The best air fryers, tried and tested for crisp and crunch

The Guardian

02-03-2025

Air fryers inspire the sort of feelings that microwaves did in the 1980s. I vividly remember those new-fangled boxes being spoken about often, either dismissively or with delight. A rash of cookbooks followed, and dinner changed across the land. Fast-forward a few decades and air fryers have become the same kind of kitchen 'disruptors', offering time-saving convenience and healthier cooking, but with the added allure of easily achieved, mouth-watering crispiness.
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Since launching with a single-drawer design, air fryers have evolved. Sizes range from compact to XL, while drawer configurations can be double, split or stacked. Alongside air frying, many will grill, roast and bake, and some will dip to lower temperatures for dehydrating, fermenting and proving dough. One we tested features steam cooking, allowing you to whip up dim sum as easily as a roast dinner, while another included racks for cooking on four levels.
Given that the air fryer market is so crowded, it's worth seeking out the best style for your needs – whether that's for the simple pleasures of homemade chips or to really shake up your meals.
Best air fryer overall:
Tefal Dual Easy Fry XXL EY942BG0£149.99 at Amazon
Best single-drawer air fryer:
Lakeland Slimline air fryer£89.99 at Lakeland
Best air fryer for chips:
Philips 5000 Series NA555/09 dual basket steam air fryer £179.99 at John Lewis
Best air fryer grill:
ProCook air fryer health grill£179 at ProCook
Best compact air fryer:
Ninja Double Stack XL SL400UK air fryer £214.21 at Amazon
While air fryers have made the transition from novelty to must-have in recent years, there's been one in my kitchen for well over a decade, and it's in daily use. I've been a consumer journalist for decades, and as well as air fryers, I've tested air-frying health grills and ovens, multi-cookers that can air fry, and everything in between. Anything I can make chips with is welcome in my kitchen. Hang around me long enough and I'll fill you in on what air fryers can do, how they work, common issues, and how many I've tested over the years (about 45).
By now, you must have worked out that I take testing air fryers very seriously. My commitment to the cause has seen me peel and chip more than 5kg of potatoes – which was just as tedious as it sounds. The internet is awash with hacks for peeling potatoes, including everything from worktop gadgets to peeling hot pre-boiled potatoes with your hands – and even (and I'm not making this up) power drills and toilet brushes in a bucket. I decided a sharp peeler was the best choice.
Each air fryer was run empty from cold for one hour at 200C to rate its power use. Where available, I followed the manufacturer's instructions for cooking chips. This is because the guidance is often based on the air fryer's capabilities. Where there was none, I defaulted to 24 minutes at 200C. The same was true for onion rings – if there was a similar frozen food, I followed the suggested times and temperatures; if not, I chose 18 minutes at 200C.
Any food that looked at risk of burning was removed before it did so, meaning one or two cycles were ended early. Finished food was assessed on appearance (colour and texture), crisp and crunch, and the consistency of the batch (such as whether some items were less brown than others).
The nine machines I tested for this article are either recognisably an air fryer or an air fryer grill. I haven't tested compact ovens or multi-cookers that air fry because they don't offer the same experience, such as the ability to shake or turn the contents quickly, and they often don't have removable parts that are easy to clean.
£200 at Argos£149.99 at Amazon
Given that Tefal is behind the pioneering Actifry, it comes as no surprise that the Easy Fry Dual XXL is a fantastic all-rounder, excelling at both making chips and handling frozen food. It's also Tefal's largest double-drawer air fryer, providing a generous capacity for families and entertaining, and it has the company's 15-year repairability commitment to cut waste.
Why we love itWhile I remain unconvinced of Tefal's claim that this air fryer's 11-litre capacity will cater for eight to 10 people – perhaps if they're not very hungry – it ticks almost every box, making it my choice for the best air fryer overall. There's a good temperature range of 40-200C, programs for common foods, and the drawers and plates are dishwasher-safe and feel robust.
More importantly, it performed excellently during testing, with the only head-scratcher being its recommendation for chips at 180C for 45 minutes, which was too long. After only 35 minutes, some chips were already slightly overdone, but the overall result was lovely and crisp. Onion rings emerged beautifully browned, they were the best of the lot.
It's a shame that … most buttons are icons – my pet hate – making it a challenge to program without the instructions to hand.
Size: 38.5 x 45.8cm x 33 (WDH) Capacity: 11 litresPower draw: 1.154kWh = 28p an hour
Dishwasher safe: yesPrograms: fries, chicken, vegetables, fish, dessert, dehydration and manual
£89.99 at Lakeland£89.99 at Amazon
If you don't have much counter space and don't want to compromise on capacity, Lakeland's slimline model is a good choice. There's adequate flat space inside for family-size meals, or up to 1.3kg of chips, plus an internal light and a clear window to check on dinner.
Why we love itI felt this air fryer was great value for money, with a good cooking capacity for its price, and it was economical to run. Its slimline shape meant food could be spread out and I was pleased with the results of testing. Chips were golden brown, crisp at the ends and fluffy in the middle, and the batch was consistent overall, while onion rings were pleasingly crunchy. I found the window redundant once it became greasy, but it could be useful for less oily foods. I also wasn't keen on the button that needed to be depressed to open the drawer – but it might keep curious fingers away from harm.
It's a shame that … its lowest temperature is 80C, so you won't be dehydrating or proving dough.
Size: 27.7 x 42 x 29cm (WDH) Capacity: 8 litresPower draw: 0.674kWh = 16p an hour Dishwasher safe: no, hand-wash onlyPrograms: fries, seafood, steak, fish, chicken wings, pizza, bake
£179.99 at John Lewis£189.99 at Currys
One of only a few air fryers that can also steam your food, the 5000 Series is particularly suitable if you want to trim fat from your diet – or if you dislike the dry textures that result from overcooking. Introducing steam into the mix means it's possible to air fry, steam or use a combination of both for moist meats, bakes and reheated leftovers.
Why we love itThis double air fryer offers a lot of versatility, and I felt it was the best air fryer for chips. It's well-built, feels robust and is easy to keep clean even without a dishwasher, thanks to the self-clean mode that uses steam to loosen debris. Programming can be puzzling at first – especially as you'll need to download its manual rather than getting one in the box – but the food it cooked made up for it: crisp, perfectly browned onion rings and chips with a moreish crunch, fluffy interior and pretty consistent browning throughout. It's frustrating that only the six-litre drawer steams, the three-litre one being limited to air frying, but you're sure to get plenty of use out of both.
It's a shame that … if you live in a hard-water area, you'll need to descale this air fryer to keep it in tip-top condition.
Size: 49 x 39 x 40cm (WDH)Capacity: 9 litresPower draw: 0.79kWh = 19p an hour Dishwasher safe: yesPrograms: fresh fries, frozen fries, chicken, meat, veggies, fish, cake, reheat
£179 at ProCook
If you find the flat cooking space of some air fryers restrictive, you can spread your (chicken) wings with ProCook's Air Fryer Health Grill. It comes with a 4.5-litre cooking pot and basket for air frying, as well as accessories to turn it into a slow-cooking and steaming kitchen helper.
Why we love itAir fryer grills aren't always the most convenient for making chips from scratch, because you can't quickly shake a drawer for even results. However, with the toss of a spatula, the ProCook ensured great consistency throughout its batch of chips. They emerged crisp at the ends and golden overall, with no pieces that overcooked and only one or two paler chips. Onion rings were crunchy and nothing stuck to the basket. My only niggle was that the settings could be confusing for a first-time user: once you've altered them to suit and hit start, the display shows the program's default settings instead while it preheats.
It's a shame that … I found cleaning the basket and cooking pot a chore: it comes with its own brush for tackling greasy residue and you will need to use it.
Size: 40 x 40 x 28cm (WDH)Capacity: 4.5 litresPower draw: 0.83kWh = 20p an hourDishwasher safe: no (basket and pot)Programs: air fry, roast, broil, bake, dehydrate, slow cook, grill, griddle, stew, steam, keep warm, manual
£249.99 at Argos£219.99 at Amazon
No article about air fryers would be complete without Ninja, which has given the world models in all shapes and sizes – most notably its stacked designs. The Double Stack XL offers capacity without a huge worktop footprint, thanks to its twin 4.75-litre drawers and a pair of racks that double its flat area, allowing you to cook four layers of food. Ideal for families, newbies and those struggling to squeeze in an air fryer.
Why we love itNinja's air fryers always come packed with guidance and recipes, and the Double Stack XL is no exception. These serve to underline how versatile it is: you could cook two whole chickens at the same time, for example – great if your barbecue's rained off. It's incredibly easy to program and adjust as it cooks – and the top temperature of 240C is perfect for crisping food from the freezer. That said, some of its recommended times and temperatures might be a bit off. After 26 minutes at 200C, some chips were still pale and soft, which suggests they'd need longer. There were similar results from the onion rings, which after 18 minutes didn't have the crisp and crunch produced by the other machines.
It's a shame that … its results didn't impress me as much as Ninja's other air fryers have – you may need to tweak settings.
Size: 28 x 47 x 38.5cm (WDH)Capacity: 9.5 litresPower draw: 1.049kWh = 26p an hourDishwasher safe: yes – but hand-washing recommended to extend lifespanPrograms: air fry, max crisp, roast, bake, dehydrate, reheat
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£52.89 at Charlies£60 at Amazon
Best for: a budget
If funds or worktop space are tight, Tower's Vortx Colour air fryer offers a lot in a compact footprint: touchscreen digital controls (no buttons that can grow greasy), a choice of colours to brighten up your kitchen, and enough capacity to cater for a small family or a couple. The temperature range – 80-200C – should cover most tasks and the presets include bacon for a lower-fat fry-up.
On test, chips were good overall – mostly crispy, with a few pale/soft pieces that escaped the heat – while onion rings were brown and crunchy in a mere 12 minutes. I was also pleased that the non-stick-coated basket and plate cleaned up easily by hand.
It didn't make the final cut because … the drawer doesn't feel especially robust, flexing slightly with pressure.
Size: 34.5 x 28.4 x 30cm (WDH); capacity: 6 litres; power draw: 0.782kWh = 19p an hour; dishwasher safe: no; programs: fries, bacon, drumsticks, prawns, steak, cake, veg, fish
£79.99 at Robert Dyas£105 at Currys
Best for: families on a budget
If you're feeding many mouths, you'll need a big air fryer. Salter's Fuzion offers a lot of space at an affordable price – and thanks to the 8-litre drawer's divider, you can air fry two foods at the same time. Alternatively, with the divider in place, you can just use half the air fryer: perfect for snacks. However, like other air fryers with dividers, it has issues with shaking: both types of food will be tossed around, and larger drawers are harder to shake.
I was disappointed with the level of browning on the chips and found that the onion rings weren't quite as crisp as they should be. Keeping its clear window grease-free may be a challenge, too.
It didn't make the final cut because … the drawer doesn't feel as durable as it should be for this type of air fryer: its metal is thin enough to flex.
Size: 36.4 x 38 x 32cm (WDH); capacity: 8 litres; power draw: 0.912kWh = 22p an hour; dishwasher safe: no; programs: manual, chips, shellfish, steak, pork, bake, chicken, vegetables
£136 at John Lewis£119 at Amazon
Best for: confident air fryer cooks
I'm afraid Instant Pot commits one of my air fryer cardinal sins with its Vortex Plus VersaZone: there's no instructions or guidance in the box, but simply a QR code that directs you to videos. I'm not a fan of forcing tech into the kitchen, and it was also one of the trickiest to program (for example, you have to switch from single drawer to dual by holding its control knob), so it's probably not a good choice for air fryer newbies.
There are some good things here, though: two 4.2-litre compartments with a divider, the ability to switch to fahrenheit, and the option to turn off the beeps if they annoy. It also produced great results, and perhaps that's the most important thing: plenty of crispy chips – though not consistently so – and crunchy, well-browned onion rings.
It didn't make the final cut because … the display is busy and hard to read in bright light.
Size: 31.4 x 38.4 x 40.4cm (WDH); capacity: 8.5 litres; power draw: 1.187kWh = 29p an hour; dishwasher safe: yes; programs: air fry, roast, bake, grill, dehydrate, reheat
£125 at Argos£67.95 at Amazon
Best for: small households
If you're unsure about how much you might use an air fryer and so want an appliance that does more to earn its place on the worktop, the compact SatisFry could suit. It may stretch the definition of a multi-cooker somewhat, lacking some of the functions you might associate with one, but its spacious pot can be used for air frying and other tasks, including slow cooking and searing.
There's not much guidance, however, and the results were mixed: chips were browned but soft and not very crisp, while onion rings were doughy with some singeing. I suspect both could have benefited from different times and temperatures. The other downside is that it recommends no more than 800g at a time for air frying, so you won't be able to use all its space for this function.
It didn't make the final cut because … it's not the easiest to program: for example, there are no separate up and down buttons for time and temperature.
Size: 37.8 x 32 x 28.2cm (WDH); capacity: 5.5 litres; power draw: 0.550kWh = 13p an hour; dishwasher safe: yes; programs: air fry, bake, grill, keep warm, roast, sear, slow cook high/low
A good-quality air fryer is an investment, so check its programs, ease of cleaning and temperature/time range before you buy. There's no need for the lower temperatures and long durations (usually up to 12 hours) for dehydrating fruit and fermenting yoghurt if you'll mostly be using it for air frying, for example. Similarly, if you're a keen cook, look for one with plenty of space – a small air fryer may soon limit your horizons.
For those with a dishwasher, check that drawers and crisping plates are safe to clean this way, while if you're cleaning by hand, robust non-stick coatings will make degreasing easier.
Air fryers are best thought of as smaller, modified convection ovens with a fast fan. Rather than having the fan and element at the rear, these are above, producing powerful fanned heat that's circulated around the drawer.
Food sits on a perforated crisper plate, allowing heat to reach the underside, while a thin layer of oil on the surface 'fries' the exterior to create browning and crunch. Shaking the contents in the drawer roughens up the surface, creating more area for crisping.
Yes, both because you need a lower amount of oil – a tablespoon should be enough to coat a 500g batch of chipped potato, while other foods require no oil at all – but also because the way food is 'fried' is different.
Conventional frying uses the oil in the pan to seal the exterior. This prevents moisture from escaping, which is then heated, steaming the inside. To do this, oil penetrates the food's surface, meaning that more fat is retained than when air frying.
Linger on social media long enough and you'll find worries about air fryer toxicity. It's usually centred on plastic parts growing hot (which, as it's limited to the exterior of air fryers, rather than the parts that come into contact with food, shouldn't present a problem) and non-stick coatings containing PFAS/PFOA.
Most manufacturers have phased out PFOA (since 2013, all Teflon products have been PFOA-free), while potential deterioration of non-stick (which may use PFAS as this is a term for a large group of chemicals) tends to happen at temperatures of 260C and above. Most air fryers have a limit of 200C, with the top temperatures on others 240C.
If you're concerned about the safety of non-stick, choose an air fryer with a ceramic-coated pan and plates, or clean yours carefully: damaged coatings are more likely to release chemicals.
Another concern linked to air fryers is about cooking starchy food, which produces acrylamide (a potential carcinogen). However, the same risks apply when oven cooking food.
Cooking oil at high temperatures can also produce potentially harmful compounds. Air fryers don't use much oil but if you're concerned about this, choose an oil with a high smoke point (the temperature when oil starts to smoke and break down), such as vegetable, peanut, sunflower or rapeseed.
Air fryers have gained a reputation for being economical, and while this is true for the most part, it won't always be the case. For small amounts of food, air fryers use less energy, heating up quickly and only circulating hot air within a small space. An example A+-rated 72-litre oven might use 1.395kWh to cook a roast chicken over 90 minutes, while an air fryer could do the same job in less than an hour and use only 0.782kWh – almost half the energy and cost.
However, if you were cooking large amounts, such as a whole roast dinner – chicken, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding, roast veggies and so on – running several cycles of air frying would cost more, making an oven the more energy-efficient choice.
Rachel Ogden has worked as a consumer journalist for decades, becoming an expert unboxer before it was a thing, although she is much less successful at repacking. Her home has hosted hundreds of small appliances from blenders and air fryers to robot vacuums, while outside, you'll find her messing about with pizza ovens, barbecues and heaters. Unsurprisingly, it takes a lot to impress her – many have tried and failed