If you’d like to air fry, but you just don’t have the space (or budget) for an air frying toaster oven, then a pod-shaped air fryer might be best for you. Because their small capacity keeps your food close to the fan and the heating elements, pod air fryers can make food even crispier, and often do so more quickly, than cuisinart toa60 their toaster oven-shaped cousins. Their cooking baskets can also be a little safer or simpler to maneuver than a hot pan for children, new cooks, or those with mobility concerns. Just keep in mind that the pods tend to cook a little less evenly, and in most cases you’ll only be able to make a couple servings at a time.
We then tested the bake/oven function by baking five 1-ounce store bought cookie dough balls at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. Our last performance test was to roast 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts at 425 degrees F until internal temperature was 165 degrees and note how long it took, how crispy the skin was and how juicy the meat was. We like the Breville Air Fryer Pro’s sleek design and easy-to-navigate interface. The Breville also has a Phase Cook feature (similar to the Cuisinart’s Dual Cook Mode), which allows you to program two back-to-back cooking functions.
To be fair, it’s a countertop oven, not a toaster oven, so a slower cooking time is to be expected. We think it’s best for people who don’t have space for a full-size oven in their home, or for those who have a lot of counter space and need an additional oven. The June Oven is a smart countertop model with an internal camera, a built-in probe thermometer (which estimates when your food will be cooked through), and several pre-programmed cooking functions.
Also, the FlashXpress has a somewhat flimsy, stamped-metal crumb tray (versus the sturdier trays that come with our other picks). After only a few cycles, the FlashXpress tray was already warped. But the warping didn’t make the tray overly difficult to pull out or to clean.
All air fryers sold at Costco contain dishwasher-safe components (double check with your product’s user manual to be sure), except for the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven. For the past two years, two Wirecutter employees have used the Hamilton Beach for basic tasks like making toast, reheating pizza, and baking frozen snacks. One of our testers initially tried toasting bread in the baking pan, which only browned the top of the bread. As with all models, you want to remove the pan and toast bread directly on the oven rack. Otherwise, they encountered no issues—the Hamilton Beach is great for any simple toasting and baking jobs.
Some brands will advertise the material of their toaster oven’s heating elements, and generally, ovens using quartz or ceramic will cost more than those using Calrod. But in all our research and testing, we didn’t see consistent cuisinart air fryer oven correlations between element type and either price or performance. For instance, our budget pick, the Hamilton Beach, has the same quartz elements as the Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven, which costs more than $200.
The air fryer setting took longer to crisp wings than other air fryer toaster ovens we tested, but the results were similar to the results we saw in the Smart Oven Air that consumers love. It was amongst the easiest to use with an intuitive control panel; plus, the ability to follow along on the app. It even can be controlled with Alexa if you want to adjust your cook time or temperature.
And most of these combo machines are stainless steel making them very durable, while many solo air fryers are shiny plastic that can feel like it’s a bit of a cheaper design. Many of these models can fit a 12-inch pizza, four-plus slices of bread and a whole chicken. No more batch cooking necessary, which means you can get dinner on the table for your whole family faster. Once your toaster is up and running, we recommend that you empty the crumb tray often. To keep grease from dripping on the lower heating element, use foil and a pan underneath whatever you’re cooking. If grease splatters inside the oven, clean the interior according to the manufacturer’s instructions or refer to the care and maintenance section in our guide to the best air fryer toaster ovens.
In our last round of testing, in April 2021, we tried out two trendier models that ultimately couldn’t compete with our picks. Last but not least, check out this delicious-sounding recipe from The Creative Bite. This one will show you exactly how to prepare Tortilla Crusted Tilapia (available at Costco and online at Costco Business Center) using your air fryer. This recipe from Eat Like No One Else will show you exactly how to prepare your Kirkland Panko Shrimp in an air fryer. Despite sounding French, chicken cordon bleu is actually one of the most well-known Swiss recipes in the world. Invented in the 1940s, chicken cordon bleu features layers of meat wrapped around cheese, then breaded and pan fried.