THE best air fryers will completely change the way you cook.
These must-have gadgets will air fry, grill and bake with the process taking a fraction of the time compared to a conventional oven - so you're saving time as well as money.
And because it uses hot air to cook your food, you don't have to use as much oil, meaning the results are healthier too. Here's what you need to know.
What is an air fryer?
"An air fryer is similar to a mini oven that can take on almost anything you’d put in a conventional oven or deep-fat fryer," says Lara Brittain, kitchen and appliances expert at Currys.
They basically have a fan over a heating element that quickly circulates hot air around the cooking chamber.
Because it's such a small space, it heats up quicker than a conventional oven and stays warmer for longer so you don't use as much energy.
Meanwhile, your food is held in an air fryer basket, which has vents to allow this hot air to pass through and cook your food evenly.
Air fryers are best for things you want crisp up, and while you can't use them for batter, there are plenty of other uses.
Lara explained: "Air fryers have come a long way over the years and they’re not just for chips: you can bake, roast and even dehydrate ingredients too, depending on the model."
We tested some of the best air fryers on the market. Read on for our verdict.
Best air fryers at a glance:
Best double basket air fryer: Instant Vortex Plus dual drawer 8-in-1 air fryer with ClearCook 
- Instant Vortex Plus dual drawer 8-in-1 air fryer with ClearCook, £199.99 from Amazon – buy here
Pros: Extra large capacity, two fryer baskets, easy to clean, synced cooking times
Cons: Large size
The Vortex Plus is a great deluxe choice for fussy families as it allows you to cook two dishes simultaneously.
With air fry, roast, grill, bake, reheat and dehydrate functions, plus two separate fryer baskets, you could air fry potato wedges on one side and roast a small joint on the other.
Turn the interior light on and you’re able to keep an eye on your food as it cooks through the transparent "ClearCook" panels. It’s helpful to be able to tell when your frozen fries could do with a jiggle.
Ours came out perfectly after 11 minutes, with one shake of the basket. They cooked evenly, too, as did the six crispy chicken drumsticks we cooked in the other side.
We particularly liked the "sync" function that sorted out cooking so everything was ready at exactly the same time, even if we pre-heated only one basket. The machine told us when to add food and if we opened one side to move things around, the other side would pause cooking.
Although we thought keeping this model looking pristine might be tricky, the see-through drawers were easily cleaned and the quality casing and clear display were top of the range.
Dimensions: 40.3 x 38.4 x 31.7cm, Capacity: 7.6kg, Servings: 6, Function: air fry, roast, grill, bake, reheat and dehydrate functions, Power: 1700W
Best for reheating: Ninja air fryer AF100UK
- Ninja air fryer AF100UK, £129 from Amazon - buy here
Pros: Doesn't take up much room, great results, comes with a handy quick start guide
Cons: Hard to unpack, small fry basket
This is a digital air fryer you’ll use a lot, simply because it’s compact enough to be right there on the worktop where you can see it rather than stashed in a cupboard.
It has four functions — air fry, roast, dehydrate and reheat — so it’s great for perking up the remains of last night’s Deliveroo, too. Microwaves can make things taste boiled and overcooked, but the Ninja made leftover curry perfect again.
The non-stick, pull-out basket was one of the smaller we tested and although fine for a family-sized round of chips, we were pushed to squash in a medium-sized chicken.
With a bit of jiggling, we ended up with a lovely moist Sunday roast — cooked thoroughly and with crispy skin.
A really handy quick start guide was included with this model, giving recommended cooking times and recipes, but there was nothing "quick start" about trying to remove the packing tape from the unit itself, which came off in tiny shreds. That’s our only complaint, though; this one’s a keeper.
Dimensions: 36 x 32 x 25cm, Capacity: 3.8L, Servings: 4, Function: air fry, roast, reheat, dehydrate, Power: 1550W
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Best family-sized air fryer: Philips XL Connected air fryer
- Philips XL Connected air fryer, £161 from Amazon – buy here
Pros: Alexa compatible, has recipes to choose from, large capacity, keep warm function, great design
Cons: Not a lot
“Alexa, make me some chips” may sound like the stuff of dreams but with this smart Philips air fryer, the laziest couch potato can start cooking remotely.
Simply download the app, set the fry time and temperature, and let the XL Connected do the work.
We liked scrolling through recipes on our phone and prepping ingredients, then letting the machine get on with it, alerting us when dinner was ready.
This is a quiet air fryer, too, with intuitive controls and a mesh-style basket that is unusual in that it’s held in position when you pull it out to check on food. That’s really handy when it comes to serving up or turning things.
Nachos, fried chicken, fairy cakes, roast potatoes for Sunday lunch… we tried them all with great results.
The WiFi capabilities may seem like a bit of a gimmick, but in a busy household with a million things going on, the fryer's "turn" and "finish" alerts and keep warm function are the business.
It looks great too, and is going to be one that’s staying on our kitchen worktop until Alexa tells us it’s time to go on a diet.
Dimensions: 39.7 x 39.2 x 36.9cm, Capacity: 6.2L, Servings: 5, Function: air fry, bake, grill, roast, reheat, Power: 2000W
Salter Professional Aerogrill Pro
- Salter Professional AeroGrill Pro, £144.99 from Amazon - buy here
Pros: Wide range of presets, grills as well as air frying, looks sleek
Cons: Takes up quite a bit of counter space, cooking chamber isn't big enough for some cuts of meat
If you're looking for an air fryer that does more than just fry, let us introduce you to the Salter AeroGrill Pro.
Its main selling point is that, as well as everything a normal air fryer offers, it has the ability to grill your food — from chicken to sausages to vegetables. It's a taste of barbecue without the time, fuss or need for a sunny day.
It has a number of other settings too, including bake, roast and dehydrate settings. In total, there are sixteen presets; we haven't even had time to test them all.
The AeroGrill Pro also comes with a comprehensive instruction booklet as well as a recipe pamphlet.
Dimensions: 40.6 x 41.4 x 25.6cm Capacity: 3.8L Function: 16 including roast, bake and rehydrate Power: 1700W
Best for roast chicken: Tefal EasyFry 9-in-1 FW501827 air fryer
- Tefal EasyFry 9-in-1 FW501827 air fryer, £149 (saving £70) from Amazon - buy here
Pros: Lots of functions and accessories, large capacity
Cons: Not a lot
If you need a big, multi-function machine, this is it.
The air fryer has nine different functions, ranging from air frying to rotisserie-style chicken roasting.
There's room to cook up to eight portions of food, which is plenty for the whole family.
And it's all in a relatively compact device that will fit on your countertop.
It's pretty pricey, but considering the number of functions and accessories you get, we think this represents pretty good value for money.
Dimensions: 37 x 32.5 x 32.3cm, Capacity: 1.7kg, Servings: 8, Function: air fry, bake, grill, roast, dehydrate, reheat, Power: 2000W
Best for steaming: Tefal EasyFry 3-in-1 air fryer, grill and steamer
- Tefal EasyFry 3-in-1 air fryer, grill and steamer, £178 from Amazon – buy here
Pros: Great results, easy to clean, robust design
Cons: No keep warm function
This Tefal air fryer is a square, boxy style with a large silver chunky handle on the pull-out fryer basket. It feels great quality, robust and more built-to-last than some of the other models we tested. We liked how one of the inner trays can be flipped over so you can use the machine as a grill – the ridged bars made lovely charred lines on steaks and chicken breasts once we’d pre-heated the air fryer for 15 minutes.
There was no specific keep warm function, but we found this model held onto heat really well when the drawer was fully shut.
Kids’ potato waffles and fish fingers were still piping hot and crispy when we went back for seconds, and the machine had been switched off for at least 15 minutes. All good news when it comes to saving on those energy bills.
As you would expect from the company famous for their non-stick pans, this one was a dream to clean, with the inner basket and grill tray easy to rinse clean and also safe to stick in the dishwasher.
Dimensions: 40.7 x 39.9 32.4cm, Capacity: 6.2L, Servings: 8, Function: air fryer, steamer, and grill, Power: 1700W
Best budget large air fryer: Proscenic T21 air fryer
- Proscenic T21 air fryer, £98 from Mart4UK – buy here
Pros: Budget-friendly, large capacity, great results, easy to clean, lots of preset functions
Cons: Not a lot
This is a large-capacity fryer, making it a great choice for families.
It's relatively budget-friendly, especially if you like the thought of a connected app with recipes and remote control activation of more expensive models.
Once downloaded, the Proscenic app will show cooking and completion times and guide you through its recommended recipes.
Its aluminium and Teflon basket was good quality and generous in size, with enough room to cook for the whole family.
We had a bake-off afternoon, using the Proscenic to whip up a superb apple pie (we used an enamel pie dish sitting in the basket) and a savoury quiche. No soggy bottoms in sight, as the heat was evenly distributed.
This model was also a cinch to clean – we could pop it in the dishwasher at the end of cooking, but just a quick sink rinse worked on its non-stick coating.
Dimensions: 31.4 x 31.6 x 32.6cm, Capacity: 5.5L, Servings: 5, Function: air fry, grill, bake, keep warm, Power: 1700W
Best small air fryer: Magic Bullet air fryer
- Magic Bullet air fryer, £112.50 from Amazon – buy here
Pros: Compact size, budget-friendly price, easy to use, pre-heating light
Cons: No preset functions, no digital display
There’s no faffing around with digital displays and auto functions on this air fryer. After simple temperature selection and a twist of the timer knob, you’re frying!
The actual drawer space in this compact model could handle four sausages or enough fries for two side portions, so we’d say it’s ideal for singletons or couples with smaller appetites.
The most compact air fryer in our selection, this model is at an entry-level price point.
Considering its dinky size and simplicity, it would be a great choice for uni students and elderly family members who sometimes can’t find their way around complicated gadgets.
We liked the green pre-heating light, which pinged off to show us when the time was right to place ingredients in the "fry pot" drawer, which had an optional crisping tray for extra crunch.
Although there aren’t many fancy functions, this is a straightforward, budget choice that won’t bamboozle you with needless complications. Bring on the chips!
Dimensions: 27 x 25 x 23cm, Capacity: 2.5L, Servings: 2, Function: air fry, Power: 1300W
Best mini oven: Cuisinart air fryer mini oven
- Cuisinart air fryer mini oven, £245 from Amazon – buy here
Pros: Big enough for whole pizza, can replace main oven
Cons: Expensive, extra wide
This is a posh choice that claims to cook 30% faster than conventional ovens and it certainly made us think we’d see ours go out of action if this was on the worktop. The pre-heat time is only 90 seconds on this model and that’s good news for your leccy bill, compared to using the main appliance.
There’s another great advantage with the Cuisinart: Because it’s so wide, you can cook a whole 12” pizza in there in just seven minutes.
Ours was crispy and gooey perfection. Take away one of the shelves and you’ll fit in a decent-sized chook for Sunday lunch as well.
Yes, this air fryer oven is certainly bigger than some of the basket versions, but there may be a way to clear some space.
For one thing, lose your toaster. Cuisinart’s dedicated mode means you can do a whole tray of bread or bagels in one go, and choose your perfect shade.
One niggle with this model was the crumbs would fall through the basket to the bottom of the unit on air fry mode, which means extra cleaning.
All in all, though, the results were great – with everything toasted, roasted and crisped evenly. Jacket spuds were another hit as they were done 12 mins earlier than in our main oven. But boy oh boy, we’re still thinking about the crunchy crust on that homemade pizza - simply magnifico!
Dimensions: 40 x 35 x 31cm, Capacity: 17kg, Servings: 4, Function: air fry, bake, grill, Power: 1800W
Best basic air fryer: Progress Go Healthy digital air fryer
- Progress Go Healthy digital air fryer, £74.99 from Progress – buy here
Pros: Compact, easy to use
Cons: Hand-wash only
This model impressed us with its cooking results and uncomplicated settings.
It's hand wash only, but we found the pull-out tray easy to clean with soapy water – sometimes it only needed a quick wipe with a kitchen towel.
It doesn't take up a lot of space either, but we were able to easily cook six large southern fried chicken drumsticks.
With temperature settings up to 200 degrees, we got a real crunch to that coating, prompting one tester to say she was giving up on Colonel Sanders and going homemade from now on – praise indeed!
If you’re not convinced you would use an air fryer a lot, then this is a good choice. It’s compact enough to fit in a cupboard but versatile enough to make you fall in love and wonder how you ever did without it.
Dimensions: 32.7 x 32 x 27.4cm Capacity: 4.5kg, Servings: 4, Function: air fry, Power: 1300W
Best hands-free air fryer: Tefal ActiFry Genius XL
- Tefal ActiFry Genius XL, £149 from Currys - buy here
Pros: Hands-free model, great results, app with over 300 recipes
Cons: Few functions, quite expensive
Tefal's ActiFry is an updated version of one of the original air fryers.
It has an in-built paddle that moves your food around as it cooks so you get perfectly even results with no shaking needed.
Download the companion app and you'll have over 300 recipes to try out, including desserts.
It's pretty expensive though, especially considering you can't grill with it.
For the money, you get a large capacity fryer with room to cook enough food for up to eight people, with great results each time.
Dimensions: 47.6 x 32.8 x 26.3cm, Capacity: 1.7kg, Servings: 8, Function: air fry, Power: 1500W
Best easy clean: Breville Halo Air Fryer
- Breville Halo Air Fryer, £119 from Amazon - buy here
Pros: Pre-set settings, easy to clean, easy to use
Cons: Not a huge capacity
It's true; airfryers really do change the whole cooking game. This Breville offering is unbelievably straight forward to use, with predetermined categories handily represented by diagrams that include chips, poultry, vegetables, red meat and fish which are pre-set to the exact time and temperature each one needs.
Adjusting the temperature and timer manually is just as straight forward, with clear plus and minus signs that you simply tap to change.
The basket is easy to remove and clean, which was a concern that was immediately alleviated with a push of a button. It also holds 5.5 litres which can feed up to six people.
At just under £120, it does everything you need with little to no fuss and is a doddle to clear up afterwards.
Honestly, it's a game changer.
Dimensions: 11.4cm x 15.2cm x 13.7cm, Capacity: 5.5l, Servings: 6, Function: air fry, bake, roast, sauté and grill Power: 1700W
Best BPA-free: COSORI Air Fryer XXL 5.5L
- COSORI Air Fryer XXL 5.5L, now £93.49 (was £119.99) from Amazon - buy here
Pros: PFOA-free, BPA-free, large capacity
Cons: 'Shake' reminder only works for presets
If you're concerned with the toxic elements surrounding air fryers, then the Cosori is a great option for putting your mind at ease: the nonstick metal basket is PFOA-free and BPA-free.
With a 5.5L capacity, the square basket can serve three to five people: there's enough room to accommodate a 2.25kg roast chicken or even an eight-inch pizza.
We found it really simple and easy to use from the get-go: our first attempt at perfectly crispy spring rolls had us hooked, it was easy to clean afterwards and we loved the addition of the recipe book which has some really tasty-looking breakfasts, sides, desserts and more.
The downside? It's hard to find one in all honesty– but we did notice that when using the manual setting, there's no option for setting a reminder to shake the basket for evenness.
It's an easy one to get around, however: as presets have a shake reminder, we just selected one and manually adjusted the time and temperature from there. Sorted!
Dimensions: 30D x 32W x 30H cm, Capacity: 5.5 litres, Servings: 3 to 5 people, Function: roast, air fry, grill, toast, reheat, defrost, Power: 1700W
Best budget medium air fryer: Power XL Vortex air fryer
- Power XL Vortex air fryer, £99 from AO - buy here
Pros: Easy to set up, budget friendly, recipes included
Cons: Not a lot
This is a great value fryer.
It's not too noisy, offers great functions – air fry, grill, bake, saute and roast – and doesn’t take up too much space.
It was easy to set up and get the hang of as well.
The list of pre-set buttons and functions covered everything we needed to make dinner for three.
Clean-up was easy, as everything seemed to slide off the non-stick coating of the dishwasher-safe round inner pan.
Dimensions: 38.6 x 34.4 x 28.6cm, Capacity: 4.7kg, Servings: 4, Function: air fry, grill, bake, saute and roast, Power: 1500W
What should I look for in an air fryer?
First of all, think about how much room you have in your kitchen. Air fryers need ventilation, so make sure you have plenty of room on your countertop during use.
Capacity is crucial, too, so it makes sense to go extra large if you have a family of four or more; some won’t handle chips for more than a couple of people.
Larger choices will give you more scope to pop in nuggets or a chop too, and dual basket models make tea time with fussy kids a breeze as you can cook more than one dish at once.
Basic models will air fry, but some will use different elements and heated trays to bake, grill or even toast.
If you want to cook whole pizzas, an air fryer with a pull-out basket may only be able to handle one or two individual slices, so you may be better off with a wider, oven-style version.
What can you cook in an air fryer?
"Air fryers can cook virtually anything in them," according to Lara Brittain, kitchen and appliances expert at Currys. "However we do not recommend cooking anything considered a wet food i.e. anything in a wet batter as you would not get the best results and the batter would probably run off."
How does an air fryer work?
Essentially, the electrical gadget circulates superheated air around your food to cook it, says Lara.
On some models, like Tefal ActiFry, it'll even help coat your food with just the right amount of oil to achieve even results.
"If you’re cooking chips, for example, you only need about 1 tablespoon of oil for 1kg of sliced potatoes," she explained. "The machine helps the oil coat them thinly so there’s not too much oil to saturate your spuds; no more submerging your chips into deep vats of fattening oil."
She added: "The hot air system cocoons your food in heat, cooking it evenly. The stirring paddle keeps things moving, so there’s no need to shake or stir. It’s hands-free cooking at its finest, leaving you to do more important things."
Can you put foil in an air fryer?
"You can use foil or parchment paper in your air fryer to make clean-up easy," says Lara. "However, parchment paper is probably a better option!"
Make sure anything you use is kept away from the heating elements though as otherwise it can be a fire hazard.
Are air fryers healthy?
"In comparison to deep-fat frying, air frying can be a healthier alternative," according to Lara. "Using convection cooking rather than oil means there will be less fat in the final food that ends up on your plate."
What is the best air fryer?
Air fryers come in all shapes and sizes but these products are favourites for Lara:
- For big families, the Tefal ActiFry Genius XL only needs one spoon of oil. Its extra-large, 1.7-litre fryer cooks family meals like curries or tajines. Its touch-screen interface makes everything simple and comes with lots of different meal ideas. There's also a delayed start function so it'll have food ready in time for when you get home. And it'll keep meals warm until you're ready to eat.
- If you’re having people over for Sunday roast, the Tefal EasyFry 9-in-1 FW501827 air fryer not only has a massive 11-litre capacity but it even has a special chicken setting - so you can roast a chicken in one rack and do extra crispy (but much healthier) roast potatoes in another. And if you need pudding ideas, you can even serve cake - since this air fryer bakes as well as fries!
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