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Cooking healthy food quickly with minimal cleanup is a life-hack game-changer. You can save time, hassle, calories, and cholesterol with the right air fryer for fast and healthier cooking for you, your family, and your friends.
Our food experts agree that most people will love the Ninja Air Fryer. It makes incredibly crisp meals, including fish, poultry, and vegetables, is the easiest to clean, and is big enough for most families or meal preps. If you're cooking for 3 or more, you might consider a larger option like the Cosori TurboBlaze, which is our favorite for families.
If you want a straightforward, single-function fryer for less, the Ultrean Air Fryer is a budget-friendly beast. If meal prep is more your thing, you can limit your kitchen time with the Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket. This unit is huge and can cook two things without mixing, making it the perfect Sunday night week planner.
We have been testing air fryers since 2020, bringing over 40 different models to the GearLab test kitchen and cooking hundreds of meals. We've cooked it all, from salmon to crunchy tater tots. We consider ease of use, cleaning, taste, temperature accuracy, and more.
Editor's Note: This review was updated on April 17, 2026, to capture changes to our testing process and metric weightings, with new award winners and details provided.
The Ninja Air Fryer is our go-to appliance for reheating and frozen foods. With a capacity of 4 quarts, it is great for couples, smaller families, and side dishes. From quiche to casseroles to leftover pizza, once you've reheated with this air fryer, it's hard to ever go back. We even used it to bake a delightfully fluffy frozen croissant. The cook time is impressively quick, with our test salmon taking 15 minutes compared to other products that were closer to 30. The Ninja strikes a nice balance between simplicity and functionality. The button-based controls are intuitive and responsive, and avoid complex menus.
The Ninja Air Fryer is an easy-to-use machine with a straightforward classic basket design. Credit: Lesley Robinson
I wish the temperature gaps were more evenly dispersed, but the interface is easy to use. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Unfortunately, the temperature increment adjustments are inconsistent, making it challenging to choose specific temperatures. The Cosori TurboBlaze is easier to use and offers incremental temperature adjustments of 5°F if precision is a priority. While the Ninja is a fairly good size for some households, bigger families might find it takes several rounds to make enough food for everyone. We used this option with a family of 5, and it took multiple batches to get enough tater tots and chicken strips for everyone. Larger families or groups will require some planning ahead to make extra batches, which sort of negates the goal of fast food prep. The Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket is the better bet for bigger families and weekly meal planning, as it offers twice the capacity and multiple baskets for different foods. Overall, we love the Ninja Air Fryer and think it hits the sweet spot of high functionality and impressive food taste.
The cooking quality of the Ninja Air Fryer really stood out in our taste tests across everything we made. This fryer created golden, delicious, and crispy potatoes. “I love the tater tots we made in this machine. They all had a shatteringly crisp exterior and light, fluffy interior,” said lead kitchen tester, Lesley Robinson. To top it off, the Ninja also delivered delicious, juicy chicken wings and nearly perfect salmon that tasted moist and bursting with flavor.
The Ninja Air Fryer quickly fried crispy, scrumptious food. Credit: Natalie Kafader
New Version
Ninja has a new version out, the Ninja AF141, of the one we tested for this review, the AF101. While we haven't tested the new one yet, they appear to have much in common. The new version has a more square basket, is slightly bigger at 5 qts, and both air fry, roast, reheat, and dehydrate, with the same buttons on their user interfaces.
With a capacity of 4.2 quarts, the Ultrean Air Fryer packs a respectable capacity and power into a compact footprint. We loved that for exceptional results, you don't need to preheat, making it the fastest fryer we tested. It only 13 minutes to fry fish and 18 to cook frozen tater tots to perfection. The Ultrean has a simple user interface with buttons for power, temperature, and time, but the beeping it makes with every push is annoying. This unit is super easy to clean, with a non-stick coating; even baked-on casserole only needed a light scrub in soapy water.
The Ultrean interface is easy to use, but the loud beep every time you press a button is unnecessary (and annoying). Credit: Natalie Kafader
While we love the Ultrean, some competitors create juicier, crispier fish and have more functions than just frying. The Ninja Air Fryer is more expensive, but it has a similar capacity, slightly better crisping, and more functions like dehydrating and roasting. However, if all you need is air frying, and you love a no-nonsense user interface, the Ultrean is tough to beat for the price.
The Ultrean Air Fryer excelled in our cooking tests, especially for tots and fries. As our taste tester noted, “These tots are so crispy, fluffy, and the perfect golden brown.” The Ultrean delivered moist yet well-browned, crispy chicken wings and salmon that was exceptionally juicy.
If you need a larger capacity, the Cosori TurboBlaze is the right choice. With a 6-quart capacity, it can feed a group without sacrificing cooking performance or taking up too much space. It has comprehensive preset options and intelligent fan speed technology, so the presets don't just adjust temperature; they automatically optimize fan speed for each cooking method. It also includes the ability to Reheat, Dehydrate, Bake, Proof, and Warm, as well as specialized Turbo Modes for Air Fry, Roast, Broil, and Frozen foods. We also like that a quick 4-minute preheat is all it needs, and it is completely optional. If you throw in the dishwasher-safe basket and crisper plate, it makes this fryer a standout.
The Cosori TurboBlaze salmon tasted delicious and had a nicely crisp skin. Credit: Elizabeth White
The Cosori's interface is on top of the machine, making it easy to read and navigate. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Despite its many strengths, the TurboBlaze stumbles when it comes to forever chemicals. The website states it uses a “PFAS-free food-contact surfaces” ceramic coating, but the manufacturer informed us it includes PFAS in the basket coating, we presume. If you want a large fryer with no PFAS or hope to cook multiple dishes at once, the Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket is larger and offers two baskets, and Ninja claims uses no PFAS, but it will cost you almost double. Overall, the Cosori is a family-size unit with versatile features that can simplify cooking when it's the last thing you want to do or inspire you to cook at home more often.
The Cosori impressed us with its ability to cook everything to near perfection. The fries had a soft, buttery interior, and the tots were “truly exceptional.” It also gave the chicken wings and salmon a lightly crispy skin while maintaining plenty of succulence inside.
The Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket is the full-meal deal, as they used to say. This double basket unit is ready to go, with enough room for two different dishes or extra space for one dish to feed more people. It has a total capacity of 8 qt, making it suitable for weekly meal preps or feeding the whole crew. We love how fast it gets the job done and how quick and easy the cleanup is afterward. This fryer is a best friend to harried parents and gym rats alike.
Two baskets on the Foodi 2-basket means you can cook more food at the same time than a single basket fryer. Credit: Jessica Riconscente
The stick-free crisping surface of the Ninja Foodi means less cleanup. Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Ninja Foodi makes wonderful sweet potato fries. Credit: Abriah Wofford
The two baskets on the Ninja Foodi means no more arguments about who gets to cook what first. Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Foodi 2-Basket presents a good-looking chicken breast, but the middle is a little tough. Credit: Jessica Riconscente
This Ninja struggled with consistent, accurate temperatures, which meant a bit more trial and error to dial in the perfect settings. However, we think cooking favorite dishes will become easy in no time. If accuracy is important to you, the Instant Pot Vortex Plus had the best accuracy in the bunch, but it's half the size. It also isn't the easiest one to use, but it performed about average, and we think once you play with it, all becomes clear. Overall, we think the Ninja 2-basket can make life easier and dinner a no-brainer, providing good food fast.
The Foodi 2-basket is a mixed bag of taste quality results, depending on the dish. While we suspect more trial and error at home could solve these issues, it wasn't our favorite; some results were better than a conventional oven, so it can depend on what you hope to fry and whether you prioritize convenience over best-tasting. Oout french fires and tater tots were crispy but dry. The salmon wasn't as crispy as with other Ninja fryers, but it was very juicy and soft. The oddest were the chicken wings. They reached the right internal temperature, and the inside was juicy, but the outside didn't get brown. The skin was drier than crispy, but we thought they tasted shockingly good.
The Ninja Crispi is a unique fryer in this group, featuring glass cooking vessels in two sizes. It limits exposure to forever chemicals near food, and the containers can be used for serving or storage, reducing cleanup and the number of dishes used during cooking.
While we love some features of the Crispi, the overall design has some flaws. The user interface is limited, and the functionality is singular, with a narrower temperature range than competitors', which could limit its usefulness. In addition, the glass containers get excessively hot and remain hot for a while after turning the unit off. In our tests, we measured the glassware container exterior temperature reaching as high as 280 degrees, which is almost 50 degrees above the next-hottest competing product we tested and more than 100 degrees above the average. The manual includes a warning about the hot surface temperatures and warns not to touch the surface without oven mitts.
From our point of view, the exterior surface temperature is concerning enough that we would not recommend this product to a friend, as it could pose a safety concern. If you use this product, we encourage you to exercise extreme caution to avoid touching the surface without oven mitts, especially if children will be helping in the kitchen.
The Crispi has a lot of great attributes, but the temperature of the glass dish gets ridiculously hot. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Product Comparison Table
We put each air fryer through a battery of delicious tests to find which makes the tastiest meals. Credit: Natalie Kafader
How We Tested
We spent hours selecting the top-rated air fryers for testing before purchasing the top 11. For this review, we cooked dozens of batches of fries, tater tots, chicken wings, and salmon in each air fryer, using the same ingredients, recipes, and techniques.
From cookies to salmon to frozen foods, we made (and ate) a lot of tasty air fryer meals during our testing. Credit: Natalie Kafader
We scored air fryers using four performance metrics:
Ease of Use (35% of overall score weighting)
Ease of Cleaning (25% weighting)
Cooking Quality (20% weighting)
Cooking Speed (10% weighting)
Temperature Accuracy (10% weighting)
After some side-by-side taste tests, we carefully evaluated how easy each model was to use and clean. We also used two calibrated oven thermometers to assess heating time and temperature accuracy.
We brought multiple air fryers into our test kitchen to see which one quickly makes the crispiest fries and juiciest chicken, without sacrificing too much time or effort. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Why Trust GearLab
Super-taster and food expert Lesley Robinson has a B.S. degree in Food Science from California Polytechnic Institute. Robinson has the critical eye and sensitive palate needed to expertly judge kitchen gadgets and critically taste food. Robinson has spent over 10 years working for various food brands to improve their quality. Robinson is also a skilled baker and cook. Her favorite meal to make in her air fryer at home is lemon panko-crusted salmon.
We've cooked everything from frozen corn dogs to pork chops in our air fryers.
Mallory Paige has a degree in Restaurant Management from Colorado State University and more than a decade of experience reviewing kitchen gear and working as a journalist. She has worked in numerous resort restaurants, has been a professional cake decorator, and has run an in-home catering business. She's an avid home cook with three hungry kids.
The limited buttons on the Crispi mean it is hard to make a mistake. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Analysis and Test Results
Air fryers can make meal time quick, easy, and healthy. We tested ease of use, ease of cleaning (because who wants to mess with that), cooking time, food quality, and more to help you find the best fryer for your goals.
Worse Value
Better Value
What's the Best Value?
If you are looking for a budget-friendly air frying solution, the Ultrean Air Fryer is perfect for crisping potatoes and pastries. It is a useful size and has a straightforward design that removes the guesswork often experienced with too many settings and features. There can also be value in selecting a larger option if you cook for your family or like to meal prep. The Cosori TurboBlaze is larger, easy to use, and makes some of the best-tasting food in the bunch. If you plan to use your fryer more than a couple of times a week, we think there is value in spending more to get more.
Not all air fryers are created equal, and some are more intuitive and straightforward to use than others. Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Ease of Use
Cooking with most air fryers is easy, but not as intuitive as one might think. There is a learning curve and often some trial and error. Shifting temperatures and cook times from instructions or beloved recipes is required and can lead to some mistakes along the way before dialing in the perfect setting. But we believe the results and time savings are worth the effort. Because there is some finessing involved in any air fryer, it sure helps if the design is already easy to use.
Our ease-of-use evaluation examines how intuitive and straightforward each air fryer is to operate. The easiest to use is the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. This “oven” is more versatile with a non-basket design and includes lots of accessories for each use. Often, ease of use suffers when a product tries to do too many things, but we were pleasantly surprised by the straightforward options, buttons, and display. This bad boy does almost everything but your taxes and even includes presets for pizza and cookies (yes, please!). Coming in after the Breville are the Cosori and Ninja models, which clearly prioritize user experience in their design.
Features
Presets/Cooking Functions
Shake Alarm
Temperature Range
Dishwasher Safe Components
Ninja Air Fryer
Air Fry, Roast, Reheat, Dehydrate
✖
300- 400
Basket, Crisper Plate
Cosori TurboBlaze
Reheat, Dry, Bake, Proof, Warm, Air Fry, Roast, Broil, Frozen
✖
300 - 450
Basket, Crisper Plate
Ninja Pro XL
Max Crisp, Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Reheat, Dehydrate
✖
300 - 400
Basket, Crisper Plate
Ultrean Air Fryer
None
✖
180 - 400
Basket, Crisper Plate
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
Air Broil, Air Fry, Roast, Reheat, Dehydrate, Bake
✖
300 - 400
Baskets, Crisper Plates
Instant Pot Vortex Plus
Air Fry, Roast, Broil, Bake, Reheat, Dehydrate
180 - 400
Basket, Cooking tray
Ninja Crispi
Bake, Air Fry, Recrisp, Max Crisp
✖
375 - 450
Glass containers, Crisper Plates, Lids, Adapter
The dual-basket design of the Ninja Foodi is innovative, but ease of use suffers with the restrictions around making changes mid-cooking. Credit: Natalie Kafader
The Cosori TurboBlaze impressed with sleek top-mounted touchscreen controls, separate time/temperature controls, and excellent nonstick coating for easy cleanup. The Ninja Air Fryer suffered from awkward temperature increments but was otherwise easy to use and cleaned up well. However, the Ninja Air Fryer and Ninja Pro XL both have odd temperature-control limitations, with odd increment intervals that prevent precise temperature selection, which can be particularly problematic when trying to dial in specific cooking temperatures. On the upside, the Ninja Pro XL comes with helpful presets, including Bake, Dehydrate, and Reheat.
The Cosori has an simple-to-use interface and the flat screen makes viewing settings easy. Credit: Natalie Kafader
The hardest to use were the Chefman TurboFry Touch and the Ninja Crispi. The Crispi because it lacks true adjustability: you can choose a cooking function but not a specific temperature, and the glass container gets crazy hot. The TurboFry has a hard-to-read, small display, and the color change of the presets after selection makes them hard to see.
The size of the air fryer will determine how much food you can cook at once, making it an important purchase consideration. Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Size Matters
An air fryer's size can also affect its usefulness. If you have a large family, often cook for groups, or love to meal prep for the week, you'll need an air fryer with a larger capacity. Alternatively, if you plan to cook for only 1-2 people, a smaller unit that takes up less space and uses less energy will do the trick.
Good for how many?
Capacity Size
Good For
Countertop Footprint (WxD)
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
Holds 14 lb turkey
1-2 people
21.5" x 15.8"
Chefman Compact
2 qt
1 person
8.2" x 9.8"
Chefman TurboFry Touch 8-Qt
8 qt
4+ people/meal prepping
12.5" x 15"
Cosori TurboBlaze
6 qt
3-4 people
11.7" x 14.2"
Gourima FoodStation
6 qt
3-4 people
17.5" x 16.2"
Instant Pot Vortex Plus
6 qt
3-4 people
12.2" x 14.9"
Ninja Air Fryer
4 qt
1-2 people
11" x 13.3"
Ninja Crispi
4 qt
1-2 people
11.4" x 9.7"
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
8 qt
4+ people/meal prepping
15.3" x 13.6"
Ninja Pro XL
6.5 qt
3-4 people
11.2" x 14.1"
Ultrean Air Fryer
4.2 qt
1-2 people
11.2" x 13"
For those with many mouths to feed, we think the 6-quart Cosori TurboBlaze is a great option. The Ninja Pro XL, although more expensive, is slightly larger by a half quart if you need something somewhat bigger. The extra-large Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket is perfect for whole-meal cooking or meal prep because you can cook two different items at two different temperatures simultaneously. The petite Chefman Compact is only 2 quarts and didn't impress us during testing, so we think most users will be happy stepping up to a 4-quart choice unless they truly lack the space to house a bigger unit.
Cleaning the baskets on some of the multiple-purpose units is harder than cleaning the crisper plates in the basket fryers. Credit: Matt Lighthart
Ease of Cleaning
Everyone knows cleaning up greasy kitchen messes is a chore. If left undone, the gunk and grease build till it feels insurmountable. An air fryer should be easy to clean, straightforward with few places for grease to hide, and dishwasher-safe components are a bonus, even if you usually hand-wash to extend the lifespan. Ease of cleaning is particularly important for busy parents who simply don't want to take on one more challenge at day's end.
We found the Ninja Air Fryer basket to be incredibly easy to clean. The food slides right off. In contrast, food sticks like super glue onto Breville's wire basket, making it tough to scrub off. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Most basket fryers can be wiped clean with a damp cloth and mild soap, and they can be deep-cleaned in the dishwasher on the top rack. Products like the Ultrean Air Fryer, Ninja Crispi, Ninja Air Fryer, and the InstaPot Vortex were the easiest. The Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket is also easy, but the double-basket design means double the cleanup if you use both bins. The hardest options were those with multiple parts, hard-to-reach areas, or designs more akin to toaster ovens with areas that don't wipe clean easily and require more elbow grease, but often never look clean, despite all efforts. These include the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. We also struggled with getting baked-on foods off the Chefman TurboFry Touch crisping tray. We suspect this would get worse over time as the food and grease accumulate.
We tested cooking speed, temperature accuracy, and the food's internal temperature. Credit: Matt Lighthart
Cooking Speed
Part of the reason to buy an air fryer is to quickly cook meals while preserving their flavor and texture. We evaluate how quickly each air fryer can cook food to perfection, balancing efficiency with quality. We tested each model with tater tots and salmon, timing how long it took to reach ideal doneness while accounting for preheating time.
The Ninja Crispi doesn't need to preheat and delivered great cooking speed. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Air Fryers Use Lower Temperatures
Using an air fryer requires lower temperatures than a conventional oven. While the products in this review have a range below what some recipes require, it is important to note that the air fryer can do the same work at a lower temperature. In general, air fryers require about 25°F less than traditional ovens to do the same job. So if the instructions say 425°F, the air fryer likely only needs 400°F. While the cook time is generally reduced by 20-30%. Always temperature check items with a thermometer to ensure safe internal temperatures are achieved.
Cooking Speed - Tater Tots
Product
Cooking Speed
Ninja Air Fryer
18
Chefman Compact
18
Ultrean Air Fryer
18
Ninja Crispi
19
Ninja Pro XL 6.5 Qt
19
Chefman TurboFry Touch 8-Qt
20
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
20
Instant Vortex Plus
21
Cosori TurboBlaze
22
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
26
Gourima
28
The Ultrean Air Fryer dominated our speed tests, requiring no preheating and cooking both test foods faster than any other model without compromising quality. It was followed closely by the Ninja Air Fryer, Ninja Pro XL, Chefman TurboFry, and the Chefman Compact. The TurboFry was the fastest at cooking salmon at 12 minutes and maintained excellent moisture, but it required 20 minutes for frozen tots (a similar result to a conventional oven and not ideal). The Ninja Air Fryer and Chefman Compact delivered impressively quick results, with the Ninja requiring minimal preheating (3 minutes) and the Chefman Compact requiring no warm-up time at all.
Cooking Speed - Salmon
Product
Cooking Time
Chefman TurboFry Touch 8-Qt
12
Ultrean Air Fryer
13
Cosori TurboBlaze
14
Chefman Compact
15
Ninja Air Fryer
15
Ninja Pro XL 6.5 Qt
15
Ninja Crispi
16
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
16
Instant Vortex Plus
17
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
22
Gourima
28
The slowest fryers were the Gourima FoodSation and Breville Smart Oven, both requiring about 20 minutes to cook the salmon and similar results with the tater tots, which equates to much time savings over your standard oven. They both also required a 5-7 minute preheat.
We cooked tater tots in each air fryer, looking for a crisp exterior, fluffy interior, and even browning on all sides with no burnt edges. Credit: Matt Lighthart
Cooking Quality
Speed and convenience are great, but it all means nothing if a fryer can whip up tasty food, because you won't use it if you can't eat what it creates. We've cooked everything from brussels sprouts to donuts, croissants, cake, taquitos, broccoli, chicken nuggets, pork chops, and more to see how well they perform under different expectations. For [how we test | this test], we focused on three food groups: potatoes, chicken, and fish. We specifically consider how well the insides are cooked and how evenly the outsides are crisped. All models did a reasonable job, but some were better than others.
Overall Taste Ratings
Product
French Fries & Tater Tots
Salmon
Chicken Wings
Ninja Air Fryer
8.0
9.5
8.0
Cosori TurboBlaze
9.5
8.0
8.0
Ninja Crispi
8.0
9.0
8.0
Ninja Pro XL 6.5 Qt
8.0
8.0
8.0
Ultrean Air Fryer
8.5
7.0
8.5
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
8.0
9.0
6.0
Gourima
6.0
9.0
6.0
Instant Vortex Plus
8.0
8.0
5.0
Chefman TurboFry Touch 8-Qt
7.0
6.0
7.5
Chefman Compact
7.5
6.0
6.5
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
7.0
7.0
5.0
Instant Vortex PlusCosori TurboBlaze
Select “Compare Other Products” to see the tater tots we cooked in these air fryers.
All told, we found that the Ninja Air Fryer and Cosori TurboBlaze had the absolute best crisping abilities of all the fryers we tested. The Ninja Crispi, Ninja Pro XL, and Ultrean come in close behind. The least impressive for cooking quality and taste were the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro and the Chefman Compact, while not terrible, they struggled to keep up.
The Gourima took longer to make tater tots, but they were crispy and delicious. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Tater Tots and Fries
The Cosori TurboBlaze is our favorite for frying light, crispy fries and tater tots, with a soft, pillowy interior texture. The Ninja Air Fryer and Ninja Crispi both delivered exceptionally crunchy and flavorful tater tots, though the fries had an overly dry texture.
The Ultrean Air Fryer impressed with its quick heating and consistently good results for tots and fries, without a preheat. The Instant Vortex Plus delivered decent texture and browning, but they had a persistent plastic aftertaste.
The Ultrean made wings that were both crispy and juicy. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Chicken Wings
The Ultrean Air Fryer fried the best chicken wings we've eaten. The Ninja Air Fryer also fried up delicious chicken wings in no time. These wings had good, even browning and glistening, juicy meat with satisfying, crispy skin. The Ninja Crispi also wowed us, delivering wings that were “bursting with juice,” and nice browning, but the skin wasn't quite as crispy as others. The Cosori TurboBlaze proved to be a well-rounded fryer, producing chicken wings with a nice golden color, pleasant juiciness, and light outer crisp.
Gourima FoodStationUltrean Air Fryer
We looked for moisture retention, good browning, and a nice layer of crisping on the outside of each wing. Select “Compare Other Products” to see the batches of wings we cooked up.
The Ninja Pro XL 6.5 Qt wings browned well but ran about 10 degrees hotter than the set temperature, resulting in slightly drier wings. The Gourima FoodStation wings weren't crispy at all; they only browned where they touched the tray.
The Ninja Air Fryer made nearly perfect salmon. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Salmon
The Ninja Air Fryer, Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket, and Ninja Crispi emerged as clear winners in our salmon testing, each delivering perfectly crispy skin while maintaining beautifully tender, moist fish that practically fell apart.
Chefman TurboFryNinja Air Fryer
Select “Compare Other Products” to see the salmon we cooked in these air fryers.
The Cosori TurboBlaze also achieved a nice balance of crispy skin and juicy flesh with good browning. The Gourima surprised us by producing the juiciest salmon despite taking the longest cooking time. Our tasters kept coming back for more. On the other hand, the Ultrean Air Fryer had inconsistent crisping but maintained excellent moisture levels, with visible juiciness.
The Cosori had relatively good temperature accuracy during our tests. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Temperature Accuracy
Maintaining an accurate temperature is critical to achieving consistent cooking results, especially when following a recipe or package directions. While anything can succeed through trial and error, it is nice to avoid food waste by ensuring temperature accuracy. A good air fryer should hit the target temperature consistently without wild fluctuations that can lead to uneven cooking, burnt food, or a raw interior.
The Instant Vortex Plus emerged as the clear winner in our temperature accuracy testing, consistently hitting within 1.5 degrees of the target temperature across all our trials. The Ninja Air Fryer and Ultrean also performed admirably, staying within a reasonable range of the set temperature and varying by only 3.2 and 5.5 degrees, respectively.
We logged the internal temperature of each air fryer. Credit: Matt Lighthart
Average Temperature when set to 400
Product
Average Temperature
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
413.1
Ninja Pro XL 6.5 Qt
408.5
Instant Vortex Plus
401.5
Ninja Air Fryer
396.8
Ultrean Air Fryer
394.5
Gourima
393.8
Cosori TurboBlaze
391.6
Chefman Compact
387.5
Ninja Foodi 8-Quart 2-Basket
386.4
Chefman TurboFry Touch 8-Qt
383.3
Ninja Crispi
383.1
The Ninja Crispi performed the worst in our tests, with temperatures that failed to approximate the desired setting by over 17 degrees below the goal. The Chefman TurboFry falls short by over 13 degrees. While these failures are more likely to result in undercooked food than burned food, they are still a safety concern and can definitely lead to frustration while cooking. The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro had an average temperature reading over 18 degrees above the goal, while the Ninja Pro XL had an average temperature reading over 8 degrees higher than the goal. Both could lead to burned or undercooked food.
Finding the right air fryer for your goals is easier if you answer a few questions first. Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Considerations for Choosing the Best Air Fryer
Air fryers are becoming increasingly popular, but their designs and functionalities aren't always intuitive, making it hard to decide which to choose.
At their core, they are small, efficient, super-convection ovens that use a fan to circulate hot air around food, making it crispy. And they do this all while using much less oil than a traditional deep fryer. However, they still fall short of recreating the taste of deep-fried food. Anyone hoping these devices will produce crispy and decadent fried chicken without guilt will be disappointed. However, they can add a delightful crisp to many foods more easily and efficiently than most other cooking methods.
Air fryers come in several distinct styles, each designed to meet different cooking needs and kitchen setups. The most common type is the basket-style air fryer, which features a pull-out drawer with a perforated basket, perfect for shaking and tossing food for even browning. Oven-style air fryers offer greater versatility by combining air frying with traditional toaster-oven functions like baking and broiling, making them ideal for those who want multiple appliances in one. Dual-basket models have become increasingly popular for families, featuring two separate compartments that can cook different foods at different temperatures simultaneously.
If you like fast, easy-to-cook meals and are willing to learn a bit and adjust your palate, it's worth investing in a dedicated air fryer. We love these appliances and regularly use them instead of an oven for tasks. However, if you don't think you'll be air frying frequently, you might be better off using the convection or broil setting on your conventional oven, or a toaster oven for crispy dishes.
While most machines handle onion rings or frozen foods well, we've found that the results of chicken cooking differ significantly. Prioritize a fryer that excels in your favorite dishes. If crispy, juicy chicken is your goal, pay close attention to our chicken-specific cooking performance metric.
When shopping for an air fryer, ease of cleaning should be near the top of your priority list — trust us on this one. We've tested dozens of air fryers, and the models that are a pain to clean often go unused after the initial novelty wears off. Look for air fryers with dishwasher-safe components, particularly the basket and tray, as these are the parts that get the greasiest. The best air fryers use simple, removable trays or have nonstick coatings that wipe clean with minimal effort.
Air fryers come in various sizes, measured in quarts, which reflect the basket's capacity. Here's a guide to choosing the right size for your needs:
Small air fryers (1-2 quarts) — for singles or couples cooking side dishes.
Medium air fryers (3-5 quarts) — for families of up to four; can cook main or larger side dishes.
Large air fryers (5+ quarts) — cook meals for bigger families or those who meal prep, or entertain.
If you don't have a ton of counter or storage space, you may want to find a smaller air fryer, or you might prefer a multi-function air fryer so it can do the job of multiple appliances; this is a great option if you lack storage or countertop space.
PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” are synthetic compounds that have become a growing concern in consumer products, particularly cookware and food packaging. PFAS don't break down naturally in the environment or human body, potentially accumulating over time and raising health concerns, including links to cancer, liver damage, and immune system effects. While generally safe, it can leach when temperatures reach over 570°F.
Many manufacturers have begun phasing out a type of PFAS known as PTFE, or “Teflon” (a nonstick coating), in favor of ceramic or other alternatives. While the risk from occasional use of PTFE-containing cookware is likely minimal, if you still have concerns, choosing PTFE-free options whenever possible can provide peace of mind.
Depending on your frying or other cooking goals, there is likely a fryer out there for you. Credit: Matt Lighthart
Other Notable Air Fryers
With air fryer popularity hitting an all-time high, it seems like everyone and their brother is boasting about the latest and greatest model. Below are some options that didn't make our testing cut but might be more what you are looking for.
bella 4Qt Slim — This tiny fella is super popular online and could be a good choice for those cooking for fewer folks or with less interest in leftovers. With a smaller footprint, it is a good choice for those with limited counter or cabinet space. The ceramic nonstick coating is made without PFAS, PFOA, PTFE, lead, and cadmium.
Cuisinart Air Fryer — This 6-quart air fryer splits the difference between smaller batches and feeding the masses. It has multiple functions and five presets to help keep it simple. We like the viewing window and interior light for better viewing.
Choosing the best air fryer depends in part on the types of food you want to cook. Credit: Natalie Kafader
Conclusion
If you plan to air fry - even just occasionally - we think it's worth purchasing one of these appliances. The quick cooking and ease of cleaning are excellent pros that will make a big difference for frequent users or busy families. An air fryer is also a great appliance in the summer, as using it won't heat your house like an oven might.
