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I used to be an air-fryer skeptic, believing them to be unnecessary, flashy appliances that were meant to make healthier versions of french fries, mozzarella sticks, and wings — and not useful for much else. But now, many interviews for this piece later, and after testing some out myself, I more wholeheartedly understand their appeal.
Yes, the classic snack-y, crunchy foods were what people talked about most when air fryers started rising in popularity several years ago (“it’s akin to deep frying without all the oil” is basically what I heard over and over again). But it turns out they also work magic on vegetables, proteins, baked goods, and, yes, toast. This is because they’re essentially small convection ovens, meaning they have a fan and exhaust system that blows hot air all around your food for more even cooking and browning. And with an air fryer, you’re taking “that [convection oven] quality and putting it in a really small contraption, which magnifies it times ten,” explains Ben Mims, cook, writer, and author of a cookbook devoted to the appliance.
This powerful heating mechanism means that an air fryer conveniently cooks foods way faster than a regular oven with very minimal preheating time, if any at all, to boot. This is, of course, beneficial if you’re in a rush to eat, but also if you live in a small space and don’t want to make your kitchen unbearably warm — or just want to pull together a quick snack, or reheat leftovers without a fuss. “I use it as a kitchen helper,” Mims says. “I think of it as similar to the Instant Pot. You either take to it or you don’t (I have friends who love it, whereas I prefer to braise in a pot in the oven for four hours). It’s just about if it fits your cooking lifestyle.”
If you do in fact think an air fryer might fit yours, read on for recommendations tested by me, Mims, and 11 other experts. And if you’re in the market for another workhorse kitchen appliance that can cook full meals, check out my guide to toaster ovens.
What we’re looking for
Single- or multifunctional
Perhaps the most important matter to decide on is whether you want an air fryer that is just an air fryer, or an air fryer that also does … a lot of other things. Some on this list are one trick ponies, while others have settings that allow you to broil, dehydrate, proof, and more.
Capacity
How you intend to use your air fryer should, of course, affect what size you buy. Are you planning to use it mostly for yourself, to bake off the occasional single cookie, or to reheat leftovers? Or is the idea to use it for regular family dinners? For this category, I’ve listed the capacity of each model. But it should be noted, basket-style air fryers (the majority here) are measured in terms of how many quarts they hold, while ones with rack inserts (meaning, they look more like toaster ovens) are measured in terms of their interior cubic inches.
Best air fryer overall
Function: Multi | Capacity: 6 quarts
When I tested the Instant Vortex, the first thing I noticed and appreciated was the smooth, integrated interface. The touchpad is fully flush with the surface of the machine and lights up when you plug it in; it’s actually quite sleek-looking for a big appliance. The functions are intuitive, so much so that I never once had to reference the instructions the first time I used it. You choose from roast, bake, broil, reheat, dehydrate, or air fry, then click time and temperature, adjusting each by turning a small stainless-steel knob. The machine preheats in only two minutes, automatically pauses when you pull the basket out midway to shake food around, and — perhaps my favorite feature of all — has that light inside and a clear window at the front so you can actually see what’s going on. It also cleans up perfectly with a light scrub.
But don’t just take it from me: The machine also comes recommended by three experts. Bruce Weinstein, co-author of multiple air frying cookbooks, explains that while some models are very tall, which accounts for their overall capacity and ability to fit, say, a big pile of French fries, that setup won’t allow air to flow around as easily and result in the crispy texture you’re after. The Vortex, however, has a large square footage on the bottom, meaning you can lay everything in a single layer and avoid overcrowding. “It just has the perfect ratio of height to width,” he says. Cookbook author Julia Turshen (who has the same model but without the see-through window) also appreciates the space. It’s basket-style (as opposed to a few models on this list that look like toaster ovens), which means she can “fit way more than a skillet” and “just shake things up” instead of tediously flipping them over on a sheet tray.
Jenny Tschiesche, founder of Lunchbox Doctor and author of an air-frying cookbook, has tried a few different air fryers — but the Instant Vortex is the one that has stood the test of time in her kitchen with daily use for more than two years. “With some of the others, after a few months, the lining starts to come away, or you see scratches. But this one has lasted without damage,” she says. “And that’s something considering how much it gets used by all family members — including two teenagers.” For Tschiesche, the fact that many of her Le Creuset dishes fit in there is also a huge plus.
Best less expensive air fryer
Function: Single | Capacity: 3.7 quarts
For his part, Mims has used and loved his Crux for years, discovered when he was testing all sorts of kitchen gadgets for Buzzfeed’s Tasty, before air-frying became a phenomenon. (In fact, his is an older model they no longer make; the one listed here is the company’s updated version.) “It cooks as great as can be,” he told me. “Still to this day, I use it at least once a week, if not more, mostly to roast veggies. And I use it in conjunction with other things, like a pot of rice on the stove, or searing a piece of salmon or cooking a chicken thigh. A lot of them require you to preheat, but the Crux does not. I don’t own a dishwasher, and it’s really easy to clean. The basket pulls right out, it unclips, and you can rinse and wipe it out. Others have racks built in that can make cleaning a little more difficult. It’s the goldilocks size, enough for me and one other person, which is perfect. There are some tiny ones (could be perfect for a college kid in a dorm room), or if you’re a bigger family, you probably want a bigger one. A lot of them are good, they just suit different needs.”
Best air fryer with presets
Function: Multi | Capacity: 5.8 quarts
The Cosori comes recommended by three women who have all tried many air fryers. Jennifer West and Rebecca Abbott, the writers and recipe developers behind Air Frying Foodie, and cookbook author Katie Hale turn to this one more than any other. (Fun fact: it’s the model that Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent also recently raved about to us.) Hale says, “it’s affordable, especially for the quality.” While West and Abbott both own a slightly older model, the company confirms that the one listed here is a very similar version with upgraded internal technology and some different presets.
“I’ve been using it for a [few] years now,” West says, “cooking for four to six people on the regular. I use it so much, I really know the way that it cooks.” Abbott and Hale both mostly make food for themselves and their husbands, and still find that it’s the perfect size. “ I don’t think I’ve come across something you can’t fit in the basket,” she says. “It has great presets for things like cake, meat, and fish. Also, the directions are very clear and easy. Some air fryers stress me out. You’re trying to set time and temperatures and there are too many buttons — and I’m someone who air-fries every day.” Both experts say that they can imagine wanting an appliance with additional settings for something like RV living, but that they find the Cosori to be all they need for their day-to-day lives. “It does everything you want an air fryer to do,” says Abbott.
Best air fryer for beginners
Function: Single | Capacity: 2.6 quarts
If you’re air-frying curious but don’t want to break the bank on one — and might store it away in a cabinet instead of out on the counter for daily use — you can’t get better than the Dash’s Tasti-Crisp model, which I heard about from recipe developer and blogger Madeline Park of Cafe Maddy. It’s small (even more so than the Crux) and particularly simple to use, with just two dials for temperature and time. “I live alone and only cook one portion at a time,” says Park, who doesn’t even like to have leftovers because her video creation requires her to make new meal after new meal. “I can cook a dish in 20 minutes, and it’s really intuitive to use.”
For a slightly bigger model with similarly simple functionality, Zosima Fulwell, founder of Cooking with Mama Z, turns to her Tower T17021 Family Size Air Fryer. Tower is a U.K.-based brand, so shipping will almost double the price — but we did a reverse image search and found this pretty much identical (and more affordable) version available in the States that will give you three quarts of room. “There are other higher-end models, but in terms of something that is quite basic and simple and affordable, I think this one is a really good starting point to learn,” Fulwell says.
Best durable air fryer
Function: Single | Capacity: 7 quarts
Weinstein says this machine is particularly well made for two main reasons. First, the food tray is stainless-steel mesh, “almost like chicken wire,” he says. It’s a material that is bound to last much longer than the usual slatted nonstick trays you’ll find at the bottom of other basket-style air fryers. (Weinstein notes that you can put it in the dishwasher, but if you don’t have one, just soak it right after use so no hard bits stick, and then wash when you’re ready.) The second reason is an additional built-in layer underneath that mesh tray: a catcher where released fat drips down and collects. “It keeps splatter and smoke down,” he says, “especially with fatty foods like steak and hamburgers.” The less grease buildup over time, the better your air fryer will function, and the longer it will last. Recipe developer and food blogger Nicole Modic also calls the air fryer high-quality as well as heavy-duty. Although she has a couple of models on hand, she uses this one when making fattier foods, too, like chicken wings. As for getting the accumulated grease out of the bottom, she says that cleanup is super-easy because the drip tray comes out fully.
Best air fryer for baking
Function: Single | Capacity: 4.2 quarts
At first, Gracie Bensimon of Gracie Baked ignored the air fryer her roommate bought, believing it was another kitchen appliance she didn’t need. But since she finally tried it a couple of years ago, she hasn’t looked back. Technically, you can bake in any of these machines, but Bensimon is obsessed with making cookies in hers and waxed poetic to me about how good the treats turn out. The air fryer itself is one of the simpler models on this list, with just one button for time and another to set the temperature, but Bensimon says she leaves it around 370 degrees. It sits plugged in on her counter, and whenever the need for a cookie strikes she simply turns it on and plops in a ball or two of dough on top of a sheet of parchment paper (yes, without even waiting for it to preheat, which she says has never been a problem). “Toast was my air-fryer gateway snack, but cookies is what pushed me over the edge into a full-blown air-fried addict,” she says. “I bake mine for about seven or eight minutes. The cookies get a nice golden bake on the outside but stay so outrageously doughy on the inside. I top mine with chunky sea salt or make myself a cookie and ice-cream sundae.”
Best air fryer for kids
Function: Single | Capacity: 2 quarts
Rebecca Abbott, co-writer and co–recipe developer behind Air Frying Foodie, originally bought the Dash Compact Air Fryer for herself and her husband, but it turned out the basket is too small for their needs. Instead, she says, her grandson has somewhat adopted it. “He calls it his,” she told me, “and knows how to use it, with my supervision. There are no fancy buttons — just knobs for temperature. I keep it between 380 and 400 degrees, and then there’s a little egg timer.” With a lower wattage than most others on this list, it takes slightly longer to heat up (but really, we’re talking about a difference of minutes). “We’ll stick a corn dog or chicken nuggets in there,” Abbot says. “Or if we want to bake off a few cookies or biscuits at a time.” Plus, it comes in cute colors, costs $50, and at less than a foot all around, can be easily stored in a cabinet.
Best multifunctional air fryer
Function: Multi | Capacity: 1 cubic foot
The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro boasts 13 preset functions: toast, bagel, bake, roast, broil, pizza, cookies, proof, air fry, dehydrate, reheat, warm, and slow cook. You can toast nine pieces of bread at a time, roast a 14-pound turkey, and fit a five-quart Dutch oven inside. In other words, it’s really not fooling around.
Food writer and editor Alyse Whitney has been using hers for the last three years, and used Breville’s previous similar model for eight years before that. “This is like my ride-or-die appliance,” she says. “It is what will be buried with me.” It’s big, and not everyone has the counter space for that. But if you do, Whitney can’t recommend it enough. “I use this as my oven six out of seven days of the week,” she says. “And I use it as my second oven when I’m hosting a party. Two quarter sheet pans fit nicely in there because it has two levels. The basket ones seem simple but also limiting. I love how many things this one does. Also it has a clear window, so I can see what’s happening” As for the more difficult cleanup that Mims mentioned about racks? Whitney has a solution: “I put a piece of aluminum foil underneath.”
Best less expensive multifunctional air fryer
Function: Multi | Capacity: 0.6 cubic feet
The Cuisinart is a slightly smaller (12 by 16 by 14 inches instead of 21 by 17 by 12) machine with seven preset functions: air fryer, convection bake, convection broil, bake, broil, warm, and toast. Mims says that if you want an air fryer that can do more than just air fry, this one “does as good of a job as the Crux at cooking.” Like the Breville, it comes with a tray and a basket insert, though it will only hold one level at a time.
For a price similar to the Cuisinart’s, Modic recommends this Oster air-fryer oven, which she keeps on her counter and uses several times a week like a toaster oven to bake, roast, boil, toast, and keep food warm in addition to air-fry. She says the buttons are super-clear, a plus for her 6- and 8-year-old boys who use it often to make snacks. And she says she likes that you can move the trays to different levels so you can fit different-size foods and get the most even level of cooking depending on what you’re making.
Best basket-style multifunctional air fryer
Function: Multi | Capacity: 5.5 quarts
Unlike the Breville and the Cuisinart, this Ninja is a basket-style multifunctional air fryer (as opposed to tray-style). It has settings for air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat, and dehydrate. Erin Clarke, the recipe developer behind Well Plated, purchased hers two years ago, uses it several times a week, and says it has held up great. Beyond its durability, “it has a lot of surface area, which allows you to put food in a single layer so it cooks and crisps evenly,” Clarke says. She appreciates that it only takes three minutes to preheat (though oftentimes she won’t even wait and it still works perfectly, she says). The basket slides out smoothly, too, so she can pull it out and shake food up partway through cooking. And “there’s never any residual grease or stains” after cleaning with a sponge and dish soap, she says, even when working with fatty foods like chicken wings and bacon.
Best air fryer with rotisserie basket
Function: Multi | Capacity: 10 quarts
This Instant air fryer is the largest on the list and as such, accommodates several insertable accessories for cooking that wouldn’t fit in any other model. The first is a metal spit specifically designed for making rotisserie-style chicken that Hale says “has the crispiest skin on all sides.” You secure the bird on the spit, insert it into the air fryer, set your temperature and time, select the “rotate” button, and let it go. (While Instant says you can fit a bird up to four pounds, Hale prefers hers to be around three to prevent it from rubbing against the sides.) The machine also comes with a perforated cylindrical basket suspended in the center of the main chamber that rotates so the food inside tumbles around and receives maximum air flow. Hale says this makes the outside of French fries, tater tots, and vegetables even more uniformly crisp than other air fryers. It also accommodates two trays at a time that you can air-fry on, as well as use with the machine’s toast and bake settings. Cookbook author Katie Hale says the inside wipes down nicely and the front door comes completely off so it can be washed more thoroughly by hand.
Best air fryer with dual baskets
Function: Single | Capacity: 8 quarts
This air fryer has something none of the others on this list do: two baskets. Of course, this allows you to cook different foods separately but at the same time with each side set to a distinct temperature for a particular amount of time. In my own testing, I found this feature quite useful; I was able to start a salmon filet in one compartment, which takes slightly longer than the broccoli florets I made in the other. Dinner was ready without any waiting and without one component getting cold. The settings are intuitive to use, too.
I will note that the individual baskets have a narrow surface area, so on occasions where I was making food for more than just myself, I had to fill both with the same thing (like the wings you can see pictured below). It works just as well, but to accommodate two baskets, even at their smaller size, the appliance is overall very big and a bit cumbersome. If you see yourself doubling up on the same foods across the board more often than not, it might be smarter to go with a different pick.
Best air fryer that is also a pressure cooker
Function: Multi | Capacity: 8 quarts
In fact, the Instant Pot Duo has 11 preset functions — but it’s the only one on this list that pressure cooks in addition to air frying. “For a long time, I was one of the most outspoken and vehement critics of air fryers,” says Courtney Kassel, recipe developer at Allrecipes. “But after moving in with an air fryer-owning friend, I’m well on my way to converted. In our apartment, as is the case with many, using the oven takes more effort than a simple switch, and can often be unreliable both in preheating time and temperature. Our trusty air fryer, however, preheats in minutes and I’d argue outperforms the oven for various tasks: evenly roasted vegetables, cooking proteins quickly, or just generally existing on TikTok in 2022. Additionally, ours happens to be a combination air-fryer-Instant Pot, meaning I can further justify the space it eats up in our limited kitchen storage and it’s a lifesaver on nights when the ‘What’s for dinner?’ conversation doesn’t even kick off until 7 p.m.”
Some more kitchen appliances we’ve written about
Our experts
• Rebecca Abbott, co-founder of Air Frying Foodie
• Gracie Bensimon, founder of and baker at Gracie Baked
• Erin Clarke, recipe developer behind Well Plated
• Zosima Fulwell, founder of Cooking with Mama Z
• Katie Hale, cookbook author
• Courtney Kassel, recipe developer at Allrecipes
• Ben Mims, Los Angeles Times cooking columnist and cookbook author
• Nicole Modic, recipe developer and food blogger
• Madeline Park, Cafe Maddy cook and blogger
• Jenny Tschiesche, founder of Lunchbox Doctor
• Julia Turshen, cookbook author
• Bruce Weinstein, cookbook author
• Jennifer West, co-founder of Air Frying Foodie
• Alyse Whitney, food writer and editor
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