If you like barbecues – or grills if you are American – and you like air fryers – and who doesn't? – then you will love the Landmann Fryton. The Fryton, which also goes by the even less sexy name of Landmann GG-II-492BKUK is coming 'this summer' – hopefully that will be arriving soon in the UK. It combines a gas grill with an electric air fryer, complete with a display and everything. It is, to all intents and purposes, like an air fryer you would use in your home, but incorporated into a BBQ. Just let the magnitude of that sink in for a moment.
When I first heard of this concept, I wasn't sure what the point of it was. Sure, air fryers are great for healthily cooking chicken wings, steaks, skewers and all manner of other meaty goodies. And vegetables of course; mustn't forget the veg. But surely, a grill is even better for cooking all those things?
Then it hit me, and it was so obvious: it's for French fries and chips.
As regular readers will know from my best air fryer chips recipe – and also my not-quite-so-good air fryer chips recipe – I am a big fan of potato-based air fryer side orders. So now you can make fries to go with your meaty/veggie main dishes, without having to keep going indoors, or dragging a fryer out to the garden.
Look at it this way. If you can combine one of the best barbecues with one of the best air fryers, what you will potentially have is something quite special. And that's what Landmann is going for with the Fryton.
The Landmann Fryton. The air fryer element is bottom right
Landmann asks, 'what if you were inspired to try something completely different on the BBQ?' and you can't get much more different than barbecued chips or fries. The air fryer they've built in to the Fryton has a 3-litre capacity, which is not huge, but it is quite a lot of chips.
There's also a digital display, so you can perfectly time the cooking of your chips, and control the temperature. As well as chips, Landmann suggests you might try 'garlic bread, jacket potatoes, cauliflower wings and chicken nuggets.' Or how about my awesome air fryer fried chicken?
Mmm… meat 🥩
Up top, the Fryton has everything you'd expect from a BBQ. Under the double-walled lid, you'll find a 65x40cm cast-iron gas grill, which uses the Modulus Cooking System to help food 'stick less, cook faster and distribute heat more evenly.' As well as the four main, 3kW burners with piezo ignition there’s also a 3kW side burner for searing and more. An enamel-coated steel warming rack is also on hand to rest meat, or to keep your food warm.
Essentially, it's a completely standard BBQ with an air fryer in it. I can't see any down side to this, but obviously to make the most of it you will need access to a power point in your garden, as well as the usual gas cylinder.
Mmm… more meat 🤤
Now, who wants chips with that?
Landmann Fryton: price and availability
The Landmann Fryton GG-II-492BKUK will arrive 'in summer' – technically speaking it already is summer, but okay. It will cost £749 in the UK. That's equivalent to $940 or AU$1,303 but we don't have word on its availability in those locales.