Tips When Buying An Air Fryer
1. Size. This would be my number one consideration. Don’t just buy an air fryer because the price is good or because of a mega sale. You may end up with one that doesn’t suit your needs and cooking with it will be frustrating. I made that mistake with my first air fryer purchase. It was much too small for our family of four and I had to cook in multiple batches for each meal. Thankfully, my husband dropped that air fryer and it cracked so I was able to get a new (bigger) one!
I now have a 6 quart air fryer and I would recommend this size or larger for a family of four. I can easily make 4 large chicken breasts in one batch, or 3-4 large potatoes cut into fries in one batch.
If you cook for 1-2 people, then you likely don’t need such a large one. You could get away with a smaller one for sure.
2. Classic Basket vs. Toaster Oven Style. I opted for the classic basket style air fryer. It does add another appliance to my collection but I have the storage space for it in a kitchen cupboard. I already had a toaster oven which serves its purpose well. Classic basket style air fryers tend to take up more space and if you don’t have room to store it in a cupboard, it will take up space on the counter which may or may not be an issue in your kitchen.
If you don’t have space or are looking for appliances that do more, you can look into the toaster oven style air fryers which do the traditional toaster oven functions and also air fry. They tend to take up less space (not always the case as some can actually rotisserie a whole chicken)!
3. Cleaning procedure. Some air fryer baskets are tough to clean and you could spend a while getting all the crumbs, oil etc off of the basket. I prefer the ones that are easy to wipe the grease/food versus the mesh wire type baskets. Take a look at the two types below and you will see what I mean. The image on the right shows a mesh basket which I find to be such a pain to clean.
The air fryer I have takes just a few minutes to clean and no elbow grease needed!
This is the air fryer that I have and love. It is easy to clean, perfect for my family of four and does what I need it to do.
There is a newer model that is slightly larger and has a clear window on the basket to see the food.
Now let’s get air frying together! Check out my recipes page and search for my air fryer recipes (see some options below).
There you will find a variety of recipes from chicken wings to vegetables and even desserts!
Enjoy!
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