Before you buy an air fryer, check these 6 things: size, what touches your food, basket or oven, cleaning, the small features, and what “healthy” really means. Then pick from our 3 choices for every budget.
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Up to 3 quarts: one person. 4 to 5 quarts: two to four people. 6 quarts or an oven-style air fryer: families and batch cooking. Food needs to sit in one layer to get crispy: an overfilled basket steams instead of frying.
Most baskets have a nonstick coating. It’s fine as long as it isn’t scratched or overheated, but many buyers now prefer glass, stainless steel or ceramic. “PFAS-free” or “PTFE-free” on a product page is the brand’s own claim: read it, and check which parts it covers.
A single basket is the fastest and crispiest. A dual drawer cooks two foods at once and can finish them together: chicken and veggies ready at the same time. An oven style is bigger with flat trays, bakes and toasts too, but takes longer to preheat and has more to clean.
You will use it every day, so cleaning decides if you keep using it. Look for a dishwasher-safe basket and crisper plate, few corners where grease hides, and parts that come out easily.
A shake reminder (or a window) means evenly crispy food without guessing. Presets are nice, but you will mostly use 2 or 3: temperature and timer matter more. Check the noise level in reviews if your kitchen is open.
It needs far less oil than deep frying, so fried-style food has much less fat. But what you put inside still matters most: vegetables, fish and chicken win. Cook starchy food like fries until golden, not dark brown: over-browning creates more acrylamide.
The one that matches how you cook, with a cooking surface you trust. If you want to avoid traditional nonstick coatings, look at glass, stainless steel or ceramic surfaces. In our picks, the Ninja Crispi cooks in glass containers that Ninja markets as PFAS-free (its crisper plate has a ceramic nonstick coating).
About 2 to 3 quarts for one person, 4 to 5 quarts for two to four people, and 6 quarts or more, or an air fryer oven, for families. Food should fit in one layer to get crispy.
Yes if you often cook a main and a side at the same time. If you mostly cook one thing, a single basket is simpler, cheaper and easier to clean.
A basket air fryer is faster and crispier for fries and wings. An air fryer oven is bigger, can bake, toast and roast on flat trays, and can replace a toaster and sometimes the oven, but it preheats more slowly.
Nonstick coatings are generally considered safe when they are not scratched or overheated. Avoid metal utensils and replace a peeling basket. If you prefer to avoid them, choose glass, stainless steel or ceramic surfaces and read the brand’s PFAS-free claims carefully.