I’m not a fan of wasting time or food, and I wish the directions were clearer on this front. The Instant Vortex Plus is a solid air fryer choice, as long as you’re willing to do some recipe research. There’s no reinvention of the wheel here and, personally, I don’t adore the shape and angle of the handle.
It narrowly missed being ranked as best, but I found that the added versatility of the Ninja’s seven functions, the sleeker design, and the larger temperature range makes it superior. In terms of dedicated air frying ability, I prefer these basket-style fryers to the other winner in the list—the Breville Joule Oven Pro—which didn’t yield quite as crispy results when frying. It performed well in crisping some of our favorite air fried foods (after some trial and error) and has a navigation touch screen that’s fun and easy to use.
The combination of soy sauce and a few other pantry staples provides the perfect Asian-inspired flavor that’s both sweet, tangy, and savory. Another nice feature is that the Instant Vortex Plus 6 Quart 6-in 1 prompts you to shake your food halfway through cooking. While not essential, this does lead to more evenly-cooked food and it’s definitely a step worth following when making fries from scratch. I’ve spent more than a decade covering lifestyle, news, and policy.
The air fryer is quick, quiet, and has a transparent cooking door that makes it easy to monitor meals. While the basket and crisper plate are dishwasher-safe, I preferred to wash the basket by hand. The basket takes up a lot of real estate in the washer — the nonstick coating releases debris with ease, so it was easy to clean with a sponge. Plus, you can use silicone air fryer liners to almost eliminate the need to wash it altogether. The third performance test I put all air fryers through is cooking a one-pound batch of fresh broccoli.
And if you’re looking for recipe inspiration, you’ll need your smartphone closeby. It features a traditional basket with a handle, an attachable cooking tray, and a sleek touch-screen interface. From there, you can select functions beyond air frying—like roast, bake, dehydrate, reheat, and broil. Like other moosoo air fryer models, you won’t require much oil when cooking in the Slim air fryer. A touch does help potato skins to crisp up better, however. Its touch controls are housed on the angular edge, where the top and front of the unit meet.
Browning was better on the second side and was similar to the coloring you get from broiling, rather than the deep brown crusty exterior you get from grilling or even pan frying. But once again, there was no smoke and no greasy splatters on the cooktop or pan to clean up. Are you curious about all the other air fryers we tested out? I gave it a go with a popular online recipe, 2 pounds of thinly sliced top round beef and a tasty marinade. Set at 155 for 3 hours, I filled two trays with the marinated meat.
Even trimmed down and trussed up, my small chicken still dragged the bottom of the foil-lined tray on each rotation. I cooked it at 380 for 1 hour, and it came out done, but pretty average with less than crispy skin. I’d recommend lower and slower if you’re going to moosoo air fryer cook a full chicken in the Vortex Plus, or try experimenting with a smaller bird like a guinea hen if you can find one at your local butcher. The maker of the Instant Pot expands its empire with an air fryer that can do more than just serve up mozzarella sticks.