While most air fryers can also roast, grill and bake, a multi cooker can also cook in other ways, such as pressure cooking, steaming and slow cooking. The more you use your air fryer, the more you depend on it. Spending a little extra for more comfort is something to consider. Some models, like Ninja Foodi Dual Zone, have a second cooking compartment that allows you to cook two different types of food (at different temperatures) at the same time, so you could make steak and chips without having to mix them together. See our guide to how to buy the best dual air fryer. Preset cooking programs

As previously stated, getting an air fryer for your family is based on the size of your family, the size of the kitchen space available to use the fryer and most importantly, the amount of money available.All this versatility typically comes at a higher price, so it's worth considering if you'll use all the features before spending the extra cash.

With most air fryers, you can set the temperature you want the food to cook at. Typically, you can choose anything from 80°C to 200°C. How much do you need to spend to get a good air fryer? Sometimes they come with a stirring paddle, though we’ve found this doesn't always make for better results. Some of the best air fryers are also multi-cookers, meaning that the air circulated doesn't just air fry. A single countertop device can make tasty fries but also work as a toaster oven, a dehydrator, a slow cooker and a pizza oven, as well as heat up last night's takeout leftovers and bake brilliant bagels too.For larger gatherings or festivities, the air fryer can be quite troublesome to depend on. The most common air fryer sizes range between 3.0 – 5.0 quart. An air fryer of that size is not capable of cooking for a party. Instead, one would have to look for a larger air fryer, above 6.0 quart. While you can’t cook different foods at different temperatures at the same time, this grill creates great char and crispier air-fried foods, and can even cook meat and fish from frozen. The other functions that the Ninja DG551 can do is grill, roast, bake, dehydrate, and broil food - all which we found did better than the Ninja Foodie 6-in-1 10-qt. XL 2-Basket Air Fryer with DualZone Technology, its predecessor.

With plenty of auto programs for time and temperature settings to make it easier for air fryer newbies, this is a reasonably-priced air fryer recommended for inexperienced users. Oven-style air fryers. These are much larger than basket air fryers, but are much smaller than convectional ovens owing to their counter-top design; they're about the same size as a microwave. They have a door rather than a drawer, and use shelves rather than baskets. The air frying function is able to circulate air around the food more efficiently to achieve a more even crisp. Some may also include a rotisserie, and other accessories.One of the advantages of having a large air fryer is, of course, the extra capacity. But the spacious interior isn’t the only benefit of a large air fryer. Versatility Little to no oil is required, all while keeping the same great taste, so you lose the fat not the flavour Curious to know how the air fryer and an oven compare to a slow cooker? Find out more in our story comparing the cheapest ways to cook . What can you cook in an air fryer? While there are plenty of foods that can be cooked in an air fryer, there are some things you should avoid putting in this cooking appliance. For example, we found 5 foods to avoid putting in an air fryer. These include foods dipped in batter, as the liquid will simply slide off the item and leave a mess in the frying basket. Basket air fryers. This is the most popular type of air fryer. They have a slide-out basket or tray which slots in to the main unit, and tend to be available as a single or dual-drawer. When cooking food types such as fries, an uneven bake can sometimes be achieved if the food isn't rearranged or tossed around.

Just make sure that the air fryer, no matter how big or small, is large enough to cook for the number of people you plan on serving. The convenience of having a small air fryer is lost if the appliance can’t cook your meals in one session. Mini oven’ types: these models use convection or fan technology to cook food on flat, slide-in trays. As well as roasting, their extra air-frying functions circulate hot air around the food for more efficient crisping. These took up the space of an average-sized microwave. Some may also include rotisserie elements. Another thing to consider would be some determinants of getting the right air fryer, such as the cooking capacity of the air fryer and the size of the air fryer, and then trying to find a perfect match between them, that is, getting a product that covers your cooking needs at the right size, and for the right price. I admit it can be hard to visualize how big a “5 Quart Air Fryer” actually is by just looking at the product description or image. A quart is a measurement for liquid capacity, and one unit is equal to a quarter of a gallon. For simplicity, a quart can be converted to 0.94L in the US and 1.13L in the UK. The largest air fryer available is a monstrous 16-quart appliance called Big Boss. It’s ready to cook an entire turkey in one session. The Big Boss air fryer weighs close to 15 pounds and is capable of cooking a 3-course meal for two persons at once.

To help you decide whether an air fryer is a worthwhile investment, we cooked 320g of chips (two to three portions) in an air fryer, a halogen oven and a built-in electric oven.