Air Fryers Are They Worth It

How We Chose The Best Air Fryers

Every air fryer in our top 10 roundup has been tested hands-on by the Ideal Home team for a minimum of two weeks, or four thorough recipes. This allowed us to compare air fryers directly when compiling our top 10 list, and it also helped us when deciding which air fryers will be the right pick for different living situations. Because all air fryers claim to do very similar things, it’s important to us that we put them through their paces before recommending any air fryer to our readers. We used a standard recipe for air fried homemade chips across all air fryers, recording the cooking timings and considering how evenly the crisps came out, and how well cooked they were.

Another test we replicated across different air fryers was cooking bacon. Bacon cooks brilliantly in air fryers, allowing fat to drip away and leaving crispy rashers in the basket. We used the speed and evenness of cooking as a way of measuring how well an air fryer distributed heat and how fast it circulated hot hair. Based on our findings, we gave every air fryer a rating out of five and then sorted them into a top ten list to recommend to our readers.

Oil Free Fryer Cecotec Cecofry Compact Rapid Black

The kitchen brand Cecotec has created an oil-free fryer that has a power of 900w and has a capacity of 300 grams. According to the manufacturer, it has cold walls to avoid burns. It has a removable bowl that makes it easier to clean but is not dishwasher safe, and it also has a timer to measure the frying time of each food.

It has no power switch, no odor or vapor filter, and no space to collect the cord.

Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Bought An Air Fryer

The truth is out there about air fryers

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I love air fryers as much as the next person unless the next person is one of T3’s air fryer correspondents Rob Clymo and Millie Fender, for instance. They have to bear the brunt of an onslaught of air fryers to review, air fryers to test air fried recipes in and as a result they have had to move out of their homes, because they are too full of air fryers for human habitation. Here’s what you should know before you buy an air fryer.

Here at T3, where we totally all live in a big, shared house, we have made all the mistakes people make with air fryers. We’ve also found ways that an air fryer is better than an oven, and we’ve got the best air fryer chips recipe, as well as some way more interesting ideas on the best foods to cook in an air fryer and surprisingly good things that you can cook in an air fryer. Just a whole bunch of air fryer-related things.

Anyway, here are 5 things I wish I knew before buying an air fryer. Obviously by that I mean ‘5 things I wish I knew before receiving some of the best air fryers for free from leading air fryer brands,’ but just go with it.

Don’t Miss: Schwan’s Chicken Fries In Air Fryer

Air Fryer Cauliflower Chickpea Tacos

Cauliflower and chickpeas cook together in the air fryer, in a fraction of the time you would need in a traditional oven, and turn into crunchy deliciousness! Add them to your favorite whole-grain tortillas or lettuce wraps to create a scrumptious and hearty dinner that the whole family will love. We provided a couple of options for fun and creamy sauces to complement the crunch, but feel free to improvise by adding your favorite.

Also Great: Philips Premium Airfryer Hd9741/96

*At the time of publishing, the price was $250.

The Philips Premium Airfryer HD9741/96 is the best pod-shaped air fryer weve tested. Its a far less versatile appliance than the Cuisinart convection toaster oven, but its smaller footprint may make it ideal for tiny kitchens with limited counter space. Smaller households that plan to make only one or two portions of food at a time may also prefer this model. Compared with other pod-shaped air fryers we tested, the Philips cooked food the most evenly, aside from the occasional soggy french fry on average, it cooked faster than most other models we tried and with better results. Like all pod-shaped air fryers, this Philips model isnt good for baking or making toastits fan is too powerful and produces overcooked, irregularly shaped cakes and wonky, unevenly browned toast. But if you dont plan to bake in it, we think its a suitable choice for cooking frozen snacks, smaller portions of meat and vegetables, or certain dishes you want extra crispy, like chicken wings or flautas.

You May Like: Tyson Frozen Chicken Patties Air Fryer

Which Air Fryer Accessories Are Worth It

I tried 10 air fryer accessories to determine which ones will help you get the most out of your countertop cooker

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If you own an air fryer, you already know that these miniature convection ovens are a game-changer in the kitchen. They can fry up foods with little to no oil and cut down on cook times when compared to a regular oven. But if youre only utilizing this multitasking device to cook up french fries, wings, and nuggets, youre not allowing it to live up to its full potential.

Ive owned an air fryer for the better part of a decade, but I learned a lot from experimenting with 10 air fryer accessories: My appliance is more than capable of baking cakes, turning out kabobs, and preparing a personal pizza. Not to mention, these accessories have perfected the way I roast chicken and prepare baked macaroni while saving me time on cleanup.

I selected these particular accessories based on practical needs in the kitchen. After all, I wanted them to help make life easier, not simply take up space in kitchen drawers. I used each of them with the Gourmia GAF686 Digital air fryer. Until recently, it was our top-rated model, but it was just unseated by the Chefman TurboFry 4.5 Quart air fryer. Its still our top-performing large-capacity air fryer.

Cake Barrel

Verdict: Worth it

Disposable Air Fryer Liners

What Are The Best Air Fryers

Our Test Kitchen put several models to the test to find the best air fryer, and three brands rose to the top. Weve been fans of the Philips Avance Turbo-Star Air Fryer for years, and our experts were also impressed by the Black + Decker Purify Air Fryer and the PowerXL Vortex Air Fryer.

These gadgets range in price depending on their size and features. In addition to the appliance itself, you may want to pick up some air fryer accessories.

Read Also: Power Air Fryer As Seen On Tv

Heats Up And Cooks Fast

Compared to conventional ovens or toaster ovens, an air fryer preheats and cooks food in a fraction of the time.

Most air fryers can preheat to 400°F in five minutes or less. Gas ovens take up to 13 minutes to reach that same temperature, while electric ovens take between 17 and 19 minutes to hit 400°F.

Of course, preheating times may vary by model. Yet, most ovens dont heat up as fast as an air fryer.

Air fryers not only preheat faster, but they also cook faster. Thats because the chamber in an air fryer is much smaller than a large oven, so the heating is more concentrated.

As a rule of thumb, you can convert most oven recipes to air fryer recipes by reducing the temperature by 25°F and cooking time by 20%. That said, youll need to reduce the temperature and cook time even more with some recipes.

Since its not an exact science, only use this rule of thumb if you cant find a specific air fryer version of the recipe.

Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer Oven 7

With multiple built-in programs, including bake, boast, broil, toast, rotisserie, and dehydrate, you can quickly cook your favorite meals in this air fryer. It is also equipped with a one-step EvenCrisp Technology that results in dishes that are crispy on the outside but tender inside. Prepare your meals with little to no preheating time needed with this Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer.

Recommended Reading: Barber Foods Air Fryer

Don’t Miss: Cooking Tyson Wings In Air Fryer

Why Are Americans Obsessed With Air Fryers

Americans love their fast foods, and the fact that an air fryer makes it easy to cook them at home makes it a highly popular appliance.

Also, the speed and convenience of cooking with an air fryer are hard to beat. With the average American working over 8 hours on weekdays and spending several more hours commuting, there is hardly any time left for cooking on a working day. And so, an appliance that allows them to cook super fast is sure to be popular.

In recent years more and more Americans have been switching to healthy eating. The fact that an air fryer promises to make healthier foods makes it very popular.

What Cant You Cook In An Air Fryer

You wont be able to fry items in a wet, homemade batter, although if you adjust your recipe, you can fry items in a homemade breadcrumb mix. Cheesy items should also be avoided. Batter and cheese will just melt into a gloopy mess under the tray in your air fryer.

There are better ways to cook broccoli and similar vegetables, which can dry out or wind up soggy. Leafy veg can be blown around and may not cook evenly.

Dry food coated in seasoning will end up losing its seasoning as it cooks.

And if you like a rare burger or steak, forget it. By the time the outside has browned, the inside of the meat will be well done.

That being said, there are recipes for all kinds of air-fried foods, including some of the above, so technique is important and you may just have to experiment to see what works for you.

Also Check: Emeril Air Fryer 5 In 1

How Do I Convert A Regular Recipe To An Air Fryer Recipe

Converting regular recipes to air fryer recipes is not as straightforward as converting a regular recipe to a convection oven recipe, which typically requires decreasing the temperature by 25ºF and checking on it sooner. Instead, keep in mind that most foods air fry best at 400ºF unless they are thicker , so you are often just adjusting the timing.

The most important thing to remember is that air fryers cook very quickly, so keep your user guide handy and check the included cooking charts and recipes often. Until you know the recipe, it’s also a good practice start checking your food within a quarter of the time you would normally check it in the oven.

What Are Cons Of Air Frying

Despite all the advantages of air frying, there are still a few downfalls that are worth looking at. The cons include:

• Your Food is still fried: it really may not matter sometimes whether you are using less oil or more oil, the fact remains that your food will still qualify as fried foods. And of course, you know that fried foods are sometimes related to negative effects.
• Over Use: Well, a major draw to the gadget is the idea of reducing calories and knowing that you are consuming fewer calories, can possibly cause you to stuck more calories in your diet than you would have ordinarily done.
• Relatively high priced.

Also Check: Air Fryer Baked Potato Wedges

Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer

If you arent worried about money or space and you find that youre regularly preparing meals for a bunch of people, the Breville Smart Oven Air is a great convection oven-style air fryer. I have a Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer that I absolutely love, Pitre said. It has 11 cooking functions, like toasting, broiling, baking, and of course air frying. Like most of our recommendations, it has a screen for the timer and temperature. The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer has a 4.7-star average rating from around 160 reviews at Best Buy and comes with a one-year warranty. Its important to note here that the Breville doesnt have any dishwasher-safe parts.

But You Do Have To Use Oil With Them

Other than when cooking chips, I usually use quite a lot of oil when air frying, despite what the instruction manuals say. Food just tastes nicer and cooks better with some fat involved.

Sprayed oil is better than poured when it comes to air frying. However, one thing to be aware of here is that a lot of shop-bought oil sprays contain lecithin. Bizarrely, this does not interact well with non-stick surfaces at high temperatures, and turns into a weird gunk that is hard to remove and, paradoxically, rather sticky.

I find this hasn’t been a problem for me as I only spray the food, not the basket. However, I have heard some horror stories from people who are more liberal with their fatty spraying, so be aware. There’s always the option of buying a reusable spray and filling it with standard-issue cooking oil with no lecithin added, of course.

Read Also: Frigidaire Air Fryer Gas Stove

Air Fryers Save Space

Whether youre short on space or just prefer a more streamlined kitchen aesthetic, air fryers are much smaller than traditional deep fryers, toaster ovens or let alone traditional ovens. In fact, theyre classified as countertop appliances. This is a big reason why air fryers are worth it, since most of us dont have a huge kitchen where everything fits.

Most air fryers have a footprint of about 16 by 12 inches and stand just over 15 inches high. By comparison, one of the highest rated deep fryer measures 19 inches wide by 13-1/2 inches deep and stands 10-1/2 inches high.

I know from personal experience that when I get a new kitchen appliance, its tempting to leave it out on the counter all the timebut not everyone has that kind of space. One of the great things about air fryers is how easy they are to store away when not in use: You can either keep them in a cupboard or tuck them on a shelf if you dont have any shelves available.

Ninja Speedi Rapid Cooker & Air Fryer

The Ninja Speedi Rapid Cooker and Air Fryer is one of the newest air fryers we’ve tested. While it looks different and is somewhat larger than most air fryers on the market, it’s worth making room for on your counter. The 12-in-1 appliance not only air fries well and quickly, but it works similarly to a multicooker , and can be used to sear, sauté, bake, roast, broil, steam, slow cook, proof, cook sous vide and even dehydrate. It can also steam and bake/air fry at the same for the juiciest and most flavorful results.

One of the most impressive things it can do is cook quick one-pot meals by cooking the base like pasta, rice or quinoa on the bottom of the square basket and the toppings like chicken, shrimp or meatballs on the top level. It doesn’t require any additional accessories, just the included perforated tray, which is used for air frying and steaming in the lower position and crisping/broiling in the upper position. The tray and six-quart basket are ceramic coated, like the other Ninja air fryers, and they’re easy to clean by hand or in the dishwasher. We found the Speedi simple to program and liked the clear control panel, and the user guide is loaded with helpful instructions, tips and colorful recipes.

Recommended Reading: Air Fryer Tyson Chicken Patties

Air Fryers Can Be Quite Large

As you can see, this one is considerably larger than its owner’s head

This is particularly true of the multi-function type, but even the ‘just a frying basket in a box’ type will take up quite a significant amount of your precious worktop space. The good news is that many an air fryer buyer finds they use their new machine all the time, and don’t need to store it away, or resent the space it takes up. But if you think you’ll only use it once or twice a week, be aware that it’ll still be taking up quite a bit of your real estate on the days you’re not using it.

I’m lucky in that my kitchen is huge, anyway.

Should You Get A Digital Air Fryer Over Analog Meh Not Really

This depends on your personal preference but the controls don’t have much to do with the performance or end result. Digital air fryers have presets for things like chicken wings, french fries, fish and such, but I find that even if the presets exist, it takes me just a few runs to learn how long things need and the correct temperatures, and I end up bypassing them anyways. Digital air fryers tend to cost a bit more and you run the risk of the panel shorting out, but having a digital readout of the temp and cook time can be nice.

Also Check: How Long To Cook Chicken Tenders In Air Fryer