Are you thinking about buying an air fryer and don't know what to buy or don't understand the different types of air fryers on the market? Here's an overview of the different types on the market to help you make a decision.
Air fryers are one of the most popular kitchen purchases right now...and for good reason! For us, once we purchased an air fryer, it quickly became our FAVORITE kitchen appliance
What is An Air Fryer?
Air fryers are small countertop convection ovens that evenly distribute the air circulating inside the unit which leaves the cooked food crispy, brown, and tender...just like a deep fryer, yet much healthier!
Air fryers especially do a great job with cooking frozen foods like frozen corn dogs instead of going out to your favorite fast-food restaurant. It also does a great job at cooking many main dish recipes like breaded chicken breast or even a holiday ham.
What makes air fryers so special?
- Air fryers cook food quickly, often in less time than an oven.
- They preheat in just 5 minutes, compared to an oven which often takes 15 minutes.
- Food turns out much crispier compared to baking.
- You can cook your favorite fast food recipes right at home but healthier by skipping the deep frying.
5 Types of Air Fryers to Buy
Whether you're looking for a small air fryer to cook simple snacks for just 1-2 people, or whether you want a large multi-use appliance that'll cook for a whole family, learn about the types of air fryers and get our top picks for each type!
Not only is the Cosori Air Fryer Max XL the most popular air fryer on Amazon, after personally testing multiple air fryer brands, but this is also our personal favorite too! If you're looking for the traditional basket style air fryer model and want to cook for 3-5 people, this is a fantastic model to consider.
Its genius square shape lets you roast up to a 5 lb chicken, which many basket style air fryers can't handle. It also has presets for popular food itesms such as Steak, Poultry, Seafood, Shrimp, Bacon, Frozen Foods, French Fries, Vegetables, Root Vegetables, Bread, and Desserts. Just choose your preset with 1 easy tap on the display and you're ready to cook.
Do you love having a toaster oven but don't have room on the counter for both an air fryer and toaster oven? This large combo model by Instant Pot has 11 different features including air fry, dehydrate, toast, roast, bake, broil, slow cook, proof or reheat. Choose convection and rotate for delicious chicken and roasts.
Since this is a large capacity oven, you can even toast 6 pieces of bread at the same time, bake a 12” pizza, make a cake, or even roast a whole chicken.
Ninja Foodi is a popular type of pressure cooker/air frying combo when you want to combine the benefits of having an air fryer AND a pressure cooker but don't want to purchase two separate units.
Do you just want to cook for 1-2 people and mostly plan to use it for crisping quick snacks or just 2 chicken breasts? If this is you then you'll love a small, cute, and compact basket style air fryer like the Dash model.
Not only is it highly rated, but it's an economical way to get started with air frying.
If you already have an Instant Pot and don't want to replace it with a combo unit and don't want to buy another large kitchen gadget, then purchasing an air fryer lid that converts an Instant Pot into an air fryer is something to consider!
If you're just getting started with air frying, be sure to download our free air fryer cooking PDF with the cooking times/temps of 50 popular air fryer foods!
>> Download the printable air fryer cooking times chart HERE <<
Bruce Hardenberg says
Love your info, thanks much.
Bruce
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you Bruce!