This was an interesting experience, given that our french-fry test required more time than the package directions at the recommended temperature. While the jerky’s flavor varies depending on the marinade you use, my top round jerky came out as good as what you can buy in stores and in under 4 hours. Dehydrating is easy to do, even for a first-timer following an online recipe. The crisper plate’s airflow slots trapped debris and needed a firmer scrub. Fortunately, a wash cycle in the dishwasher got the job done, and it only takes up the space of a dinner plate. The rest of the Instant Vortex lineup is great, but you just might not care about fancy features such as OdorErase, ClearCook or the progress bar.
We did not expect to find good quality in an air fryer that costs well under $100, but the Chefman TurboFry impressed. Despite its few bells and whistles—it has buttons to set a timer and a temperature, and that’s about all—it outperformed models that sell for several times the price in our cooking tests. This is a simple machine made to air fry and only to air fry, but you can use it to air fry anything to your heart’s content. If you’re new to the world of air frying, you might find it difficult to dip your toes in with either of these air fryers.
Are you frying a small batch of wings or french fries for the family on burger night? Make sure the fryer you choose can handle the amount of food you want to cook. There are also options that have two baskets that can cook two different foods simultaneously and at different settings.
Unlike most pod-style air fryers, you don’t have to open the basket and let heat escape to check if your food is done. On the instant vortex Plus, you can just press the light button and look through the window. It combines the visibility of a toaster oven with the efficiency of a pod air fryer. To test the Instant Vortex, I considered factors like portability, versatility, and overall performance. To judge portability, I first assessed the size and weight of the air fryer and the length of the cord (a longer cord will give you more options for where to put a countertop appliance). I looked at how simple and straightforward the machine is to assemble without instructions, and also considered how easy the control panel was to read and use.
This model took up more counter space than its smaller, 3.7-quart counterpart, and its cooking basket was a bit deeper, but its cooking surface was only about ½ inch wider. Still, this model cooked single batches as well as the smaller version. Despite its 12 customizable presets—steak, chicken, shrimp, seafood, frozen foods, french fries, bacon, vegetables, toast, bake, preheat, and keep warm—we found the machine intuitive to use. It performed nearly as well as the Cosori Pro LE that was our No. 1 pick; it actually overcooked some items and probably could have gone for a minute or so shorter than the recipe called for. The pot holds up to 8 quarts, which is enough room to air fry a whole chicken, and is equipped with 11 cooking functions that are sorted by which lid they require. The pressure-cooking lid can also sauté, slow-cook, steam, and sous-vide, and the air-fryer lid can also warm, roast, bake, broil, and dehydrate.
Food easily wipes away (though the basket is also dishwasher-safe). This air fryer also has a few extra bells and whistles that helped it stand out from the rest. It has built-in safety features like overheat protection and an auto-off sensor that powers the oven down when not in use.
The Instant Vortex Plus 6-in 1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdorErase comes in a medium-size box that’s well-packed to keep your air fryer safe as it ships. The packaging was not too sustainable, with styrofoam layers at the top and bottom of the fryer that cannot be recycled. The pre-sets are tailored with optimum temperature and time settings – the Bake setting is set at 165°C for 8 mins, for example, while the grill feature is set to 205°C for six minutes.
Timers with an audible alert or a fryer that can turn off automatically will add to the appliance’s ease of use. These days, there are so many air fryers on the market that the list of additional features can be overwhelming. Sometimes more features mean the device will be more complicated to use, so be sure to look at the interface and controls before making a decision, especially instant vortex if you are a beginner. In all, this Ninja and the Cosori Pro SE we named our top pick would both be a welcome addition to your kitchen. The Cosori won for its slightly larger capacity and lower price, but the Ninja has extra cooking modes that the Cosori doesn’t. If you plan to use the machine for more than just air frying, the Ninja might well be worth the extra few bucks.
This means you can cut down on your batch cooking and get your food to the table faster. Any good air fryer should excel at crisping up frozen breaded foods. While an oven can often leave one side charred and the other a little soggy, an air fryer will circulate hot air around the food as it cooks and often significantly reduce the cooking time. Not all air fryers have a pre-heat function, but the Plus does.
Once pressed, you can adjust the latter two buttons using a silver roller dial. This model sported a powerful “Max Crisp” function that allowed it to reach 450 degrees and cook food quickly, if unevenly. But while its cooking basket was deep, holding a full 2 pounds of frozen fries, it was too narrow to fit four chicken cutlets in a single layer, limiting its usefulness for larger recipes. The unit was tall and heavy with a cooking tray with silicone bumpers that clung tightly to the walls of its cooking basket and was hard to extract.