Natalie Corner is the Deputy Commercial Content Editor for Bauer Media, working across brands such as A Modern Kitchen, Modern Gardens, Take A Break Pets, Grazia and more, specialising in lifestyle, home and fitness content. The sync and match cook functions allow both compartments to be ready at the same time with a temperature pause and resume function

An air fryer is essentially a small convection oven, circulating hot air around the food to get that crispy outer layer and fluffy or moist inside. It is also more energy-efficient due to its size and power, compared to heating your kitchen oven. There’s another catch that’s more specific to this fryer. While the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone goes up to 240℃ in its Max Crisp mode, the Dual Air tops out at a rather modest 200℃. That’s plenty for many dishes but, as my tests confirmed, it’s a little gutless for getting the best browning on chips and other items that need a really good crisping or searing. It might be too big for single-person households unless you host a lot. And if you have a teeny kitchen, you’ll need to be prepared to find space for it, since it’s quite wide and tall. Furthermore, it’s one of the most expensive Ninja air fryers - a fact that can’t be ignored in your decision about whether to buy. The Salter Dual Air essentially combines two air fryers side-by-side. You can use either side independently of the other, allowing you to cook one dish only, or to cook two foods – each can have its own different settings if needed. It’s much the same setup as we’ve seen from the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone, currently our favourite all-round air fryer, and that’s a strong starting place.The Salter Dual Air is much like any other air fryer to use, although there’s some added complexity given that you need to set programmes for each basket. Like many other air fryers, it offers a battery of preset modes for various food types. While these might be useful once you come to learn them, I generally found it easier to use the manual mode to dial up the temperature and time I wanted. Basket-style air fryers have one or two drawers where you place your food for cooking. Those with two drawers are particularly handy if you want to cook different foods at the same time, but they can take up a lot more room in the kitchen than their more compact counterparts. The main reason to buy this air fryer from Russell Hobbs is the flexibility that comes with being able to split the basket into two zones, much like the Ninja FlexDrawer, which we've rated above. With a duo basket design, this 7.4L fryer has two 3.7L independent frying trays, ideal for cooking different foods or double portions In use, this fryer is reasonably versatile, producing decent results across a range of foods. I used it first to cook frozen chips and Quorn nuggets. The latter were perfect, but the former could have done with more crisping, despite having had 20 minutes at the maximum 200℃. As I couldn’t raise the temperature, I cooked further batches a little longer, and was rewarded with better results.

Just make sure to go into owning your Ninja with an open mind, and join online communities if you're looking for recipe inspiration and tips. Lastly, it’s worth thinking about clean-up – most of the fryers on our list have dishwasher-proof baskets and accessories, while the two oven air fryers we’ve featured have removable doors to help you keep your machine as clean as possible. How we test air fryers Our expert reviewer Helen said she 'couldn't think of many reasons not to buy this air fryer', which is high praise indeed from our hard-to-please expert. On the whole, if you have a specific reason that means the flexibility to split it into two zones would suit your needs better than other air fryers, then it’ll get the job done. But you’ll just have to accept some of its quirks along the way. If you know you want a dual-zone air fryer but don't necessarily need two sections all of the time, then the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer is the one for you. Instead of choosing, you get both, giving this model ultimate versatility. You can insert a divider when you want to use the two drawers separately or keep the mammoth single drawer for cuts of meat and larger portions.

Upping the game ahead of Christmas dinner, I tested out Brussels sprouts cooked with bacon. This time, too long meant they'd reduced to barely the size of a pea and were very crispy. By Christmas Day, I’d figured out the perfect cooking time of 10 minutes and they were plenty flavourful. Bacon is also a great meat to cook in the air fryer if you like it crispy, but a beefburger dried out and didn’t retain its moisture, so it was almost inedible.

Every air fryer in this buying guide has either been tested at home, or at our test facility by one of Ideal Home's reviewers for a number of weeks so that we can adhere to our testing protocol, and reliably tell you what's good and not so good about these products.

I’m also the type of person that likes to press buttons without instructions, but the Salter Dual Air Fryer has several auto cooking functions – like different meats, muffins, fish, chips, and vegetables – that will help you select the right temperature and time for your chosen dish. If you’re unsure of the buttons (and the little images they represent) and it’s too much choice, I recommend selecting manual cook and winging it with your own time and temperature. Always go lower and shorter than you need. Any negatives?

Molly is the Ecommerce Editor for Ideal Home and is always on the lookout for the next must-buy product for your home. Covering all things appliance related, with an emphasis on air fryers, she regularly visits Future's Test Facility in Reading to thoroughly put products through their paces. FAQs When's the best time to buy a dual zone air fryer? Like the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone, the Dual Air offers a choice of combined or independent control of its two baskets. By default, you can programme a temperature and time for each, then both will start at the same time. In Sync mode, the longer programme gets a head start so that both sides finish cooking at the same time. Finally, Match Cook mode sets both sides to cook with the same settings, which is useful if you just want to cook lots of the same thing. Performance A healthier alternative to deep-frying; the Dual Air Fryer requires little to no oil, keeping the same great taste and flavoursOur expert product tester Helen had a mixed bag when reviewing this buy. Whilst she overall liked the idea of the deisng, having to cook at the same temperature on both sides, combined with the frustrations she experienced with the perforated dividers, left her thinking you might be better off opting for an air fryer without the flexible zones. And instead plumping for either a decent size single zone or a good dual zone air fryer. Kitchen countertop space is a precious commodity, so if you’re considering the Salter Dual Air Fryer, be aware of how much space it takes up. It measures 40cm in length, 36.1cm in width, and 32cm in height – that is bigger than your average four-slice toaster. If you already have a microwave, kettle, toaster and perhaps a food blender, you may have to think about where your air fryer will go, or do you have cupboard space for it?