Air Fryers Gone Wild! (And Thanksgiving in a War Zone)
Seventy-one percent of American homes now have an air fryer. George Duran owns three — one of them for the beach, powered by a generator. Delish food editor Taylor Ann Spencer bought hers during the pandemic only to develop recipes, and now swears it makes the best chocolate chip cookie you'll ever eat. They argue about whether the air fryer is the new microwave, whether it's really just a tiny convection oven, and whether you should ever preheat it.
Then the headlines: Aldi's air fryer plushie, the Brits making tea in theirs, a $5 Goodwill air fryer that came with half a grilled cheese inside, and the TikTok cleaning hack that ended with firefighters in Bournemouth. Plus five things worth making in yours, a round of TikTok or Tik Crock (air fried watermelon is real, and it's as bad as it sounds), and the new 2026 machines: a Ninja that's a microwave and an air fryer at once, a dual-zone glass model, a voice-controlled Emerson, a Philips that steams, and a Cuisinart you can watch through two windows.
In the second half, retired U.S. Army Colonel Steve Miska, a 25-year veteran and former Director for Iraq on the White House National Security Council, talks about Thanksgiving in a war zone: turkey and all the fixings at a Baghdad dining facility, the cooks who pulled guard duty and still fed thousands, and three or four Iraqi meals a week with sheikhs who kept refilling his plate. He also tells the story behind his book, Baghdad Underground Railroad: how his team got roughly three dozen Iraqi interpreters to safety in 2007, and what at least six of them did as soon as they reached the United States.
Key Takeaways
- Air fryers are mainstream. George cites the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association: 71% of American households now own one.
- Taylor Ann is a reluctant convert. She bought hers for recipe development, not because she wanted one, and now calls the air fryer chocolate chip cookie "really untapped."
- George owns three. An everyday air fryer/multicooker combo, a giant one for big batches, and a travel model he runs off a generator at picnics and the beach.
- It's not just a convection oven. George's three differences: faster fan speed, a smaller vessel, and the perforated basket. Taylor Ann's counter: it's the air speed relative to the size that makes it powerful.
- The preheat divide. George is a non-preheater (it heats in a minute or two); Taylor Ann wants the sizzle when food hits the basket.
- The modern air fryer is 20 years old. Dutch engineer Fred van der Weij invented it in 2006; Philips launched the first commercial model in 2010.
- Don't clean it with soap and water on. A February 2025 fire in Bournemouth, England, was blamed on a TikTok hack that ran water and dish soap through an air fryer.
- Baking conversion. King Arthur's rule of thumb: drop the temperature about 25°F and cut the time by 20–25%. George still thinks cookies belong in the oven unless you're baking two.
- Five things to try. Reheated pizza, toasted nuts, crispy chickpeas (375°F, 12–16 min), Parmesan crisps on a silicone liner (325°F, 4–6 min), and roasted garlic in a covered dish (350°F, 20–30 min).
- Everything has been air fried on TikTok. Ice cream (frozen, coated, frozen again, then 400°F for 2–4 min), grapes, watermelon, Cadbury Creme Eggs wrapped in cookie dough, and re-crisped ramen. The only thing George couldn't find: milkshake.
- The microwave-air fryer has arrived. Ninja's Crispi Microwave (July 2026) pairs a 1000W microwave with a 1700W air fryer — the appliance version of George's nugget trick.
- Glass is the trend. Taylor Ann gets why (you can film your food cooking) but admits glass still makes her nervous.
- Thanksgiving is a benchmark. For Steve, holidays were psychological milestones on deployment, even though the enemy doesn't observe them.
- Logistics is an American advantage. By his second and third deployments, established dining facilities served turkey and the fixings, and cooks were full members of the team.
- Iraqi hospitality is real. Visiting a sheikh meant a meal, served by hand, with more piled on before you could finish.
- The Baghdad Underground Railroad. With Iraqi interpreters being hunted at the height of sectarian violence, Steve's team helped about three dozen reach the U.S., when only 500 special immigrant visas were available that year for Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
- They kept serving. At least six of those Iraqis enlisted in the U.S. Army or Marines and deployed back to combat.
- Food as diplomacy. George: the key to world peace is food. Steve agrees.
People & Companies Mentioned
- George Duran — Host, Always Hangry; chef and TV personality
- Taylor Ann Spencer — Food editor at Delish; recipe developer; writes the Mostly Vegetarian Substack newsletter
- Col. (Ret.) Steve Miska — Retired U.S. Army colonel (25 years); former Director for Iraq, White House National Security Council; author of Baghdad Underground Railroad: Saving American Allies in Iraq; writes the Wrangling and Writing Substack
- National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) — Source of the 71% air fryer ownership figure (released September 2026)
- Fred van der Weij — Dutch engineer who invented the modern air fryer (2006)
- Philips — Launched the first commercial air fryer (2010); Airfryer 5000 Series with Steam (2026)
- Aldi (UK) — Air fryer plushie giveaway and air fryer survey (April 2026)
- Goodwill / Instant Pot — The $5 thrifted air fryer with a half-eaten sandwich inside
- Tech Advisor — Tested the TikTok air fryer pancake hack
- @contentwithcee — TikTok creator behind the live blue crab air fryer video (May 2025)
- Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service — Responded to the Bournemouth air fryer fire (February 2025)
- King Arthur Baking — Oven-to-air-fryer baking conversion
- Cadbury — Creme Eggs, wrapped in cookie dough and air fried
- Ninja (SharkNinja) — Crispi Microwave & Air Fryer; Crispi DualZone glass air fryer
- Emerson — SmartVoice air fryer (1,000+ offline voice commands, 100+ foods)
- Typhur — Dome 2, with top and bottom heating elements
- Cuisinart — ClearView 9-Quart Air Fryer
- George Packer / The New Yorker — "Betrayed" (March 2007), on Iraqis who worked for Americans
- Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jaysh al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army) — Among the groups Steve says were targeting interpreters
- Delish — Taylor Ann's test kitchen
Links
Guests
- Taylor Ann Spencer at Delish — https://www.delish.com/author/233853/taylor-ann-spencer/
- Taylor Ann Spencer — Mostly Vegetarian on Substack — https://taylorannspencer.substack.com
- Baghdad Underground Railroad by Steve Miska (Amazon) — https://link.amazon/B09pfQelo
- Steve Miska — Wrangling and Writing on Substack — https://substack.com/@wranglingandwriting (confirm URL with Steve)
Air fryers mentioned (These are affiliate links: if you buy through them, Always Hangry earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
- Ninja Crispi Microwave & Air Fryer (MW101BK1) — https://link.amazon/B0ekCSkp1
- Ninja Crispi DualZone Glass Air Fryer — lhttps://link.amazon/B0hQk9tgj
- Emerson SmartVoice 5.3QT Air Fryer — https://link.amazon/B08MZb3Tn
- Philips Airfryer 5000 Series with Steam — https://www.usa.philips.com/c-p/NA555_00/5000-series
- Typhur Dome 2 — https://link.amazon/B0gaEO1gV
- Cuisinart ClearView 4-Quart Air Fryer — https://link.amazon/B01ImWC0s
Always Hangry
- Website — https://alwayshangrypodcast.com
- Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/AlwaysHangryPodcast
- YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/@AlwaysHangryPodcast
- TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@AlwaysHangryPodcast
Transcript
A supermarket chain recently created a giant air fryer plushie.
Taylor Ann Spencer:You said plushie.
Why?
George Duran:I love my air fryer and I want to definitely hug it and kiss it and cuddle with it at nighttime.
And this is the best way to do it.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Okay.
George Duran:Welcome to the Always Hangry podcast, where we break down the way we eat.
The good, the bad, and the completely ridiculous.
I'm your host, George Duran.
Today we're diving into America's air fryer obsession.
From bizarre TikTok hacks and and kitchen disasters to the latest high tech gadgets that have us wondering if there's anything we won't air fry.
And later on, we're talking to Steve Miska, author of Baghdad Underground Railroad, about his incredible experiences serving in Iraq and what Thanksgiving looks like when you're thousands of miles away from home.
Joining me today is delish writer and contributor and the only person on earth who uses her air fryer to make air fryer hot chocolate, Taylor Ann Spencer.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Great to be here.
George Duran:Do you, do you make air fryer hot chocolate or was that my invention?
Taylor Ann Spencer:No, I do not make air fryer hot chocolate.
I'm intrigued though.
I wonder if there's a way you could make it work.
George Duran:But you do own an air fryer, right?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yes, I've had one since the pandemic.
Which, fun fact, I bought it so I could develop recipes in it, not because I actually wanted it.
George Duran:No.
Taylor Ann Spencer:But I have to say, I really like it.
George Duran:Have you met people who come up to you and say, oh, I don't have an air fryer?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Absolutely.
I was just talking to someone this morning who was like, I don't have an air fryer.
And I was like, well, let me tell you, best chocolate chip cookie you will ever make.
And she was like, huh?
And I was like, come to the delish test kitchen and I will pull out the air fryer and we will make chocolate chip cookies and you will be converted.
George Duran:You know, I found out recently, just last month, the National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods association, It's called the NFRA, they released some data and they said that 71% of American households have an air fryer, which is a huge amount.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I'm not surprised at all.
If you have kids, like kids that are like maybe like 9, 10, 11, like, they're getting to that semi independent phase.
This is a great way for them to make their own food.
George Duran:Yeah.
Do you think the air fryer is like the new microwave where everyone has to have one?
Taylor Ann Spencer:I think yes, you should have an air fryer, but I also think that it's not a must.
Must have.
George Duran:95% Of American households own a microwave today, and 85% of them use it at least four times a week.
That's a new data that was just released.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I mean, I feel like if you have a microwave, you're using it all the time.
Air fryers.
Not all.
All.
All the time.
I guess.
George Duran:I use my air fryer more than in my microwave.
That's a fact.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Do you reheat food in it?
George Duran:Absolutely.
Ask me how many air fryers I own in this apartment in New York City.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I'm scared.
How many do you own?
George Duran:3.
Don't ask me why.
I.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Don't.
George Duran:Know.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Why.
Like, what are you gonna do with three?
George Duran:I use one for everyday use.
That is a combination air fryer and multi cooker.
So it has a top that is for air frying and multi cooking.
The.
The next one is a giant air fryer.
When I have to air fry something on a larger scale.
And the third one is my travel air fryer.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Who and their mother is transporting an air fryer around?
George Duran:I am.
When I go to picnics, when I go to the beach, I bring my generator, my electric generator, plug it in, and I have an air fryer.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I mean, you know, do you?
Do you.
George Duran:Yeah,.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I am.
I think I'm more about the big fat sandwich at the be.
Um, but that's just a personal thing.
George Duran:A little history about the air fryer.
ern air fryer was invented in: Just:I mean, that was 20 years ago.
I thought it was much earlier.
Right.
Taylor Ann Spencer:That is a some fast growth.
George Duran:It was invented by Dutch engineer Fred Vanderbae, who wanted to create a crispy, golden french fry without dunking them into a vat of oil.
His invention used rapidly circulating hot air to cook food.
mmercial air Fryer debuted in:That's 16 years ago.
It revolutionized home cooking by essentially convincing everyone that a tiny convection oven was a deep fryer.
Sixteen years ago, we did not have air fryers.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yes, but I grew up using a convection oven in the 90s, and they had been around for a long time before that.
So is the air fryer really that new?
Sure, its size is new, but it's just a convection oven.
Right.
George Duran:There are three very distinct differences between an air fryer and a convection oven.
For first, the fan speed.
The convection oven does not have the circulation, the speed of circulation like an air fryer does, the smaller vessel.
It means you have less space to heat up, so you have more of the heat going around it.
And finally, the perforated basket.
I have not seen many convection ovens with perforated baskets.
I mean, you can put certain foods, but you can't just put nuggets on the rack of the convection oven.
You have to put it on a pan.
So those are the three elements that distinguish air fryers from convection ovens.
Taylor Ann Spencer:You could, you could argue that a fan and a convection oven does go really fast, but the size of it and the, the speed of the air relative to the size of it, I just think there's something about that makes it especially, like, powerful.
You know what I'm saying?
George Duran:The air fryer does it all for me.
I love my air fryer.
Taylor Ann Spencer:That brings up an interesting question.
Do you preheat your air fryer?
George Duran:I'm a non preheater.
I'm sorry,.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Are you.
But how do you get that immediate.
Like,.
George Duran:Once you turn on an air fryer, that jet engine is going immediate.
The heat is producing instantly.
And I'm telling you, it gets to that temperature relatively quickly.
I mean, we're talking a minute or two for that engine to start heating up that vessel, that tiny little vessel.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I don't know.
I kind of like knowing that the basket is already hot.
So whenever I put whatever I put in, it, like, sizzles.
George Duran:Oh, my God.
You definitely are a recipe developer, aren't you?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yep.
George Duran:Yeah.
You know, air fryers have officially taken over our kitchens.
We know that.
But they're also making some really bizarre headlines.
So here are some of the weirdest air fryer stories out there.
A supermarket chain recently created a giant air fryer plushie.
Taylor Ann Spencer:You said plushie?
George Duran:Plushie.
Like a doll?
Like a.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Stuffed.
George Duran:Doll.
In April of this year, Aldi created an air fryer plushie as a humorous publicity stunt celebrating Britain's obsession with air fryers.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Why?
I guess to celebrate.
George Duran:But also, I love my air fryer, and I want to definitely hug it and kiss it and cuddle with it at nighttime.
And this is the best way to do it.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Okay.
George Duran:By the way, Aldi also commissioned a survey this year asking Brits what they make in their air fryer.
Four percent of them said they make tea in their air fryer.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Wait, so the hot chocolate theory is not crazy?
George Duran:I. I don't know how, but the Brits are making tea in their air fryer.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I mean, there are faster ways to heat up water, folks.
I'm just saying.
George Duran:Somebody once purchased an air fryer from Goodwill, and in it they found half an eaten sandwich.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Gross.
But who is, like, eating half of it and then putting it back in the air fryer?
That's a prank.
That has got to be a prank.
George Duran: It's not, because in July:When she opened the drawer, there was a partially eaten sandwich in it.
And this is on TikTok.
I watched it.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Wait, what kind of sandwich was it?
This is what I need to know.
George Duran:It looked like a grilled cheese, but it was literally half eaten.
And the.
The worst part, it was the nastiest basket air fryer I've ever seen.
Never been washed before, and they probably thought, instead of washing this, I'm going to just throw it away or sell it to Goodwill.
Taylor Ann Spencer:That's bonkers.
But I am not surprised that it was disgusting.
I mean, if there's a grilled cheese in there, a half a grilled cheese, clearly they're not paying attention to it after they cook food in it.
George Duran:Yeah.
Recently, a viral TikTok hack claimed that you could separate layers of pancake batter with parchment paper, cook the whole sex simultaneous in an air fryer, and end up with beautifully stacked pancakes.
However, when journalists at Tech Advisor actually tested it, they got undercooked, rubbery, and miserable results, saying, it tastes leathery, it tastes like eating fabric.
And no, I don't want this.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I can't even.
What?
Like, why would you do that?
George Duran: In May: Taylor Ann Spencer:Wait, wait.
In a glass one?
That's incredible.
George Duran:TikTok food creator content with C received backlash after posting an air fryer crab boil that included two live blue crabs.
The transparent appliance allowed viewers to see the crabs during the cooking process.
And that video prompted widespread criticism about animal welfare.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Nobody wants to watch that.
Feels sadistic to me.
George Duran:I've seen worse things on Twitter,.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I'm sure.
George Duran: In February:The vire cleaning hack involved putting water and dish soap into the air fryer basket and running the appliance to heat the mixture.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I sort of see the logic in this.
Would I ever do it?
Absolutely not.
But I understand why this person thought it might be a plausible thing.
George Duran:I mean, blenders have that button.
You put soap and water in it and the blender cleans itself.
They have it.
But the air Fryer.
There's.
There are too many electrical components in there.
You should not be doing this ever.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Nope.
George Duran:Do you bake in the air fryer, by the way?
You said you do, right?
Taylor Ann Spencer:I do.
Yeah.
You know, I think the air fryer makes a superb chocolate chip cookie.
I think it's really untapped in that category.
George Duran:No.
Just turn on your freaking oven and put the muffins in there.
Taylor Ann Spencer:What?
I thought you loved your air fryer.
I thought you would be so down.
George Duran:I don't know.
I mean, unless you're gonna make, like, one or two cookies.
But, like, who makes just two cookies?
You want a dozen cookies at the minimum.
And there's no way to put a dozen cookies inside of your air fryer.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Single people.
George Duran:Yeah.
King Arthur flour, by the way, has a temperature conversion for baking in the air fryer.
They say put the temperature 25 degrees less than the recipe calls for and cook it for about 20 to 25% less time.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Totally.
George Duran:Here's a great list of things you can do in your air fryer.
Tell me if you've ever done any of these.
Reheating leftover pizza.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yes.
George Duran:Right.
Toasting nuts without a skillet.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I would have to give that a shot.
I want to see.
George Duran:Yeah.
You can turn canned chickpeas into crunchy snacks by drying them thoroughly.
Lightly oil and season, then air fry 375 for 12 to 16 minutes.
That's a nice idea.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I've done that a lot.
I do that all the time.
Yep.
George Duran:People are making Parmesan crisps in the air fryer by putting small pieces of grated Parmesan on a silicone liner and then cooking it to four to six minutes at 325.
Taylor Ann Spencer:That's kind of cool.
I try that.
George Duran:And then finally, roasting garlic without turning on the oven, put a trimmed garlic head with olive oil into a small covered oven safe dish.
350 Degrees.
20 To 30 minutes.
You got a soft and spreadable roasted garlic.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Okay.
I would so do that, because roasting garlic just is.
It's wonderful, but it just takes so long.
And if you could speed it up.
George Duran:Amen.
All right, let's take a break.
Up next, we're keeping the hot air flowing with more air fryer madness, including some truly questionable cooking decisions and the latest modern air fryers taking over our kitchens.
And then what does Thanksgiving look like when you're thousands of miles away from home, serving in a war zone?
We're talking turkey troops.
And some incredible stories from Iraq.
Don't go anywhere.
All right.
We're back on Always Hangry.
Taylor Ann Spencer with us.
We're going to play a little game.
Taylor Ann, you ready?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Always.
George Duran:This is called TikTok or tik crock.
You have to tell me if any of these foods have been actually air fried on TikTok or not.
And let me tell you something.
I spent way too much time looking for air fryer foods on TikTok.
It's.
It's insanity.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I'm sure it is.
George Duran:Ice cream.
Has someone air fried ice cream on TikTok?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yes.
George Duran:Yes, they have indeed.
Yeah, that's right.
Air fried ice cream is a thing.
The trick is to freeze a scoop of ice cream until a rock solid, coat them with crushed cookies, cornflakes, or any sort of crumbs and then freeze them again.
And then you pop it in the air fryer for two to four minutes at 400.
This is like fried ice cream, but it's air fried ice cream.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yeah.
No, and the way that you put it, just ice cream.
I had to think about it and I'd been like, okay, but if it was coated in something crispy, this makes sense.
It's a good one.
George Duran:Yeah.
Popcorn.
Has anyone air fried popcorn on TikTok?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yes, but I don't know that I would recommend.
George Duran:That's a really good answer because that's exactly right.
They have been mixed results on TikTok and some of them are fake.
You could see the jump cut.
They kind of just put it in there.
They open it up and there's popcorn.
That clearly looks like it's movie theater popcorn.
But then some of the people make it in there and it's just burnt kernels.
So.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I just have this visual of opening the basket and it's just like exploding with popcorn kernels, like popping into the air.
So I don't know.
I think that that sounds hysterical, but I don't know that it's very safe.
So I would try.
George Duran:Grapes.
Has anyone air fried grapes in the air fryer?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yes.
Yes.
George Duran:Hell yes, they have.
Yes, they have.
And they're essentially roasted grapes that kind of look like raisins, a little bit or more plump.
They're kind of jammy and sweet and they kind of just, you know, put it on some crackers and cheese and it sounds delicious.
I want to try this.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I do too.
That sounds so good.
If you can roast something, it probably works in the air fryer.
George Duran:Yes.
But you can roast watermelon.
To have people air fried watermelon.
Taylor Ann Spencer:No.
George Duran:Yes, they have.
Of course it's TikTok.
Taylor Ann Spencer:What okay, so I need to know, was it a success?
George Duran:Absolutely not.
It was.
Looked disgusting.
It was a steaming chunk of watermelon.
Taylor Ann Spencer:That sounds gross.
George Duran:Cadbury creme eggs.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Okay.
They've probably done it, but I don't think it's been a success because they would just melt.
Right.
George Duran:Somebody air fried a Cadbury creme egg, they wrapped it in cookie dough, air fried it, and made Cadbury Creme Egg.
Scotch eggs.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Okay.
I kind of love that.
I mean.
Okay, so did the inside melt?
Was it just like a stuffed cookie then?
George Duran:Yeah, that's exactly what it was.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Okay, I really want to try that.
George Duran:Ramen noodles.
Has anyone air fried ramen noodles on TikTok?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yes.
Wait, cooked or uncooked?
George Duran:Both.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yeah, I'm gonna say yes.
George Duran:Yes.
They have the air fryer guy cooked and drained instant ramen, then put it in the air fryer and the noodles reportedly crisped back into something resembling the original dry blah.
Taylor Ann Spencer:So what's the point?
George Duran:There is no point.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Perfect.
George Duran:Know what that is?
Taylor Ann Spencer:We love that.
George Duran:And finally, milkshake.
Has anyone air fried Milkshake in the air fryer.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Okay.
I'm trying to think of if you could put milkshake inside anything because that's how you got me on the Cadbury Creme Eggs.
Um, or if.
No, no, nobody's tried.
George Duran:Yeah, that's right.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Okay.
George Duran:It's the only.
It's the only one that I searched that did not produce any results on TikTok.
But everything else you can imagine has been air fried on TikTok.
And that's the kind of society we live in now.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I mean, some of these ideas are not bad.
Like the grapes.
I'm gonna do it.
George Duran:I agree.
I think it's a great idea.
But just don't do the watermelon.
That's it.
That's what you learn from this.
I started looking at some of the newer air fryers that came out this year alone.
There's a ton of them that are really, really neat.
Do you want to hear them?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Of course.
George Duran:In July of this year, Ninja launched the Ninja Crispy Microwave.
It combines a:So it's called Fusion Crisp.
It microwaves and crisps at the same time.
I love it.
Taylor Ann Spencer:So it's like a modern combination oven.
That's what I'm getting from that.
George Duran:Yeah.
With an air fryer component and the microwave component together.
So.
Because sometimes what I do is I just to make speed things up, let's say with the chicken nuggets, I microwave it just for like a minute just to start thawing it and then I pop it into the air fryer.
This is both.
Taylor Ann Spencer:That's really smart.
George Duran:The ninja crispy dual zone.
Two separate four quart glass cooking zones.
I can use different settings.
Smart finish adjusts timing so both sides finish cooking together.
So it's literally divided into two compartments and you tell what there is on one, you tell what there is in the other one and it kind of air fries at the same time at different temperatures and it ends at the same time.
It's, it's, it's genius.
I love it.
Ninjas.
Boy, they come up with serious inventions.
I love it.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I think that's super practical and it sort of speaks to the idea that people realize you can make a whole meal in an air fryer, but the problem is sometimes you need to cook a couple different things in the air fryer.
And so then like it's like, well, what do you do first, what do you do second?
Do you need to eat your meal in stages to do that?
So this is smart.
George Duran:Emerson has come up with a of course, smart voice air fryer.
IT understands over: Taylor Ann Spencer:I mean at the end of the day I think it's great.
I would rather tell it what I want it to like.
I would rather like decide what I want to cook and figure out how to do it.
But that is the recipe developer in me.
George Duran: Philips Air Fryer:It adds steam cooking and combines the air fryer program as well.
Great idea.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Yep.
George Duran:The Typhur Dome 2.
It's a wide shallow cooking basket with heating elements above and below the food.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I love that.
I absolutely love that.
George Duran:You can put a pizza in there and it will cook the bottom and the top at the same time.
So heating elements up and down.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Love it.
George Duran:And finally, Cuisinart has a clear view 9 quart and it combines a front viewing window with a panoramic top viewing window, interior lighting, a wide cooking surface and a ceramic coated basket.
That's the big thing right now.
The glass air fryers,.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I'm not surprised they're so Instagramable.
TikTok like if you can see your food cooking, all influencers and anyone who does video wants to be able to see that process.
Right?
Because then you can speed it up and it's like woo, amazing.
You know, it kind of makes me nervous personally like from a practical level in my kitchen because glass is breakable and although I'M sure it's heat safe.
I'm always like, but what if it explodes in my face someday?
George Duran:I think they're tempered enough that they will never, ever explode, and that's that.
This is how these companies kind of know what they're doing.
They temper it.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Well, of course they do, but psychologically,.
George Duran:Yeah,.
Taylor Ann Spencer:I'm still scared.
George Duran:Well, are you scared of your oven because your oven has glass?
Taylor Ann Spencer:You know, it's like I said, it's psychological.
And sometimes psychological things do not make sense.
George Duran:No.
That's why our cameras are off right now.
All right, that's it for today.
Really fun having you here, Taylor Ann, but next week we're talking slow cookers, right?
Taylor Ann Spencer:Absolutely.
Very excited because it's sort of like the opposite of the air fryer in a lot of ways.
So looking forward to that.
George Duran:But it's also very versatile, too.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Totally.
George Duran:Tune in to that show.
Guys, thanks so much for being on the show.
Taylor Ann Spencer:Thanks for having me.
George Duran:Coming up, how do you celebrate Thanksgiving when you're stationed in the middle of a war zone?
We're talking holiday meals, unexpected traditions, and why even the simplest foods can mean so much when you're far away from home.
Stay with us.
Welcome back to Always Hangry.
My guest today is retired US Army Colonel Steve Miska, author of Baghdad Underground Railroad, an incredible true story about about helping Iraqi interpreters escape danger after risking their lives to support American troops.
Steve, welcome to the show.
Steve Miska :Thanks, George.
It's an honor to be here.
George Duran:Now, usually on the show, we don't talk about anything but food, so we'll get to your story.
It's absolutely intriguing.
What I want to know is when you were deployed, what was Thanksgiving like?
Because we're approaching Thanksgiving right now, and I can only imagine not being near your family, not having that Thanksgiving meal.
What was it all like?
Steve Miska :The holidays in general were important.
What I thought about as psychological benchmarks.
Thanksgiving was always a big thing that we tried to do with the soldiers where we would incorporate other fun things into the meal and the festivities.
And obviously, the mission continues.
I mean, the enemy doesn't respect our holidays.
George Duran:What was the meal like?
Like a real turkey dinner with all those side dishes?
Steve Miska :Yeah.
So it depends.
By the time my second and third deployments to Iraq, the theater was ma store enough that you had these really established dining facilities and they would serve, you know, turkey and all the fixins.
And a lot of times you would try to do it so it was a hot delivery, or you could deliver the food and then prep it so that it would Be hot.
But, you know, you had green bean casserole or some combination, you know, it wasn't like mom's or grandma's apple pie.
That for sure.
George Duran:A lot of people don't think about the logistics and how to feed the military and the commissaries and how much you have to plan in advance for something like Thanksgiving dinner.
You can't even find turkey, I don't think, in the Middle East.
So you had to order this turkey in advance, bring it over, and then the commissary takes care of it and serves it to the soldiers, right?
Steve Miska :Yep, yep.
You know, it's interesting.
One of the advantages of the American military, and this has been historically, is this tremendous logistics capacity.
You know, so the food wasn't bad.
We had cooks who worked hard and really did a great job, and we tried to make them full fledged members of the team as much as possible.
Everybody, you know, had to rotate on and off guard duty.
But these could still could be coming back to their day job, which was preparing food for hundreds and thousands of troops.
George Duran:Yeah.
Is there.
Is there a cuisine you'd like to try on the military level, like Japanese, French, perhaps?
Steve Miska :You got to go French.
I mean, you know, any just venturing across the border to France, the prices of the food would double from what they were in Germany.
But it was just a level that was exquisite in a lot of ways.
Just really good stuff.
George Duran:I could just see them stuffing, you know, brie and butter inside their MREs and just happy troops.
Steve Miska :Exactly.
George Duran:Tell me more about your book.
Your book tells a kind of a story that very few people know about.
You helped create what became known as the Baghdad Underground Railroad.
Can you tell us more what it is, how it happened, and why it matters so much?
Steve Miska :In Baghdad, it was the height of sectarian violence.
At the time, over 3,000 Iraqis were being killed every month.
And that is.
So to put that In American context, that is a 911 level of trauma on a population that is less than one tenth the size of the United States.
And any Iraqi working alongside of Americans was being targeted.
Their families were put at risk, and we couldn't do the mission without them.
These were people who saved our lives in many cases, helped us understand the cultural landscape and try to do no harm to the extent we could when we were out and about trying to restand up their.
Their economy and government and all of that.
So they were vital partners and they were being killed out from underneath us.
Everybody was targeting them.
Al Qaeda in Iraq, Sunni insurgents, Jaishal Madi, Shia militia, all these different threat groups were going on, even members of the Iraqi government.
And so we started trying to protect them.
And they lived on base with us 24 7.
But George Packer from the New Yorker came in and he wrote a 15,000 word article with a one word title and it was titled Betrayed.
And it was a scathing indictment of the lack of US policy to protect our most trusted partners on the Iraqi side.
And I just talked to my team and we decided, you know, we can't look ourselves in the mirror unless we try to do something.
And at the time, the US had passed a special immigrant visa which authorized Iraqi or Afghan, mainly interpreters to apply for this visa if they had at least 12 months of good service.
I mean, we can't even navigate the bureaucracy.
No Iraqi is going to be able to figure this out.
And so we started trying to do it and the underground railroad part really came in because there was a catch 22 in the system, you know, so we had to help them figure out how do you get from Baghdad to Oman if they qualify and have all the, you know, everything met with their packet.
And then I just instituted a policy with our task force that we had to have a sponsor in the United States as well.
Most of these guys were young, you know, 20 something men and they, they had no idea how hard it would be, how, how hard they would have to work.
The cultural adjustment.
We, we set up this underground railroad and tried to fight the bureaucracy while we were trying to do everything else and keep everybody alive.
George Duran:How many Iraqis were you able to bring over to the US and protect?
Steve Miska :So we got about a three dozen Iraqis out at that time, which was a large number given there were only 500 visas total that year between Iraq and Afghanistan and, and Iraqi General and his family ended up moving in with my mom.
She claims I did not tell her how many children were involved.
Five,.
George Duran:Which I,.
Steve Miska :I told I absolutely did, but she says I didn't.
But he also had two wives, which was totally insane.
And it was, you know, a total soap opera.
George Duran:Where are these folks today?
What, what are they doing and are they protected still?
Steve Miska :Interestingly, do you know what the first thing is that at least six of those three dozen did when they got here to the United States?
George Duran:I don't.
Steve Miska :They enlisted in either the U.S. army or U.S. marines, became U.S. service members, and then deployed back to combat on behalf of our country.
When some of them go home to visit their family members still back in Iraq, they can't tell anybody they're coming.
They can't tell anybody.
They're Americans for sure.
And they've got to, you know, operate like they're in a James Bond movie to stay alive, you know, not put their families at risk, which is their main concern.
George Duran:Yeah, and it's so easy to forget the human side of all this when you're just comfortable in this country that is clearly protected and you go in the supermarket and the food is just filled everywhere and you can get whatever you want at any time.
And you just never think about what's happening across the seas in these incredibly impoverished, you know, war ridden countries.
It's, it's, it's hard to, to convey that message to your average American.
Steve Miska :We did a launch in Los Angeles at the end of September and we had an Afghan caterer bring in this amazing meal.
I mean, it looked like people didn't want to touch it because it looked like a work of art.
And then they just, you know, devoured it.
It was just a really cool event.
And so we try to do that as well as, like, that's why the story is valuable, I think, is to help broaden awareness and understanding of the richness of some of the cultures that we get to work alongside.
George Duran:I always say the key to world peace is food.
It's the one.
Steve Miska :I agree.
George Duran:It's the one component we all know and want.
And if we just sit together and enjoy each other's meals, I feel like, you know, things would maybe calm down a little bit in our world.
Steve Miska :You know, Iraqis are such a warm, you know, hospitable culture.
So it wasn't unusual for me to have three or four Iraqi meals a week because if I go to visit a sheikh, he's going to serve a meal.
And it's all fresh too.
There's nothing processed, so it's all coming in.
It is a little bit disorienting because they're serving it with their hands.
Right.
And, and if they see you even getting close to finishing your plate, they're piling more on.
But it's really good food and, you know, getting the chance to experience it firsthand was just a blessing.
George Duran:Well, I would like to express our gratitude for all, everything you've done for our country.
We really appreciate, Steve, that you've been with us, the incredible story you've shared, giving us a glimpse of what Thanksgiving was like with the troops overseas.
Again, we're truly grateful for you.
Steve Miska :Well, thanks, George.
It's an honor to join you.
And I'll keep wrangling on the always hangry podcast.
George Duran:Thank you so much.
Colonel Steve Miska, author of Baghdad Underground Railroad, available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
And of course, like you said, the audiobook is out.
Baghdad Underground Railroad.
That's it for today on Always Hangry.
Be sure to tune in next week for another episode.
And don't forget to follow, subscribe and share the show with someone who loves food as much as you do.
And for more episodes and all things Always Hangry, Visit always hangry podcast.com I'm George Duran.
Stay hungry.
