air fryers are easily the buzziest small kitchen appliance of the decade. If you want to learn about them in depth, check out CNET’s complete guide to air fryers, but all you really need to know is that they’re a great alternative to using the stove, microwave or conventional oven. They are, for the most part, powerfully compact cooking machines that take your cooking time down and reduce your counter clutter. Also, we’d be remiss not to mention that fast-cooking air fryers, which emit less energy than ovens, are the perfect foil for a steamy summer kitchen that’s made even steamier by your big range.
After you’ve decided you want one — trust me, you want one — we’ve done all the heavy lifting to match you with the right model. For most people, Ninja’s 4-quart model is the best air fryer to scoop up with plenty of power, a user-friendly control panel and a price that’s easy to swallow.
The answer depends on your needs, budget and space. There are simple and inexpensive pod-shaped air fryers, including tiny models, all the way up to massive dual-basket ovens to cook for large groups and families. There are also air-frying toaster ovens, which are typically heavier, more stationary and more expensive. There are even air-frying Instant Pots and microwave-air fryer combos to consider.
In testing to find the best air fryers, we’ve stumbled across a few in all of the above categories that we like. Depending on your cooking habits, space and budget, one might be a better fit than another. Ninja still makes our favorite pod-shaped air fryer overall, but we also tested some excellent small air fryers, large air fryers and air frying toaster ovens worthy of consideration. (You can also check out our picks for the nine stellar kitchen products that are worth a splurge.)
To date, we’ve tested well over a dozen air fryers to curate this list. Each air fryer is evaluated for its power, consistency, ease of use, design, features and overall performance. In total, we’ve logged over 75 hours of air frying.
There are hundreds of recipes that can be made with an air fryer but we stuck to the basics and focused on the most popular foods people associate with air fryers. Chicken wings are at the top of that list but French fries, frozen snacks and dense vegetables — in this case, Brussels sprouts — are tried and true air fryer food. Before we began, we consulted each model’s manual for relevant cooking directions. If the manual didn’t provide specific instructions, we applied uniform procedures to each air fryer depending on the type of food we were preparing.
The Cosori Lite made some mighty tasty wings in 30 minutes.
David Watsky/CNET
For chicken wings, we followed a basic air fryer recipe. First, we preheated the air fryer 400 Fahrenheit and cooked them for 25 minutes in the basket with the included tray and checked on them and turned them every 8 minutes. Most of the air fryers we tested had a solid showing in the wing test although some, including the powerful Ninja and Cosori Lite models, got the wings a bit crispier in that amount of time.
For Brussels sprouts, we preheated the ovens to 375 Fahrenheit and cooked them for 15 minutes. Before cooking, we rinsed and cut the sprouts in half and tossed them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. In this test, some ovens struggled to brown the outside of the sprouts but most got there eventually.
Dense Brussels sprouts are a popular air fryer food. Soft and watery veggies such as zucchini and mushrooms may turn to mush under this type of intense heat.
David Watsky/CNET
For the French fry test, we opted for Alexia’s frozen crinkle-cut fries and cooked 1 cup, according to the air fryer directions on the bag. Quick note: Be careful when cooking fries in an air fryer as some types, especially thinner-cut fries, can dry out easily when hit with superconvection. We recommend heftier waffle fries, tater tots, crinkle cut or potato wedges over the shoestring variety.
At the end of each test, we looked for how evenly the items were cooked, if they were cooked through and whether they had a sufficient level of crispy, crunchy, fried goodness comparable to deep frying or pan frying.
Ease of use
Beyond cooking performance, how easy an air fryer is to operate and how intuitive the buttons and controls were something we observed closely during testing. Overly complicated settings, controls and presets didn’t generally result in high marks, but certain features were appreciated. All air fryers have base-level control over the temperature and cook time, although some are controlled digitally while others require the crank of simple manual dials. From there, you’ll find preset programs for various foods such as wings, fries, fish, veggies and even baked goods.
I liked the top placement of the control panel on the Cosori Lite air fryer.
David Watsky/CNET
How well they cook
To get a sense of how each air fryer in this test group handles, we ran a battery of three tests on each model. Each test focused on one food: chicken wings, Brussels sprouts and frozen french fries.
Most air fryers we tested passed the French fries test, although it’s critical to check on them frequently so you don’t overcook and dry them out.
David Watsky/CNET
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