Novita Garment Steamer SS13 : Pretty in Pink

The second item we purchased after the Philip Avance Air Fryer XL from Tangs was the Novita Garment Steamer SS13.

Novita offers a range of Steamer models from which you may select from. However, we decided on SS13, their oldest model, because I wanted the PINK steamer! :)

The pink steamer is SO CHIO, it makes ironing a more enjoyable chore task!

The SS13 has only two buttons at the back of the steamer: the on/off and the steamer heat button that has only low and high heat to choose from.

The water capacity of1400cc allows continuous ironing for at least 2 hours. IMO, this is more than enough for ironing our clothing every week.

Once set up, the steamer is as tall as I am. At162cm tall, it may be slightly difficult for taller people like Mr Kwek (180cm) to do the ironing. They have to bent down to iron the bottom of the clothing. It was quite comfortable for me although I still have to bent slightly. Oh well, I figure, sitting on a standard chair will solve this problem!

So to test out how effective and user friendly steam irons are, I tried ironing my midi skirt that is made of garbardine rayon blend. I used high heat which the sales lady recommended for all type of material other than silk and chiffon which only require low heat.

The result? I thought it was pretty good! Easy to operate and my skit was steamed to perfection in less than 5 minutes.

Say bye bye to burnt clothing with the traditional irons.

The SS13 is definitely ironing dummy approved! :)

Philip Avance Air Fryer XL: Baking Muffins

With some tang vouchers we won from a wedding competition, Mr Kwek & I decided to purchase Philip's Air Fryer for our future kitchen!

The Philip Air Fryer should be pretty well known by now. It is a multi-cooker that uses rapid air technology to fry, bake, grill and roast. Sounds amazing isn't it?

We were both excited yet skeptical about the air fryer being able to aid kitchen dummies like us in preparing meals. However, since we have the tang vouchers and the latest model was on sales, we decided to get it.

Philip Avance Air Fryer XL has a larger capacity of 1.2L as compared to its older generation in the viva collection which only has a capacity of 0.8L. Also, it uses a digital screen to control the temperature and timing. It can remember your favorite temperature and timing with its preset feature. The feature which we felt was the deciding factor to choose Avance over Viva was the basket and pan design.

As you can see, the pan is attached safely inside the roller drawer (which can be detach for washing) while the basket is a part on its own. On the other hand, the Viva collection has the basket attached to the pan which is easily (in a bad way) detachable from each other with a press of a button at the middle of the handle. This makes the pan prone to dropping when plating the food. Personal experience with the dropping while seeing the display set make us decide quite immediate to say no to the Viva air fryer.

Happily we paid up and had it delivered to us the following day. As the Air Fryer is famous for air frying fries to be as crispy as the traditional deep fried fries, by right, fries should be the first item to be tried in the air fryer. However, we went left and tried baking muffins instead.

Its been close to 4 years since I last baked anything and sine my recipe book is deep hidden in a corner of my room (reads: can't find!), I decided to use Betty Crocker's premix and try baking with the Air Fryer.

This is as easy as ABC. All you will need is water, vegetable oil and eggs, stir and ta-da! The mixture is all ready to be spoon into the muffin cups and bake.

 

The air fryer XL can fit up to eight standard sized muffin cups.

For a start, we tried baking one muffin, as per Philip's instruction, at 180degrees for 15minutes. The muffin burnt on the outside but the inside was still great, though a little dry.

We continued experimenting with different set of temperature and timing before landing ourselves with the perfect combination of 170degrees for 10minutes. With this combination, the muffin turn out to be golden brown on the outside, soft, moist and fluffy on the inside.

Top L-R: 180degree 15mins, 180degree 12mins, 180degree 10mins

Bottom L-R: 175degree 10mins, 170degree 10mins

I do not think there is any difference in taste and texture for the air fryer muffins compared to those from the traditional ovens. The only difference will be the appearance. Oven baked muffins will puff up nicely in the middle, where else air fryer muffin doesn't.

Other than the not-so-appealing appearance,
Air Fryer is definitely dummy-baker approved!