Air Fryer Buying Guide

We cooked batches of French fries, chicken wings, and chicken nuggets, popular foods that are recommended in the owner's manuals, in many of the air fryers and, for comparison, a deep fryer. The air fryers needed just a few minutes to preheat, while our deep fryer took 15 minutes to get the oil hot. But the deep fryer cooks faster. All in all, when you factor in the time needed to preheat, the air fryers are slightly faster.

Staffers were not told which cooking method was used for each food, yet everybody could tell which foods were deep-fried. While none of the air fryers duplicated deep-fried results, the food was still delicious.  

We cooked these same foods in all of the air fryers, and found that while instructions for cooking times and temperatures vary by manufacturer, there were minor differences in browning, and staffers didn't notice any real differences in taste. "Even when we held cooking times and temperatures constant, the results were very similar, with no discernible differences in taste," says Larry Ciufo, who leads CR's tests of air fryers. "The real difference among air fryers comes down to convenience, so we designed our tests around that."

Testers evaluated how easy it is to read and use the controls. We used a sound-level meter to do multiple measurements of how loud each air fryer gets during operation, noting the noise at its peak.

And no matter how well a countertop appliance does its job, if cleanup is a hassle, we want you to know. That's why our testers judged how easy it is to clean each air fryer's basket, interior, and exterior.

Our air fryer ratings provide a summary of each model, offering you a good look at each. But before you shop, consider the following.

• Prices vary widely. The air fryers in our ratings sell for around $40 to $200, and we've seen ones for as much as $300. 

• Capacities vary too. Air fryers are designed to neatly fit on your counter, and most aren't big enough to cook for a crowd, unless you cook in batches. We measured the capacities of the the air fryers we tested and found that they're between 2 and 8.9 quarts. When cooking, do not overcrowd the basket. This can block the hot air from reaching all the food. The result? Some food is cooked more than others.

• Warranties differ. The shortest warranty of the air fryers we tested is 60 days—not exactly a confidence booster. Others in the air fryer ratings usually have a one or two-year warranty. You'll see this mentioned on the summary page of each air fryer.