It took about four minutes of pre-heating for the air fryer to reach temperature, and this is worth bearing in mind if you’re running a tight cooking schedule and juggling a range of foods. After four minutes, the air fryer beeped and its digital display told us to “add food”. The display is easy to navigate with pre-sets for air frying, roasting, baking, reheating, grilling and rehydrating. They’re conveniently positioned just above a central dial control, which lets you easily adjust the time and temperature too – from a very specific cooler 49°C to a powerful 205°C. Most removable parts (the cooking basket, tray, and any other cooking accessories) on most air fryers are dishwasher-safe.
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.
It’s big enough to fit four chicken thighs and one pound of wings. I thoroughly test each product I review to assess functionality, versatility, portability, and efficiency. My work can be found moosoo air fryer in Food & Wine, Foodnetwork.com, Saveur, Real Simple, and more. The air fryer comes with the basket in place, and the removable non-stick air fryer insert at the top of the styrofoam packaging.
We really enjoyed using the digital control dial that enabled us to easily experiment with precise temperatures and timings. We also appreciated the simplicity of its design and attractive finish. All of moosoo air fryer these are just a guideline, however, and can easily be adjusted with a simple turn of the dial. The temperature goes up in 1°C increments too, which is a useful feature if you’re after a specific finish.
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.
One of the biggest downsides to many air fryers is the size of the basket. Most only have room for two chicken breasts or a couple of servings of fries (or the teeniest amount of zucchini chips). We were able to air fry a whole pound of chicken, as opposed to the usual half-pound other fryers can handle.
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.
With a large cooking basket and easy-to-understand controls, this is the perfect air fryer for busy families looking to streamline weeknight meals. The basket can fit up to two pounds of fries or even a 4-pound whole chicken. It’s always important not to instant vortex overcrowd a fryer, so the added space helps keep foods separate, ensuring consistent air flow throughout. Another smaller, drawer-style air fryer that could fit easily under cabinets, this analog model had simple controls that were intuitive to set.
Of all the air fryers we tested, this is one of the most intuitive air fryers to program. The buttons are nicely sized, clearly marked, and quick to respond. To program the temperature and time, you turn and press a dial. The basket has a rack on which the food rests and is easy to pull out and reposition in the air fryer. The display is large and easy to read and the digital controls are intuitive to use. Like other Instant Vortex models, you won’t require much oil when cooking in the Slim air fryer.