Air Fryers: Reviews, Guides & Buying Advice

Air fryers have become one of the most popular kitchen appliances of the last decade, and for good reason. They cook food faster than a conventional oven, use significantly less oil than deep frying, and most models are straightforward to clean. The catch is that with dozens of options at every price point, choosing the right one takes some work.

The honest answer is that most air fryers cook similarly. The differences that actually matter are basket size (which determines how much food you can cook at once), build quality (which determines how long it lasts), and ease of cleaning (which determines whether you actually use it). Price is not always a reliable guide to quality in this category.

What to look for in an air fryer

• Basket capacity: 2-3 quarts for one or two people, 4-5 quarts for a family of three or four, 6+ quarts for larger households or batch cooking. See the Ninja AF101 vs COSORI Pro II comparison for how a 4-quart and 6-quart model actually compare in practice.
• Wattage: 1,500-1,800W is standard. Higher wattage means faster pre-heating but not necessarily better cooking results. For amps and running cost, see my air fryer wattage guide.
• Ease of cleaning: Dishwasher-safe baskets save meaningful time. Check before buying.
• Controls: Digital controls are more precise; dial controls are simpler and more durable.
• Preset programmes: Useful for beginners, largely irrelevant once you learn your machine.

Something is wrong with your air fryer

The faults that actually come up, each with a way to tell which cause is yours:

• The air fryer will not heat up — usually the drawer safety switch rather than a fault.
• Food comes out soggy or pale — two different failures with opposite fixes.
• The air fryer is smoking — what the smoke colour tells you.
• The air fryer smells like plastic or burning — what the makers call normal, and when to unplug it.
• The basket coating is flaking — whether it is safe, and what actually caused it.
• The air fryer trips the breaker — a shared circuit or a genuine earth fault (more below).

Using an air fryer day to day

• Do you need to preheat an air fryer? — no, but most makers recommend it: Ninja says always, Philips says it is optional.
• How to clean an air fryer: basket, element and inside — unplug, cool, wash the basket and crisper plate, wipe the element, dry well.
• What can you put in an air fryer? Glass, metal, ceramic and silicone — metal dishes yes, metal utensils no; the makers split on glass and ceramic.
• Can you put aluminum foil in an air fryer? — yes, but only in the basket, clear of the perforations, and not with acidic foods.
• Can you put parchment paper in an air fryer? — usually, if it fits the basket, goes in after preheating and has food on top.
• Air fryer guide: what to cook and how to use it — how they work, USDA safe temperatures and six beginner recipes.
• Air fryer cooking times and temperatures chart — what Ninja, COSORI, Philips and Instant Pot print for each food, and why they differ.

Is an air fryer worth it?

• Are air fryers healthy? What the research says — what the studies, FDA, NCI and USDA say about fat, acrylamide and reheating.
• Air fryers vs deep fryers: which is better? — one uses a spoonful of oil, the other wins on batter.
• Air fryer vs convection oven: which should you buy? — crispness, capacity and running cost side by side.
• Air fryer vs toaster oven: which should you buy? — crisping, capacity, speed and counter space.
• How much does an air fryer cost? Price tiers and running costs — what drives the price and how running cost compares with an oven.
• Air fryer wattage — typical watts by size and the amps on a 120V circuit.
• Egg cooker vs boiling, Instant Pot and air fryer: which peels eggs easiest? — what independent tests found and where they disagree.

Air fryer buying guides

• Best air fryers — five models compared, from single-basket MaxCrisp and TurboBlaze to Ninja’s DualZone.
• Best cheap air fryer — top picks under $100 — five budget picks with a full buying guide.
• Best air fryer for a family of 4 — four models, from a COSORI to a Ninja dual-basket.
• Best air fryer for frozen food — five picks, from a budget dual-basket to a glass-basket single.
• Best air fryer pressure cooker combo — three combos, from a Nuwave to an Instant Pot.

Head-to-head comparisons

• Ninja AF101 vs COSORI Pro II — how a 4-quart and a 5.8-quart model compare on capacity, controls and cleanup.
• Instant Vortex Plus vs COSORI Pro — two 6-quart baskets on capacity, presets and noise.

Individual air fryer reviews

• Ninja AF101 review — the 4-quart basket that has been the budget default for years
• Ninja DZ201 review — the two 4-quart baskets, and what owners report about basket size and coating wear
• Ninja AF181 MaxCrisp review — a 6.5-quart single basket with a fixed 450°F Max Crisp setting, and the owner complaints about coating wear and noise
• COSORI TurboBlaze review — the 6-quart basket, fixed fan speeds and a 90°F Proof setting, and what owners report about the crisper plate and failures
• Instant Pot Vortex Mini 4 Qt review — the small ClearCook-window model, its manual specs and what owners of the black 4-quart unit report
• Chefman TurboFry Touch review — the cheapest pick here, its real model name, and why the coating draws the most owner complaints
• Dash Tasti-Crisp review — its real name and capacity, and why the coating draws complaints despite the dishwasher-safe label
• COSORI Pro Gen 2 review — the real function count, the basket handle complaints, and why this model is not part of the 2023 COSORI recall
• COSORI Pro II review — the larger basket, and what the extra capacity actually fits
• Instant Vortex Plus 6QT review — the clear window and the odour-erase function

When an air fryer trips the breaker

An air fryer draws heavily the moment its element kicks in, and on a circuit already carrying a kettle or a microwave that surge is enough to trip. It reads like a fault in the machine and usually is not one. The guide to an air fryer tripping the breaker separates a shared-circuit problem from a genuine earth fault, which need very different responses.

Not sure which air fryer is right for you? Start with the best cheap air fryer guide if budget is the main constraint, the family air fryer guide if you need to cook for four or more people, or the best air fryers buying guide for a full comparison of the top-rated models.

Which air fryer for which household

Air fryer questions worth settling first

Does a bigger air fryer cook better?

No, and it can cook worse. Air frying depends on hot air moving freely around food in a single layer, so the useful measurement is basket floor area rather than quoted volume. A large basket half-filled works well; a large basket packed to the brim steams the food and disappoints in exactly the way a small one would.

Why is my air fryer food not crispy?

Overcrowding, nine times out of ten. Food needs space for air to reach every surface, and a second batch produces better results than one crowded one. Skipping the preheat and using too little oil on dry ingredients account for most of the rest.

Why does my air fryer trip the breaker?

Usually because the circuit is shared with another high-draw appliance and the element switching on pushes it over. Moving the fryer to a different circuit is the first test worth running. If it trips on its own dedicated circuit, that points at the machine rather than the wiring.

Is an air fryer just a small convection oven?

Mechanically, yes: a fan and an element in a small chamber. The difference is that the chamber is small enough for the air to move fast and recover quickly, which is why results are crisper than a full-size oven on the same setting. The comparison with deep frying covers what that does and does not change nutritionally.