Best Air Fryers 2024 (UK’s top 7 reviewed)

Air fryers are becoming more popular than ever, they are much healthier than deep fat fryers as they use much less oil, and eliminate unwanted cooking smells. Many foods can be cooked in an air fryer without the use of any oil, making them a very healthy option indeed. But what is the best air fryer to buy?

What are the best features to look out for? And how much can you expect to pay for a decent air fryer? Read on for all the information you’ll need to make an informed choice.

Top Recommended Air Fryers

Here are our picks for the top Air Fryers you can buy:

How Do Air Fryers Work?

This might come as a shock to you, but air fryers don’t actually fry food. The food is cooked by the hot air circulating around it and coating it in a small amount of oil to increase the cooking temperature. The process used to cook food in an air fryer is known as convection heating.

This process cooks food quickly and evenly but it technically bakes food it doesn’t actually fry food.

What Are The Benefits Of An Air Fryer?

To cook food that requires baking straight from the freezer, you don’t need to add any oil. Nor do you need oil for raw meat either, and the benefits don’t stop there. We’ve made a shortlist of the main benefits of owning an air fryer, they are:

• Less oil – As air fryers don’t actually fry food they need hardly any oil at all.
• No odours – Deep frying uses lots of boiling oil, and this leaves a smell clinging to fabrics and even wallpaper. Air fryers don’t use much oil so there are no smells hanging around after cooking.
• Faster cooking times – Air fryers use convection technology that circulates the hot air all around the food cooking it in around half the time of a conventional oven.
• Energy-efficient – As the air fryer takes less time to cook food, it uses less power, saving you energy and money.
• Improved health – Not only because you are consuming less fat with an air fryer is it the healthier option. There is scientific evidence that deep frying in oils exposes you to “toxic acrylamide formation”. The studies have shown that exposure to acrylamide can cause certain types of cancer. Mainly endometrial, ovarian and kidney cancers. By air frying, you reduce the risk of this significantly.

What Are The Disadvantages Of An Air Fryer?

As with all appliances, there are disadvantages to consider too. The main disadvantages of an air fryer are:

• Can be difficult to clean – This is a common complaint when using an air fryer, but in all honesty, if you remember to clean the air fryer after every use it is not that hard at all. Many parts are dishwasher safe, which makes it even easier to clean.
• Noisy to use – Because of the way the heat circulates around the food in an air fryer, it uses a ventilator to draw air in and push air out of the exhaust. This can be quite noisy, depending on the make and model, but whichever type you use they are definitely not silent.
• Take up a lot of counter space – Compared to halogen ovens, air fryers are much bigger and do take up considerably more room.
• Too small for large families – It cannot be denied that even XXL models of air fryers can only cook enough for 4 – 5 adults.
• Takes longer than a deep fryer – Some foods will take longer in an air fryer than in a deep fat fryer, in fact, chips take twice as long to cook in an air fryer. But think of the health benefits, there has to be some trade-off.
• Cost more than deep fryers – There’s no denying it, air fryers cost more than deep fryers. However, you can cook more in an air fryer than you can in a deep fryer. For instance: steaks, fish, bread, cakes, eggs, not to mention chicken and chips.
• Cant cook food covered in wet batter – Wet batter tends to spill and make a mess in the air fryer-as does cheese.

Air Fryer Cooking Guide

Here’s a short guide on some of the delicious food you will be able to cook in your air fryer.

Air Fryer Buyers Guide

Before you rush out and buy any old air fryer in the sales, here’s a buyers guide to help you make an informed decision. There are different makes and models and although they are all air fryers, some have different features to others. Things to consider are:

Ease Of Use

How simple is it to use? Is the manual clearly written and easy to understand? How about the control panel, is it easy to identify the functions?

Programs

Some models have preset timers for ease of use, some have more settings than others, if this will make cooking easier for you, it’s worth considering.

Digital Controls

The cheapest and most simple air fryers have manual control knobs to set the time and temperature. The more expensive models have digital display units and push-button controls.

Cooking Times

The time it takes to cook food in an air fryer can vary quite considerably. Check how long things will take to cook before buying.

Capacity

Models vary in cooking capacity from small enough for just 1-2 people to XXL which will cook enough for 4-5 people.

Size

The larger capacity air fryers tend to be quite large machines, you need to consider the amount of space you have to store your air fryer.

Air Fryer Price

How much you pay for your air fryer will depend on the make, model, size, and the number of features it has. Prices start at around £35 for a basic model and rise to £8,000 for a top of the range model which includes a microwave function plus much more.

Ease Of Cleaning

Some models are dishwasher safe, others are hand wash only, this is, of course, a matter of choice, but we always find the easier an item is to use and clean, the more likely you are to use it.

Lid Transparency

Checking food in the air fryer to prevent burning, you will often have to stop the cooking process and open the basket. Some models have transparent lids making it easier to check without stopping the cooking process.

Automatic Shaking

During the cooking of chips, for example, you have to shake the pan halfway through cooking. This means turning the machine off and physically shaking the pan. Some models have an automatic shaking system.

Brand

It is always best practice to buy a well-known brand from a reputable retailer. Established brands tend to have more reliable products and a better customer service department in the unlikely event of anything going wrong.

Warranty

How long is the warranty for? Will it be honoured? If you buy from a reputable retailer, they tend to only use well-known established companies. Their guarantees have much more chance of being honoured than a cheap foreign import made by a company nobody has ever heard of.

How Much Does An Air Fryer Cost?

Basic models of air fryer will cost you around £45 for a basic, small model, and prices rise to around a surprising £8,000 for a top of the range model that pretty much does everything.

If you’re prepared to spend around £80 to £90 you can usually purchase a model that has safety features, dishwasher safe, 11 kg capacity and a 3-year warranty.

SEE ALSO:

• Halogen Oven vs Air Fryer
• Do Air Fryer Disposable Paper Liners Work? (and are they worth it)
• Air Fryer Vs Microwave: What’s better & cheaper?

Frequently Asked Questions