The fast-moving heat helps crisp the outside of foods while warming them throughout, with minimal oil (you’ll still need to use some cooking spray with these machines to make sure food doesn’t stick). While it’s very similar to the 4-in-1 air fryer, the standout feature in moosoo air fryer the Vortex Plus is the dehydrator. If you’re looking for a reliable air fryer that can also produce perfectly dried fruits and veggies, the Vortex Plus is for you. Just like the 4-in-1, the Vortex Plus has a roomy, 6-quart basket with a nonstick coating for easy cleanup.
A 10-quart capacity allows users to cook an entire family dinner in half the time of a conventional oven. This flip-top model had a completely exposed heating element in its heavy lid, which made us worry that we’d burn ourselves or smash a finger when shutting it. When we instant pot duo nova used just one bag of fries, they were evenly cooked and crispy throughout. It was a little frustrating to use There’s a slider on the lid that you have to shift to reveal all the settings under “Pressure,” “Steamcrisp,” or “Air Fry/Stovetop”; this takes a bit of time.
In her free time, she is an avid home cook who is in the process of mastering the art of baking sour dough bread. The Vortex can accommodate a chicken larger than 4 pounds, if it is placed on the baking tray. We know consumers want appliances to be compact for counters, so it was more about keeping the overall footprint smaller.
Both the insert and the basket are coated with non-stick, which means they mostly wipe clean and then need a little scrubbing with some dish soap and water. With this air fryer you get a removable air fryer insert grid which can be lifted and instant vortex removed using a hook in the center of the grid. The drawer is not quite square, and we found it a little confusing to fit this inside the air fryer on the first use. Once we realised it needed to be turned 90 degrees, this was easy enough.
We solved this by using tongs to remove food or being more careful when pouring. While this air fryer’s digital controls weren’t quite as intuitive as those of our favorite models, it was still easy to set the time and temperature once we got the hang of the multiple buttons. It cooked foods quickly, and its display was bright, large, and easy to read. Its drawer and automatic shutoff were a boon to safety, and its nonstick interior was easy to clean. Its small capacity wouldn’t work for a crowd, but it cooked our recipes for two and small batches of frozen fries without issue. In my tests to find the best air fryer, the Instant Vortex performed similarly to the best overall winner, the Ninja Air Fryer Max XL, but it’s slightly less versatile since it has fewer functions.
The controls couldn’t be simpler, and we definitely didn’t need to consult the manual before getting started. Brussels sprouts, frozen French fries and breaded chicken cutlets came out just about perfect; all were browned, crisped, moist and tender. Homemade French fries came out reasonably browned and crispy without becoming dry or cardboard-like in just 18 minutes. This air fryer didn’t perform quite so well on chicken wings though, as these were cooked to doneness, but could have been better browned and crisped. As the manufacturer claims you can cook 2 pounds of French fries, we cooked a whole bag at once.
Like with the Instant Pot, there will be a learning curve with the Instant Vortex Plus. It isn’t as straightforward as following the oven or air-fry directions on your packaged foods. You’ll probably need to lower the temperature while you’re baking and the air fry mode may need to run longer than expected.
Weight of the air fryer rounded to the nearest pound when empty. For a similarly impressive 5.7 litre air fryer with grill function, you can try the Ninja Foodi Health Grill & Air Fryer AG301UK, at £219.99 from Ninja. The ClearCook window on the front of the Instant Vortex Plus is what we think really makes it stand out from the crowd. It comes with a light you can activate as and when you need to.
With no par-boiling, we were keen to see how soft yet crunchy the broccoli and cauliflower florets came out. After 10 minutes inside, we were pleasantly surprised with the results. While the broccoli came out a little more charred than the cauliflower, they were both cooked through so that the storks were easily forkable but still had a nice crunch. While looks aren’t everything, it’s nice to have appliances on the worktop that are as attractive as they are helpful. Luckily, the sleek black and stainless-steel styling and compact dimensions of the Instant Vortex Plus look good on the worktop and don’t take up too much space.
In the other air fryers we tested the bacon was blown around the inside of the cooking area by the powerful convection fan inside the air fryer, but the Instant Vortex Plus did not do this. It left us with sizzling rashers that weren’t overcooked, and five minutes was the perfect amount of cooking time. As you’ll see in the full review below, we put the Instant Vortex Plus 6 Quart 6-in 1 Air Fryer to the test cooking fries, chicken strips, bacon, and roast vegetables. We put the Instant Vortex Plus 6 Quart 6-in 1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdorErase to the test to see how well it makes fries, cooks bacon and roasts vegetables. We carried out this testing alongside reviews of other air fryers to compare if there was a difference in the odors and the cooking quality of these machines.