Instant Pot Duo Crisp 11
The Better Choice Instant Pot
Theres no reason that you have to buy 7 machines for different cooking methods. The Instant Pot Duo Crispy 11-in-1 air fryer can perform many other functions besides air fryer so you can maximize your value for your dollar, save storage and counter space, and cook as many versatile recipes as you want with one machine.
Philips Essential Air Fryer
Best air fryer for small kitchens
Size: 47.6 x 32.8 x 26.3cmCapacity: 4.1 litresPrograms:Frozen, fish, meat, vegetables, chicken drumsticks, cake, reheatReasons to buy:
Its perfect for smaller homes and kitchens Easy to clean
Reasons to avoid:
Its more expensive than some other small options
If you want the best air fryer for a small kitchen or two-person household, the Philips Essential Air Fryer is the one for you. In terms of the cooking quality, it was pretty much on par with some of the larger and more premium brands in this guide. Theres plenty of cooking modes, including fish, meat, frozen food and reheat, and you can choose your temperature manually too.
The basket and drawer can both be washed in the dishwasher, which makes cleaning that much easier. We found the controls a little confusing at first but theyre fine once youre used to which button indicates which cooking mode.
One complaint we had was the price, which was pretty high when compared to other small air fryers. It is clearly designed for smaller kitchens and homes though, with grooves that make it easy to carry and store, and a lightweight design.
Ideal Homes rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Difficult To Choose The Right Air Fryer For You
Which air fryer should I buy? I get this question a lot. And nowadays the range of available air fryers is quite extensive. So most people get pretty overwhelmed with all the options and dont know what air fryer is best for their situation. People are also confused about the fact that some air fryers are very cheap, while others are expensive, like Philips Airfryers. How can you justify the high price, when you can also buy a much cheaper one.
I think this problem that people have is one of the reasons why I started this blog. Originally I started a blog about air fryers back in 2015, but this is a Dutch blog since I am from The Netherlands. But because I also got a lot of questions from people all over the world, I decided to start this international website about air fryers to help you and other people all over the world.
To help you find your best air fryer. Please check out my recommended list of air fryers. Or visit my extensive air fryer buying guide that explains everything you need to know about air fryer. You can also contact me personally to ask your questions or comments about air fryer for me to answer. I am glad to help you.
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What We Think Of The Instant Vortex Plus 6
Although air fryers can be a great addition to your kitchen, you still want to cook with a roaster, dehydrator, and other appliances on occasion. If you need multiple appliances, buy the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer instead of every appliance individually.
What makes the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer so unique is that it is a 6-in-1 appliance. It comes with an air fryer, roaster, boiler, dehydrator, baking feature, and reheating feature. In other words, you can cook anything you want in this device.
Despite being a 6-in-1 tool, this air fryer is super easy to use as well. Each of the six programs are displayed on an easy to touch screen system. Just touch and your food is ready to go.
As for the price of this model, we are absolutely ecstatic. It might be more expensive than a couple of the other air fryers on this list, but it is outrageously cheap it comparison to buying each of these devices separately. So, you can save some money when purchasing this 6-in-1 device.
Obviously, the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer may not be your cup of tea if you arent looking for a 6-in-1 device. If you want an air fryer strictly, we recommend going with a more standard model.
I looked at many toaster ovens with an air fryer option, but this one met all of our needs. The digital readout is easy to read, and the automatic programs work wonderfully. I am impressed so far, and it looks great!
w.w.
Im Going To Need A Bigger Basket
That was when I discovered my first problem with the air fryer its size. I bought the 2.75-quart Philips TurboStar, which says it provides up to four servings.
The half-pound of shrimp the recipe calls for fit nicely in the bottom of my fryers basket, with room for the air to circulate around and brown it. But it made for a light lunch for two people if I was cooking for more, Id want to make a second batch.
Later I tried making chicken wings. Patted dry and air-fried for about 30 minutes, they finished with skin that was deliciously brown and crispy. They fell into the same camp as the shrimp, though leaving enough space for the air to circulate meant I could only cook about a pound of wings at a time.
While the cooking area of the air fryer is on the small side, the overall footprint is big about the size of my Instant Pot. And dismantled, the basket takes up about half of the top drawer of my dishwasher, so I found myself handwashing it most of the time.
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What We Think Of The T
This T-Fal air fryer is lightweight at only 9.2 lbs and has a very symmetrical design to ease the storage struggle for an appliance this large. It is made of a safe stainless steel and comes in black only. The temperature range on this machine is smaller than most other air fryers, but not by much. You will still have success with any recipes you decide to try out.
We like that the timer duration caps out at 60 minutes any longer would be unnecessary, but shorter timers cannot always meet the demands of every recipe. The capacity and power of this air fryer leave something to be desired, but for smaller or staggered meals, you wont have a problem cooking your food in this air fryer.
This air fryer is my favorite kitchen appliance. I have three young kids who absolutely love eating fries and chicken wings. Now, instead of coating their food in oil and cooking in a deep fryer, I can give them a healthy alternative that still tastes like deep fried food. Thats a win for me! The timer duration is more than enough for everything I need to make and for my busy lifestyle, its great that I can just throw the basket in the dishwasher when Im finished with it.
Talia G.
A couple extra great points about this air fryer are that the basket is dishwasher safe and there is a 1-year warranty included to support you should anything go wrong early on. No matter what you are looking to get out of an air fryer, this option will do you no wrong.
Cut Fat From Your Favourite Dishes Not Flavour Here’s Our Pick Of The Best Air Fryers
The best air fryers are ideal for cooking everything from chicken nuggets and chips to vegetables and even stir-fries. That’s because air fryers are an efficient way to satisfy your craving for “fried” foods with a much lower fat content so you can nibble on your favourite comfort foods with less oil.
They work by convection, meaning they circulate hot air around your food, ensuring every bit of surface area is exposed to the oil and heat. You simply need to spray or pour a little oil onto whatever youre cooking before switching on the appliance. A clever chemical process called the Maillard reaction creates a crispy result with far less fat up to 99% in some cases.
Air fryers generally operate between 150 and 200C, although different models will vary. Because so little oil is used, an air fryer won’t recreate exactly the same results as your favourite chippy, though most of our picks below do come close. So if you’re ready to make your favourite foods that little bit healthier, read our buying guide and bite-sized reviews to find the best air fryer for your needs and budget.
- Best air fryer overall | Tefal Genius+
- Beat air fryer for cooking two things at once | Ninja Foodi
- Best air fryer for cooking chicken | Tower T17039 5-in-1
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Is The Food Cooked In An Air Fryer Healthy
By most measures, air frying is healthier than traditional frying in oil. Its estimated to cut calories by up to 80 percent on average compared with typical deep-fried snacks because youll only need to brush your food with a small amount of oil instead of submerging it.
Ultimately, though, the health of your food still comes down to the food itself. If you air fry breaded chicken fingers and serve them with ketchup, your meal will have a lower nutritional value than air-fried chicken tenders with no breading that you serve with air-fried veggies.
What To Cook In An Air Fryer
Most people think of chicken strips and French fries when they think of frying food, but when you have an air fryer, the sky is the limit to what you can cook.
Baked potatoes, pork chops, fried chicken, and calzones will cook perfectly in an air fryer, both from fresh or frozen. If you like crispy bacon, an air fryer will ensure it is done to perfection. You can make standard pub-style appetizers including mozzarella sticks, potato skins, and jalapeno poppers, or whip up a batch of deep-fried pickles for friends. Air fryers can also be great for reheating fried food leftovers.
Non-battered foods like salmon and vegetables also cook well in an air fryer, and you can even make dessert in an air fryer. Chocolate chip cookies can be whipped up for a quick snack, and you can also make churro bites, donuts, and more.
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Why Buy An Air Fryer
In a word: convenience. Like any kitchen gadget, you want something thats going to make life simpler, and theres no doubt that frying and baking conventionally can be messy, smelly or even dangerous.
Using an air fryer to bake, roast and fry will speed up the process, could potentially cut calories and save money as you wont have to use a larger oven for smaller portions and side dishes.
Think of air fryers as mini ovens that can tackle almost anything youd put in a conventional oven or deep fat fryer. Theyre not just for chips you can bake, roast, and even dehydrate ingredients, too.
What We Think Of The Cosori Zyx Air Fryer
The Cosori air fryer is a slightly more advanced digital model with excellent features for beginners. The most unique attribute of this air fryer is the shake reminder so your food will come out evenly cooked every single time. This 11-in-1 air fryer can cook nearly a dozen types of food and makes it incredibly easy to switch between modes with simple touch buttons on its digital display.
The air fryer ranges from 170 to 400 degrees F for cooking, which is a slightly larger-than-average range that we see on air fryers. You can also choose to have your temperature displayed in Celsius if you would prefer. This air fryer has a 60-minute timer that will alert you to your foods finished state so you can eat it while its hot, though there is no auto shutoff function to protect your food from overcooking.
This is a high-quality air fryer. It is very powerful, lightweight, and has an incredible temperature range that will cook anything you need. The timer is perfect for any recipe, and this machine even has a shake reminder to tell you to mix up your food while cooking. This appliance is absolutely perfect for me, my only complaint is that it isnt bigger, it makes such delicious food Id like to make more of it!
FIona W.
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What Is Air Frying Anyway And How Does It Work
Despite what it sounds like, air frying doesnt actually fry your food. Instead, air fryers are mini convection ovens that use fans to rapidly circulate hot air, cooking food faster and more evenly than a standard oven does.
Convection has been around for more than a century. The first commercially sold convection ovens were developed by the W. L. Maxson Corporation in the 1940s as a way to reheat frozen food for airplanes. And they worked much the same as todays air fryers and convection toaster ovens do: As the fan circulates hot air around the food, it crisps the outside in a way that mimics deep frying. But your tastebuds will tell you that air-fried food isnt anything like traditionally deep-fried food in flavor and texture.
Our Air Fryer Testing Methodology
One thing I discovered early in my testing process was that air fryers tend to vary wildly in their cook times. Set at the same temperature, one unit charred broccoli to an undesirable crisp in six minutes, while another took 13 minutes to just reach al dente. So I cooked three different recipes with each machine, evaluated how quickly each one cooked, whether or not it dried out the food, and how evenly each batch came out.
I also assessed each machine for ease of use, noting how intuitive the user interface was. I tracked how many component parts there were to disassemble and clean. A unit with dishwasher safe accessories got big bonus points. These were the three cooks I performed with each machine:
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Best Budget Buy: Gowise 58
At a third of the cost of some of the air fryers on this list, you might not expect much from this GoWise air fryer â many other air fryers in this price range are very small or lack a lot of cooking power â but it excels, if the more than 24,000 glowing Amazon reviews are any indication. With eight cooking presets, you can get the air fryer warmed up and cooking quickly. A built-in alarm function will remind you to shake the food so you don’t have any soft spots .
The non-stick pan and detachable basket aren’t dishwasher safe, but they’re easy to remove so you can clean the whole air fryer easily. GoWise offers a one-year warranty and 30-day money-back guarantee if you decide to get it and aren’t satisfied. That will take a little pressure off your first few batches of air fried wings as you get used to. And spending less than $75 for one of these appliances may seem easier when you consider how much it does and how much easier it is on the budget than comparable versions.
Buy it: GoWise 5.8-Quart 8-in-1 Digital Air Fryer, $66 or Bed Bath & Beyond
Questions You Might Have About Air Fryers
What can you cook in an air fryer?
Anything! Everything! The #1 reason I pick air frying over my oven is because you can cook just about anything in it and the clean-up is a breeze.
What are the disadvantages of air fryer?
Like all appliances, overall , they have their disadvantages. Below are some notable cons of owning an air fryer.
- Can be difficult to clean
- Small cook surface or basket for large families
- Model depending, they can be loud or noisy
- Bulky and require counter space
What can you not cook in an air fryer?
Although, you can cook just about everything, there are a few things to avoid putting in an air fryer the #1 food to avoid putting in an air fryer is battered food.
An air fryer is not a deep fryer. If you are looking to fry something battered, you will need to freeze it first before air frying.
Other foods to avoid include:
- Fresh and/or leafy greens You make experience uneven cooking
- Whole Roasts Will not fit in most air fryers
- Cheese If you are looking to make homemade mozzarella sticks, great! freeze them first!
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Best Large Air Fryers For 5
For 5-6 people: If youre wanting to cook fresh food from scratch for a big family of about 4-6 servings, we suggest the large Oven-style, Rack, Countertop or Toaster style air fryer ovens. These models have at least 2 racks to cook on and some of them are large enough to use standard 8 or 9 cake pans, pie dishes and casserole bakeware. Just double check the dimensions before you buy the air fryer to fit your existing dish ware.
Instant Pot Vortex Plus
- Large capacity and cooking area
- Easy-to-use dial control
- Buttons can sometimes be hard to press
We were impressed with the performance of this air fryer from one of our favorite multi-cooker brands. Instant Potâs Instant Vortex Plus is sleek with its stainless steel face and large, easy-to-read buttons. It boasts six cooking settings, including air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat and dehydrate, with different programmable temperature and time settings. The dial allows for easy selection so you don’t have to click a button 100 times to get to the temperature youâre looking for. The air fryer basket is large and square, which creates more cooking space than its round competitors, making it a smart investment for a family. Its removable tray has a thin, hinged handle, so it’s easy to pull out but also lays flat to preserve the full cooking area.
Best Air Fryer Toaster Oven
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