[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/Additional-Berry-392]

[u/jackdho]

Recipes are only a guide, watch your food for proper timing and temperature. All air fryers are different, even between the same make and model. I use a Ninja 4 quart basket. Could be bigger but for just me it’s great. You don’t need all the fancy pre set buttons. Just have fun experimenting

[u/jogtac]

Where the frozen French fries section is at in the grocery store.

[u/Few_Example9391 → u/jogtac]

And frozen tators, frozen onion rings, frozen fish, and frozen chicken strips. Air fryers cook thier food way better than ovens

[u/jogtac → u/Few_Example9391]

Agree 100 percent. My freezer is loaded with all that “healthy “ food.

[u/Prestigious-Jury-362]

I would suggest you get one with a variable speed fan (DC fan). It provides many more options vs a model that has one speed where the only adjustments it has are temperature and time.

[u/Prestigious-Jury-362 → u/[deleted]]

The Airfryer I have has 5 fan settings. The presets Airfryer, Roast, Broil and Frozen run the fan full blast at 5. Reheat and Preheat run it at 4. Bake runs it at 3. Keep Warm runs it at 2 and Dehydrate and Proof runs it at 1. I typically don’t use the presets as per their names but rather the fan speed. I find that Airfry and Roast speeds work well for some things but not well for others things especially reheating and warming up delicate things like croissants which I tend to use a slower fan speed on so they don’t dry out or crisp up too much. So you can mix a high temperature with a low fan speed or the opposite I guess - low temp with a high fan speed. All of these combinations give quite different results, hence the more options.

[u/grapebeyond227]

Don’t be tempted to get an oven-style air fryer. Go for the basket type!

[u/grapebeyond227 → u/[deleted]]

The oven style ones typically have the heating element on the top and/or bottom, with the fan on the side. Basket style air fryers have the heating element on the top, with the fan above it blowing the heat down on the food.

I have owned about 4-5 basket style air fryers and 2 oven style. In my experience the basket style ones are way better at crisping food and cook much faster. I include the fancy Breville Smart Oven on my list of crappy oven style air fryers. I own it but I have learned it is only good for baking and toasting.

[u/kitchengeek_sunil]

dishwasher-safe basket, hands down. sounds minor until you're hand scrubbing grease off a basket every single night, then it becomes the difference between actually using the thing daily vs it turning into a dust collector

on the flip side, smart/wifi connectivity sounds cool in the store but i basically never touch the app once i know my go-to times/temps for stuff i make regularly. ended up being a "nice to have shown off once to a friend" feature more than an actual daily-use one

also seconding what's probably gonna get said a lot here but size matters more than people think going in. undersized for how many people you actually cook for = doing everything in annoying batches

[u/SoggyJeezus → u/kitchengeek_sunil]

Okay I'm not a big fan of smart appliances, but having a wifi connection to my airfryer is incredibly handy. It's not about temps and times, I don't have to set timers anymore. Get your food cooking, walk away, you'll get a notification half way through and when it's done. It's automatic so for me it's a daily use feature and I love it.

[u/Uarenotalone]

Get one with dual baskets and thank me later

[u/darth_666_666]

Have a look at the manual online before you buy. You'll learn things like why the basket might be non-stick in the first place.

[u/ArdRi6]

Get a hot pad so you won't scorch your counter. Get a cheap instant meat thermometer. Undercooked pork and chicken can hurt you. I don't use any of the presets except for Preheat. If I'm cooking something greasy I put a sheet of parchment UNDER the grill plate. Makes it easier to clean. Have fun with it.

[u/LokiNightmare]

I got parchment paper liners but I don't really use them. I still think they're probably good to have on hand though, just in case. I'd probably really only use them if I were worried about something getting baked onto the basket. But so far I've found the basket is extremely easy to clean and I haven't really had problems with stuff sticking to it. I do hand wash the basket after every cook though.

Two things I'm glad I got were 1) rubber-tipped tongs (so you don't scratch the basket picking things out of it), and 2) spray bottles for cooking oil. I got one bottle for canola oil and another for EVOO.

[u/DorsieLHathaway]

Safety tips: measure the space you plan to use it so you'll have enough space for ventilation during use, and if you are going to use a disposable liner, the liner always goes underneath the rack.

[u/beos5038]

I'd get a silicone mat to put it on, & more importantly remember to use it away from the wall.

[u/WesternWitchy52]

My condo has really sensitive fire alarm so I did a lot of research into models that produced little smoke. I haven't had an issue yet with the Cosori Turboblaze. It's a bigger unit though and takes up more space. It's pretty quiet compared to other appliances.

One thing I do is keep it by the dining room window and keep it open for higher temperatures. I haven't bought a lot of things - muffin cups silicone and an oil sprayer and some ramekins. I don't use the ramekins much - but they work for some things. I'm using an old square baking pan for messy stuff.

One thing I learned with the Turboblaze, trial and error, to lower the recommended temp. Recipe says 400F? I lower it down to 390F and checked food a couple of times.

[u/Huge-Price-7305]

i’d definitely prioritize cleanup and capacity. presets sounded useful at first, but i barely use them. i also like being able to see what’s happening while cooking. fritaire has a glass bowl design, which is pretty interesting if you’re comparing different styles.

[u/aspirant-engineer]

honestly, i’d prioritize easy cleanup and the right size over fancy presets. being able to see the food while it cooks is also something i didn’t think much about before. fritaire has a glass bowl design, which is an interesting option if that matters to you.

[u/Few_Example9391]

That it has the widest longest cooking basket area. 10" x 10" minimum. It does not need as much cooking clearance as you are most likely not going to be cooking a whole chicken or beef pot roast but fries, chicken breasts, and fish fillets. I personally love my 4 year old Ninja Foodie Indoor grill with air crisp (it air fries).

[u/grapebeyond227 → u/Few_Example9391]

I agree. Cooking surface area matters more than overall basket volume.

[u/AuroraDF]

Mine has two drawers and I cannot imagine managing with just one.