In many people's homes, air fryers are quickly becoming a staple food gadget, probably because they are fast, convenient and do not cost a small amount of money. With the latest advancements in technology, there are air fryers on the market that can be cooked, baked, fryed, dehydrated, pressure Cook, etc. If you've been thinking about investing in French fries, now is the time to jump on the trend – let's help you choose the best air fryer for your needs. Whether you're going to bake a whole chicken, cook for the whole family, or want to try your hands on the infamous empty powder muffin (yes, you read it correctly), there's an air fryer for everyone.
Table of contents
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What to do with fryers?
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2025
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Fryer Buying Guide
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Advantages and disadvantages of air fryers
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The best air fryer accessories
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How to clean the fryer
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How to find an air fryer recipe
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How we test the fryer
What to do with fryers?
Let's clear one thing first: it's not fried. Not really. The air fryer is more like a smaller convection baking oven, which is usually pod-shaped. Most work by combining the heating element and the fan means that hot air usually makes the outside of the food crisper than other methods. They usually reach high temperatures than toast ovens, which is part of the attraction.
For most recipes, a thin layer of oil (usually sprayed) helps replicate the look and feel better on the fry. However, when it comes out of the air-frying basket, it rarely goes like the deep-frying or pan-frying version. But don't let you stand out because air fryers in multiple forms combine the best parts of other cooking processes and bring them into an energy-efficient air fryer way to cook dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch.
Read more: We also compiled the best pizza ovens and the best flavor-style video machines.
2025
Fryer Buying Guide
Convection oven
You can divide most of these machines into two types of air fryers, each with different pros and cons. Convection ovens are usually ovens with air frying functions and characteristics. They may have a higher temperature environment to ensure food is crisp and cooked more like fried food. Most convection ovens are larger than dedicated air fryers, which beat some of the purposes of those who want to shrink the surface area of the cooking equipment. Still, they usually have multiple uses for cooking functions, and most people have quality controls for temperature, timing and even fan speed.
If you have a decent convection oven, you may never need a built-in oven. They often have volumes that can handle barbecue, whole chicken or tray baking and can only do more cooking in terms of capacity, making them more forceful than the pod-shaped competition.
On the other hand, you need counter space in the kitchen to accommodate them. This also means you can use traditional oven accessories you may already have, such as baking trays or cake tins.
Pod-shaped aerial fried table
When you think of a “fryer,” you’ll imagine a pod-shaped air fryer. They look like a cool aerospace-era kitchen gadget, bigger than a kettle, but smaller than an oven. Many people use drawers to accommodate ingredients when cooking, usually mesh or a stronger, non-stick tray with holes to allow hot air to circulate. With a few exceptions, most people ask you to open the drawer while things cook, flip or shake half-cooked items to ensure that heat and air flow are evenly distributed throughout all objects.
That's one of some warnings. This type of air fryer usually doesn't have a window to see how things are cooked (with a few exceptions), so you need to carefully review them while cooking, turning on the device to check progress. Basket-style air frying tables also often use less energy – less heating space – and many parts can be placed directly into the dishwasher.
Some larger pod-shaped fryers offer two separate compartments, which is especially useful for anyone planning to cook a whole meal with the equipment. You can cook several delicious chicken wings or tenders while cooking enough frozen fries or vegetables for everyone. Naturally, these options take up more space, and they are usually heavy and can prevent you from storing them on cabinets or shelves elsewhere.
As mentioned before, you may have to buy extras to get these pod fryers to work the way you want them to. Some of the larger manufacturers, such as Philips and Ninjas, offer convenient additions, but you have to pay for them.
Advantages and disadvantages of air fryers
Apart from the advantages and disadvantages of a single model, it is easy to use the air mount from the beginning. Most models come with a handy cooking time manual covering most of the main foods you will be frying, so even beginners can master these machines.
One of the early selling points was the ability to cook fries, wings, frozen foods and other delicacies, while the fat was less than other fried fryings (such as deep frying), which made the food the most crisp. As the air frying table works through the circulating heated air, the holes in the tray and cooking plates can also let oil and fat be drained from the meat, meaning that fat and crispy foods are reduced when you end up dumping things. For most cooking situations, you may need to spray food gently with vegetable oil. If you don't do this, things can burn or char. Oil will keep the situation on the surface, and when you turn the animal during cooking, we recommend a little bit of oil spray to promote something refreshing.
Most air racks are easy to clean – especially compared to shallow or deep fryers. We will enter the cleaning guide later.
In the case of less heating space, an air fryer is usually more energy-efficient than larger appliances such as ovens. And if you don't have an oven, driving a fryer is much cheaper, especially the POD option.
However, there are some disadvantages. While air fryers are easy to use, they take time to master. Even the simplest foods, you adjust the cooking time – like chicken nuggets, frozen fries or Brussels sprouts. If you are the type of person who loves to find inspiration from the internet, in our experience, you can almost throw their time out the window. There are many options for air fryers, as well as the rate at which they heat and how much the heat is distributed can and can affect cooking.
There are space restrictions on the frying table. This is not TARDIS – less space than most traditional ovens and many deep-fat fryers. If you have a larger family, you might want to go to a large capacity air fryer, which could be an explosive with multiple cooking areas. You may also want to consider using other kitchen utensils such as multi-paper, sous vide or slow cooker to suit your specific cooking needs.
You may also have difficulty cooking many items because the heat setting will cook the surface of the dish before it is cooked. If you are planning to cook a whole chicken or grill, get a meat thermometer!
The best air fryer accessories
In addition to the manufacturer's official accessories, try out tools to pick up silicone. Pliers are ideal and also a silicon scraper that can easily open food that may be stuck on the side of the air fryer. These silicone mats will also help prevent items from sticking to wire racks on certain air racks. They have holes to ensure that the heated air can still circulate around the food.
Silicone trivia can also be used to rest any cooked food while you organize your leftover meals. And, if you find yourself in need of a petroleum spray but don’t want to buy small bottles over and over again, you can pour your favorite vegetable oil into a Permanent Mr. like this.
How to clean the fryer
We keep the cleaning simple here. Yes, you can use cleaners in the grocery store, which can damage the surface of the air fryer. Likewise, a metal searcher or brush can peel off the non-stick coating. Remember to unplug the device and cool it completely.
Remove the tray, basket and everything else from the inside. If the manufacturer says the parts are dishwasher-safe and you have a dishwasher, the job is done.
Otherwise, wash each part with a mixture of warm water, dawn or other sturdy dishwashing soap. Use a soft bristle brush to pull away any debris, greasy deposits or a piece of food that sticks to any surface. Remember to rinse everything. Otherwise, your next batch of wings may have mild highlight aftertaste. Trust us.
Take a microfiber cloth and handle the external parts and handles that can be a little messy after reusing. This is especially useful for oven-style air frying pans – wipe the inside with a cloth.
If dawn is not transferring oily stains, try mixing a small amount of baking soda with enough water to make a paste and apply so that it won't penetrate any electrical parts or heating elements. Work for a few seconds before pulling any greasy spots away using a damp cloth. Rinse the cloth, wipe everything again, and you should be ready for the next time you need to blow it up.
How to find an air fryer recipe
In addition to fries, nuggets and a revelation, there are several ways to find recipes for empty fried foods. First, we found that the Air Fryer instruction manual usually has cooking guides and recipe suggestions for you to test in your new kitchen gadget. These benefits are that they are made for your air-fried model, which means that success is almost guaranteed. However, they are usually a little undesirable.
Many top recipe sites and portals are not short of air fryer recipes, and there is nothing to hurt to search for your favorite food at the end of the search string and add the word “Air Fryer”. We're from tastyit also has a convenient air frying time converter for changing ovens and traditional fryer recipes. BBC Food It's also worth browsing some simple ideas, NYT Cooking is also the ability to search for Air Fryer's suggestions directly. Apart from that, you can get a lot of recipes from your local bookstore, which include many recipes you can use in your favorite Air Fryer.
And if you have a killer recipe or unique use for an air fryer, let us know in the comments. What is an Instant Pot Cheesecake Air Fryer? We're ready to try it.
How we test the fryer
We put each air fryer in it, and we tested it by cooking a variety of foods by cooking a variety of foods, including fish and chicken, raw vegetables like potatoes and cauliflower, and frozen snacks like mosurera bars. We try to use each cooking method pre-programmed by the machine and, where possible, follow several recipes in any of the recipe manuals provided with the air fryer. We also clean the cooking basket and all other removable parts as much as possible, which will put them in the dishwasher if they claim they are dishwasher safe. We also need to pay attention to the loud noise of the machine and the warming of the surrounding area when using different cooking settings.
This article originally appeared on Engadget
