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BLACK+DECKER Purifry Review

Good overall performance, but not the best in its price range
BLACK+DECKER Purifry
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
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Price:   $150 List | $73 at Amazon
Pros:  Good cooking performance, easy to clean
Cons:  No digital readout, lower temperature setting somewhat inaccurate
Manufacturer:   Black+Decker
By Max Mutter and Michelle Powell  ⋅  Jul 16, 2019
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78
OVERALL
SCORE

RANKED
#4 of 10
  • Cooking Performance - 35% 8
  • User Friendliness - 25% 7
  • Ease of Cleaning - 20% 9
  • Temperature Accuracy - 20% 7

Our Verdict

The BLACK+DECKER Purifry is one of the best overall air fryers we tested, offering field leading cooking performance, hassle-free cleaning, and good temperature accuracy. The biggest knock against this device is that the Ninja 1550 Watt, which offers equal cooking performance and a slightly more streamlined user experience, generally sells for a little bit less. The Ninja also has a 4-quart cooking capacity, which is nearly double that of the BLACK+DECKER Purifry. Therefore, while we think the Purifry is a great product, most people will likely be better off spending their money on the Ninja 1550 Watt instead.

Compare to Similar Products

(change comparison)
 
BLACK+DECKER Purifry
This Product
BLACK+DECKER Purifry
Awards  Editors' Choice Award Editors' Choice Award Best Buy Award  
Price $150 List
$72.99 at Amazon		$120 List$130 List
$99.99 at Amazon		$149 List
$71.39 at Amazon		$300 List
$249.95 at Amazon
Overall Score Sort Icon
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Star Rating
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Pros Good cooking performance, easy to cleanFantastic cooking performance, easy to clean, easy to use, great temperature accuracy, multiple cooking functionsGreat cooking performance, user friendly, excellent temperature accuracyGreat cooking performance, relatively easy to clean, inexpensiveVery intuitive, relatively good cooking performance
Cons No digital readout, lower temperature setting somewhat inaccurateOn the expensive sideNot the easiest to cleanMediocre temperature accuracyExpensive, can sometimes be difficult to clean
Bottom Line A capable cooker, but better value can be found elsewhereA high-performing and multi-functional device that leaves very little to be desiredCan cook the widest variety of foods well, and is quite easy to useCan cook some great dishes yet costs significantly less than most competitorsVery easy to use and makes good food, but fails to live up to its relatively high cost
Rating Categories BLACK+DECKER Purifry Instant Vortex Plus Ninja 1550 Watt 3.7 Quart... Philips HD9641/96...
Cooking Performance (35%)
8
9
8
8
7
User Friendliness (25%)
7
9
9
8
9
Ease Of Cleaning (20%)
9
9
7
9
7
Temperature Accuracy (20%)
7
10
10
6
6
Specs BLACK+DECKER Purifry Instant Vortex Plus Ninja 1550 Watt 3.7 Quart... Philips HD9641/96...
Outside Dimensions 11.1" x 9.8" x 11.5" 11.5" x 13.25" x 12.75" 13.6" x 11" x 13.3" 12" x 8" x 8" 14.4" x 10.5" x 11.3"
Capacity 2.1 qt 6 qt 4 qt 3.7 qt 2.8 qt
Accessories basket divider none multi-layer rack for dehydrating none none
Manufacturer Warranty 2 Year Limited 1 Year Limited 1 Year Limited 1 Year Limited 1 Year Limited
Power Consumption 1200W 1700W 1550W 1400W 1425W

Our Analysis and Test Results

The BLACK+DECKER Purifry is a high-performing air fryer that is just slightly bested by some of its main competitors.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Performance Comparison


The BLACK+DECKER Purifry did well in nearly all of our tests, but fell just short of reaching the top of our scoreboard.

Cooking Performance


The Purifry produced the best results for some foods in our testing, but had some drawbacks with others. This combination let it share the top score in this metric with a few other models.


The Purifry earned superlatives in our cooking tests for onion rings, tater tots, and chicken breasts. Its onion rings were perfectly golden and crispy, yet nice and tender inside. It repeated that feat with tater tots that provided a nice crunch quickly giving way to a delightful fluffiness. Its chicken breast came out tasting like store-bought roasted chicken.

The Purifry's air basket fits snugly enough that you generally need...
The Purifry's air basket fits snugly enough that you generally need to use two hands to slide it in and out.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

It had some weak points when it came to doughnuts and (like all the air fryers we've tested) sweet potato fries. Doughnuts came out with a nice crust, but the insides were a bit overcooked and thus tasted a bit more chewy than fluffy. Sweet potato fries came out browned but not crispy. However, the only model we've found that could produce even a slightly better texture than that is the GoWISE 3.7 Quart, and even that model fell short of the crunchy decadence one would hope for.

User Friendliness


We generally like the Purifry's user interface and experience, but it missed out on a top score because we wish it had a digital readout.


The Purifry has two knobs, one for selecting cooking time and one for temperature, and some indicator lights to let you know when preheating is done. This interface is simple and easy enough, but we're always going to prefer a digital readout that shows the exact temperature and time to knobs that aren't always precise. Also, the numbers on these dials are small and relatively hard to read, so it's fairly easy to set the wrong temp or time by mistake.

We found the Purifry's lack of any sort of digital readout slightly...
We found the Purifry's lack of any sort of digital readout slightly disappointing.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Another minor complaint we have with the Purifry is the fact that its frying basket fits very tightly. That makes it a bit difficult to remove it with one hand as you generally need to stabilize the unit with a second hand as you pull out your food.

Ease of Cleaning


We had almost no issues in cleaning the Purifry. The fry basket tends not to hang onto grease, and there aren't any nooks or crannies where food scraps can hide. Our only complaint is that the texture of the fry basket is a little rough, so it might tear tiny bits off of your sponge.


The Purifry's basket design makes for easy scrubbing.
The Purifry's basket design makes for easy scrubbing.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Temperature Accuracy


At higher temperatures, we found the Purifry's temperature accuracy to be spot on. At the lowest temperatures you'd use for air frying (300˚) it tended to run a bit hot.


Value


The BLACK+DECKER Purifry, but like many air fryers can often be found online for around half of that. While we don't think paying that much for the overall good performance of the BLACK+DECKER Purifry is a bad value, you can generally spend a little less and get the slightly better performance of the Ninja 1550 Watt. Therefore we would only suggest buying the BLACK+DECKER Purifry if you can't find the Ninja 1550 Watt.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Conclusion


The BLACK+DECKER Purifry offers good all-around performance, but isn't the best model in its price range.

— Max Mutter and Michelle Powell