh, look at those!
MIGUEL CHUCKLES

I am gonna have to taste one,
though,

cos I don't think
this is gonna work.

LAUGHING: Yeah.

But these are...
these are looking great.

A lot better than you'd expect,
isn't it?

Ooh, you can hear it!
SIZZLING

Shall I try one?
Yeah.

CRUNCH

Oh, it's hot!
MIGUEL LAUGHS

But you can hear the crunch!

Yeah, I mean, that is...
that is impressive.

'That's 50 minutes
from start to finish,

'and you get a perfect roasty.

'No parboiling,

'and a peeling process made so easy
that the skin just falls off.

'Plus, you can heat these up again
in the air fryer

'just before you dish up.'

I've gotta say, I was a doubter,

I didn't think you would ever get

anywhere close
to oven roast potatoes,

but these have turned out
crunchy on the outside,

fluffy on the inside.

It took a fraction of the time.

You're not messing around
with hot oils in your kitchen.

I'm impressed.

Now, with all this cooking,

you're gonna have to factor in time
to clean everything up.

Each basket does need cleaning out
between cooks.

People love to share on social media

what they've done
with their air fryers.

Whether that's a hack for cleaning,
they love to show it off.

'I just start by adding
this much water into my air fryer,

'just so the top of it's covered,

'and then I put it on
for about four to five minutes.'

One of the great things
about air fryers

is they're really easy to clean.

It's far better just to give it
a rinse immediately after use,

once it's cooled down.

I think the important thing
with cleaning an air fryer

is little and often.

It just means that none of that
built-up black stuff in there

has a chance
to really stick in place.

'An hour into our challenge,
and we've got a turkey resting,

"some crispy potatoes,
and prep for more veg is underway.'

We've pulled out the big guns now.

'But I'm wondering if we've
bitten off more than we can chew.'

There's one thing you can't do
in an air fryer - gravy.

You've got me!
MIGUEL LAUGHS

So far, so good.
We've done our turkey crown.

That's now resting
for at least 20 minutes,

but that means we've got time

to work on the rest
of our trimmings.

When it comes to seasonal savouries,
everyone has their favourites.

All the trimmings,
the potatoes, and the vegetables,

and the sprouts, and the carrots,
and the red cabbage, and everything.

Cranberry sauce, apple sauce,
stuffing, gravy.

I love Brussels sprouts
with chestnuts and with lardons.

I simply cannot do without
bread sauce.

The other trimming I love
is wonderful

because only three members
of my family like it,

and that's parsnips.

I'm dotty about a parsnip.

Cauliflower cheese.

Honey-roast parsnips,
everything dripping in butter.

I must admit, though, I do have
a penchant for bread sauce.

My ultimate favourite thing is
bread sauce, what I had as a child.

VANESSA: It's just basically
mushed-up bread, isn't it?

But it's scrummy on turkey,
absolutely scrummy.

Bread sauce? Yes! Our favourite.

But there is one Christmas side dish
that tops all the others.

I've always been a fan
of pigs in blankets.

Pigs in blankets.

Pigs in blankets.
Yeah.

You would have
a really meaty, chunky, big sausage

with some crispy smoked bacon
around it.

I think I've hit
my carnivorous ceiling,

and I think pigs in blankets
are maybe one little floor above.

VANESSA: Pigs in blankets
didn't exist at all until the 1950s!

There was no such thing.

Imagine a world
without pigs in blankets!

Pigs in blankets
are a firm favourite.

Pigs in blankets.

You're talking about sausages
wrapped in bacon?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean,
I like sausages, I like bacon.

So, basically, you want pork
wrapped in more pork?

It's not a Christmas dinner
without them.

What I do is I get a chipolata,
get it in the middle...

...and I twist it round...

Yeah.
..to make two small chipolatas.

And here's the blankets.
OK.

Thick-cut streaky bacon, smoked.
Yes.

We cut it in half,
we grab one of these...

A mini chipolata. And you roll it.

And, of course,
with pigs in blankets like this,

there's so much fat in the bacon
that we're not gonna use any oil,

we're not gonna use anything.
No, no, no.

We're just gonna let the bacon
do its thing.

Exactly.
Right, drawer out.

OK.
And we just pop 'em in.

So, what do we do here, then?
How high and how long?

Roast those at 190,

and you're gonna go for 12 minutes?

Yeah.

'Wow, 12 minutes and no preheating!

'The humble oven struggles
to compete with a cheeky air fryer.'

But when it comes to inspiration

for Christmas trimmings
in the air fryer,

social media is full of ideas.

Posh cheesy leeks, anyone?

Aubergine parmigiana.

Chicken fillets
marinated in tandoori spices.

...with some honey and pancetta.
I didn't... never heard of that.

The most unusual trimming
I had as a kid

was my mum putting onion rings
on the Christmas dinner.

In the '80s, they were quite posh.

12 minutes gone,
and the pigs in blankets are ready."

Oh, my goodness. Look at that!

'Time to tuck in.'

Cheers!
Mmm.

Mmm.
Wow.

That's pretty amazing.

So, nice-quality sausage,
wrapped in good-quality bacon,

12 minutes, done.

Yeah.

'We know the air fryer
is a fantastic reheating tool

'just before serving,

'but you may choose to keep
everything warm in a low-heat oven.'

I've been really impressed
with the air fryer.

Now, from what I've read,
it's not a deep-fat fryer,

it works nothing like an oven
or a microwave.

So, how does it work?

'Well, consumer expert Harry Kind
has the answers."

So, if you look at this air fryer,

you can really see
how these things work.

This is a great big heating element.

That will get really hot,
just like inside a normal oven.

And then behind it is a fan,
and that gets really fast.

It blows that hot air
all around the food.

Think of it a bit like a hairdryer.

The hot air needs to get
to the surface of the food

as soon as possible.

In terms of making the cooking
of your Christmas dinner easier,

it certainly will help
to have your air fryer on hand.

If you've completely forgotten
to cook your veg,

you can do
a last-minute rescue operation

on your non-cooked carrots.

Last year, we had loads and loads
of different veg,

so many Brussels sprouts,
but I do love a Brussels sprout.

The difficulty with sprouts
is that they can, of course,

induce flatulence
really quite badly.

So, there are lots of ways
in which an air fryer

really could be
not the grinch that stole Christmas,

but the gadget that saved Christmas.

'It is time for the veg,
and love them or hate them,

"you can't have your
Christmas dinner without a sprout.'

I love a sprout.

Yeah...
I think sprouts are great.

But what we're gonna do
is do them slightly differently.

OK.
So, if you can thinly slice them.

Is that thin enough?
Am I shredding them, basically?

Yeah, just shredding them.

'They may not be your centrepiece,
but there's always room for sprouts,

'even if you're starting to feel
a bit stuffed,

'not unlike Dawn French
as the Reverend Geraldine

'in this classic comedy moment."

CANNED LAUGHTER

This scene in The Vicar Of Dibley,
she has the sprout on the fork,

and she makes it wander
beneath her top lip

to try desperately to ingest it.

It has me on the floor. I mean,
even remembering it tickles me.

CANNED LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

'Now, Dawn would've had
an easier time of it

'with shredded sprouts.'

What are you gonna do with those?

Yeah, so, these,
to make them more of a centrepiece,

instead of cutting them
into little batons,

we're gonna cut them to long bits,
like this.

You're not peeling them.
You haven't even taken the ends off.

It looks like you're feeding horses.
LAUGHING: Yeah.

Why?
It's rustic.

Right, so, let's get these in.

Are you going
to put any olive oil, or...?

Yeah, a little bit of olive oil,
little bit of salt, pepper.

Halfway through,
a little drizzle of honey.

Oh, nice. I like that.
Shall I put some...?

Yeah, stick some of that on there.

I'm gonna do it 200 degrees for...

Let's do ten minutes, and then see
how it is after ten minutes.

Are you gonna dress these?

We're gonna do it pretty much
the same as we did those.

This is highly controversial.
MIGUEL LAUGHS

So, this is how many
we've got in here.

Half an inch, I would say, in depth.
Yeah, exactly.

So, in with some olive oil.
The key's the olive oil?

Yeah, cos that's what's gonna
make it crisp up at the edges.

Oh, "max crisp"!
We're going max crisp.

We've gone max crisp.
I've been saving it.

We've pulled out the big guns now -
max crisp.

So, a few minutes in,
five minutes or so,

we've checked the sprouts,
and they... My goodness.

Look at that.
ALEXIS GASPS

Yeah, I mean, this is
how to make sprouts exciting.

And they've got the little...
little caramelised bits.

It's a bit like, onion rings, fries.

You know, that kind of exciting,
crunchy, salty... Yeah.

It's got nothing to do
with that horrible, bitter,

boiled horridness
that you were served as a kid.

This is really lovely.
Let's get them all out there.

That's the easy bit about cooking
with an air fryer, isn't it?

You pull the drawer out,
have a little look around,

toss everything around,
put it straight back in...

Give it a shake.
Give it a shake.

God, these look lovely!
MIGUEL LAUGHS

Fantastic. Veg done.

'We'll warm up our crispy veg
in the air fryer before serving.

'But first, another challenge.'

OK, so, can we do stuffing
in an air fryer?

You can,
and you can do it from scratch.

We used to have two different kinds
of stuffing usually in my house.

We'd have a chestnut stuffing
and a sage and onion stuffing.

My roots are Caribbean,

so I do a sort of stove top stuffing,
which is very spicy.

When you think about all the other
things that are happening

around a Christmas dinner -
stuffing, roast veg -

those will work well
in an air fryer.

So, this is onions, sausage meat,
sage, parsley, and breadcrumbs?

Yep.
How are we gonna cook that in there?

OK, first of all, we've gotta
get our hands dirty. All right.

So, we're gonna pull the drawer out,
and we're gonna make little balls.

OK.

Then we're just gonna drop them in.
What size balls do we want?

About golf ball size.
Golf ball size of ball.

Right, so, these are all in there?
Yeah. The stuffing.

We're gonna go with roast at 190.
We don't want too much colour. OK.

Cup of tea?
Yeah, let's do it. Yeah.

We have a stuffing at Christmas
which is almost Moroccan in feel.

It's couscous-based,
with little tiny bits of apricot

and possibly even date,
and it's very, very nice.

So, it's been nine minutes.
Yep.

And we've had a little peek,
and it's looking good.

Look at that!

Nice, crispy, still moist.

Shall I get them out?
Yeah.

What I quite like about this

is everybody gets
their individual portion...

...of a little bit of stuffing.

There we go.

Riddle me this...

There's one thing
you can't do in an air fryer.

LAUGHING: Yeah?
Gravy.

You've got me!

But we can still use
the cooking juices,

we can add gravy granules,
a bit of boiling water.

But I think we've done all right,
haven't we?

All right, I'll let you off.
MIGUEL LAUGHS

'We've managed to cook a whole
Christmas dinner in the air fryer,

'minus the gravy.

'The question is,
will it also handle the dessert?"

I wouldn't make a Christmas pudding
in an air fryer.

I don't think
it would come out nice.

Pudding-wise, obviously,
the Christmas pudding,

which has to be brought to the table
ablaze, and brandy butter.

Then something else,
like traditional trifle,

mince pies,
might have an Irish coffee,

followed by your selection box,
or your more upmarket chocs,

if you're lucky
and somebody bought them for you.

So, I've been working on a recipe.

We're gonna make ourselves
a Christmas pud.

We're gonna take the drawer out,

and we're gonna put boiling water
in there,

and then we're gonna steam it.

But I thought Christmas pud,
like, took months to make.

Yeah, this'll be done
within an hour.

So, while we're eating,

the pudding's cooking,
and it'll be ready when we're done.

OK, I like the sound of that.

OK.

We're really, really rough
on the measurements.

We're just gonna call that a cup.
A cup of brown sugar.

Self-raising flour. Raisins.

A whole lot of raisins.
Brown breadcrumbs.

And again, this is just brown bread
that's been blitzed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, just two slices.
Eggs.

What about, like,
spices like cinnamon,

and all that kind of stuff?

They are all in this,
which is a mixed spice blend.

Grab a bowl.
This is the kind of baking I like.

Any particular order?
No. No?

However you want.
I love this.

And then we need
a secret ingredient,

which is a big knob of butter.

Oh, so this is where
your fat's gonna come from? Yeah.

Then give it a stir.

Now, I take it you're not
gonna just pour that in there.

What we're gonna do is
we're gonna use this as a mould.

In it goes.

No lubrications in the bowl at all?

You don't want oil
on the sides of it? No, no, no.

it'll be fine.
It'll come away from the sides.

And then we need a little bit
of tinfoil over the top.

OK, got that.

Right, and here is the magic.

So, in with some boiling water.

Let's go with an hour.

And you'll know it's done

when the internal temperature’s
90 degrees.

And then you're definite
that it's cooked through? Yeah.

Fantastic.
Right, I'l0 put these in the sink.

And, well, I suppose we'd better
sit down and eat. Let's do it.

"But will
our air-fried Christmas meal

'taste as good
as one from a conventional oven?'

PARTY HORN TOOTS
whoo!

Is that a carrot? I dunno!
Let's find out.

And now it's Christmas.
Now it's Christmas.

'The air fryer has become
the must-have kitchen accessory.

'With grand promises
of healthier food,

'shorter cooking times
and big savings on your bills,

'it's easy to understand why.

'For the last few hours,

'I've been slaving away
with our chef, Miguel Barclay.'

What's Christmas without a sprout?
I love a sprout.

'We're trying to discover
how an air fryer

'could make your Christmas easier.'

So, we're gonna turn that...
into that. I see.

'| can't believe
how much we've managed to cook.'

Wow. That looks great!

'Everything from the turkey
and a whole bunch of trimmings

'to a suitably festive dessert,
coming right up.

'But one of the trickiest parts
of doing Christmas dinner

'is getting your timings right.

'Nobody likes a cold sprout.'

I think one of the problems
with the Christmas meal

is that there's
so much anticipation.

Making Christmas dinner
is potentially really dangerous

if you're not used to cooking
for that amount of people

and coordinating
that amount of dishes at one time.

We used to have a turkey
until one year,

he was taking it out the oven
and it fell on him,

and he got his legs burnt
with all the turkey fat,

so he ended up in A&E all afternoon,
and we ended up just having veg.

You have got five different things

that you need to cook
at the same time,

you need to have on the table,
hot, ready to go.

'With space limited
in the air fryer,

'you may still need help
from another appliance

'to keep your food warm."

Everyone's waiting open-mouthed.

You wanna deliver.
You really wanna deliver.

'And don't forget
to heat up your plates!'

When the meal comes,
we always have to go and find

more and more and more place mats
to protect the table

cos there's more dishes coming out.

I'm liberally salivating
by the time it reaches the table.

All of this beautiful stuff
comes out in perfect synchrony...

...and it's perfection.

'With nearly 15 million homes armed
with an air fryer this Christmas,

'all hoping to save time and money,
the question on everyone's lips

'is does it taste
as good as it looks?"

Right, time to eat.
Let's do it.

OK. You wanna carve?
Yeah.

'The air fryer
couldn't fit in the whole turkey,

'but it did cook the crown

'more than twice as fast
as in a conventional oven.'

Ooh, that's looking good.

'And hopefully, it's still moist
and not as tough as Santa's boots."

Turkey is inclined to be dry,
so what I do,

I cook it the day before,

I slice it, I put it in gravy,
put it in the fridge overnight,

and then I warm it gently.

By the time it's on the table,
it's gonna be moist and succulent.

You wanna cook your turkey
nice and thoroughly,

make sure everybody's healthy -
you don't want a trip to casualty

at the end of Christmas Day
and it's your fault.

Pigs in blankets?
Oh, yes please.

Shall I put some on yours? Right.

I don't wanna say anything, but...

we seem to be a bit short
on friends.

Look, it means
we're gonna have more leftovers.

Now, that is true.
Don't worry.

These sprouts smell so delicious.
I'm just gonna pile them on there.

Oh, you've gone
pigs in blankets kind of crazy.

LAUGHING: Yeah!
That's my favourite bit.

It's the pigs in blankets
and the roast potatoes

that everybody really wants,

so if you get that wrong,
you've lost your battle.

Would monsieur like some gravy?
Oh, oui, monsieur.

Anywhere?
All over. All over.

All over? Just cover it?

'The only part of the meal
we couldn't make in the air fryer

'is now liberally applied,
and just one thing left to do.'

Here we go. Right, tuck in.

Yeah, we've done all right,
haven't we? We've done all right.

Turkey's good.
Mmm, very good.

It's really delicious.

'The air-fried turkey
has hit the spot.

'But what about
the rest of the meal?

I have to say, the roast potatoes,
they've got that fluffy crunch.

Parsnips have caramelised.

Pigs in blankets...

...they've got me.

It's a revelation.

I think we've done well enough...
to deserve a little celebration.

Oh.

I didn't really think

that we could manage
to cook everything...

...in an air fryer.

It's hitting all the flavour notes.
It really is.

Everything you need
in a Christmas dinner.

Time to celebrate?

POP
There's that sound.

And now it's Christmas.
Now it's Christmas.

Don't worry, I'm not gonna
make you wear a silly hat.

MIGUEL LAUGHS

Food isn't the only star of the show
at Christmas.

Like our gravy, the air fryer

might not be able to help you make
your favourite festive tipple,

but it could help you
rustle up a fancy garnish.

Booze at Christmas... yes.

So, I do spend a couple of days
probably half-cut,

but I enjoy it that way.

I mean, it is just once a year,
so whilst I am cooking it,

I will get through quite a lot
of Buck's Fizz in the morning.

So, you just glide
through Christmas Day

on a tidal wave of good humour.

Are you pleased
to see your mother-in-law?

Once you've had a few,
you're thrilled!

I've never in my life
regretted a glass of Champagne.

There have been glasses
of other things in the boozy realm

that I have bitterly regretted...

...but never Champagne.

Oh, I do like a glass of port.

That's a definite
Christmas tradition.

Problem is, you want to be
slightly over the balance

into niceness, good humour, jollity,
and tidings of comfort and joy,

but you do not want to be
so intoxicated

that you forget crucial things about
the dinner and everyone hates you.

SHE PLAYS
JINGLE BELLS RHYTHM

No matter how great
your Christmas dinner is gonna be,

there is the issue of leftovers.

What do you do with them?
What can you make out of them?

Oh, God!

I love the leftovers
almost as much as the main event.

You've got all this turkey,

you've got
some vegetables left over.

Of course you've got
no pigs in blankets -

everyone's eaten those up
long, long, long ago.

And you're just thinking,
"Er... what?"

'Whatever vegetables I have left,
I mash them up, and then I use

'my biggest potato scoop
to scoop out even-sized patties.'

Thankfully, social media is awash

with brilliant ideas
of how to use your air fryer

to make the most of your leftovers.

'And I wanted to cook them
in my air fryer,

'and I didn't want them to stick,
so I used some parchment paper.'

Well, I love, you know, being
quite inventive with leftovers.

'They were crispy and delicious.'

I really love as leftovers,
everything chopped up,

and then put loads of cabbage
and garlic in

and make a bubble and squeak.

And that is very good
to be reheated in an air fryer.

'Ah, yes,
the classic bubble and squeak.

'So, what has Chef Miguel
got in store for our leftovers?"

My plan would be...
a Yorkshire pudding

but using the whole tray.
Ooh.

So, a big, rectangular
Yorkshire pudding. Mm-hm.

Then put everything inside it.

Sausages in there,
we've got the roast potatoes.

You're using the Yorkshire pudding
almost like a plate? Yeah.

Toad-in-the-hole-style
Yorkshire pudding. Yeah.

So, each item is gonna be indented
into the Yorkshire pudding.

And then you can play
"guess the item".

"Is that a carrot?
I dunno! Let's find out!"

THEY LAUGH

'That's the main course finished.
Time for Christmas pudding."

Well, I've gotta hand it to you,

Christmas pudding in an air fryer
was something I was not expecting,

so well done to you.

Thanks, Miguel. Thank you.
Time to celebrate.

'Cooked in two-and-a-half hours,

'our festive dinner
has been a roaring success

'and shown that an air fryer
can make your Christmas easier.'

I'd give it a go
if I had a big air fryer, yes,

because apparently,
it's a lot cheaper as well.

Though I think
the air fryers are terrific,

I'm still a bit sold
on my traditional methods.

I mean,
there are lots of benefits to it

but I will never give up
my conventional oven.

If somebody had never seen
or had an air fryer before,

I would say to them, "This is
about to change your world."

I came to air fryers thinking,
"Maybe they're a bit of a fad."

But I have to say,
I'm quite convinced

that they have their place
in every kitchen

because they're not
a one-trick pony.

'We cooked
an enormous Christmas dinner

'in probably half the time
it would have taken us

'to use a great big oven.'

So if you've got one down
on your Christmas Santa list,

I don't think
you'll be disappointed.