Should You Buy an Air Fryer?

We bought an el cheapo Oster toaster oven-style air fryer, and we are very happy with it. It’s even replaced the big oven for baking small items, such as a half-recipe baked mac and cheese in a loaf pan.

You didn’t answer the question. Why would one want an air fryer? Does it replace any other common home appliance? How does it compare to a convection oven? How much value does it add for its rather large footprint?

We use our air fryer every day. A few notes: the air fryer with trays is substantially easier to clean. The trays go straight into the dishwasher, unlike the basket style. We rotate the trays during cooking to ensure even cooking. And having a unit that has multiple layers allows us to cook different foods together, like chicken strips and tater tots instead of in batches.

I used my Cook's Essentials air fryer almost daily for 5 years, then gifted it to a friend & purchased a larger Corsori. I dislike the oven type air fryers because they are messy, but I wouldn't be without my drawer type air fryer. My fav vloger for air fryer recipes is Cathy at Empowered Cooks. Love her honest reviews & easy recipes for busy families.

I was a holdout for a long time, but we honestly couldn’t function without it at this point. If you have kids, I think they are a must. Yes, the function is essentially the same as a convection oven, but the preheating speed and cooking speed is what makes them completely different. It’s a fraction of the time which is an incredible asset for busy weeknights.

In a single person household these make perfect sense. It's just a tiny convection oven. I rarely use my full-size oven.

I love my Casori 6.5 qt. As a single person, i have nearly daily use for a few strips of bacon, reheating leftovers (way better than the microwave). The bacon dripping are excellent too. A batch of wings? Perfect! No more heating the range oven for small items.

I recently got one and mainly use it for "frying" vegetables. I'll admit I LOVE it. It's fast, easy, and gives great results. I didn't expect to like it so much, but I do. You can make a side of roasted veggies so quickly!

I have the Ninja Foodi air fryer and since I got it for Christmas 2021, I have not used my oven. I use the air fryer for everything and it is wonderful!

I used to have a rotating air fryer. It worked pretty well although some foods broke up from the stirring - fries used to be very starchy. Replaced it with a basket air fryer which is kind of annoying to use - keeps pestering to stir items in the basket so it's just not convenient. That said it's big enough to cook a whole chicken faster than an oven which we've done a few times. But frankly I don't think it's a vital piece of kitchen kit since the oven does exactly the same job.

I've had this nonstick coating flake off and end up in my food. I wish anybody made one with a stainless steel basket.

I absolutely love my air fryer. I make baked potatoes every week now, which I rarely did with my oven. It's fast to preheat, crisps well, and uses very little energy. Zero regrets.

You can get the regular Instant Vortex for $80. It's exactly the same as the ATK top pick but it lacks the stainless and has no dehydrate mode (who cares). I have one and it's great.

After wearing out my original air fryer I upgraded to theInstant™ Vortex® Plus Dual 8-quart Stainless Steel Air Fryer with ClearCook… it’s just me and my husband and this is PERFECT for us. I cook meat in one drawer and veggies in the other drawer. It has a sync timer so that both cook times end at the same time. It’s a little pricey but worth it to me. I’ve had this unit for over a year now and have no regrets. I store it on a shelf in my kitchen and place it on the counter when i use it. It’s not heavy at all. I use the air fryer more than my oven! No more waiting for the oven to preheat, air fryer cooks my food faster and clean up is a breeze.

(933) A little over a year ago, I snooped for an air fryer on Amazon. One of the best-reviews were for a Secura 5 quart air fryer and it cost $54 dollars. It is analog with both time and temp, but that doesn't bother us in the least. My husband just LOVES it to pieces and so do I. It doesn't have auto-pause when you open the drawer; we just set the timer for half the cook time, turn over the food then reset it for the rest of the time. Bloody magic!!!

I recommend the Goumia 7 QT air fryer from Costco at $39. They work great better than than the $120 model my son has. I bought 2 so I can do complete dinners quick

Absolutely! The 2 most useful kitchen gadgets are an air fryer and vacuum sealer.

So many of my friends have tried to push me to get one of these, but I just don’t see it as necessary with my setup. Both my oven and toaster oven have convection. Sure, it may take a little longer, but I just don’t want another appliance to store. I use my toaster oven 90% of the time and that does heat up within minutes. Quarter sheet pan with a rack works beautifully and don’t have to worry about the nonstick flaking off, which many of my friends have dealt with in their units. But, I understand if you don’t already have convection devices and wanted to get into that market. Just not for me.

I have owned the Instant model for a year and use it every day. The only real complaint I have concerns the silicon clips that hold the frying grate in the drawer and keeping it clean. The clips began to deteriorate shortly after I first started using the oven, and getting them back in place after cleaning is difficult. Having to do a thorough wash down of the drawer after every use becomes tedious. And grease migrates all around the cooking cavity, above and below the drawer. Especially if I cook a food that contains a lot of fat, like bacon or sausage. Making me include the chore of cleaning to my decision as to whether or not I actually want to use the fryer or not is a real factor.

We use our Cook's Essentials brand air fryer practically every day. It was gifted to me from my mom several years ago, but everyone can use it. I'm not sure how much it costed, but possibly around $50 or so. We also have the SuperWave Oven, from a decade ago, gifted to us from my aunt. The SuperWave is an air fryer in the days when "air fryer" was still a new concept & "air fryer" was not a commonplace word yet. The only issue with the SuperWave is that it is heavy, clunky & fragile compared to modern air fryers. That big glass dome is just waiting to slip out of someone's hands & break into a hundred pieces onto the floor, which is why we don't use it that much, but it is great for air frying whole fryers (pun?) & turkeys, as well as a backup fryer. Having said that, there is still a place for oil frying in our household when air frying cannot do a job properly. But air frying can save on the price of cooking oils, as well as electric & gas bills.