What To Know About Buying Air Fryer Toaster Ovens
A good air fryer toaster oven fits more food than a single-function air fryer, but your food may not turn out as crispy.
These appliances expand the versatility of a toaster oven. Pop-up toasters are great for making, well, toastand that’s about it. Toaster ovens, on the other hand, can handle a whole range of tasks, from toasting four or more slices of toast at once to broiling, baking, and reheating.
Now more and more can also air fry so that with just one appliance on your countertop you can get the functionality of three or more. Some models can also roast on a rotisserie, slow cook, or dehydrate, making them even more useful.
All air fryer toaster ovens are basically convection ovens with fans that operate at a high speed to promote browning and crisping.
They also have some big advantages over dedicated air fryers. In these multitaskers, you can usually cook more food at a time, because its designed to spread the food out in a shallow air fry basket thats the length and width of the ovens interior. Its also easy to monitor cooking through the window and to pull out the basket and stir and flip over items.
However, few of these multifunction countertop ovens are among the tops at air frying. That means these appliances are for people who prioritize toasting and versatility over air frying. To get good results, you may find you have to extend the cooking time and be vigilant about tossing, flipping over, and rearranging.
Where Can I Find Air Fryer Recipes
Theres a number of places where you can find air fryer recipes for example, Taste of Home has recipes for air fryer eggplant fries, potato chips, and even shrimp poboys.
Another site featuring air fryer recipes is FoodNetwork.ca for example, they feature recipes for air fryer pork chops and banana bread.
What Is Sur La Table
Sur La Table is a retailer of kitchenware with over 100 stores across the U.S. They offer quality cookware, bakeware, cutlery, appliances, tools, and more for the home cook and professional chef alike. Their offer includes renowned brands like Breville, KitchenAid, Lodge, and Wüsthof. Sur La Table also carries their own line of cooking essentials, designed to make the kitchen more fun.
Sur La Table is also known for organizing cooking classes, both in-store and online. The cooking class program provides active, hands-on cooking classes for all ages and skill levels to learn professional techniques.
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How Do You Cook Steak In An Air Fryer Toaster Oven
Remove your steaks from the fridge, rub them with oil and seasoning, and let them come to room temperature for about 20 minutes before cooking. At the 15-minute mark, preheat the air fryer toaster oven to 400 degrees F. Once preheated, place your steaks in the air-fry basket inside the baking tray, slide it into the countertop oven, and cook for about 7 minutes on each side for medium-rare doneness. Check the temperature with a meat thermometer and then remove and let the steaks sit for 5 minutes before serving.
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 multi-cookers 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.
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Ready To Get An Okaysou Air Fryer
Overall the Okaysou Air Fryer performed well. It seems to be a good size for a 1-2 person household. If you have a family of four, I do not think this will be big enough. It did have that new chemical smell like ALL the air fryers have, but after a few uses, that went away. The digital touchscreen was easy to use. After testing this across a few people on our team, we all give this one the THUMBS UP!
You can read more about the air fryer on the companys website, here.
You can read more about the air fryer and other REVIEWS on Amazon, here.
We would love to know if you have an Okaysou Air Fryer. If so, what do you feel are the pros and cons for this air fryer? Drop us a comment below.
What To Look For In An Air Fryer
When it comes to choosing the perfect air fryer for your kitchen, there are a few things to consider:
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How Big Is The Air Fryer Inside
Every expert we spoke to agreed that the most important thing to consider when buying an air fryer is its size. Its like looking for a new mattress, Weinstein said. You know what kind of bed you have, so youre only going to look at models that will fit it.
Try spotting marketing jargon at the outset of your search. capacity from a marketing perspective and a real perspective is different, Pitre said. When they say, This is a 4-quart air fryer, theyre talking about capacity if you fill it to the brim.
What really matters about an air fryer is not how much you can fill it, but the internal surface area. When you cook in an air fryer, youre going to be spreading your food out in a thin layer across the inside of the pan you wont want to pile your food on top of itself.
The square and rectangular air fryers are a better use of inside space, Pitre said. Look the flat area in the basket and think, Could I put two or four burgers in there? Buy whatever size air fryer better suits your needs: 2 quarts should be good for a couple of people, while 6 quarts or more should suit larger parties.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of An Air Fryer
There are many benefits that come along with owning an air fryer. These appliances excel at creating a crispy exterior on food, and most are also extremely quick and easy to operate. Theyre great for reheating foods like pizzaan air fryer wont make the crust rubbery like the microwaveand certain models, such as toaster oven combos, can even replace multiple kitchen appliances.
However, there are downsides, as well. These appliances are often large and require space all around for proper ventilation during operation. Additionally, some models have a limited capacity inside their baskets, forcing you to cook foods in multiple batches.
Read Also: Tyson Popcorn Chicken In The Air Fryer
Top 18 Product Ratings
| Fantastic cooking performance, easy to clean, easy to use, great temperature accuracy, multiple cooking functions | Even cooking, accurate temperature, good crunch, non-stick, sleek, controls are straightforward | Great cooking performance, user friendly, excellent temperature accuracy | Viewing window, interior lights, two separate baskets, user friendly, straightforward cleaning, preheat function | Relatively easy to use and clean, good air cooking performance, toaster oven functionality, flips up for easy storage | |
| Cons | Touchscreen occasionally doesn’t register touch, one level in basket, limited one-hour timer | Not the easiest to clean, cost | Unevenly cooks potatoes, does not provide proper potato crisp, large footprint | Expensive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom Line | Exceptional frying performance and an easy to clean design makes this one of the best options on the market | Evenly cooks food, offers straightforward controls, and provides easy cleaning – all at a great price | This high performing, four quart model offers some of the most consistent quality | A duo basket air fryer for simultaneous cooking, with high temperature accuracy and user friendly controls | An ideal model for those wanting to add both a toaster oven and air fryer to their kitchen collection |
| Rating Categories | |||||
| 11.5″ x 13.3″ x 12.8″ | 6.1″ x 10.4″ x 7.4″ | 13.6″ x 11″ x 13.3″ | 15.9″ x 12.5″ x 15.1″ | 19.7″ x 7.6″ x 15″ | |
| Capacity | |||||
| Wire rack, air fry basket, sheet pan | |||||
| Power Consumption |
Best Air Fryer Toaster Oven
The Breville Smart Oven Air handles a variety of kitchen tasks with aplomb, from your morning toast to a roast chicken to air fried everything.
- Size: 21.5” x 17.5” x 13”
- Capacity: Air fry basket is 16.5″ x 12.5″
- Dishwasher-safe parts: No
- Preset modes: Toast, bagel, broil, bake, roast, warm, pizza, proof, air fry, reheat, cookies, slow cook, dehydrate
- Power: 1800 watts
Pros: True multitasker takes the place of several small appliances including an air fryer, toaster, roaster, dehydrator, and more produces oven-quality food quickly two convection settings for greater customizability comes with air fryer basket, two racks, pizza pan, roasting pan, and broiling rack
Cons: Takes up a lot of counter space
Any air fryer is simply a miniature convection oven with more focused heat, but the Breville Smart Oven Air takes full advantage of its convection capabilities and toaster oven shape to expand the tasks it can handle. I’ve been impressed by everything I’ve gotten out of this countertop oven.
It excelled in our broccoli test, producing a result that was still moist and tender with gently crisped florets, and it was the only air fryer that made fresh-cut fries that were even remotely crisp without being totally overdone. And outside of that, I’ve used it for morning toast, dough proofing, roasting sweet potatoes, and more. There are still plenty of settings for me to explore, and I’m particularly intrigued by the “cookies” and “pizza” modes.
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What Should You Look For In An Air Fryer
Power and size are the most important factors in finding the best air fryer for you. The Ninja air fryer that we liked best has 1,550 watts of power but you can expect an oven with slightly less oomph to also deliver solid results.
The best size for an air fryer is relative and will vary based on your personal requirements. A 4-quart model should be enough for most households and can easily hold five or six chicken thighs at once. There are also air fryers as large as 10 quarts that make cooking for large groups easier and some as small as 2 quarts that are perfect for singles and couples.
Other considerations include how intuitive the interfaces, dials and controls are as well as the build and durability of each air fryer. There are superpremium air fryers with loads of fancy bells and whistles but I tend to think they aren’t really worth the money. The air fryer is a fairly simple machine to begin with, so it’s best to avoid any that seem complicated.
Is Sur La Table A Costco Brand Like Kirkland Signature
No, Sur la Table is not a Costco brand. Sur La Table is a retailer that specializes in kitchenware and cooking classes, and they carry products from a variety of brands, not just their own private label. However, you can find Sur La Table branded products at some Costco locations for a great price.
Costco has a policy that in order to be sold at a Costco, a product has to be superior in some way to similar products outside of Costco We believe that the Sur La Table air fryer does live up to the policy.
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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 .
What To Look For In A Hybrid Toaster And Air Fryer Oven
Since you’re potentially going all-in on one machine, there are a few functions you want it to perform and perform well. For the purposes of this list, I took four main cooking functions into account: Air fry, broil, bake and toast. These, along with roast, are the oven duties the average home cook will rely on most. While some of these cookers sport dehydrate, proof, pizza and other niche cooking functions, most didn’t, so I stuck to testing functions that were possible across all the hybrid ovens.
Air frying: This trendy term has nothing to do with frying but rather mimics the results of deep-frying using super hot, fast-moving convection air for food that’s crispy outside and moist inside. Having an air fry function was the baseline criteria for consideration on this list. You can air fry lots of things, but chicken wings and french fries are two popular options, so I employed them for testing.
Broiling: I’m a big broiler person, especially for fish but also for things like mac and cheese, certain chicken recipes and anything else I want a crispy crust on top of. I find that ovens differ wildly in broiling ability so I wanted to see which of these ovens did it best.
Baking: Baking can mean a lot of things but when it comes to, let’s say cookies and cupcakes, consistency is key. The sign of an oven that bakes well is simple: Will it hit the temperature you set it to and then stay there consistently throughout the bake?
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How Big Of An Air Fryer Do I Need
For the average buyer, we suggest buying a five-quart air fryer. The basket is large enough to not be crammed when cooking for your family, but won’t take up too much space on the counter.
For two-person households, between two and four quarts of capacity will serve your day-to-day air frying needs. However, if you want to cook for more than two people or you plan on cooking two elements of your meal at once, some of the top dual-drawer air fryers offer up to nine quarts of cooking space.
Air Fryers We Reviewed But Didn’t Score As Well
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We’ve always loved Instant Pot. But if you’ve never used an air fryer before, we can’t recommend the Instant Vortex Plus . Its “Getting Started Guide” wasnt very helpful. We also found cooking with the included tray yielded better results than the basket the manufacturer suggested using. Still, if you don’t mind a lot of trial and error, this device can produce solid results.
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We’ve reviewed a few Krups models. We like the Krups Easy Fry Deluxe Digital a bit better than the Krups Fry Delight thanks to its design and cooking results. However, neither are very close to mimicking the crispiness of food that came out of a traditional deep fryer.
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Farberware 3.2 quart Digital Oil-Less Fryer is very inexpensive and does a decent job of crisping and browning, especially with frozen foods. However, the basket sticks and it’s a little confusing to use.
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The generic-looking Power Air XL has a small capacity, and its basket doesn’t glide out very smoothly.
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The Black and Decker 2L Purifry is a big appliance, but comes with a much smaller basket. With no digital controls and tiny numbers, it’s really difficult to set your temperature precisely.
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