How To Buy An Air Fryer

Air Fryer Toaster Ovens

So if an air fryer is like a convection oven and a convection oven is similar to a toaster oven, do you actually need an air fryer toaster oven? Maybe not, but it depends on if the air fryer toaster oven has any features that you aren’t already getting from your air fryer and if those are features you actually intend to use.

“Steer away from combo air fryers whose secondary appliance does repetitive functions,” says Nick Drewe, CEO and founder of Wethrift.

If your biggest concern about purchasing an air fryer is devoting precious counter space to yet another appliance, then you might be a good candidate for a combination air fryer and toaster oven.

“While this appliance is bigger than the standard toaster oven, it does allow you to have one appliance on your counter that performs multiple functions quite well, including toasting, baking small foods, and, of course, air frying,” says Emily Paster, author of Epic Air Fryer Cookbook.

The biggest difference between basket style air fryers and air fryer ovens is how they are configured. “With a basket style air fryer, you can shake the food around in the basket to flip things over. With an air fryer oven, you’ll need to flip foods by hand,” Laurence says. Often, however, you’ll find you don’t need to flip at all because they cook quite evenly with the air moving all around the food.

Which Air Fryer Should You Buy How To Pick Your Perfect Size And Type

Air fryers have been around for a few years now, so everyone is generally accustomed to what these convection oven-like appliances look like and all the tasks they are capable of completing. But suddenly, all kinds of new air fryer options have popped up!

Now, there are whole new categories of air fryers. While the original form remains available, there are air fryer toaster ovens, air fryer Instant Pots, and even dual-drawer air fryers. So the question becomes: Which air fryer is right for you?

Ultimately, the type of air fryer you need is all about what you are going to do with it. Some people with limited kitchen space may be using their air fryer as a replacement oven. It may be their only appliance, so they want it to do a lot.

For others, crisping up fries or chicken wings is the extent of their air fryer need. They have specific recipes in mind, and beyond that, they have other appliances they can use. In that case, a classic air fryer may be all you need the fancy functions are only necessary if you are going to use them.

After Hearing So Many Friends And People On Social Media Raving About Their Air Fryers I Decided To Find Out What All The Fuss Was About

Throughout 2020, air fryers seemed to be the hot kitchen gadget, so when the holidays came around that year, I decided to buy myself one.

Instantly, I understood why so many people have fallen in love with the kitchen appliance. It became a game changer in my kitchen, allowing me to cook dinner in minutes and fry chicken, vegetables, and other foods without submerging them in oil.

Even though the appliance changed my cooking lifestyle for the better, there were still a few things about the air fryer that surprised me and that I wish I knew before I made the purchase.

Also Check: Large Air Fryer With Rotisserie

How Much Money Do You Want To Spend

Many of our experts mentioned you should expect to spend around $80 on a good air fryer, though top-tier models can cost as much as $300. Some smaller models under $80 can work for smaller quantities of food.

Are they worth it? Thats up to you, Weinstein said. His $300 air fryer has lasted him a long time, but he owns air fryers half that price that have worked their way through testing the thousands of recipes in his books, too. For the uninitiated, its probably worth spending less at first to allow room for experimentation and growth.

What Is An Air Fryer

Contrary to the name, an air fryer doesn’t actually fry at all. Instead, the air fryer works more like a convection oven, circulating hot air with a fan. The main difference between a regular convection oven and an air fryer is that the air fryer fan blows faster and the compartment in which food is cooked is often smaller. Because of these two things, all that hot air hits food more rapidly and so it doesn’t lose as much heat in transit. Most air fryers come with a grated rack or perforated basket so the air can travel through and hit the food on all sides.

The perforated basket helps the hot air hit food on all sides and crisp evenly.

This fast, hot roasting or “super convection” will quickly brown chicken, potatoes, frozen snacks, veggies and fish without overcooking the inside. That’s very similar to how deep-frying works, which is where both the comparison and name come from.

While it isn’t the case for everything, I’ve air-fried many foods that taste nearly identical to if they’d been deep-fried. In fact, some things taste better since they are not saturated with heavy oil which can overpower the flavor of the food.

Read Also: Cuisinart Air Fryer Toa 65

How To Use An Air Fryer

Air fryers, despite their name, don’t do too much actual frying, but they are good for cooking foods you’d typically fry. In fact, they’re great for when you’re looking to cook something relatively quickly, but you want it to end up a little crunchier than it typically would in a microwave. This means that everything from leftover pizza to frozen mozzarella sticks, to cookies cook quickly and conveniently in an air fryer basket. Additionally foods you might typically pan-sear like chicken thighs and pork chops cook quickly and end up tasting delicious when made in an air fryer. And game-night foods are better than you can make baked, cook lightning quick, and need just the barest spritz of oil.

/8what Is An Air Fryer How Does It Work

Air Fryer is basically an appliance, which works like a convection oven, where the food is cooked in hot air, which makes it crispy and crunchy without any oil. This appliance has turned out to be a hit among weight watchers and health enthusiasts, but how does it actually work?

Air Fryer uses the fan as the heating mechanism, which cooks the food in hot air inside a tray. The rapid air movement cooks the food inside out, which makes it much better than microwave ovens. The excessive heat and hot air reduces the cooking time and makes the food crispy. Here are a few pros and cons you must consider before buying this kitchen appliance.

Read Also: Kohls Cuisinart Toaster Oven Air Fryer

Don’t Make These 10 Mistakes

Doing any of the following things wont melt your face off, but try to avoid them.

Do not be too generous with oil.

Use a light hand with that oil! Excess oil ends up in the drawer under the grate, but if theres too much buildup, it might smoke. Generally speaking, if theres already fat on the food , you might not need to oil the food at all. Vegetables, however, benefit from a light coating of oil, because it helps make them nice and brown.

Are Air Fryers A Healthier Way To Cook

It really depends on what youre comparing them against.

If youre going to use your air fryer to cook items like oven-ready, batter-coated or crumb-coated fish, chicken nuggets or oven chips, they wont make the items any healthier than cooking them in the oven.

But, if you were planning to deep- or shallow-fry food, youll save yourself a big calorie hit.

Deep fryers can use up to 50 times more oil than an air fryer. And although your food will only absorb a relatively small proportion of that oil, deep frying is still the most calorie-dense way to cook.

Frying food also produces acrylamide, a compound linked to cancer development. Air-frying may help to lower the amount of acrylamide in the food you cook. However, it wont affect the formation of other harmful compounds associated with cooking foods at very high temperatures.

Youll still also need to use some oil if youre cooking fresh food, although itll only be between a teaspoon and a tablespoon if youre making food from scratch. Pre-prepared items such as oven chips and nuggets wont need added oil.

You May Like: How To Make Pork Chops In An Air Fryer

How Does Air Frying Compare With Oven Cooking

Although theres no health advantage to cooking oven-ready items in an air fryer, youll probably find that you can roast fresh items in an air fryer using less oil than youd use in an oven. If you parboil potatoes and spray them with oil, you can pop them in an air fryer and get very crisp roast potatoes in 20 minutes.

Another advantage is that air fryers get extremely hot very quickly, and the circulating air means that food will get perfectly browned all over. This means youll be able to cut your cooking time and up the crunchiness in the finished product. It also makes it easier to cook things like sweet potato fries, which can go limp in an oven.

An air fryer will be faster than oven cooking. Because of the quicker cooking time and the smaller size of an air fryer compared to your oven, its more energy efficient. This means that its a more environmentally-friendly cooking option and one thatll save you money in the long run. Its a good cooking appliance to use if you want to minimise electricity bills.

Like oven cooking, youll still need to keep an eye on your air frying food and probably turn it over once during the cooking process.

How We Test Air Fryers

We’ve tested more than 40 air fryers in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances Lab, including traditional basket-style air fryers, air fryer ovens, air fryer toaster ovens and even several microwaves and multicookers with air fry capabilities. We also cook with them quite regularly and have developed countless recipes for them.

When we test air fryers, we evaluate their performance and ease of use by air frying frozen and fresh french fries as well as chicken wings. We don’t test baked goods like cake because cake and most other desserts benefit from an even distribution of gentle heat, and most air fryers don’t have heating elements on the bottom in addition to the top . We score the food on its crispiness, juiciness and evenness, and we consider details like how quickly it cooks, how helpful the user guide is and whether the machine is loud. We also evaluate features like the control panel, temperature range and whether the accessories are dishwasher-safe.

Recommended Reading: Frigidaire Air Fryer Oven Commercial

What Can I Cook In My Air Fryer

Air fryers are essentially countertop fan ovens and are just as versatile. They can be used to prepare a huge variety of foods. Any food that does well when roasted, baked or fried will do well in your air fryer.

As well as chicken and chips, other popular choices include potatoes, roasted vegetables, falafel, fish, pizza and even baked goods such as cookies and cakes.

Air fryers can also be useful for quickly cooking and crisping up frozen foods and snacks such as fish fingers, chicken nuggets, spring rolls and pies.

Things you should avoid putting in your air fryer include fresh greens, cheese and any food covered in wet batter. Cooking whole roasts such as roast chicken can also be problematic, so joint your bird first before frying.

Some air fryer manufacturers offer starter recipes to get you going: take a look at these Ninja Foodi recipes.

How Should I Dispose Of An Old Air Fryer

According to Recycle Now, around one million tonnes of electrical and electronic waste are generated every year. Every item that has either a plug, a charger, batteries or carries a crossed-out wheelie bin logo can be recycled, and that includes air fryers.

• Some shops, such as Currys, will collect and recycle old appliances when delivering new ones check the store website for details.
• You can arrange for an electrical waste collection through your local council.
• Take the appliance to your local council recycling/reuse centre.

Appliances that are still working can be reused. If your old blender is still working, donate it to charity , sell it, or take it to your local council recycling/reuse centre. You can find your nearest recycling location using Recycle Nows recycling locator.

Find out more in how to recycle electrical items.

Also Check: Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven Best Buy

Things To Consider If You’re Buying An Air Fryer

• Unless you buy a double basket air fryer, you can only cook one food at a time.
• Because the element sits close to the basket it can overcook and dry out food.
• The size of the cooking area can be restrictive, so you’ll need to make sure the food can fit in the drawer/cavity in some cases it may be better to use an oven with fan-forced mode.
• Air fryers generally have a small capacity, so multiple batches may be needed when cooking.
• Most air fryers don’t have a viewing window so you can’t see what’s happening during cooking.
• It can take some trial and error to get the time and temperature for cooking right.
• They can take up quite a lot of space consider that your air fryer might be a permanent fixture on your bench or make sure you’ll have the space to store it before you buy.
• Some air fryers can use more energy than an oven.

Read more: 10 common air fryer mistakes you might be making

How To Choose An Air Fryer Based On Size

Air fryers come in many sizes. Depending on what type of air fryer you get the size range can vary greatly. Air fryer capacity is usually measured in quarts but be aware because some products are

For basket type air fryers usually the low-end is around 2 quarts, but we have seen tiny air fryers with a 1 quart capacity.

Basket type air fryers range from 1 quarts to 10 quarts.

A small sized air fryer is anything less than 3 quarts.

A medium sized air fryer is between 3-6 quarts.

A large air fryer in my opinion is anything that is bigger than 6 quarts.

I have created a table to see how much food can each air fryer sizes hold. I used a very handy online food weight to volume converter . I also deducted the result by 25% because usually you cant fill a 100% of the air fryer basket.

Please note that these are just reference numbers. Most of the times you cant fill an air fryer basket to the maximum and it also doesnt take into account the space between foods. Some foods also cant be stacked one another so you can only cook with 1 layer.

You May Like: Cheap And Best Air Fryer

Similarly You Can’t Cook The Meat And The Vegetables At The Same Time

I’m used to baking chicken and vegetables on one giant sheet in the oven. That’s not possible in an air fryer because of its size.

One night I was cooking chicken, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, and they all needed to go in the air fryer, according to their recipes. Instead of putting them all on one tray, as I would have with a traditional oven, I had to cook the chicken first, then the vegetables. By the time everything was finished cooking, the meat was cold.

Buying Guide How To Choose An Air Fryer

There are good chances you have heard of air fryers before. This kitchen appliance has existed for a while, and its making its prominence in every household. You can use it for making french fries, chicken nuggets, veg cutlets and Indian deep-fried starters such as samosas, vadas and kachoris with nearly no oil. It is also a great appliance to cook leftover food like chicken drumsticks, which usually get soggy when reheated in a microwave.

Not just deep-fried dishes, you can also use air fryers for baking cakes, donuts and bread. It offers the convenience and versatility of an OTG in a much smaller form factor. It cut downs on your calories intake and fats without taking away the crunchiness and taste that we all love. If you are considering buying one, it is easy to get confused because of the several options. We have put together a guide to choose the right air fryer for your kitchen.

Don’t Miss: How To Cook Any Tizers In Air Fryer

Instant Vortex Plus Clearcook

Air fryers from Instant, the same brand that makes Instant Pot multicookers, have been on our list of best air fryers since we started testing them. The ones we tested, including this one, are easy to program and high-performing. This one particularly stands out for its see-through window design, which allows you to peer inside without pulling out the basket. It also has a light that can be turned on manually and that turns on automatically right before the timer goes off.

Type of air fryer: Basket-styleDimensions: 12.8″ x 11.8″ x 14.9″Capacity: 6 quartsFunctions: Air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat and dehydrate

What Are Some Things To Consider When Buying An Air Fryer

The most recent addition to every kitchens arsenal, the air fryer, has made its name in the market. Its promise of frying food using only air makes it an attractive purchase for many. As with any kitchen appliance, you have to be aware of the things to consider when buying an air fryer. How do you know which air fryer would be best for you? Which air fryer would be worth your time and money?

In the following list, we have compiled six things for you to think about when choosing an air fryer. These things should all be a part of your checklist when buying an air fryer. Read on to learn more!

Also Check: What Is The Beat Air Fryer