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Are you wondering what all the hype is about when it comes to air fryers? They’re a relatively new kitchen gadget, completely transforming the way we view, cook, and eat “fried” foods.
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about air fryers. What are they? How do they work? What can you cook in them? How do you know which air fryer is best? These are just a few of the questions we’ll answer in this best air fryer guide.
Let’s get started!
Last update on 2023-03-11 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Table of Contents
1. Philips Digital Airfryer
The Philips Digital Airfryer is a classic and original one. The brand advertises this kitchen gadget as being a healthy option since air fryers contain 75% less fat than traditional fried food.
This air fryer comes in black so it will look good in all kitchens. It weighs 16 pounds and as with all air fryers you’ll get a much faster cooking time due to the way hot air circulates around the food.
- Air is the new oil. Fry and cook healthier food with up to 75% less fat.
- Fastest and most even cooking thanks to the unique and patented starfish design.
- The fully adjustable temperature control allows you to preset the best cooking temperature for your food up to 390°F
- Double layer rack accessory is included! Maximize your cooking space and prepare entire meals in one go
- Philips Airfryer is the world’s number 1 Airfryer with over 8 Million units sold. 100% taste satisfaction.
Last update on 2023-03-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This air fryer comes with a double layer rack so that you can cook even more food at once. This is great for families or batch/meal cooking.
Cooks food with up to 75% less fat
Has a patented starfish design for the quick cooking
Fully adjustable temperature control
Contains a double layer accessory rack
- Design 90%
- Durability 80%
- Performance 90%
- Easy cleaning 80%
- Weight 70%
- Price 80%
%
Final Verdict
If you’re looking for a stylish air fryer that allows you to cook as much food as possible, the Philips Digital Airfryer is a great option. If you’re interested in batch/meal prep cooking or you have a larger family, this is probably the best option.
2. GoWISE USA Programmable Air Fryer
This is a lighter weight air fryer coming in at just 12 pounds. It’s a 7 in 1 programmable air fryer which gives you many options for your meals. This includes meat, chicken, steak, shrimp, chips, and fish.
With this air fryer, you will be able to enjoy delicious food in larger portions due to the fewer calories from using less oil. It comes with a touch screen to operate any of built-in options listed below.
- The latest model of electric Air Fryer lets you enjoy your favorite foods without the added calories of oil. Power...
- Touch screen accessibility to manually program cooking time, or select from 1 of 7 built-in smart programs: Chips, meat,...
- Adjustable temperature from 170°F - 400°F allows you to prepare a variety of food from crispy fries to juicy wings...
- 30 minute timer with automatic standby feature that switches the fryer into standby mode upon completion. Alarm...
- ETL certified; The detachable basket makes it easy to transfer food to the plate. This air fryer is designed to...
Last update on 2023-03-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
You’ll be notified with an alarm once your food is finished. It should take a maximum of 30 minutes for almost any food you want to cook. The baskets are non-stick so they can be easily washed.
This air fryer comes with a 50 page recipe book! The recipes are all meals meant to be cooked in the air fryer. This includes chicken, fries, fish, veggies, cake, pizza, steak and more.
Touch screen
7 different built in programs
Adjustable temperature from 175°F – 400°F
ETL certified
Automatically turns off when basket is removed or when it’s done
- Design 90%
- Durability 70%
- performance 80%
- Easy cleaning 80%
- weight 75%
- price 70%
%
Final Verdict
The GoWise Programmable Air Fryer is perfect for those who like easy-to-read and understand technology in their kitchen gadgets.
This air fryer comes with a touch screen so it’s easy to select whatever option you want before starting the cooking process. The touch screen has symbols to clearly show what your options are.
3. FrenchMay Touch Control Air Fryer
If you’re interested in control panel with LED display, the FrenchMay Touch Control air fryer might be the one for you. It’s a 3.7 quart black machine that will look stylish in any kitchen. It has been through cleaning, inspections, functionality training, and brand new repackaging.
The 3.7 quart holding capacity is great for cooking large batches of homemade potato wedges, fried wings, fried veggies, onions rings, and so much more. You can add either fresh or frozen food to an air fryer and it will still cook perfectly.
3.7 quarts is the equivalent to 2 pounds of food. This makes enough food to feed a family of 4, of a family of 1-3 with leftovers.
- This refurbished product is tested and certified to look and work like new. The refurbishing process includes...
Last update on 2023-03-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This air fryer features a digital touch interactive control panel. It has an LED display and is easy to understand. It comes with a few safety features such as auto shutoff, cool exterior, cool handle, a built-in timer, and custom temperature control.
Very affordable
Dishwasher safe
Inclues recipes/a mini cookbook
Cool-to-touch handle that won’t burn you
Extremely lightweight
Basket holds up to 2 pounds of food
- Design 85%
- Durability 75%
- Performance 80%
- Easy cleaning 90%
- Weight 80%
- Price 80%
%
Final Verdict
If you’re looking for an affordable and lightweight air fryer, the FrenchMay Touch Control Air Fryer might be the best option for you. This refurbished air fryer is great value and it’s the lightest one we’ve seen, coming in at under 10 pounds. Despite the lower weight, it can still make large batches of delicious food.
4. Philips HD9220/20 Airfryer
This Philips Air Fryer uses 80% less oil than a traditional deep fryer. It’s black in color and a good size for economical daily use. You’re able to adjust the temperature with the air fryer depending on the foods that you’re cooking. The highest temperature it goes up to is 200 degrees Celsius.
This air fryer is unique in the way that it comes with a food separator. Most air fryers can only cook one food at a time, but this allows you to air fry two different dishes without mixing them together. The separator is made so that the juices or flavors from each of the foods won’t mix or interfere with each other.
The Philips air fryer comes with an included air filter for a fresh and clean smelling kitchen. This air filter helps to keep cooking smells from inside the air fryer stay inside.
Last update on 2023-03-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
All the washable parts of this air fryer are dishwasher safe. It also comes with a recipe book for delicious and easy recipes. This provides some great ideas for getting used to your new kitchen gadget!
Dishwasher safe
Great air filter for scent-free cooking
Comes with a small recipe book
Contains a food separator to cook tow different things at once
Adjustable temperature control
- Design 90%
- Durability 90%
- Performance 75%
- Easy cleaning 90%
- Weight 85%
- Price 85%
%
Final Verdict
For those who like to cook more than one food at once, this air fryer is perfect for you. You’re able to cook two completely different things without interfering with the end results of either of them.
All of the washable parts are dishwasher safe to make for a quick and easy clean up.
5. Breville Convection and Air Fry Smart Oven Air
In many ways, air fryers are smilier to convection ovens. The Breville Convection and Air Fry Smart Oven Air is the perfect combination and mix of these two kitchen gadgets.
It’s definitely shaped more like a convection oven than an air fryer. You get to choose between a super speed or regular fan for customizable cooking control. This machine is great for air frying, dehydrating food, and roasting veggies and meat.
This Air Fry oven has something called Element IQ. This element IQ carefully places quartz heating elements in strategic spots that it’s needed most to effectively heat the food. These spots are normally above and below the food.
If you like to dehydrate your food, you don’t need 2 separate kitchen gadgets anymore to do this. This appliance comes with both air fry and dehydration settings so you can do both from the same machine. There are 4 insertable dehydration trays that are great for herbs, fruit, and more.
The large size of this air fryer helps to cook more food in one go. This is great for families or large gatherings. The interior is 1 cubic foot, which is enough to toast 9 slices of bread. You can also roast an impressive 14 pounds of turkey, whereas most other air fryers can only fit a maximum of 2.5 pounds.
- The Breville Smart Oven Air with Element iQ System is a versatile countertop oven allowing you to roast, air fry and...
- ELEMENT iQ SYSTEM: Using 6 independent quartz elements, smart algorithms steer power to where and when it's needed to...
- AIR FRY & DEHYDRATE SETTINGS: Air fry French fries and other family favorites; Higher temperatures combined with super...
- SUPER CONVECTION TECHNOLOGY: 2 speed convection fan (super & regular) offers greater cooking control; Super convection...
- 13 COOKING FUNCTIONS: Super versatile countertop oven and air fryer with 13 functions to guide you to perfection: Toast,...
Last update on 2023-03-11 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The large interior also makes room for a larger baking dish for muffins, casseroles, cakes, loaves and more.
This Breville air fryer comes with 13 different cooking features. This includes pizza, roast, bagel, broil, roast, warm, proof, air-fry, toast 9 slices, reheat, slow cook, cookies, and dehydrate. It has a bright LCD display for you to see all these features easily. There’s also a light switch so that you can see the food cooking through the clear glass door.
This machine comes with a 2 year warranty. Since it’s larger, it does use 1800 watts on average when in use. However, it reduces the overall cook time of food by up to 30%.
Both a convection oven and an air fryer at the same time
Precision cooking & Element IQ for thorough heating throughout
Extremely large interior
Dehydration presets
13 cooking functions to choose from
LCD display
- Design 90%
- Durability 95%
- Performance 95%
- Easy cleaning 90%
- Weight 70%
- Price 70%
%
Final Verdict
The Breville Convection and Air Fry Smart Oven can truly do anything. It’s an extremely versatile kitchen gadget perfect for large families. It works as both an air fryer and a dehydrator, so you no longer need a whole other kitchen gadget taking up space in your kitchen.
One of the main downsides is the price and size/weight. Due to the large cooking capacity, there needs to be enough space on your counter to safely fit this machine. It’s also more expensive than other ‘standard’ air fryers.
If these things are not a concern for you however, we’d highly recommend this appliance from Breville!
FAQ
What is an Air Fryer?
Air fryers are a healthier electronic alternative to the traditional deep fryers that most of us know and grew up with. Deep fryers can be messy, smelly, hard to clean, and require lots of oil to cook the food properly. An air fryer, on the other hand, requires next to no oil to cook with.
Air fryers are the size of a rice cooker. Inside them is a tray where you place your food. Air fryers work by circulating hot air around the food, including underneath and on top. This ensures an even and crispy cook throughout. The hot air is usually around 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and the compactness of the air fryer makes the air feel even hotter.
Since air fryers require next to no oil, they’re a much healthier option for you. This is great for people who are trying to consume fewer calories or eat a low-fat diet. Air fryers are extremely easy to clean, you just remove the basket and wash it.
What are the Best Foods to Make in an Air Fryer?
Frozen Food
There are hundreds of different foods and recipes that can be cooked in air fryers. Frozen food is one of the easiest things to cook in them. You just open the bag of whatever you’d like and empty the contents into the air fryer.
The frozen food will take less time to cook than it would in an oven. Some great examples are frozen fries, frozen potato wedges, frozen vegetables, frozen pirogies, frozen nuggets, frozen fish sticks, frozen meat and so much more!
Fresh Vegetables
Using an air fryer is a great way to get more veggies into your diet. It can be boring and plain to eat steamed or boiled vegetables, but when they’re air fried, it adds a whole new depth of flavor and texture.
The air fryer adds a nice crunch and it’s easier to eat more of the vegetables this way. If you have kids who don’t normally like vegetables, this is a fun way to get them excited about eating more.
Some great examples of vegetables to cook in air fryers are cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, brussels sprouts and more.
Raw Meat
If you prefer to cook with raw meat versus frozen meat, the air fryer can easily accommodate that too. The only difference is it will just take a bit of extra time to do so. For example, cooking raw chicken would take around 30 minutes total. You can also cook roasted pork in the air fryer.
The end result will come out moist and juicy with a crispy skin. Additionally, you can place raw chicken wings in the air fryer and they will turn out crispy and delicious too!
Baked Goods
Long gone are the days where ovens are required to make baked goods. Some air fryers have the capacity to not only fry and roast food, but bake them too. These air fryers will come with a baking dish specific for loaves, muffins, bread, and more.
Soups and Curries
For any of the large, deeper baking dishes, you can cook soup and curries in them as well. Basically, anything that is watery and needs to remain that way goes into a baking dish. As long as it’s not too full, it will cook great!
Best Oil To Use In An Air Fryer
Even though air fryers fry food with hot air, they do require a little bit of oil to work smoothly. Oils with a higher smoke point are the best for this machine. This is because most air fryers consistently work at high temperatures (350-400 daggers Fahrenheit on average).
Many oils can burn when they’re exposed to high temperatures or lose their flavor. Oils with a high smoke point won’t burn and will still have all their health properties and flavors, regardless of how high you turn up the heat on your air fryer.
Oils are usually necessary when grilling and frying many types of meats. If you don’t use oil in some air fryer recipes, it can dry out these foods and make them less crispy.
The 4 Best Oils With High Burning Points:
- Avocado Oil – 520 degrees F burning point
- Extra Light Olive Oil – 468 degrees F burning point
- Peanut Oil – 440 degrees F burning point
- Sesame Oil – 450 degrees F burning point
Avocado oil is usually the go-to for most people using an air fryer. For Asian inspired recipes, sesame oil is a great addition. Sometimes these oils can be mixed together and both used at the same time for even more depth in flavor.
Is it Possible to Cook a Whole Chicken in an Air Fryer?
Yes, it is possible to cook a whole chicken in an air fryer! Instead of a quicker and higher temperature cooking process, we’d recommend a lower temperature with a longer cook time.
It’s also a good idea to keep a meat thermometer on hand to check and ensure that the chicken is thoroughly cooked. To cook a chicken in the air fryer, you first need to pre-heat it to 300 degrees Fahrenheit or 150 degrees Celsius. On average this takes anywhere from 3-5 minutes.
After the air fryer is pre-heated, place the whole chicken in the air fryer. Then baste one side of the chicken with whatever sauce you prefer. Cook the chicken for 55 minutes, then flip it over. Add more of the sauce to the other side, then cook it for an additional 55 minutes.
Let it cool for a few minutes, then enjoy! Cooking a whole chicken in the air fryer does take a bit of time, but once it’s in there you only need to check on it once in 2 hours.
Features to Look For in an Air Fryer
Just like all other kitchen gadgets, there are some things that make air fryers better or worse than each other. In this section, we’ll go through the most important features to take into consideration.
Size
The size of the air fryer might seem like a simple thing, but it’s actually very important. Will you be storing the air fryer on the counter, or in a cupboard?
You’ll need to make sure that it’s the correct size to fit wherever you plan to put it. Is it for a college dorm? Or for a restaurant? Examine your situation and expected usage can help determine the best size to get for yourself.
Capacity
The capacity for food held inside the air fryer is another important aspect to consider. Are you cooking for 2 people, or for 4 people? Cooking for yourself and your partner versus cooking for a family can make a huge difference.
On average, you’re able to cook anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 pounds of food. Figure out where your cooking quantity falls into this category and go from there!
Settings
The settings or control options for air fryers is something that should be looked into. The overall performance of the air fryer can only be as good as it’s performance options.
A good air fryer will have cooking settings for different types of food such as meat versus vegetables or baking. You should be able to customize the temperature and cooking time on your own.
Benefits of Using an Air Fryer
One of the greatest benefits of the air fryer is its ability to cook food faster. The extremely compact hot air naturally cooks the food in a quicker period of time.
An air fryer isn’t just quick with its cooking, it has a quick and easy clean up too. The pans and baskets used in them are usually non-stick which means it’s easier to clean. Many can be put in the dishwasher or washed with warm soapy water.
During the entire cooking process, there won’t be much to clean up either. Air fryers barely create spills or splashes of oil to clean up.
Air Frying Vs Deep Frying
In most cases, air frying is a better option than deep frying. We’ll compare the two of them now.
Health – foods cooked in air fryers are healthier for you since they don’t have added oils. This means that they’re naturally lower in calories and in fat. This allows you to eat more air fried food for the same amount of calories compared to being deep fried.
Cook time – no more waiting for the oil to heat up to deep fry your food. An air fryer takes as little as 3 minutes to fully pre-heat and start cooking the food. The circulating hot air effectively heats the food faster than a deep fryer without you having to stand over it.
Cleaner – air fryers are much easier to clean than deep fryers. You don’t have to worry about getting rid of all the oil you just used or storing it on your counter for weeks until you want to use it again. All you do is place the basket or pan in the dishwasher, or wash it with soapy water. Easy as that! During the cooking process, there won’t be any splashes or spills to clean up either.
Less Time Consuming – using deep fryers is a very time consuming process. With an air fryer, all you do is press start then walk away and continue doing what you were doing.
You’ll be notified when everything is done cooking. With traditional deep frying, on the other end, you’re forced to stand there and closely watch until it’s done cooking.
Air Fryer Downsides
Air fryers don’t come with many negative features. However, it’s always beneficial to look at both the good and bad sides of everything.
One of the biggest downsizes is probably that air fryers take up more space in your kitchen than other kitchen gadgets.
If you have lots of counter or cupboard space it isn’t something to worry about, but for those who live in smaller homes with limited storage or space in general, it’s something to consider.
One more negative aspect of air fryers is that if you have a family larger than four, you might find yourself having to make multiple batches of food in the air fryer just to make enough to feed everybody. There are definitely some air fryers that are made larger in size for this reason, so just try and search for the larger capacity ones if you have a larger family.
With that all said, a high-quality air fryer makes all the difference in the overall quality of the food. Thankfully, you don’t need to empty your wallets to have a good air fryer.
Conclusion
We hope this guide provided you with a more in-depth understanding of air fryers. Air fryers are a great healthy way to cook food without breaking the bank. Air fryers are something that you’ll find yourself using every day.
With the information provided and our cherry picked selection, we hope you’re able to find the perfect air fryer to suit your personal needs.
