I’ll do my best to update this post with more as I continue to test. Air fryers are now an essential, bringing compact, cheap, reduced-oil cooking to any kitchen. A step up from the Instant Vortex Slim, this air fryer comes packed out with all of the best features from Instant Pot’s air fry engineers, including a ClearCook window and OdorErase.
It offers a six-quart basket, which is good for most meals, although it may be a little small for a big family or party setting. Unlike some of the other options in our test suites, it has a viewing window, which is great for checking in on its progress without having to open the door. As for some reviews about the rotisserie function being spotty, I really had no problems once the rotary stem was properly in place. I do wish that moosoo air fryer Instant Pot had done a better job of stepping out this process in the instruction manual so that there was less juggling of raw meat. As Head of eCommerce, Alex makes sure our readers find the right information to help them make the best purchase. After graduating from Cambridge University, Alex got his start in reviewing at the iconic Good Housekeeping Institute, testing a wide range of household products and appliances.
Once you “Start Cooking,” it guides you through the cooking process step-by-step with no room for confusion. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).
Even people who already have a convection oven may appreciate the speed, convenience, and extra cooking space that these appliances offer. Throughout years of testing air fryers, we’ve concluded that even the best models can’t achieve the perfect golden crispiness that deep frying offers, but some come impressively close. With a little finessing, some of our favorite oven and deep-fry recipes can work quite well in an air fryer. Since 2017, we’ve spent around 300 hours testing air fryers, cooking up fresh chicken wings, frozen french fries, pizza, brownies, and more in dozens of air fryers and convection toaster ovens. We’ve tested pod-shaped air fryers against air fryer toaster ovens, as well as researched and tested full-size convection ovens and deep fryers. It’s versatile, too, offering functions to bake, roast, grill, reheat and dehydrate as well as air fry.
At this size and price, you would likely be better served by an air fryer toaster oven. Our initial results for those earlier models have largely held up in subsequent tests. We ventured farther, taking on 20 basket air fryers and 10 air fryer toaster ovens in our lab tests, as well as more models for testing at home.
We put a lot of time and research into this so sharing is caring! The Vortex Plus left itself very little room for improvement in our cooking tests, prepping everything to near perfection. During day-to-day use, I did notice that I had to turn the timer up a little when cooking on a single-drawer. It’s not the most energy-efficient, but then, it’s a lot more efficient than cooking a meal for one in a really large cooking drawer, which would also waste energy. Avoid foods dipped in batter, such as calamari, tempura shrimp and buttermilk fried chicken.
The version with a touchscreen costs around $30 more, which is still decent for an air fryer of this size and quality. The Instant Vortex Mini is small, powerful, and one of the cheapest models we tested. While the wee basket can fit only one serving of food at a time, the machine circulates heat fairly well and manages to cook food without dehydrating it. We recently tested a few more air fryers, including two with glass drawers. In just 50 minutes, I spit-roasted a 3 and ¾ pound chicken and it came out perfect, with a crisp brown skin all over, even on the bottom, which is hard to achieve in a roasting pan in a conventional oven.