The downside, the manual warns, is that things may take longer to cook (though the lid has some holes in it, it’s essentially creating a barrier between your food and the appliance’s heating element and hamilton beach air fryer fan). Go from air frying chicken on Friday to cooking a whole rotisserie chicken on Sunday. Additional settings for pizza, toast, bake and broil add versatility and have a beep at the end of the cycle.
As a staff writer at Wirecutter, I’ve researched, tested, and written about a variety of topics, including Costco’s cheap Champagne, meditation apps, and the best facial sunscreens. I spend every Thanksgiving and Christmas in the kitchen with my mom cooking for a family of 12, and have always been interested in finding new ways to speed up the process. Despite its tiny, 2-quart capacity—it was the smallest air fryer we tested—it held its own against much larger machines. Though the Instant Mini’s square basket is a little more than half the capacity of the Cosori’s and nearly a quart smaller than the Philips’s, it could fit a meal big enough for one hungry person (or two snacky people). Depending on the food, such as french fries (which can be stacked), brownies, or pizza, the Instant Mini can fit nearly as much as the Philips Premium or the Cosori Pro LE thanks to its wide, shallow shape. What’s more, this air fryer cooked food more evenly than most of the others we tested.
She has worked in test kitchens for small kitchen appliance brands and national magazines, including Family Circle and Ladies’ Home Journal. This is the perfect way to cook chicken thighs for that extra crispy skin and no need to heat up the oven. I ran each toaster oven for 15 minutes at 300 degrees F to measure the temperature accuracy and consistency. With so many to choose from, there are bound to be some over- and under-performers in the category.
I hauled in a whole lot of bread to see how fast and evenly each oven made this breakfast and sandwich staple. A flavor-loving nutritionist and sensory science specialist showing you how to make easy vegetarian recipes, one ingredient at a time. The overall design of the Pro LE is streamlined and modern, so it won’t look out of place on a counter.
This model produced golden-brown toast with good texture and churned out a half-a-bag of frozen fries in minutes. The air fry basket can be a bit tough to remove, so take that into account and use an oven mitt when reaching for your food. Bone-in skin-on chicken breasts came out with moist meat and crunchy skin after 45 minutes and we found store-bought hamilton beach toaster oven sugar cookie dough baked well according to package instructions. While it does come with fewer presets than the Breville, this model is sure to do the trick for those who want to expand their air frying horizons without sacrificing the functionality of a toaster oven. The Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer was the best model we tested for around $100.
The main thing you need to think about when you’re looking at air fryer toaster ovens is what you’re going to make with it. Size and function are what matter here—and these little ovens come in a variety of shapes, sizes and capacities. For instance, if you think you’re only going to air fry frozen snacks like pizza rolls, you might consider the size of the air fry basket. If chicken is in heavy rotation hamilton beach toaster oven on your weekly menu, perhaps having a larger oven with a rotisserie function would be useful to you. If your dog likes jerky made out of liver (or if you like it yourself), having an oven with a dehydrator preset is a feature that you and your pup will love. Cleaning is also a consideration—if you’re not good at cleaning up, make sure the oven you pick has a crumb tray to ease the burden of cleaning.
My least favorite display was on the Oster, which had one-dimensional backset buttons and a wonky digital screen that offers very little information. The buttons would often not react and required a forceful push, sometimes two. Manual dials are difficult to set accurately both for temperature and time.
If your air fryer is smaller you would need to cook these in batches. Assuming an energy rate of 12 cents per kilowatt hour and an average use of one hour per day, the full-size oven will add about $105 to your energy bill each year. Unplug the oven and use a toaster oven instead, and that yearly energy cost drops to $65.
Plus, when stored upright, the bottom of the oven can be released for cleaning so you can easily wipe it down. Baking them in the oven just never gets that full crisp you get when deep frying, and don’t even get me started about the microwave. In truth, I don’t find toaster oven cooking programs very helpful, and I rarely use them. Since every brand, be it frozen pizza, waffles or mozzarella sticks, vary in size and density, it’s generally best to follow the instructions on the box.