Even at this low price, you get a digital control panel with automatic programs. All of the accessories are dishwasher-safe but the aluminum baking pan and crumb tray may discolor. Gourmia also includes a recipe book with comprehensive cooking charts.
The combination of the baking tray and air fryer basket allows the hot air to be circulated efficiently around food. This meant chips were evenly cooked without us needing to toss them, but they really stuck to the mesh, as did halloumi. One drawback is the Ninja’s interior size, but I suspect that’s also why it works as well as it does. The Ninja is short — about 6 inches and half the height of many of the others — so you’re somewhat limited in what you can put inside. It also makes things a bit clumsy when you’re loading food in and taking it out and it’s harder to see while it’s cooking. But it’s likely that same compact cooking cavity that’s responsible for the excellent power and precision control the Ninja affords.
Compared to stand-alone air fryers, air fryer toaster ovens can be used for more cooking tasks and differ in design, making them more versatile. The Cuisinart TOA-60 Air Fryer Toaster Oven offers something a little different from the competition, with seven cooking functions including air frying. It’s more mini-oven than air fryer by design, even down to its aesthetic cuisinart toaster costco and analog controls – which, while quirky, might not be to everyone’s taste. You lose some of the value-adding features found in dedicated air fryers, such as shake timers and air frying presets. Nevertheless, in our tests, we achieved crispy, delicious air-fried chicken wings and golden fries, as well as some great results using the other settings, too.
While the KitchenAid didn’t run away with many of the test categories, it didn’t struggle mightily in any of them either. It sports a serviceable air fry function — though certainly not the best — excellent temperature consistency and a very sleek and intuitive control panel (my favorite of the lot, in fact). It makes the list because I found it to be a reliable oven that’s also an ideal size for most kitchens. cuisinart air fryer oven But its versatility is where the Cuisinart TOA60 Air Fryer Mini Oven really differentiates itself from other air fryers. With five other cooking functions and a keep warm setting, you can use it daily without sticking to fried food. For example, we used the grill function one evening to melt a cheesy topping on nacho and baked a light and fluffy victoria sponge a few days later.
Breville’s user interface is a major benefit over the other air fryers. You can clearly see all 13 functions it offers on its large LCD touchscreen and easily navigate through the menu and select time and temperature with the large stainless steel dials. Breville also makes it easy to cook without a manual by printing suggested oven rack positions right on the glass oven door, making it convenient when you bake a pizza or dehydrate banana chips. The Breville Air Fryer also has a dedicated oven light button so you can observe the progress without opening the oven door. If it’s an appliance we use every day — like an electric kettle and pour-over glass coffee maker — we make room for it.
We also found the Philips Premium Airfryer’s basket to be the most seamless to insert into the machine. The square shape of the Premium Airfryer’s 2.75-quart basket also allows a bit more space than round designs with similar capacities, which means you can fit four chicken thighs or wings in the basket versus three. This air fryer also isn’t as much of an eyesore as some machines we’ve tried over the years, so it won’t look like an alien spaceship has landed on your kitchen counter.
Air fryers, however, typically have heating elements that are more concentrated and located on the top, while most convection ovens work with the same heaters already built into an oven or toaster oven. Air fryers also typically have a larger fan that works quicker and is positioned on top of the heating elements versus a convection oven with a smaller fan located in the back or side of the oven. Ultimately, the best air fryer toaster ovens heat up quickly and make crispier food in less time than convection ovens. If your main priority is simply to get a small, inexpensive appliance to heat food better than a microwave, you might be happy with a small toaster oven without convection. These are even more inexpensive than convection toaster ovens and more suitable for small spaces. We recommend the Panasonic FlashXpress (a top pick in our guide to toaster ovens).
This is a large, well-designed appliance with an LED screen and dial controls. The air fryer basket needs a good soaking to clean it, but the baking dish has a nonstick coating. The oven also comes with an excellent cookbook to get you started on air frying.
The instruction book has recipes and helpful charts for successful air frying and dehydrating. The Ninja Foodi Air Fry Oven has one of the largest air frying racks we tested, measuring in at 13 by 13 inches. It offers a large amount of cooking space, but it’s short and folds upwards for storage so it won’t eat up your counter cuisinart toaster costco space. Plus, when stored upright, the bottom of the oven can be released for cleaning so you can easily wipe it down. The downside, the manual warns, is that things may take longer to cook (though the lid has some holes in it, it’s essentially creating a barrier between your food and the appliance’s heating element and fan).
But we have learned over the years that many people prefer the pod-shaped style for a few reasons. Pods are typically more compact, which means they cook a bit faster, since there’s less oven space to heat. Some people also find that it’s easier (or just more fun) to use an air fryer basket with a handle, rather than pulling a hot pan from an oven. But if you are short on time or space, cooking just a few servings, and favor crispy food, a pod-shaped air fryer might be right for you. When you think of an air fryer, the first thing that probably pops into your head is one of those plastic pod-shaped models.