An air fryer is fantastic for things you’d normally cook in an oven, but it gets them way more crispy without all the oil. You can even “deep fry” by spritzing some oil on top.
If your oven has a convection feature, you can just use that, but it’s also way bigger (read: more energy to cook small portions).
Ok I hear you and offer the far superior, microwave + convection toaster oven (air fryer toaster oven ok just don’t get a bad one)
Toaster oven beats the issue of huge amount of wasted energy and heat and convection is basically 80% of the way to air fryer and also will make general baking faster and more even. So you can use them in place of the oven for lots of things.
Cheap air fryer toaster ovens are often crap though and more just garbage air fryer that opens differently. Don’t buy those.
Any idea if Cuisinart and Ninja air fryers are decent? I’m looking to upgrade to a larger one, and they have ones that look like toasters (Cuisinart and Ninja), but they’re advertised as air fryers.
I don’t really need a toaster since I just toast with my oven (has a “Toast” setting that uses the broiler), and even then that’s pretty rare.
Cuisinart are perfectly awesome toaster ovens and even nice convection but their air frying is mostly just ok. I think their budget options are their best stuff since will work just as well and is as reliable as Cuisinart gets.
Ninja has some kind of secret sauce cause their air frying capabilities in their toaster ovens puts single purpose air fryers to shame. Shockingly good but I am always concerned about longevity since they always seem seconds away from throwing the baby out with the bathwater if they think they have a new device to sell. But these toaster ovens do seem to last. And it’s hard to make them proprietary like other products.
Tl;Dr: if you mostly just care about having a larger more capable air fryer ninja is your answer and they work great. If you want max size the Foodi XL is good and can be got on sale for around the same price as the smaller flip up one but is far more usable as an oven and more.
Edit: I own the new Ninja double oven air toaster oven and love it but I also bought it from a store that sells dented or returned items for half price and it’s my 4th air fryer toaster oven I have ever owned.
I have the Cuisinart model basically right under the tier of the one linked. It doesn’t have a digital display, but it has knobs for controls and timers.
I absolutely love my machine and I’ve had it for about 4-5 years now. It toasts, bakes, and air fries. It does all of those things pretty well. When used to bake, it is so much more efficient than my oven, it is wild. Baking times are lower and the heat up prep time is easily less than half as long if not shorter than the oven, I assume due to the size of the machines.
I would focus on getting an air fryer than can toast and bake as well if you do get one. It fully replaced my toaster, and when reheating food or cooking small batches, I just do not use my oven anymore. Even toasting in it is quick due to the size of the cooking area and location of the pan locations close to the heating elements. It bakes a “take home and bake” style bagel wonderfully, which is now what I’m going to do for breakfast.
It’s small and powerful convection oven. I’d still prefer a microwave + oven
Why not a microwave + oven + air fryer?
An air fryer is fantastic for things you’d normally cook in an oven, but it gets them way more crispy without all the oil. You can even “deep fry” by spritzing some oil on top.
If your oven has a convection feature, you can just use that, but it’s also way bigger (read: more energy to cook small portions).
Ok I hear you and offer the far superior, microwave + convection toaster oven (air fryer toaster oven ok just don’t get a bad one)
Toaster oven beats the issue of huge amount of wasted energy and heat and convection is basically 80% of the way to air fryer and also will make general baking faster and more even. So you can use them in place of the oven for lots of things.
Cheap air fryer toaster ovens are often crap though and more just garbage air fryer that opens differently. Don’t buy those.
Any idea if Cuisinart and Ninja air fryers are decent? I’m looking to upgrade to a larger one, and they have ones that look like toasters (Cuisinart and Ninja), but they’re advertised as air fryers.
I don’t really need a toaster since I just toast with my oven (has a “Toast” setting that uses the broiler), and even then that’s pretty rare.
Cuisinart are perfectly awesome toaster ovens and even nice convection but their air frying is mostly just ok. I think their budget options are their best stuff since will work just as well and is as reliable as Cuisinart gets.
Ninja has some kind of secret sauce cause their air frying capabilities in their toaster ovens puts single purpose air fryers to shame. Shockingly good but I am always concerned about longevity since they always seem seconds away from throwing the baby out with the bathwater if they think they have a new device to sell. But these toaster ovens do seem to last. And it’s hard to make them proprietary like other products.
Tl;Dr: if you mostly just care about having a larger more capable air fryer ninja is your answer and they work great. If you want max size the Foodi XL is good and can be got on sale for around the same price as the smaller flip up one but is far more usable as an oven and more.
Edit: I own the new Ninja double oven air toaster oven and love it but I also bought it from a store that sells dented or returned items for half price and it’s my 4th air fryer toaster oven I have ever owned.
Awesome, thanks for the info kind stranger!
I have the Cuisinart model basically right under the tier of the one linked. It doesn’t have a digital display, but it has knobs for controls and timers.
I absolutely love my machine and I’ve had it for about 4-5 years now. It toasts, bakes, and air fries. It does all of those things pretty well. When used to bake, it is so much more efficient than my oven, it is wild. Baking times are lower and the heat up prep time is easily less than half as long if not shorter than the oven, I assume due to the size of the machines.
I would focus on getting an air fryer than can toast and bake as well if you do get one. It fully replaced my toaster, and when reheating food or cooking small batches, I just do not use my oven anymore. Even toasting in it is quick due to the size of the cooking area and location of the pan locations close to the heating elements. It bakes a “take home and bake” style bagel wonderfully, which is now what I’m going to do for breakfast.
I’ve never really found much use for a microwave, but I do too much pastry to be without an oven. And my cakes wouldn’t fit in an air fryer.