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Gourmia GAF365 Digital Air Fryer review


REVIEW – For quite some time now, my family has been into healthy eating with healthy ingredients and healthy ways to prepare food. When we heard about the Air Fryer and its concept, we rushed out and bought a pretty large one. Unfortunately, it got accidentally damaged, so I was really happy when I received the offer to test one.

What is it?

The Gourmia GAF365 Digital Air Fryer is a 2.2-quart oil-free air fryer. Just in case anyone is not familiar with the air fryer concept, here is a description from Wikipedia: “An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that cooks by circulating hot air around the food using the convection mechanism. A mechanical fan circulates the hot air around the food at high speed, cooking the food and producing a crispy layer via the Maillard effect.”

“The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned food its distinctive flavor.”

What’s in the box


1 x Gourmia GAF365 Digital Air Fryer
1 x Instruction/Cookbook

Design and features

The Gourmia GAF365 Digital Air Fryer is a round cylindrical form that measures 9.5″ x 7.5″ x 12.5″ and weighs approximately 5.4 pounds. It has a slanted top with the controls, a front blue LED display and a bottom half removable 2.2-quart basket pan. The basket pan includes a removable drip tray. Both the basket pan and the drip tray are made of a relatively lightweight metal and coated with a non-stick surface. The handle and a part of the exterior form sort of a semi-circle around the pan that matches the rest of the exterior of the fryer. It is the same plastic and color as the rest of the fryer so that it all matches when the basket pan is in the fryer. The removable drip tray is also metal and because it is removable, it makes it easier to clean the basket. In my experience, when cooking foods like chicken, there always is some residue from the food left stuck to the tray despite the non-stick surface. This is also the same when making french fries. When I am done using it, I pour water into the basket high enough to cover the drip tray and I leave it for a few hours. It then cleans quite easily with just a sponge.


On the slanted top, there are controls for raising or lowering the temperature and the cooking time. In the middle in between the controls, there is the power button. On the back of the fryer, there is an air vent.


On the top front of the fryer, there is a blue LED display that shows frying time and temperature. The fryer can be set to a maximum of 400 degrees, and 30 minutes for any single cooking cycle. If more time is needed,  a new cycle can be started.

Here is a quick video of the fryer in action:

The pictures below show seasoned, raw chicken being placed into the fryer and the nicely browned result after being fried.


Once you get the timing right, the foods come out of the fryer properly cooked and in the case of the chicken, soft, and tender and with an abundance of flavor. We also use it for fries, sausages, and many other types of meat as well as vegetables.

What I like

  • The look and design of the fryer
  • The controls and the easy to read digital display
  • The compact design
  • Its ability to properly fry food

What can be improved

  • Currently, cooking cycles are limited to 30 minutes

Final thoughts

The Gourmia GAF365 Digital Air Fryer is just simply a nice, compact, sleek and good performing air fryer. The first one I owned was not digital, so I really appreciate the digital functions on this one. It is not the biggest fryer and it does not have a large capacity, but for my family, it is just right. While it will probably take months before I can more reliably ascertain its ability to withstand almost daily use, I am giving it a thumbs up for now, and I will provide an update should anything change.

Price: $49.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Gourmia.

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Gourmia GAF365 Digital Air Fryer review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 6, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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Make back-to-school time a little more fun with these supplies

NEWS – As a kid, did you ever look forward to the new school year, just a little, because you would get new school supplies?  I did, and my love of school supplies has matured into a love of office supplies.  If you or your child also appreciates a nice pencil or notebook, look no further than Kikkerland for the cool supplies.

First up is the Tropical Pencils (set of 4).  Their image is at the top of this post.  Kikkerland doesn’t supply a lot of info about the pencils, other than they measure 6.8″ long.  They don’t have an eraser, but you can buy those separately.  The Tropical Pencils set is $5.00 at Kikkerland.

These New Wave Notebooks are inspired by 90s MTV graphic style and the revived interest in Memphis school of design.  The notebooks are available in large format (8.5″ x 5.75″ x 0.25″) with ruled or plain pages for $8.00 each or in small format (3.5″ x 5.5″ x 0.25″) with ruled or plain pages for $5.00 each.  Each notebook contains 92 pages.  A random design will be selected for you at purchase.

The WritersBlok Bookmark Pen is a see-through, “modern-vintage” pen with a brass ink cartridge.  Its flat design lets you use it as a bookmark in your notebook or workbook until you need it for taking notes.  The WritersBlok Bookmark Pen is $3.00 at Kikkerland.

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Make back-to-school time a little more fun with these supplies originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 6, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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iQunix Noma Laptop Stand review

REVIEW – With laptops adding more cores and getting thinner and faster, the heat build-up is real in todays portables. The convection built into turbo-charged laptops works much better when there is a clear higher-level place for the air to flow. iQunix has developed a very simple yet eye-pleasing stand called the Noma. I was sent one to test and am here to report my findings.

Note: Photos may be tapped or clicked for a larger image.

What is it?

The iQunix Noma is an aluminum “L” stand that allows the stack effect to cool your laptop – increasing it’s life, and giving you better performance and better battery life. (Heat is the enemy of all electronics. Lowering the operating temperature by only a few degrees can help.)

Setup

The Noma stand arrives as three pieces of high-quality aluminum that fit together with the (included) screws to form a 10” long ramp that raises the far end of your laptop 3” off a flat surface. This slants the keyboard 18º from the surface, and holds the outside edges 7.25” apart. Every place that would touch your computer or desk is covered by a grippy silicone pad in a neutral beige. I put it together in maybe 4 minutes after opening the box and photographing the pieces. There are no instructions included.

What’s in the box?

  • 2 ramps with silicone pads
  • 1 connector that attaches securely to hold legs, also with pads
  • 6 countersinking hex-driven machine bolts
  • 1 Allen wrench to fit the screws
  • 1 marketing card

Design and features

I was a bit surprised to see the stand come disassembled, but really appreciate the nod to less air in a package. It would have taken twice the cardboard to surround the 10”x7.25”x3” stand fully assembled, rather than the 11.75”x1.75”x3.75” unbleached cardboard box that arrived. It would be nice to know if the tiny piece of styrofoam that held things for shipping was as highly recyclable as the rest of the packaging.


The pieces fit together precisely. There is a lip across the base of the crosspiece that the legs sit against, and the holes line up to where the weight of your laptop rests on that solid lip, rather than the screw posts. With no give or play in these joints, I can’t imagine ever having a screw get lost or need tightening, but it’s nice to have a few extras.


The simplicity of the stand belies its effectiveness. When using my mid-2014 MacBook Pro with 2.2 GHz i& and 16GB RAM to play a graphic-intensive online game (World of Tanks Blitz), I noticed it was much less warm than when I played it on the same desk flat. I’m not a fan of using it at the 18º angle for long periods of typing, but for bouts of tanking, it’s not too bad.

If there are additional sub-headings that you want to add in the main part of your review, use H3 titles. Examples that you might want to use but can remove if you don’t…

What I Like

  • Highly ecological design and packaging
  • Tight, well-designed parts
  • Simple and Effective
  • Works with laptops or tablets, from 9” to 17”

What needs to be improved

  • Nothing, really.

Final thoughts

I’m not normally one to put my laptop on a stand. Save for the aforementioned game, most of the stuff I run on my Mac is limited to web browsers, RSS feed apps, and text processors. Occasionally, I’ll edit some video in iMovie. But not of it even taxes this 4-year-old workhorse. If I regularly connected to external projectors for presenting (which tends to take more video power), I’d probably use a stand at the presentation area to keep the fans from powering on. This is the simplest, least expensive, and tightest fit/finish I have seen of any stand, however. If you’re in need of a one-trick pony like this, you will probably not find one better for this price.

Price: $19.99
Where to buy Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by company iQunix.

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iQunix Noma Laptop Stand review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 6, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Skullcandy ups its game with their new Venue noise canceling headphones

NEWS – Skullcandy has always been known for making budget, hip-looking earbuds and headphones that were more about style than sound quality. That is up until now. With their new cans, Venue, Skullcandy has stepped up their game to challenge the big boys.

The Venue noise-canceling headphones have plenty of cool features. Aside from Active Noise Cancellation they also offer 24 hours of battery life with Rapid Charge. Using Rapid Charge allows you to get 5 – hours of listening time from just a 10-minute charge.

Monitor mode allows you to easily turn off the noise cancellation feature so you can clearly hear the outside world.

Venue also has an impressive Bluetooth range that allows you to listen to your content from up to 100 feet away.

But, perhaps the most impressive feature is Find Your Headphones. For this feature, Skullcandy partnered up with Tile to embed tracking exclusively into the Venue headphones. So if you ever lose them, you can just use the Tile app to locate where you last left them.

Aesthetically the headphones have pivoting ear cups, plush memory foam ear cushions, and two color choices, Black or White/Crimson.

All these great features come at a price that’s considerably lower, $179.99, than similar headphones from companies like Bose and Sony. And the Venue headphones still have a little of that Skullcandy style.

For more info or to purchase the Venue headphones visit Skullcandy’s website.

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Skullcandy ups its game with their new Venue noise canceling headphones originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 6, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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The bracelet that lets you keep count over your life

NEWS – Do you need to count things during your day?  How many times (or minutes) you take for a breathing break, your golf strokes?  How many ounces of water you drink, or even how many rows you’ve knitted?  If you need to count anything during your day, you can use the Life Tree Abacus Counting Bracelet to keep track.  The bracelets have a double row with nine beads each.  The beads are 8 and 10 mm and are in two colors.

Each time you need to increment your count, simply slide the rubber bands past the appropriate bead.  The bracelet shown here is showing 21.  You can count up to 99 with the Life Tree bracelet.

The bracelets are available in three sizes to best fit your wrist.  Each one is handmade, so you need to allow 3-5 days for the artist to craft your bracelet before shipping.  An artisan shop named Jill’s Beaded Knit Bits makes the Life Tree Abacus Counting Bracelet in several color combinations.  Each bracelet is $26.95.  See them all at Jill’s Beaded Knit Bits shop at Amazon.

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The bracelet that lets you keep count over your life originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 5, 2018 at 4:02 pm.

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