But if you’re interested in pressure cooking, or need a one-pot solution for a large family, it could be for you. Because the cooking process closely resembles that of a convection oven, the choice of recipes and ingredients open to you is immense. Fruit leather is an excellent way to make the most of a dehydrate function if you have a hand blender, blender or food processor at home, or for an umami-kick try dehydrating tomatoes or mushrooms.

These gadgets are much faster to heat up and designed to circulate hot air efficiently, meaning food can be cooked much quicker than in a traditional oven. The transparent ones tend to be a feature on more expensive machines, so you need to decide how important this is to you. The hottest culinary gadget to dominate the homeware market, they’re certainly worthy of a space in your kitchen! Everyone loves the mouth-watering flavours and crispy textures of fried food, but we're a lot less keen on the health effects of oily, fatty meals. By the way, if you’re looking for ways to save money in the kitchen, read my guide to the best kettles.The cooking results, too, were excellent – both thick and thin-cut air-fried chips were a success, as was a deliciously crisp duck breast, which cooked at 180C for just 15 minutes.

This process cooks food in all directions, and the result is delicious, crispy food that you'd think was fried, but comes with significantly less calories and fat. It’s big enough to cook a whole chicken or a 12-inch pizza and, unlike the other fryers (except the Instant Vortex below), you can see inside. It doesn’t produce the crispiness of my top choice of air fryer, but it does cook very quickly and evenly – 20 minutes for chips or sweet potato fries and just six minutes for vegetables. If the warranty on your appliance has expired, find out whether any independent appliance repairs services will fix it for you. It’s a smart looking machine with flat, touchscreen controls on the hood, tactile accents on the handle and useful cord storage at the back.From vegetables and chicken to steak, prawns, and even cakes, the multi-functional 1700W power of this air fryer opens up a world of culinary possibilities. BBC Good Food’s expert reviews team has been reviewing air-fryers for four years, and regularly tests new models to ensure we’re bringing you the most up-to-date recommendations of the best air-fryers to spend your money on.

I’ve also managed to cook meat and vegetables in half the time it takes my oven, though there are definitely some vegetables to avoid: broccoli, which turns ashy and spinach, which turns into a smattering of veg crisps. Again, these tend to be the more expensive models, but this could a factor to consider if you want to go off and leave your dinner to cook itself. The aluminium and plastic Cosori Lite comes ‘truffle grey’ and a ‘milk white’, both with a stylish orange trim. You can pop the chicken straight in the air fryer, and it will cook just fine; it will also taste just fine – but if you want to really crisp up the chicken’s skin, I recommend adding a little oil and some of your favourite seasonings. The auto-switch off timer, ranging from 1 to 60 minutes, ensures that your food is cooked to perfection without any guesswork.If you’re wondering whether air-fryers are really worth it, we think the primary perk of owning one is convenience. My chips weren’t quite as crispy as the Tefal model above, but they cooked quickly and evenly, and it excelled on sausages and fish fingers. If you’re dead set against thermoplastics, consider an air fryer that uses ceramic cooking surfaces, such as the Ninja AF100 above. We looked at how evenly they ‘fried’ and whether they were brown and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.