Ultrean Air Fryer Review

The Ultrean Air Fryer is a top-performing, budget-friendly option. It has a 4.2-quart capacity and performs far above its reasonable price tag. It has an intuitive control panel, and it performed well during the cleaning tests. To top it off, this is one of the few air fryers that is available in a range of colors. If you're looking for a pop of color in the kitchen or simply just want an option that doesn't cost you hundreds of dollars, this air fryer is for you.

Cooking Performance

While not the absolute best performer in our cooking tests, the Ultrean 4.2qt seated itself firmly in the lead group. There are more expensive units that cook slightly better, but nothing that competes in this price range. The best dish this fryer prepared was tater tots, which came out with a near-perfect crisp and very even cooking. We found the outside to be evenly browned and the interior to be soft but not mushy.

Like most air fryers, the Ultrean struggled a bit with the sweet potato fries. It was able to get a crisp exterior, but some of the skinny fry ends were overcooked. Most models have similar issues, which is why we use sweet potato fries in our testing. However, there are a select few models we've tested that made delectable sweet potato fries, and this was not one of them.

This air fryer struggled the most with chicken, with the results tending to be drier than other models we tested. It did okay with the donuts. Overall it is a solid performer, especially if you tend to use your air fryer for crisping frozen items.

There aren't any presets or fancy settings with this unit. Some other air fryers have settings for baking, dehydrating, roasting, and more, but the Ultrean focuses solely on air frying. We still think this is a great choice if you're looking specifically for an air fryer. However, if you want an appliance that can do more, you'll need to look elsewhere.

The temperature can be adjusted from 180 to 400 degrees, and the maximum time is 30 minutes. We found this offered plenty of versatility for cooking a variety of items.

User Friendliness

The interface is simple and sleek, with a digital LCD screen and simple, intuitive buttons. However, cycling through time and temperature settings takes a lot of scrolling, and the digital display is rather small. There are other models we tested that have a simpler, easier to use control panel if this is a top concern for you. We also found the beeping sound to be quite annoying, but there are ways to disable this.

The most significant ease of use aspect of any air fryer is how easy it is to remove and replace the fry basket. Since many recipes require that you shake the basket a few times during the cooking process, being able to do so easily and without fuss is essential. The Ultrean's fry basket has a handle that doesn't get hot during cooking, which means no need for potholders. However, we found that the basket stuck a bit when sliding it in and out of the device. Additionally, we found that the bottom of the fry basket tends to fall out when trying to dump food out of it. However, these are relatively minor annoyances and, in our opinion, far from deal-breakers.

Lastly, we really like that the Ultrean has a small footprint and doesn't require an excessive amount of counter space. And while most air fryers only come in black, this unit is available in several colors.

Ease of Cleaning

The basket and rack of the Ultrean are dishwasher safe, but we felt that more significant messes required some hand scrubbing. In general, we found this hand scrubbing to be easy, though the fry basket did seem to hang on to grease just a bit more stubbornly than the baskets of some other models. If you really want to avoid cleaning, 8-inch parchment paper liners work great and fit perfectly in the Ultrean.

The non-stick coating on the interior of the unit made it easy to just wipe it down after each use, which we appreciated. The outside of the Ultrean showed some fingerprints, but not as easily as other stainless steel fryers. It's a simple manner of wiping down with a damp towel to clean the exterior of the unit.

Temperature Accuracy

The Ultrean proved to be very temperature accurate in our tests, generally staying within 10 degrees of the set temperature. As with most units, there was a larger variance of temperatures throughout the cooking time as the air fryer heats and cools to stay within the range. Overall, it cooked foods thoroughly without burning. We think the vast majority of people will be more than pleased with this level of accuracy.

The front of the Ultrean reached a temperature of 154 degrees during testing, which is above our ideal threshold of 140. While it felt hot to the touch and could potentially cause a burn with prolonged exposure, it was among the lowest outside temperature units.

Should You Buy the Ultrean Air Fryer?

The Ultrean is a great air fryer and has excellent value. It is priced well below other air fryers we've tested and performed very well across all testing metrics. There are air fryers that have slightly fancier control panels and some that clean up a bit easier, but for the price, this can't be beat. We recommend the Ultrean to anyone looking for an affordable air fryer with exceptional temperature accuracy.

What Other Air Fryers Should You Consider?

If you have a slightly higher budget and want to cook for the whole family, you should look into the Ninja Air Fryer. It has a large 4-quart capacity, excellent temperature accuracy, and excels in all of our tests. If you plan to create multiple dishes in your air fryer at once or entertain regularly, you should consider the dual-drawer Instant Vortex Plus XL. It has an 8-quart capacity, and each drawer can be set to individual temperatures and times. It even has clear-view drawers, which are helpful for keeping an eye on your food and pulling it as soon as you get the perfect browning.