Lastly, the Instant Vortex Plus has a fryer basket that we prefer, even to our top pick, because it doesn’t have a detachable basket insert. Instead it has a single perforated rack that easily tucks snugly in the base, and when you toss food, you can simply slide it out of the fryer and shake rather than needing to detach the basket insert and relocate to the sink.
What we didn’t like about the Instant Vortex Plus 4-Quart Air Fryer
Like most standard size air fryers, the Vortex Plus only really excels with small amounts of food, and you do need to shake them periodically. Compared to the Philips Premium, the Instant Vortex’s capacity for evenly crisped french fries and veggies is quite a bit less—the difference between four servings and two. Don’t get us wrong. We still ate the full 20 ounces of frozen sweet potato fries we cooked in the Instant Vortex Plus, but they weren’t as evenly crisped as the ones cooked in the Philips Premium.
Key Specs
- Dimensions: 10.1″D x 8.3″W x 10.5″H
- Weight: 4.87 pounds
- Capacity: 2.1 quarts
- Power: 900 watts
- Max temperature: 400 degrees Fahrenheit
- Colors: gray, green, red, and white
- Material: metal and plastic
- Warranty: 1 year
Maybe you’re keen on hopping on the air fryer bandwagon, but you’re low on kitchen storage or counter space and don’t have a family of four to feed. For you we put compact (or mini) air fryers head to head, judging them only against each other and the Cosori Lite 2.1-Quart Mini Air Fryer came out as our choice for households of one or two people. It was able to produce perfectly crisp double servings of sweet potato fries and tater tots (we tested with half the amount we cooked in the full-size models), put out beautifully browned zucchini, and (just barely) fit two frozen veggie burger patties in its square-shaped basket. The digital interface is easy to use, with four settings that can be custom-programmed if you so choose. The machine fully pauses when you take the basket out to shake or check its contents, but picks right up where it left off as soon as you insert the basket back into place.
It’s worth noting that the Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer, a smaller version of our winning budget pick, was a close second here. Both the Cosori and the Instant performed similarly in each of our tests, and while the two have almost the same capacity, we actually preferred the flatter shape of the Instant’s basket because it meant more surface area for browning, allowing food to crisp up a minute or two faster than it did in the Cosori. But the Cosori won out for three reasons: it’s smaller (an important factor in this dedicated compact category), lighter (under five pounds, as opposed to the Instant’s over seven) and much quieter.
What we didn’t like about the Cosori Lite 2.1-Quart Mini Air Fryer
Because of its size, the Cosori really only excels at cooking or reheating very small batches of food—we’re talking one, maybe two servings. It also won’t remind you to shake or flip your food, so you’ll have to keep an eye on the time yourself. Luckily, the display makes that relatively easy.
How we tested air fryers
In the search for the best air fryers, we cooked up slices of zucchini, cubes of marinated tofu, and a host of frozen foods: tater tots, a full 20-ounce package of frozen sweet potato fries, and as many single frozen veggie burgers as would fit in a single layer. Whenever possible, we relied on the manufacturer’s instructions in terms of time and temperature for each preparation—though the specs ended up being pretty similar across all machines. Then, we evaluated the performance with the following factors in mind.
How well did the air fryer crisp food?
This was the paramount concern. No further explanation needed, except to say that we focused on foods that tested the machine’s ability to get foods crisper than they would in a traditional oven (even if they aren’t quite like deep-fried foods). Baking a small batch of cream puffs, which are featured in an air-fryer recipe book accompanying one of these devices, or being able to cram a whole chicken in, was considered more a perk than a testing requirement for us.
Did the air fryer cook food evenly?
With the stipulation that the user must shake the frying basket once or twice during cooking, we looked for machines with designs that maximized the movement of air over all the food in the basket? Did the food end up evenly brown and crunchy, or did the air fryer cook it unevenly—too brown in parts and raw in others?
Was the control panel easy to use?
Many air fryers offer various presets for cooking foods like fries and pizza. And while those functions can provide some additional ease of use, more often than not, you’ll want the ability to set a specific time and temperature. So we ignored the presets and focused more on how easy it was to adjust the time and temp (this also made for a more apples-to-apples comparison of cooking outcomes).
Does the air fryer have a functional design?
Basket-style air fryers come in a variety of sizes, but models with square-shaped air-fryer baskets offer more surface area for arranging larger pieces of food. We also preferred the baskets that had as few interlocking parts as possible—they were not only easier to clean, but easier to maneuver when hot.
Was the air fryer easy to clean?
This wasn’t the most important factor because the design of so many air fryers is so similar that the cleaning process from fryer to fryer is similar as well—but the more separate parts an air fryer had, the more individual pieces we had to clean. And while all our recommended air fryers claim that their baskets and inserts are dishwasher-safe, it’s worth noting that when it comes to Teflon-style nonstick coatings, we recommend hand-washing if you want maximum longevity.
Was the air fryer easy to move and store?
Not everybody will want their air fryer to be on permanent display in the kitchen. So we wanted to find one that was easy to move around and store in the pantry or cupboard. That meant bonus points for lighter models with slim profiles.
Other air fryers we tested
Key Specs