The 6 best air fryers for 2024, tested and reviewed

You’ve most likely been tempted to leap on the air-fryer bandwagon in latest months and, when you have not but taken the plunge, we’re right here to assist. Like the ever-present Instant Pot that got here earlier than it, air fryers have surged in reputation as of late, promising further crispy meals of every kind with out the mess and hazard of an enormous vat of sizzling oil. These small home equipment are available in all shapes and sizes now and they could be a versatile addition to your kitchen, as long as you understand what they’re (and aren’t) able to. For those that are nonetheless deciding on which air fryer is true for them, our information can demystify the house for you and spotlight among the best air fryers you will get proper now.

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What does an air fryer do?

Let’s clear one factor up first: it’s not frying. Not actually. Air fryers are extra like smaller convection ovens, ones which are usually pod-shaped. Most work by combining a heating component and fan, which suggests the recent air can normally higher crisp the skin of meals than different strategies. They usually attain greater prime temperatures than toaster ovens – which is a part of the enchantment.

For most recipes, a skinny layer of oil (normally sprayed) helps to duplicate that fried look and really feel higher. However, it’s going to hardly ever style exactly just like the deep-fried model when it comes out of the air fryer basket. Don’t let that put you off, although, as a result of the air fryer, in its many types, combines among the best elements of different cooking processes and brings them collectively into an energy-efficient approach of cooking dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch.

Read extra: We’ve additionally rounded up the best pizza ovens and the best sous vide machines.

Best air fryers for 2024

COSORI

Capacity: 6-quart | Type: Pod-shaped | Cooking capabilities: Air fry, broil, roast, frozen, bake, reheat, preheat, dry, proof, heat | Weight: 13 lb | Power consumption: 1725W | Depth: 14.4” | Height: 11.9” | Width: 11.8”

We’ve tested a number of Cosori small kitchen home equipment previously and have usually favored them, and the six-quart 9-in-1 air fryer is not any completely different. While Instant’s Vortex has the higher hand principally due to its ClearCook window, those that don’t thoughts peeking contained in the machine to take a look at their meals ought to think about Cosori’s machine. Its six-quart capability is nice for facet dishes like brussel sprouts and onion rings, but it surely’s additionally giant sufficient to have fairly a number of rooster wings and an entire block of tofu with out an excessive amount of overlap. The rounded-square basket is likely one of the roomiest I’ve seen on a tool with as (comparatively) small of a footprint as Cosori’s air fryer.

Overall, this Cosori air fryer crisped up meals properly no matter in the event that they began off uncooked, frozen or fridge-cool. The 9 preset cooking modes embrace a preheat choice for beginning issues off proper on the exact temperature, a proof choice for bakers and a devoted frozen setting for premade appetizers and snacks. Most individuals will seemingly use the usual air fry mode probably the most, but it surely’s handy to have so many different choices, together with the fundamentals like broil, bake and roast.

After testing quite a lot of air fryers over the previous few years, I recognize the small options this Cosori mannequin has like a simple to make use of touchscreen, a basket launch button (an excellent security function, since you should press it to take away the basket from the primary unit) and the auto-pause function that turns the cooking component off whenever you launch the basket (it’ll flip proper again on, although, in case you simply opened it up for a fast look).

Pros

• Spacious cooking basket
• Nine preset cooking modes
• Handy basket-release button

Cons

• A bit on the extensive facet

$120 at Amazon

Instant Pot

Capacity: 2-quart | Type: Pod-shaped | Cooking capabilities: Fry, bake, roast, reheat | Weight: 7.28 lb | Power consumption: 1300W | Depth: 11.26” | Height: 11.73” | Width: 9.02”

Not solely is the Instant Vortex Mini budget-friendly with a $60 price ticket (and you’ll be able to usually discover it on sale for much less), but it surely’s additionally the best small air fryer on this listing. Most air fryers will take up a variety of treasured countertop house, however this two-quart mannequin is nice for those that don’t have so much to spare and are trying for one thing that’s notably user-friendly. The Vortex Mini can air fry, bake, roast and reheat, and you’ll be able to management the temperature and prepare dinner time utilizing the dial sitting in the midst of its touchscreen. Unlike among the different, dearer air fryers we tested, which have a wide range of modes and settings, the Vortex Mini is useless easy to make use of. Just plug it in, press the preset cooking methodology of your selection, customise the temperature and prepare dinner time and press Start. The machine will beep about midway by way of the cycle to let you understand when to flip your meals, and it’ll chime once more as soon as it’s completed.

Arguably the largest caveat to the Vortex Mini can be its largest power. It’s so compact that cooking multiple factor, or a variety of one factor, received’t be straightforward. But I used to be capable of prepare dinner an entire block of tofu minimize into cubes (with a little bit of overlap) and reheat (and re-crisp) leftovers in it for myself and my fiancé with no issues. Overall, this compact air fryer shall be onerous to beat for these with tight budgets and tiny kitchens.

Pros

• Affordable
• Easy to make use of touchscreen and dial

$60 at Amazon

Breville

Capacity: 1 cubic foot | Type: Convection oven | Cooking capabilities: Toast, bagel, broil, bake, roast, heat, pizza, proof, fry, reheat, cookies, gradual prepare dinner, dehydrate | Weight: 38.9 lb | Power consumption: 1800W | Depth: 17.5” | Height: 21.5” | Width: 12.7”

Listen, most individuals don’t want the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. But in case you like to prepare dinner, have a big household or throw a bunch of events, you’ll seemingly get a ton of use out of this machine. This chrome steel countertop oven is a beast, measuring one cubic foot, so be ready to carve out some house in your kitchen for it. But its measurement permits it to prepare dinner a complete 14-pound turkey and match issues like a five-quart dutch oven and a 9 x 13 pan within it. This giant air fryer principally acts like a second oven, or perhaps a main one in case your essential oven is out of fee.

As the best air fryer toaster oven on this listing, it’s fairly succesful and its measurement helps since you’ll be able to unfold your meals out to make sure issues are as crispy as doable. It additionally helps that you may prepare dinner a variety of servings without delay, which can make it simpler in case you’re getting ready snacks like bagels for brunch, appetizers for a celebration or a facet dish for a household dinner. In addition to air frying, it has quite a lot of different cooking modes together with toast, broil, bake, pizza, dehydrate, gradual prepare dinner and proof. Despite the “good” moniker, this mannequin doesn’t have app connectivity – however you will get that function in case you improve to the Joule. That’ll mean you can get push notifications when your meals’s prepared, and the companion app additionally has guided recipes which you’ll observe together with. Unsurprisingly, like most Breville devices, each the Joule and the usual Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro are fairly costly, coming in at $500 and $400, respectively. But in case you’re trying so as to add the flexibility of a multi-use machine to your kitchen, Breville has you lined.

Pros

• Can prepare dinner a complete 14-pound turkey
• Versatile with 13 cooking modes

$300 at Amazon

Ninja

Capacity: 5.5-quart | Type: Pod-shaped | Cooking capabilities: Air fry, air roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate | Weight: 11.7 lb | Power consumption: 1750W | Depth: 11” | Height: 14.75” | Width: 14”

Ninja’s 5.5-quart Air Fryer XL might be thought of an honest different price range choice contemplating it’s steadily on sale for between $90 and $110. While that’s nonetheless a minimum of $30 greater than our essential price range decide, Ninja’s machine greater than doubles the capability and provides a useful dehydrate preset for anybody that likes to make their very own fruit or veggie chips. Some will recognize the marginally raised buttons on Ninja’s air fryer for offering a bit extra tactile suggestions when adjusting cooking time and temperatures, and the truth that it’s tall relatively than extensive, benefiting from seemingly unused vertical house in between your counter and cupboards.

The largest situation for me with this Ninja air fryer was its pod form. While fairly normal on the earth of air fryers, I discovered its round cooking basket to really feel rather more cramped than the rounded sq. basket of our Cosori prime decide. Nevertheless, Ninja’s machine cooked uncooked and frozen meals properly and is one other easy-to-use choice that solely requires a few button presses to get began.

Pros

• Tactile raised buttons
• Includes dehydrate setting
• Uses vertical house in your countertop

Cons

• Slightly cramped, round cooking basket

$147 at Amazon

Buying information for air fryers

Convection ovens

You can separate most air fryers into two sorts and every has completely different execs and cons. Convection ovens are normally ovens with air fryer capabilities and options. They may need greater temperature settings to make sure that meals crisps and cooks extra like truly fried meals. Most convection ovens are bigger than devoted air fryers, defeating among the objective of these seeking to shrink cooking equipment floor space. Still, they’re usually extra versatile with a number of cooking capabilities, and most have finer controls for temperatures, timings and even fan velocity.

You could by no means want a built-in oven when you have an honest convection oven. They usually have the quantity to deal with roasts, total chickens or tray bakes, and merely prepare dinner extra, capacity-wise, making them extra versatile than the pod-shaped competitors.

The flip facet of that’s that you simply’ll want counter house within the kitchen to deal with them. It additionally means you need to use conventional oven equipment, like baking trays or cake tins, that you simply would possibly already personal.

Pod-shaped air fryers

Pod-shaped air fryers are what you think about whenever you assume “air fryer.” They appear to be a cool, space-age kitchen gadget, greater than a kettle however smaller than a toaster oven. Many use a drawer to carry elements whereas cooking, normally a mesh sheet or a extra stable, non-stick tray with holes to permit the recent air to flow into. With a number of exceptions, most require you to open the drawer whereas issues prepare dinner and flip or shake half-cooked gadgets to make sure the even distribution of warmth and airflow to the whole lot.

That’s one of some caveats. Most pod-shaped air fryers – there are a number of exceptions – don’t have a window to see how issues are cooking, so that you’ll must carefully scrutinize issues as they prepare dinner, opening the machine to test progress. Basket-style air fryers additionally usually use much less vitality – there’s much less house to warmth – and many have elements that may be put immediately right into a dishwasher.

Some of the bigger pod-shaped air fryers provide two separate compartments, which is very helpful for anybody planning to prepare dinner a complete meal with the equipment. You may prepare dinner a few tasty rooster wings or tenders whereas concurrently rustling up sufficient frozen fries or veggies for everybody. Naturally, these choices take up extra space, and they’re normally heavy sufficient to cease you from storing them in cabinets or cabinets elsewhere.

As talked about earlier, you may need to purchase further issues to make these pod fryers work the best way you need them to. Some of the larger producers, like Philips and Ninja, provide handy additions, however you’ll should pay for them.

Air fryer execs and cons

Beyond the strengths and weaknesses of particular person fashions, air fryers are fairly straightforward to make use of from the outset. Most fashions include a handy cooking time booklet protecting many of the main meals you’ll be air frying, so even newbies can grasp these machines.

One of the early promoting factors is the flexibility to prepare dinner fries, wings, frozen meals and different delights with much less fats than different strategies like deep frying, which will get meals the crispiest. As air fryers work by circulating heated air, the trays and cooking plates have holes that may additionally let oil and fats drain out of meats, that means much less fats and crisper meals whenever you lastly plate issues up. For most cooking conditions, you’ll seemingly must calmly spray meals with vegetable oil. If you don’t, there’s the prospect that issues will burn or char. The oil will preserve issues moist on the floor, and we advise refreshing issues with a touch of oil spray whenever you flip gadgets throughout cooking.

Most air fryers are straightforward to scrub – particularly compared to a shallow or deep fryer. We’ll get into cleansing steering a bit of later.

With a smaller house to warmth, air fryers are usually extra energy-efficient for cooking meals than bigger home equipment like ovens. And in case you don’t have an oven, air fryers are rather more reasonably priced – particularly the pod choices.

There are, nevertheless, some drawbacks. While air fryers are straightforward sufficient to make use of, they take time to grasp. You will alter cooking instances for even the best varieties of meals – like rooster nuggets, frozen French fries or brussels sprouts. If you’re the sort of individual that loves to seek out inspiration from the web, in our expertise, you’ll be able to just about throw their timings out of the window. There are a variety of air fryer choices, and components like how briskly they warmth and how properly distributed that warmth is can – and will – have an effect on cooking.

There’s additionally an area limitation to air fryers. This shouldn’t be a TARDIS – there’s merely much less house than most conventional ovens and many deep fats fryers. If you’ve got a much bigger household, you’ll most likely wish to go for a big capability air fryer – presumably one which has a number of cooking areas. You additionally would possibly wish to think about a unique kitchen equipment, like a multicooker, sous vide or gradual cooker to satisfy your particular cooking wants.

You may battle to prepare dinner many gadgets by way of as the warmth settings will prepare dinner the floor of dishes lengthy earlier than it’s cooked proper by way of. If you’re planning to prepare dinner an entire rooster or a roast, please get a meat thermometer!

Best air fryer equipment

Beyond official equipment from the producer, attempt to decide up silicone-tipped instruments. Tongs are superb, as is a silicon spatula to softly loosen meals that may get caught on the edges of the air fryer. These silicone mats will even assist cease issues from sticking to the wire racks on some air fryers. They have holes to make sure the heated air continues to be capable of flow into across the meals.

Silicone trivets are additionally helpful for resting any cooked meals on whilst you type out the remainder of the meal. And if you end up needing oil spray, however don’t really feel like repeatedly shopping for tiny bottles, you’ll be able to decant your favourite vegetable oil right into a permanent mister like this.

How to scrub an air fryer

We’re preserving clear up easy right here. Yes, you might use energy cleaners from the grocery retailer, they may harm the floor of your air fryer. Likewise, steel scourers or brushes may strip away the non-stick coating. Remember to unplug the machine and let it cool fully.

Remove the trays, baskets and the whole lot else from inside. If the producer says the elements are dishwasher protected – and you’ve got a dishwasher – the job is just about completed.

Otherwise, hand wash every half in a combination of heat water, with a splash of Dawn or one other robust dish cleaning soap. Use a soft-bristled brush to tug away any crumbs, greasy deposits or bits of meals caught to any surfaces. Remember to rinse the whole lot. Otherwise, your subsequent batch of wings may have a gentle Dawn aftertaste. Trust us.

Take a microfiber material and deal with the outer elements and handles that may additionally get a bit of messy after repeated makes use of. This is very helpful for oven-style air fryers – use the fabric to wipe down the internal sides.

If Dawn isn’t shifting oily stains, attempt mixing a small quantity of baking soda with sufficient water to make a paste, and apply that in order that it doesn’t seep into any electrical elements or the heating component. Leave it to work for a number of seconds earlier than utilizing a moist material to tug any greasy spots away. Rinse out the fabric and wipe the whole lot down once more, and you have to be prepared for the following time it is advisable to air fry.

How to seek out air fryer recipes

Beyond fries, nuggets and – a revelation – frozen gyoza, there are a number of methods to seek out recipes for air-fried meals. First, we discovered that the air fryer instruction manuals usually have cooking guides and recipe ideas for you to check out in your new kitchen gadget. The good factor with these is that they had been made for your air fryer mannequin, that means success must be all however assured. They are sometimes a bit of unimaginative, nevertheless.

Many of the highest recipe websites and portals haven’t any scarcity of air fryer recipes, and there’s no hurt in googling your favourite delicacies and including the phrases “air fryer” on the top of the search string. We’ve picked up some dependable choices from Delish, which additionally has a useful air fryer time converter for altering oven and conventional fryer recipes. BBC Good Food can be value looking for some easy concepts, as is NYT Cooking, with the flexibility to immediately search for air fryer ideas. Aside from that, you can too seize loads of cookbooks out of your native bookshop with numerous recipes that you need to use in your favourite air fryer.

And when you have a killer recipe or distinctive use for your air fryer, tell us within the feedback. What’s the air fryer equal of the Instant Pot cheesecake? We’re able to attempt it.