What is an air fryer and how does it work?ĭespite the name, an air fryer doesn't fry at all. It can still be used for less splatter-prone foods such as potatoes, frozen empanadas and filets of salmon with too much risk of making a mess. If you're buying a toaster oven, however, there's no reason not to get one with an air fryer function. The same can't be said for the inside walls of a countertop oven. Both types can be removed to soak in the sink and some can be run through the dishwasher. But beware of thin wire baskets, which can be tougher to clean. Most air fryer baskets are now thicker and also nonstick. Pod air fryers, on the other hand, take very little effort to get clean. From there, you'll find preset programs for various foods such as wings, fries, fish, veggies and even baked goods.Īir frying toaster ovens have advantages but they typically take longer to cook and the inner cavity can be tricky to clean if food splatters. All air fryers have base-level control over the temperature and cook time, although some are controlled digitally while others require the crank of simple manual dials. Overly complicated settings, controls and presets didn't generally result in high marks, but certain features were appreciated. Ease of useīeyond cooking performance, how easy an air fryer is to operate and how intuitive the buttons and controls were something we observed closely during testing. We recommend heftier waffle fries, tater tots, crinkle cut or potato wedges over the shoestring variety.Īt the end of each test, we looked for how evenly the items were cooked, if they were cooked through and whether they had a sufficient level of crispy, crunchy, fried goodness comparable to deep frying or pan frying. Quick note: Be careful when cooking fries in an air fryer as some types, especially thinner-cut fries, can dry out easily when hit with superconvection. David Watsky/CNETįor the French fry test, we opted for Alexia's frozen crinkle-cut fries and cooked 1 cup, according to the air fryer directions on the bag. Soft and watery veggies such as zucchini and mushrooms may turn to mush under this type of intense heat. If the manual didn't provide specific instructions, we applied uniform procedures to each air fryer depending on the type of food we were preparing.ĭense Brussels sprouts are a popular air fryer food. Before we began, we consulted each model's manual for relevant cooking directions. Chicken wings are at the top of that list but French fries, frozen snacks and dense vegetables - in this case, Brussels sprouts - are tried and true air fryer food. There are hundreds of recipes that can be made with an air fryer but we stuck to the basics and focused on the most popular foods people associate with air fryers. In total, we've logged over 75 hours of air frying. Each air fryer is evaluated for its power, consistency, ease of use, design, features and overall performance. To date, we've tested well over a dozen air fryers to curate this list. It also has a pleasing design with smooth matte plastic (which does smudge a bit). That said, this is a great option and clocks in at about $30 cheaper than the Ninja. The air fryer's interface is slick, although I liked the Ninja's simpler control panel more, which is one of a few reasons it edged out this unit for best air fryer overall. It showed good power and cooked chicken wings to a nice crispy outside and kept a juicy inside after about 25 minutes. There was no way to set an actual cooking temp - only presets - and even those weren't very intuitive.īeautiful Air Fryer by Drew Barrymore: This air fryer offering from the actor's new kitchen line performed well in the four rounds of testing. While I really liked the design, sturdy build and appreciated the small viewing window for watching cooking progress, I found the buttons and interface clunky. However, this machine overcooked Brussels sprouts and the french fries were just OK.ĭeLonghi Rapid Crisp: The DeLonghi Rapid Crisp was one of the most expensive models we tested, and it just didn't live up to the price tag. We had satisfactory results cooking chicken wings in it. PowerXL Vortex Air Fryer: You might consider purchasing the PowerXL Vortex, but we recommend against it due to its steep price and mediocre frying performance. The numbers, though, are separated by groups of four dots, not nine as you would expect. This dial is labeled in numerical increases of 10. We also found the Chefman's timer control confusing. However, it undercooked the Brussels sprouts and frozen french fries. The appliance did deliver decent chicken wings. It's tiny too, offering just 2.1 quarts of food-frying capacity. Analog Air Fryer: Another relatively affordable choice is the Chefman Analog Air Fryer.
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