The perk of the dual drawer design is that I could cook two elements of a meal at once. I opted for some frozen breaded fish, and set the second drawer to finish at the same time as my fries with the SyncFinish mode. I checked on my fries after the first 10 minutes and I was impressed to see that my fries were already crisping. I needed to give them a shake because the fries at the bottom of the drawer were not cooking as fast as the ones on top, but after I did this I had no issues with uneven cooking. Just like its predecessor, the instant vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook & OdourErase did an excellent job of evenly browning fries and chicken wings. However, with no cooking charts or guidance included, using it will require a degree of experimentation.
It’s large, so if you have a very small kitchen it’ll be a dominating appliance. But because there’s so many features on it, you might not need to have other appliances and the Vortex might be your go-to source for cooking. There are no detailed directions, few recommended foods, and no suggested amounts or sample recipes to act as a guide. I’m Cara and I’ve been cooking in a condo kitchen for years. Let’s help you find the right sizes kitchen appliances for your small kitchen so it can live up to its full potential.
You can check it out and read our full review of the Instant Vortex here. All of the accessories — the racks, the rotisserie basket and fork — are dishwasher-safe. First off, the new version has a 0.3-qt less volume than the previous one.
First off, Instant has a number of slightly different appliances in this range. We’re reviewing the Vortex Plus air fryer, which features ClearCook and OdourErase technology. Place wedges in the basket of the air fryer and cook for 15 minutes at 400F . Depending on your Air Fryer you might have to fry them in batches. Make sure the salmon fillets are comparable thickness.
The magic lies in the “Smart Finish” feature, which lets you program the air fryer with two cook times and temperatures for different foods. The air fryer will automatically start the basket with the shorter of the two cook times so both baskets are finished instant vortex cooking at the same time. If you’re cooking a double batch of a single recipe, the “Match” feature quickly pairs both cooking baskets to the same settings. There are six cooking presets, including air fry, air broil, roast, bake, reheat, and dehydrate.
Therefore, this simple feature is beneficial when you’re especially busy in the kitchen. Our testers did find some downsides to this machine, in addition to the machine running hot. It’s a bit difficult to handle grease both during the chicken roasting and the cleanup after. Even though the interior is nonstick, we needed to get into the corners to get all the splatter.
And that reheat mode at 280 works really well for leftover pigs in a blanket. The trays, rotisserie basket, and rotisserie spit are all dishwasher safe and it doesn’t get much easier than that. Even when washing by hand, the surfaces of the trays clean up quickly and easily. The basket is a bit difficult to scrub, but there are worse things to clean in the kitchen. The roast setting allows the food to cook slower than the air fry setting.
After extensive testing, the overall winner is the Philips Premium Airfryer XXL HD9650 for its high-level performance, user-friendly controls, and ease of cleanup. If you’re looking for a budget option, a good choice is the Chefman 3.7-Quart TurboFry Air Fryer, which not only was quiet and compact but also easy to use. Siobhan is a freelance writer specializing in food, wine, and kitchen products. She has a Master’s degree in Food Studies, passed the WSET Level 2, Wines, with Distinction, and has written two cookbooks.