This air fryer also isn’t as much of an eyesore as some machines we’ve tried over the years, so it won’t look like an alien spaceship has landed on your kitchen counter. Senior staff writer Michael Sullivan conducted research and testing for the previous version of this guide. He has researched, tested, and reviewed toasters, toaster ovens, and deep fryers, among other kitchen gear and gadgets, since 2016, and spent more than 250 hours over the past five years researching and testing air fryers. Michael also served as a knowledgeable consultant for the latest round of testing, researching, and writing of this guide. The TOA-65 includes a handy pull-out crumb tray (which does the job) and features interior sides coated with nonstick. My piece of equipment needed a clean after testing — the broiled salmon was the limit.
During the cookie bake-off, I timed each oven to see how fast it came up to 350 degrees F. Even though the basket allows for air to circulate around the bottom of whatever you’re cooking, I’ve found the top cooks faster, so I think flipping your food is helpful for the best result. The Cuisinart also did well with broccoli, which is a somewhat finicky vegetable to roast, as the florets can burn easily while the stems remain undercooked. In testing, the florets were crisp enough without being overdone, and the stems were tender, all in about half the time it takes to roast broccoli in an oven. Though the crumb tray and wire rack are not dishwasher-safe, the air-fryer basket and drip pan are, which is great because those are the two accessories that get dirty the quickest. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times.
We found there was sufficient room for about two and a half portions of fries cooked to perfection; or three, if you’re willing to sacrifice some of the crispiness. If I’m being honest, I was prepared to hate on the air fryer until it went out of style. But now that I’ve tried the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven, I’m convinced it may never go out of style. The Vortex Plus was the budget winner of our recent air fryer testing, and it’s even more budget-friendly right now because of Prime Day. This is a basket-style air fryer, so no oven here, but it can do things like broil and dehydrate, although not quite as well as an oven style machine.
Unfortunately, the knobs and buttons on the control panel are overly sensitive, especially while the oven is hot, and it beeps loudly every time you press a button or turn a knob. Despite its design flaws, it performed exceptionally well, though it lacks the precision of the Breville ovens. As with most of our product review budget picks, saving some money usually means sacrificing features or functionality—and this is certainly the case with toaster ovens. The Panasonic doesn’t come with nearly as many accessories as the Breville (there’s no app, either), but there is an included 9-inch-square baking tray. This oven also has a one-year limited manufacturer’s warranty on parts and labor.
With a lot of accessories—a crisper basket, the baking dish, and a rotisserie spit— you’ll need to clear plenty of cabinet space to store everything. All of the parts require hand washing and since they’re not nonstick, this can be a bit of a chore, especially cuisinart toa60 after you’ve air fried battered chicken. With Cosori’s V-Sync app and a Wi-Fi connection, you can check on food as it cooks and receive alerts on a mobile device. You can also select recipes and the app will send the temperature and time settings to your oven.
The KitchenAid and Crux both showed some browning, landing them in third and fourth place. All but two of the ovens I tested — the Crux and the Calphalon — have an internal light, which is nice when you need it but not necessary by any means. Six cookbooks including The Jewish Cookbook (Phaidon, 2019) and Modern Jewish Cooking.
However, the programmed times for each toast setting are extremely long (more than 7 minutes at medium) and bread comes out darker than you’d expect. Toasted bread and bagels tend to come out a little lighter than the selected setting. The Cosori offers a preheat option, cuisinart choppers but it can take as long as 8 minutes to come up to temperature. It also offers the choice of programming it to beep halfway through air frying as a reminder to shake or turn over food. The Gourmia excels at toasting bread and turning out a crisp-crusted pizza.
Which honestly I didn’t even know until I went to write this post and discovered it! All you have to do is pull out the crumb tray, wipe it off, and put it back in. You never have to deal with sticking your hand into the bottom and cleaning around the coils like you do with toaster ovens. While it has a toast setting, I will use the air fry function to make toast because it’s faster than a regular toaster and tastes pretty much the same. The Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven is just one of these all-purpose appliances, but after I tested nine large air fryers, it turned out to be one of my favorites.
That range allows home cooks to use this small-but-mighty appliance for everything from proofing bread dough to browning the tops of cheesy dishes such as nachos or lasagna. The functions on air fryer toaster ovens are also designed to carry out those functions in an optimal way. For example, if you’re toasting, the temperature is usually high, and you can pick from different shade settings; if you’re baking, the heat is gentle and doesn’t use a fan so you can get even results. The Ninja Foodi Air Fry Oven has one of the largest air frying racks we tested, measuring in at 13 by 13 inches. The most appealing feature is that it swivels upward for storage so it won’t take up your counter space.
We’ve tested the best air-frying toaster ovens so you can find the perfect one. (this was the #1 recommendation!) I LOVE the Breville brand (it’s what our old toaster oven was) but this one just had more functions than we needed and I didn’t want to spend that much. The Cuisinart comes with three trays–the air frying basket (top tray you see below), a sheet pan, and a rack. You want whichever rack you are using to be on top, but make sure the air fry pan is always sitting atop the sheet pan so it can catch drippings, crumbs, etc.