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We brought 14 air fryers to the GearLab test kitchen and cooked more than 200 meals of chicken breasts, donuts, onion rings, sweet potato fries, and tater tots. We directly compared every result side-by-side with a panel of judges.
After hundreds of hours of testing, our food experts agree that most people should buy the Instant Vortex Plus. It had the best cooking performance, was the easiest to clean, and was big enough for most meals. If you want to save about half the costs and can accept a slightly lower cooking performance and size, the Ultrean Air Fryer is the best value.
Editor's Note: We updated our air fryer article on November 13th, 2024, to test three new air fryers from Instant, Chefman, and Dash.
The Instant Vortex Plus excelled in every test we put it through, which lands it at the top of the pack as our favorite air fryer in our lineup. It fully delivers, cooking everything to near perfection, producing “delectably crunchy tater tots” and “mouth-watering” donuts, according to our food experts — all with minimal oil. Perhaps most impressively, it achieves an excellent texture and slight crispness when making sweet potato fries, which is no easy feat. This machine's temperature accuracy is near perfect, ensuring you achieve the same results time after time. True to the Instant brand, this device is multifunctional — it can dehydrate, reheat, and do some basic baking.
In addition to the top-tier cooking performance, we adore the Vortex Plus for both its easy cleanup and user-friendliness. Since it has a smooth tray rather than a fry basket, cleaning up is consistently quick and easy. That simplicity extends to the user interface. The dedicated preset buttons and intuitive control wheel are very simple and we never needed to refer to the user manual during setup. This easy-to-use dial interface extends across Instant air fryer models, including the Plus XL and Mini.
The Instant Vortex Plus makes scrumptious, crispy fries.
Credit: Laura Casner
We also think families will love the Vortex Plus since it has a larger 6-quart capacity. We were impressed that that everything came out crispy and delicious even with this higher capacity. It's a great option for entertaining or family use. And our tester was pleased that “you can easily remove the basket one-handed without shifting the entire unit.”
The Instant Vortex Plus left us with very few complaints. It's certainly not the least expensive air fryer, but the overall performance makes it well worth the investment. If you can spend a little extra, the Vortex Plus is the best way to satiate fried food cravings without overdoing it on the cooking oil. If you want dual drawers and an even larger capacity, check out the Instant Vortex Plus XL.
The Ultrean Air Fryer is a 4.2-quart air fryer that packs a lot of performance into a small footprint. It excels at cooking “crispy and crunchy” potato products and produced even browning and crisping during our testing. In addition to being priced well, we found the overall ease of use to be very strong. This air fryer has a simple user interface with buttons for power, temperature, and time.
We also really like that the Ultrean is so easy to clean. Our test team raved that “it has a great nonstick coating and wiped down easily after cooking,” It performed better in this category than a lot of higher priced options, including the Breville Smart Oven, which can collect crumbs in the window crevices.
The Ultrean 4.2qt has a simple display that is easy to use.
Credit: Laura Casner
Anyone looking for a reasonably priced air fryer that doesn't skimp on performance will appreciate the Ultrean. It has a mid-size capacity at 4.2-quarts and plenty of versatility.
The Ultrean punches well above its class. It has an excellent price to performance ratio and is an overall amazing budget pick. That said, we found the beep sound it makes to be very annoying, but it's not a deal breaker and there are hacks online to disable it. There are some models available that are more intuitive to use and create juicier, crispier chicken. If you have any wiggle room in the budget, it's worth considering the Ninja Foodi Digital Oven. It has a slightly higher price tag, similar capacity and scored higher in both cooking and user-friendliness.
In your search for an air fryer, you may have noticed that many high-end models opt for a larger six-quart capacity. If you're short on counter or storage space or do not need the larger capacity but still want top-notch performance, the four-quart Ninja Air Fryer is our top recommendation. Tester Lesley Robinson consistently churned out “satisfyingly crispy” foods with minimal fuss.
We are also impressed by its temperature accuracy, which our thermometers indicate is one of the best we tested. Accuracy is important for this model because it doubles as a food dehydrator, a process vastly improved by steady and precise temperatures. While other machines like the Breville Smart Oven and Instant Vortex Plus XL the Ninja stood apart during the temperature testing. The Ninja was one of our favorites for its ease of use. The buttons are easy to navigate, and testers noticed that, “it's very easy to open with one hand.” We were happy to see that the basket always slides in easily and never gave us any trouble.
The Ninja did a good job of browning and crisping donuts. Our testers said there is “a thin layer of crispy outside and fluffy on the inside.”
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
That said, the main drawback of the Ninja is the cleaning of the fryer basket. Gunk tends to accumulate in the numerous nooks and crannies on the bottom, requiring extra elbow grease to clean thoroughly. The Ninja offers otherwise impressive performance for those who don't mind a little extra cleaning effort. The TurboBlaze also delivers top-level ease of use, and the basket is much easier to clean. Just note that it did not score as highly for cooking.
Multifunctionality is quickly becoming the name of the game for countertop kitchen appliances, and the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro is currently at the forefront of that trend. It effectively combines the abilities of an air fryer and a toaster oven. In terms of cooking functionality per square inch of counter storage space, it is one of the top kitchen appliances out there.
The Smart Oven produced some of the best tater tots we made, though the sweet potato fries were lacking in crisp. We were slightly surprised to see that the chicken was “juicy, yet somewhat tough”, said Robinson. This could be because the Breville required a longer cooking time to reach the appropriate internal temperature. The Smart Oven took 35 minutes to cook the chicken, while the quick-crisping Instant Vortex Plus XL took just 22 minutes.
Our tater tots came out nicely golden brown.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
One of our absolute favorite things, though, is the control panel. There are a lot of options and presets with the Smart Oven, but this unit was among the easiest to control. The knobs move smoothly and you can tell it is a high-quality appliance. Our test team was also happy to see that we were able to easily choose between degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit.
The Breville Air Fryer is a solid choice for anyone interested in a dual-purpose appliance. It takes up a decent amount of counter space, but considering it's both a toaster oven and an air fryer, it could be worth it. If you want to make cookies, toast, dehydrated fruit leather, and air fried food in one machine, this is the unit for you. If you decide you don't need the toaster feature, it's worth considering the Instant Vortex Plus, which has a higher capacity, lower price, and better overall cooking performance.
The Instant Vortex Plus XL has two separate baskets operating independently, so you can make your entire meal, entre and sides, in this device. The temperature of one does not affect the other, and their timers can be synced to complete the cooking simultaneously. This is a very handy feature if you want to make an entire meal in the air fryer or frequently entertain guests. Dual drawers aside, this unit made some of the best chicken breast we've ever tasted. “The chicken was dripping with juices on all sides when I picked it up out of the basket.” said our tester Jessica Riconscente.
The viewing windows and interior lights make watching your meal's progress easy. We really liked being able to see our food, especially for things like donuts that can quickly go from perfect to burned. The viewing window isn't quite as easy to see through as the Smart Oven, but overall, our testers really like it. “It's nice to feel more a part of the cooking process,” said Robinson. The interface rocks a dial-digital combination and is generally very intuitive. While its cooking performance varies, the Vortex Plus XL never fails to produce a perfectly cooked chicken breast.
Dual drawers are helpful for both experimenting with different recipes in our air fryer and cooking multiple dishes at once.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
With an 8-quart capacity, this air fryer is the largest highly-rated option we tested. We imagine it would be great for Super Bowl parties and family dinners.
Despite the temperature accuracy, the Vortex Plus XL struggles with cooking a crispy potato for some reason. Whether you are working with tater tots or sweet potato fries, the evenness and texture are just off. None of these foods are inedible, but you'll likely need to play around with the settings to get crispy, crunchy fried potatoes. If you don't need dual drawers, we think most people will prefer the Instant Vortex Plus.
The Instant Vortex Plus XL passed almost all of our tests with flying colors.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Compare Products
We test four different recipes to help you find the best air fryer that gives you the best results for any meal you prepare.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
How We Test Air Fryers
To start, we conducted thorough research into the market to discover the best and top-rated air fryers. After narrowing down our selection, we purchased each product at retail prices and got down to business. For this review, we cooked dozens of batches of sweet potato fries, tater tots, donuts, and chicken breasts, using the same ingredients, recipes, and techniques in each air fryer. After some gluttonous side-by-side taste tests, we carefully evaluated how easy to use and clean each model was. Finally, we plopped two calibrated oven thermometers into each model and set them to four different temperatures to assess heating time and, more importantly, temperature accuracy.
We scored air fryers using four performance metrics:
Cooking Performance (35% of overall score weighting)
User Friendliness (25% weighting)
Ease of Cleaning (20% weighting)
Temperature Accuracy (20% weighting)
We used thermometers to test the temperature accuracy and heating speed of each model.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Why Trust GearLab
Our super-taster and food expert Lesley Robinson has a B.S. degree in Food Science from California Polytechnic Institute. Robinson has the critical eye and sensitive palate needed to expertly judge kitchen gadgets and critically taste food. Robinson has spent over 10 years working for various food brands to improve their quality, whether it be chocolate, protein bars, or supplements. Robinson is also a skilled baker and cook. Her favorite meal to make in her air fryer at home is lemon panko-crusted salmon.
Reviewer Jessica Riconscente has extensive experience in the restaurant industry and is also an ace in her kitchen. She takes pride in creating everything from scratch, from homemade wontons to pickling her own vegetables. She enjoys making up recipes based on what's available in her fridge and combines produce and spices to concoct a delicious meal.
Review editor Mallory Paige has a degree in Restaurant Management from Colorado State University and more than a decade of experience reviewing kitchen gear and working as a journalist. With her love of tech, food, and the written word, she aims to help readers easily find the right products.
Contributing writer Hayley Thomas has lived and traveled all over the world, and her palette is rather refined. While dishes vary greatly with location, there is one thing that you can find everywhere: fried food. Whether she's ordering calamari in Italy or tempura shrimp in Japan, each dish requires the perfect crisp-to-moisture ratio; Hayley knows just what to look for after many taste tests.
The tools we used during our air fryer testing.
We logged the internal temperature of each air fryer.
We measured the bed of each fryer to determine the actual cooking capacity.
We analyze every aspect of the top air fryers from size to temperature accuracy.
Analysis and Test Results
Though air fryers may seem like a niche kitchen appliance, they can be useful for many situations beyond the obvious. Our testing parses out each model's specific pros and cons to help you decide whether an air fryer will be a worthwhile addition to your kitchen.
What's the Best Value?
We think that the Instant Vortex Plus and Ninja Air Fryer both have great crisping abilities, creating crunchy tater tots and succulent chicken in our cooking tests at a reasonable price for most people. If you are looking for the most budget-friendly option and don't plan to tackle meats, the Ultrean Air Fryer is perfect for crisping potatoes and pastries. The Breville Smart Oven Air Pro operates as both an air fryer and a toaster oven. It is one of the most expensive options in our testing; however, the dual use gives it a little extra bang for the buck.
The Ninja Air Fryer is a great price for its overall performance.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Cooking Performance
An air fryer's crisping performance has the largest impact on overall scores and is where we spend most of our testing time. During our testing, we cook sweet potato fries, chicken breast, donuts, and frozen tater tots to find the best fryer for every dish.
We cooked tater tots in each air fryer, looking for a crisp exterior, fluffy interior, and even browning on all sides with no burnt edges.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
We prep all of these foods in the same way with the same ingredients, then simultaneously make them in each fryer. This allows us to compare freshly prepared treats from each appliance, right after the other. We specifically score each model based on how well the insides are cooked and how evenly the foods' outsides are crisped. All models did a reasonable job, but some were better than others.
Sweet Potato Fries
We're big sweet potato fry fans and feel this is a particularly good test for air frying because it's also the most challenging, as sweet potatoes are dense and require higher temperatures for long periods to cook thoroughly. It takes a very good air fryer to cook these fries to completion without burning the edges. For this test we cut the sweet potato into 1/2 inch strips, season, and toss lightly in vegetable oil. The machines that have the highest cooking score were able to thoroughly and evenly cook the fry without burning it.
The Chefman Multifunctional created sweet potato fries that were “crispy and had a nice crunch.”
Credit: Matt Lighthart
The Chefman Multifunctional had the best results in this difficult test. Even though some of the edges were slightly burnt, the fries turned out crispy with a fully cooked, warm and fluffy center. The Instant Vortex Plus and its sibling, the Instant Vortex Plus XL, perform very well in this metric. Both of these machines fully cooked the fries, but they weren't as crisp as we would have liked. The Ultrean also did very well, though our tester did note that there was some unevenness in the cooking and, “the ends and edges were a little too dark, but nicely crispy.” said Robinson.
The Ninja Foodi sweet potato fries had a good crunch to them.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Donuts
To make air fryer donuts, we use canned biscuits, cut out the center, and cooked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once they are done, we brush the donuts with butter and coat them with cinnamon sugar. Yum! The air fryers with the highest score managed to cook the interior of the donut completely, while avoiding burning the outside. We also paid particular attention to even cooking and scored units higher if they did not have any hot spots.
There were some real standouts in this part of the test. The Instant Vortex Plus scored extremely well, producing flaky and perfectly browned donuts. The Ninja Air Fryer also proved well equipped for baked goods, with a soft center and crispy edges. The Breville Smart Oven created above average donuts, but they weren't quite as flaky as those baked in the aforementioned units. Still, they were cooked all the way through on the inside but not too dry.
The Instant models excel in making crispy and fluffy donuts.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
We were also pleasantly impressed with the Chefman Turbofry in this category. As our tester wrote, “these donuts had a flaky crispy exterior, and the interior was very light and fluffy.” And though the Instant Vortex Mini did not reach the high overall cooking score of its larger counterpart units, it did very well in the donut test.
The donuts in the Instant Vortex Mini turned out well, but it struggled with other foods.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Chicken
After lightly coating the chicken in oil, we air fried them to perfection. If the manufacturer had a recommended chicken setting or cooking time, we followed their directions. Otherwise, we consistently cooked them all the same. It's also worth noting that we used a meat thermometer to check if each piece of chicken was cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The units that scored the highest were able to cook chicken that has a crisp exterior and juicy interior.
Getting chicken that is crispy, but not dry is always a challenge. But we were happy to find several air fryers that are up to the challenge. The Instant Vortex Plus XL made chicken that was “pretty darn perfect,” according to Robinson. It was crispy, juicy, and hands-down the best among all of the air fryers we've tested.
Plenty of air fryers also did a superb job of frying up succulent and flavorful chicken. The Chefman TurboFry easily fried up chicken with a crisp exterior and yummy, moist interior. The Ninja Foodi and Cosori Pro also produced delicious-tasting chicken but was slightly tougher to chew.
Our testers raved that the Instant Vortex Plus easily cooked up delightfully juicy chicken.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Tater Tots
Frozen foods are a mainstay in air fryer cooking and the beloved tater tot is a fan favorite. For this test we placed an even layer of tots in each air fryer and cooked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes (shaking halfway through). The air fryers that scored the highest can cook a tater tot with a golden brown exterior and fluffy interior. We look for even cooking and zerio burning.
The Instant Vortex Plus was the star of this test. As our tester noted, “This machine made evenly cooked and crispy tater tots so good that you would think they were deep-fried!” What's not to like about that?
The Instant Vortex Plus XL made tasty tater tots and we like the dual-basket design.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
We also found the Instant Vortex Plus XL, Ultrean, and Instant Vortex Plus Clear View also delivered tater tots with a crisp outside and soft interior. The 2-quart Instant Vortex Mini also did well here. It can't hold a lot of tots, but for a solo cook, it's a solid option.
The Instant Vortex Mini produced the best tater tots of our smaller capacity models.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Overall Cooking Performance
The final cooking performance score is a culmination of each unit's ability to effectively crisp sweet potatoes, donuts, and tater tots and cook a delicious chicken breast that retains its moisture. If you frequently fry frozen food, we recommend focusing on the units that performed well with tater tots. If you regularly cook meat, you should read about the fryers that scored well in our chicken test. If you plan to use your air fryer to cook dense foods, see their sweet potato score. If you want to use your fryer for baking, check out their donut score.
Cooking Performance
Product
Sweet Potato Fries
Donuts
Chicken
Tater Tots
Instant Vortex Plus
6.5
9.3
8.0
10
Chefman TurboFry Touch
6.0
8.0
9.0
8
Ninja Foodi Digital Oven
5.5
8.5
9.0
7
Ninja Air Fryer
5.0
9.0
8.0
7.8
Ultrean Air Fryer
7.0
7.5
6.8
8
Instant Vortex Plus XL
6.5
6.0
10
5.5
Chefman Multifunctional
7.5
6
7.5
7
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
5.0
7.8
7.3
7.5
Instant Vortex Plus Clear Cook
6.0
6.0
6.0
9
Instant Vortex Mini
5.0
7
5
9
Cosori Pro LE
4.0
4.0
9
8
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
6.0
5.0
8.0
6
Dash Tasti-Crisp
4.0
5.0
7.5
5
Cosori TurboBlaze
5.0
5.0
5.0
6
User Friendliness
To assess user-friendliness, we pay attention to a few things: the user interface's intuitiveness and clarity, ease of loading, unloading, and shaking the frying basket, and how much each model can adjust to different types of food (essentially, how many cooking settings are offered). The higher the score in this section, the easier it was to intuitively use the air fryer and move through the various settings.
A clear and responsive interface is an important and basic function that each air fryer should have, but some fall surprisingly short here.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Interface
Scoring the interface includes evaluating the display screen and buttons and also encompasses how simple it is to set a temperature or cooking mode. The Instant Vortex Plus, Plus XL, Instant Vortex Mini, and Instant Vortex Plus Clear Cook all have very similar control panels and earned high marks in this test. The control panel is streamlined and intuitive, making selecting a temperature, cooking mode, and cooking time easy.
The Clear Cook offers a clear, easy-to-use interface with responsive buttons.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Our testers also noted that the Breville Smart Oven has a great interface. One tester said it was, “impressively simple to use for a product with so many functions.” We really liked the spin dial and found it very quick to run through different settings. And even though the screen is on the smaller size, it is well lit and has large display text.
The Ninja Air Fryer has a large and responsive LCD screens, which our testers found very easy to use. The Ultrean has a very simple display with just two buttons, but it was easy enough to use.
Adjusting settings on the Breville Smart Oven is very simple.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Basket
For this test we looked at how easy it is to remove the basket drawer with one hand. We also took into account the overall build quality and how fuss-free it is to shake the contents of the basket, which is a mainstay of air fryer cooking.
The Clear Cook basket often requires two hands to remove, you can remove it with one, but you may be risking pulling the entire fryer off the counter.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
We really like that the Plus Clear Cook also has a window you can peer through to monitor your cooking progress. But we found you needed two hands to open the basket, which may frustrate some users.
The Clear Cook window makes it easy to keep an eye on your food.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Ninja Foodi 8-quart did well in this test. As our testers noted, “You can open it with one finger,” No excessive pulling or jerking motion needed. And the Breville Smart Oven was an absolute standout in this category. Our test team liked that, “The frying basket is independent and fits in like an oven rack. It is huge, so you can cook a lot of food at once.”
Our testers liked how easy it is to remove and fill the basket in the Breville Smart Oven air fryer.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Versatility
In this test we looked at the variety of functions available on each unit. Some come with a multitude of temperature presets or functions built in, while others are more minimalist in offerings. While some users may be happy with basic settings, others might want to spend a bit more to get a multipurpose machine.
If you value versatility, the Breville Smart Oven and Ninja Foodi Digital Oven both did very well in this test. They are both air fryer, smart oven combos, which means they can handle just about any cooking task. The Breville has an impressive 13 functions (the Foodi has 8) that range from toasting and baking to proofing and dehydrating. It's not the cheapest air fryer option, but if you're looking for a champ in versatility it's definitely worth considering.
The Instant Vortex Clear Cook and Vortex Plus also earned high marks here. They each offer six pre-programmed settings and are able to roast, boil, bake, reheat, dehydrate, and air fry. The Chefman and Instant Vortex Mini did okay in this part of the test, but were not strong standouts. They have four settings but are better suited to someone who mainly wants to just air fry.
The Instant Vortex Plus scored well in versatility with six built-in settings.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Overall User Friendliness
The final user friendliness score combines the test results from our interface, basket, and versatility of features and functions testing. Those fryers that rank higher performed the best in our tests above. But, even if some units don't come with a myriad of features and functions, it's important to note that in our many years of experience testing kitchen appliances, multi-function appliances tend to do a lot of things well but are not always exceptional at any one thing. So, if you just need an air fryer for its ability to make food taste truly deep fried, we recommend passing on the multi-function fryers. But, if you want a multi-use kitchen appliance that comes with tons of functions and performs well in all of them, we highly recommend the Breville Smart Oven or the Ninja Foodi Digital Oven.
User Friendliness
Product
Interface
Basket
Versatility
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
9
10
10
Ninja Foodi Digital Oven
9
7
10
Instant Vortex Plus XL
8
8
9
Instant Vortex Plus Clear Cook
9
7
9
Instant Vortex Plus
8
8
8
Ninja Air Fryer
8
7
8
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
7
9
6
Instant Vortex Mini
9
6
7
Cosori TurboBlaze
8
7
6
Chefman TurboFry Touch
7
8
5
Ultrean Air Fryer
8
5
5
Chefman Multifunctional
7
4
7
Dash Tasti-Crisp
6
5
6
Cosori Pro LE
6
4
6
Ease of Cleaning
There are two cleaning tasks with air fryers: wiping off any bits of food on the fry baskets between batches and washing the machine itself. We love how easy it is to use an air fryer, so we definitely don't want have a long or complicated clean up after cooking. The air fryers that ranked the highest in this test are the easiest to clean.
The Cosori TurboBlaze is wonderfully easy to clean. Our testers noted that it has a “great nonstick coating that doesn't hold on to anything.” The Instant Vortex Plus is smooth inside and has no basket, just a removable tray. This means there is nowhere for food to get stuck, making cleanup uncomplicated and swift.
The Cosori Turboblaze is among the easiest to clean air fryers.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Wiping Down
If you're cooking back-to-back meals, you'll want to be able to quickly wipe out the basket and continue cooking. The Instant Vortex Plus, Cosori TurboBlaze, and Ninja Foodi 8-quart all have smooth baskets that are very easy to wipe down quickly and don't require any excessive force or time to clean.
Being able to easily wipe out the air fryer is important when cooking multiple batches back-to-back.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Washing
The basket of the Instant Vortex Plus and Cosori TurboBlaze can be put in the dishwasher. Add this to how easy they are to wipe down, and it's no wonder they scored well in this section. We like that the tray and basket of the Ultrean are dishwasher safe. Our tester found that the basket on the Instant Vortex Plus XL was “easy to clean except the window where I could see little crispy bits make their way into the crevices.”
The door comes off the Chefman Multifunctional, which makes it much easier to clean.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
We like that the door is removable on the Chefman Multifunctional, but we found the trays excessively difficult to clean. The Dash Tasti-Crisp is easy to clean and we appreciate that you can put the entire basket in the dish washer.
The Vortex Mini was hard to wipe out and scored poorly in our ease of cleaning test.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Overall Ease of Cleaning
The Ease of Use score combines results from our tests for the ease of wiping down and washing (including dishwashing) each machine. The easiest units to clean were the Instant Vortex Plus and the Cosori TurboBlaze thanks to the easily removable trays and effective nonstick coating, which makes wiping and washing practically effortless.
Ease of Cleaning
Product
Wiping Down
Washing
Cosori TurboBlaze
9
9
Instant Vortex Plus
9
9
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
9
8
Ultrean Air Fryer
7
8
Instant Vortex Plus XL
7
8
Cosori Pro LE
9
6
Instant Vortex Plus Clear Cook
9
6
Ninja Air Fryer
7
7
Dash Tasti-Crisp
7
7
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
6
6
Ninja Foodi Digital Oven
6
6
Chefman TurboFry Touch
6
6
Chefman Multifunctional
5
6
Instant Vortex Mini
5
4
Temperature Accuracy
When frying foods with minimal oil and convection heating, as these devices do, a temperature that is 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit below the set temperature can make the food taste tough and leathery rather than crispy. Conversely, just 10-20 degrees too hot can burn your meal. To test temperature accuracy, we give each model 20 minutes to preheat to 300 degrees Fahrenehit, then check the temperature using three calibrated oven thermometers. We then turn up the temperature to 350, 375, and 400 degrees, with five minutes allotted to settle in at each new temperature. Then, we recheck the thermometers. The closer each model gets to the set temperature, the higher the score.
We heated each model to 400 degrees and then measured the actual temperature. As you can see, the temps swung a lot - some more than others.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
The Ninja scores nearly perfect in this metric. We were surprised to find that the Ninja had an average deviation of 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit from its set temperature, while the worst in the lineup was off by nearly 30 degrees.
The Instant Vortex Plus performs fairly well in our temperature accuracy tests, never deviating more than a degree or two from the set temperature. Its close relative, the Plus XL, also operates within a few degrees of the claimed temperature.
We measured the outside surface temperature of each model. The ideal outside surface temp is 140 degrees Fahrenheit or below. The Instant Vortex Plus XL had a good surface temp according to our thermometer.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
The Ninja Foodi 2-Basket does a great job of keeping both baskets accurate, even when their temperatures are vastly different.
How to Choose The Best Air Fryer
Air fryers are becoming increasingly popular, but a lot is not intuitive about them, starting with the term “fryer.”
Our hands-on testers spent countless hours researching, air frying, recording data, and eating dozens of batches of donuts, tater tots, fried chicken, and fries so that you don't have to.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
What is an Air Fryer?
Air fryers are having a moment right now, hailed as the next great kitchen appliance. So what exactly are they? At their core, they are small, efficient, super convection ovens that use a fan to circulate hot air around food to get it crispy. And they do this all while using much less oil than a traditional deep fryer. However, they still fall short of recreating the taste of deep-fried food. Anyone hoping these devices will produce crispy and decadent fried chicken without guilt will be sorely disappointed. These fryers can add a delightful crisp to many foods more easily and efficiently than most other cooking methods.
Do I Need One?
So, does one of these machines deserve a place in your kitchen? Suppose you like the approximation to frying this cooking technique produces and would like to incorporate it into your meal rotation twice a week. In that case, it's worth investing in the speed and convenience of a dedicated air fryer. Some of our staff swear by these appliances and regularly use them instead of an oven for tasks like roasting veggies. “I don't cook potatoes any other way anymore”, says one of our staffers, in glowing praise of her air fryer. However, if you don't think you'll be air frying frequently, you might be better off using the convection or broil setting on your conventional, or better yet, your toaster oven for those occasional dishes you want to make crispy.
What Types of Food Do You Cook The Most?
Beyond overall cooking ability, focus on each appliance's strengths and weaknesses. While most machines handled onion rings decently, chicken cooking results differed significantly. Prioritize a fryer that excels in your favorite dishes. If crispy, juicy chicken is your goal, pay close attention to our chicken-specific cooking performance metric.
What's the Ideal Size for You?
Air fryers come in various sizes, measured in quarts, which reflect the basket's capacity. Here's a guide to choosing the right size for your needs:
Small air fryers (1-2 quarts) are ideal for singles or couples cooking side dishes.
Medium air fryers (3-5 quarts) are versatile for families of up to four and can cook main or larger side dishes.
Large air fryers (5+ quarts) can cook meals for bigger families or those who like to entertain.
Storage
If you don't have a ton of counter or storage space, you may want to find either a smaller air fryer with shorter dimensions, or you may even prefer a multi-function air fryer so that you won't need to continuously have to put away and pull out multiple different cooking appliances. A multi-function air fryer is a great option for those who lack storage and countertop space.
How Much Do You Care About Temperature Accuracy?
Temperature accuracy in appliances like air fryers impacts consistency but does not necessarily produce perfect results. In contrast, some models with slightly off temperatures still cooked well in tests. Achieving consistent browning or doneness becomes easier with a more precise machine. This is especially important for recipe experimentation. When tweaking recipes, understanding how your adjustments affect the food, rather than unpredictable temperature fluctuations, allows you to refine your creations confidently.
Here we are measuring air fryer temperature accuracy. This measurement is not necessarily correlated with cooking performance, but it is important that your air fryer is set to your desired temperature.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Conclusion
If you plan to air fry - even just occasionally - we think it's worth purchasing one of these appliances. The quick heat-up times and ease of cleaning are excellent pros that will make a big difference for frequent users. An air fryer is also a great appliance in the summer, as using it won't heat your house like an oven might. Remember that a slightly less efficient but much more versatile toaster oven that includes a convection or air fry setting might be a better fit for your kitchen. Either way, we hope this review has helped guide you toward making a confident purchase decision.
Our test team brings expansive experience to the realm of the best kitchen appliances and similar items. With over 60 kitchen-related categories, we've made it our priority to do thorough testing and bring you detailed reviews. From appliances like the best microwaves and top-ranked blenders, to much more.
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Lesley Robinson, Jessica Riconscente, Hayley Thomas, and Mallory Paige
