An air fryer can bring efficiency and simplicity to your nightly meal routine. It’s easy to make a quick and delicious meal with the best air fryers in your kitchen. They are not only healthier than an oven but also use less energy. Check out the complete guide to air fryers to learn more about these great kitchen appliances.
Pod-shaped air fryers vs. air-frying toasters
Air frying toaster ovens have advantages but they typically take longer to cook and the inner cavity can be tricky to clean if food splatters.
While the idea of a toaster oven that doubles as an air fryer is a good one, and the air frying function on many of the hybrid machines is proficient, certain foods we love cooking in an air fryer are too messy to cook in a toaster.
All pod air fryers have removable cooking baskets and most of them are nonstick. When you’re cooking chicken thighs with a sauce or even veggies drizzled with oil — a few favorites — there is going to be some inevitable splatter. Air frying mode is intense, with high convection heat circulated at a fast pace. Do this in a toaster oven, which is markedly more difficult to clean, and you’ll be dealing with some serious caked-on gunk after the first few dozen uses.
Here’s the tiny 2-quart Gourmia air fryer next to the more standard 4.25-quart Phillips model.
While there are several features to consider, the size of your air fryer is likely the most important decision you’ll make. If you’re typically cooking for one or two people, a 2- or 3-quart air fryer should be large enough. Consider adding another quart of capacity to your air fryer for every person that you’re regularly cooking for.
A family of four or five, for instance, should be fine with a 5-quart model. If you plan on regularly cooking full meals for a family, including meat and veggies or sides, you might consider a larger, dual-basket air fryer like the Ninja DualZone.
All that said, the smaller the air fryer you can get away with the better. I’ve found that smaller air fryers such as the Magic Bullet 2- to 5-quart model and Instant Pot’s Duo Crisp net better results since food will get blasted faster and more often than inside a larger model. Smaller air fryers mean less overall capacity, so you may have to cook in batches.
Power
All the air fryers we tested came with a grated fryer basket or tray. The Philips Essential Digital model has it attached to the handle making it easier to remove for cleaning.
Should you just get a normal air fryer or a multifunction model?
Fritaire’s glass bowl air fryer certainly is an eye catcher.
Air fryers don’t have to be kept on the counter but anything larger than 3 quarts might be tricky to store when not in use. Considering that, you should get an air fryer that compliments your kitchen. Both the Ninja and Cosori models are available in a range of colors (Cosori has more). There are also glass bowl air fryers and more modern-looking machines.
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