Unlike our upgrade pick, the Cuisinart lacks a handy rack-position key on the oven door. However, when you open the oven door, you’ll find the rack position numbers printed on the side of the oven. But you’ll still have to consult the user manual to know where the racks should be placed for each cooking function, which is a little inconvenient. We also ran a bonus round to evaluate how well each oven could crisp up the skin on chicken thighs—a very telling test, as very few models excelled at this task. With a sleek design, this stainless steel Cuisinart toaster accommodates all types of bread selections and shade preferences.
There are also air-frying toaster ovens, which are typically heavier, more stationary and more expensive. There are even air-frying Instant Pots and microwave-air fryer combos to consider. We’ve tested dozens more air fryers, including more Cosori models, the Philips Premium XXL, the tiny Dash Compact, and the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone. We were surprised to see a few of these struggle with the most straightforward food, like fries and chicken wings. Others had decent performance but lacked some of the features that our winners included as a default, like presets, large baskets, and easy cleanup processes.
Making Italian sausage in the air fryer has definitely become one of our new favorite sausages to make! Add oil to wings, then season with salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Pop a handful of frozen pierogies in the air fryer, then pair them with your favorite dipping sauce or serve them as a side dish with your meal. I liked the top placement of the control panel on the Cosori Lite air fryer.
Nevertheless, if you’re in the market for a quality air fryer at an affordable price, Costco is a great place to look, especially during the holidays when they go on sale. Last but not least, check out this delicious-sounding recipe from The Creative Bite. This one will show you exactly how to prepare Tortilla Crusted Tilapia (available at Costco and online at Costco Business Center) using your air fryer.
The Instant Vortex Plus 6-quart Air Fryer has impressed us time and time again as the best air fryer available. It’s the right balance of manageable size yet useful capacity, blasting convection power necessary for crispy results, and of course, the user-friendly interface. Keep in mind that Costco has been known to offer sale prices on their air fryers around the holidays. In 2022, the Ninja Foodi went on sale at Costco during November and December, knocking the price down by about $40 (the sale price was $119.99). Costco has also offered sale prices on Gourmia air fryer models in the past, like when they offered a 7-qt Gourmia digital air fryer for just $39.99 last December. If you need a slightly smaller machine, we think you’ll be happier with the Cuisinart—it performed just as well and it’s also more affordable.
When it’s time to move or store, the legs fold down for a smaller footprint, and it’s lightweight enough to move easily. These top-performing models bake, broil, dehydrate, and even rotisserie cuisinart air fryer oven with speed and efficiency. From start to finish, this recipe should only take about 15 minutes. Try out this simple 25-minute recipe, which comes straight from Cuisinart via Costco.com.