4 Things You Shouldnt Cook in an Air Fryer

In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, we’ve tested more than 20 different air fryer toaster ovens in addition to more than 40 standalone air fryers and 40 standalone toaster ovens. When we test the air frying function on appliances and air fryers, we cook 1 pound of chicken wings, 1 pound of frozen fries and 1 pound of fresh fries in each machine to see how quickly and evenly each crisps up. We also assess several ease-of-use features like the clarity of the control panel and how easy each appliance is to clean. Here are the best air fryer toaster ovens you buy, according to our testing. Plus, because of their small size, air fryers tend to cook faster than air fryer toaster ovens and don’t require preheating, both bonuses for people who are looking to save time.

It also comes with a recipe booklet, which is helpful if you’re new to air frying. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention how good looking this model is—the entire exterior has a sleek matte finish, and it features a brightly lit control panel that’s easily visible even in a dark room. Several co-workers who walked into the test kitchen immediately gravitated to the Cosori out of all of the other air fryers on the counter because it looks so chic. That said, the Philips Premium Airfryer is not our favorite appliance for air frying. If you have the space and budget, we recommend an air fryer toaster oven, which is more versatile and cooks more evenly than its pod-shaped counterparts. But we have learned over the years that many people prefer the pod-shaped style for a few reasons.

The Hamilton Beach® 11 Liter Digital Air Fryer Oven with Rotisserie and Rotating Basket is perfect for families who want maximum cooking versatility and need room for preparing large meals. Once you have the Hamilton Beach 11 Liter Digital Air Fryer Oven in your kitchen, you’ll find yourself using it every day from breakfast to dinner. Eight one-touch pre-set functions include fries, beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, rotisserie function, vegetables and dehydrate. It has a glass window and light for keeping an eye on food and you can customize your cooking by manually adjusting the time and temperature up to 60 minutes and 400° F. Accessories include 3 metal mesh shelves for toasting and dehydrating, a rotating metal basket for air frying, a multi-purpose shelf/crumb tray and a rotisserie basket.

Both toasted four slices of bread evenly, with doneness presets that deliver on their promise. The Breville, like the FlashExpress, also held its temperature well and preheated quickly. But there are other models worth considering, including air-frying toaster ovens, large countertop ovens that can practically replace your full-size oven and budget buys that won’t cost much but deliver a whole lot. That’s why we’ve hamilton beach air fryer pulled together everyone’s favorite air-fryer recipes—from chicken wings to french fries, easy recipes to hard—and decoded how long they’ll take in your trusty air fryer. It shares some of the features we liked in the Philips, such as a large, 5-quart square basket and a streamlined control panel, though it doesn’t cook as evenly. Read on to find out which air fryer toaster oven is right for your kitchen.

hamilton beach air fryer

This is one of the most common air-fryer mistakes that many people fall victim to. It takes only a few minutes and will save your food majorly in the long run. The Black+Decker 2L Purifry Air Fryer HF110SBD was the best budget pod-shaped model we tried back in 2017, but at the time it had the smallest max-fill capacity of all the fryers we tested. In most cases, we were able to successfully cook only about one serving of food at a time.

Unfortunately, the tray falls out when you turn food out of the basket, which could potentially cause burns. This model runs quite hot—which we discovered when it burned our brussels sprouts during testing—so you have to be vigilant about adjusting the temperature. If you’re looking for a compact kitchen appliance to bridge that gap between a microwave and a conventional oven, a pod-shaped air fryer might do the trick. I’m sure the Hamilton Beach Sure-Crisp Air Fry Toaster Oven would work just beautifully on frozen chicken tenders too. I have been known to buy a bag (or three) of those at the grocery store, and brought them home to cook for quick kid meals.

While all of the ovens produced meat pies that were hot in the center, the least outer browning came from the Hamilton Beach toaster and Oster. Not surprising, considering both ovens both ran cool in the temperature consistency and accuracy test. For overall evenness, the results were surprisingly uniform across the board, with the exception of the Cruxgg, which toasted extremely unevenly.

It slid around and looked a bit cheap, and didn’t actually do much to protect you from accidentally releasing the bucket and sending it crashing to the floor. The Pro LE has a simple release button and a guard that’s less conspicuous. The basket is also lighter than the Philips Premium Airfryer’s, and easier to lift with one hand. Hamilton Beach is here to be your partner in the kitchen, ready to support you with products, tips, and culinary inspiration that you can depend on to keep moving forward on your cooking journey. None of the parts are coated with a nonstick finish and hand washing is recommended. The aluminum baking pan became quite stained and we weren’t able to get it completely clean.

If it’s a countertop oven that doubles as an air fryer you seek, this Ninja model is likely the best toaster oven for you. Because of its small size, and the fact that it doesn’t cook as evenly as the Philips Premium Airfryer, we don’t think this air fryer is for everyone. And because it’s so small and light, you can easily move the Mini Vortex into a cabinet or pantry for storage if need be. To replace parts, you’d hamilton beach toaster oven have to contact Instant Brands’s customer support team (but the company doesn’t sell replacement trays at this time). But even if you decide to set the machine manually, you can still press the “shake” button to activate the reminder. The beeping is much louder on the Cosori Pro LE than on the Premium Airfryer, and you have no way to lower the volume or turn it off, so some people may find the sound annoying.