Check the owner’s manual of your air fryer for which parts, if any, are ok to run through the dishwasher. As a standard air fryer, the Instant Vortex was able to cook very evenly despite its large capacity, doing a fantastic job with everything we threw at it. The controls are quite user-friendly, but we noted a minor flaw in that the machine uses a tray rather than a basket to hold food. This makes it tougher to shake items while cooking and requires a hot pad to remove afterward. During cooking, no spot on the exterior of this air fryer gets hot enough to cause a burn. The highest temperature that we recorded was 126.6°F on the lower-front side of the machine.
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.
It weighs around 12 pounds – making it not too heavy to move easily but heavy enough that it’s definitely not going anywhere if you nudge it. This thing may be one of the most expensive air fryer/toaster/countertop ovens out there, but it really can replace all three, which might make the price worth it. It’s even available in seven different colors to match your kitchen decor. Brussels sprouts instant vortex were tough, fries were soft, and potatoes didn’t brown after cooking in the time and temperature recommended by the Instant Brands app. With almost every recipe I tried—while results worked well for the single-basket Vortex—we had to increase the cooking time in this machine. We didn’t even have to read the manual to learn how to navigate between cooking mode, time, and temperature settings.
The Instant Vortex Plus 6-in 1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdorErase is the first of its kind to almost entirely eliminate cooking odors, but this is far more than a gimmick. The air fryer is quick, quiet, and has a transparent cooking door that makes it easy to monitor meals. Our assessment of cleaning the air fryer includes both baskets, the interior of the machine and exterior surfaces.
The pressure cooker performed well with pork ribs, steamed cauliflower, and sautéed potatoes in tests, while air-fried egg rolls and fries were also a success. At just 2 quarts, the capacity of the Dash Compact is the smallest we’ve found among air fryers. It’s also the lowest-priced of all the models we tested, but everyone in the Lab was very impressed with the results. It might have taken four batches to cook 12 ounces of coconut shrimp, but they were browned and crisp outside, juicy and sweet within. And don’t worry about it being a one-trick pony, because this appliance roasts, bakes, and reheats meals, too. If there had been a helpful manual included with the XL Dual, with appropriate and accurate cooking instructions, this air fryer would have been a home run.
Having tried air fryers without a window, we really noticed the benefits of this model. Otherwise, the space it takes up, the ease of cooking, and the quality of the air fryer is perfect for us. That said, we have contacted Instant™ support for another countertop kitchen appliance and they were super responsive.
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 instant pot duo nova 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.
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.
Consumer Reports has full test results for the and dozens of other air fryers. The Instant Vortex sounds like three microwaves running all at once, as opposed to the more subtle fridgelike hum of other air fryers we’ve tried. All in all, I have very few complaints about the performance of the Instant Vortex Slim. It’s quiet, averaging just 50dB on my decibel reader (which is comparable to a refrigerator hum, and far quieter than my particularly raucous extractor fan). Plus, it cooks food perfectly every time, offering the right balance of features to make your cooking experience as low-maintenance as possible.