Too many air fryers on the market. Which one should we go for? What’s a good price?
It is amazing how prices have come down. A year ago, they were $150 to $200. I found the Insta Vortex unit at Target on sale for $70. The same day, it was $100 at Walmart. The clerk at Target rang it up at $99 and I said "No, the price on the shelf is $70." She checked their ad and confirmed $70. You have to watch those POS terminals! Note that the unit is back to $100 at Target today.
I like everything about it except 1) it's a bit loud (the convection fan) but not terribly so and 2) the display doesn't turn off when you are done. You have to unplug it to make it go dark. That's not a big deal because we store it in the pantry, not on the kitchen counter. The noise isn't objectionable with all the other noises you make in the kitchen.
It heats quickly, cooks evenly and FAST, has easy-to-use controls, is easy to clean, and looks good on the counter. The cooking grate came with four rubber bumpers to keep the grate centered in the basket. There were no instructions on whether to keep them installed or remove them before cooking. I took them out as I figured they would catch grease and they were probably just there for shipping (to keep the grate from bouncing and rattling around). The grate fits very snugly with them in place.
There probably aren't a lot of differences between manufacturer units and you probably can't go wrong with any of them. But I'm happy with the Insta unit so far -- I've used it twice, once for salmon and once for the bacon today. I used the Delish "Air Fryer Salmon" recipe with their glaze of oil, brown sugar, whole seed mustard, garlic and thyme. It was outstanding!
I bought two of these. One for a gift and one for me. We both love them.
Most holidays this model goes on sale for around $60. Mine are black.
I don’t recommend anything below 6 quarts. I cook for one and it’s plenty. You might regret anything smaller that for example a two or four quart can only cook a small portion of chicken wings barely enough for one person. From what I hear a dozen wings would not fit in a 2 qt and even a 4 qt would be a stretch.
Just my thoughts. I like the “basket” ones that you put the food in what looks like a sauce pan rather than the ones that look more like a toaster oven. They’re way easier to clean. Anything I’d use the fancy attachments for I fire up the grill.
I bought a 2 qt. cheap Bella ($18) and figured I’d upgrade if I decided I wanted something fancier. Still using the cheapy. I think I’d probably get a little bigger one if I ever replace it.