Are air-fryers worth it? Or will it end up being a waste of money *

[Oopsie Daisy]

* and just one more appliance to take up room in my cabinet or countertop?

They look interesting and I see many cooking videos that rave about how convenient they are. But are they? Are they safe and how difficult is clean-up?

[Bluethroughu]

1. Junk. Throw away appliance.

Stick to conventionally cooking with a rack.

[Freddie]

2. I love mine

I use it for very basic things (frozen potatoes, baked potatoes, hot dogs) and it’s great. There’s tons of recipes out there if you want something fancier.

[Srkdqltr]

3. I use mine from time to time. They are nasty to clean.

My son loves his but I could easily go without. It all depends on how and what you cook.

[mercuryblues]

4. I like mine.

Especially in the summer. No need to heat up a big oven to make fries, meatloaf, and many more foods. It is great for cooking so many things.

[Rebl2]

6. I think

it would be great for cooking during hot weather, then put it away during the winter. I don’t have one, but have considered buying one.

[mercuryblues]

13. I have one with trays, not a basket

It comes in handy as a small 2nd oven.

[hlthe2b]

5. For the rare occasions I wanted to use one, I refuse to buy a separate appliance so I bought the air fryer

LID for my Instant Pot. I've used it occasionally, but at least it doesn't take up counter space (and I use my Instant Pot ALL the time).

https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Lid-Roast-Fryer/dp/B07VF7J5VQ

[Sneederbunk]

7. I use mine occasionally and store it in the garage. No trouble cleaning.

[sorcrow]

8. We use a countertop oven

Bigger than a toaster oven. It has an air fryer setting, basically high-temp convection, that suits my needs.
It's also big enough to bake two loaves of bread, and even has a Proof setting.

Bon appetit,
Sorghum Crow

[peacefreak2.0]

9. I use mine all the time.

Hard cooked eggs for egg salad, chicken thighs and roasted potatoes. Country style ribs. Reubens. Grilled cheese. That’s not even counting frozen foods like French fries, crab rangoons etc. Yeah. I use it a lot.
Clean up can be a bit of a PIA, but worth it in my opinion.

[Keepthesoulalive]

10. Ninja foodi grill

I use it all the time, great for chicken wings, pork chops, frozen foods and reheating pizza. Gave one to child as Christmas gift. If it breaks I will get another one. Another benefit is you use less cooking oil and it renders grease from fatty meats.

[snowybirdie]

11. Had my first one

a small one, about five years ago. Got a Ninja foodie that is an air fryer, an Insta pot and a,slow cooker all in one later. Use it all the time. Yesterday a meat loaf, today chicken soup. I recommend one highly. Keeps kitchens cool as well.

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

12. I use mine all the time.

It depends on what you eat, I suppose. I especially like it for chicken, which on airfrying function cooks in half the time of roasting and comes out much more moist. Chicken pieces coated with Cajun spice come out amazing when cooked on the mesh rack. That's not to say it's not good for lots of other things, too, I just eat a lot of chicken. I almost never use the conventional oven anymore. Now there are caveats.

Clean-up CAN be an issue. Get one that's got a stainless steel interior, and that has slots for the racks/shelves rather than metal pieces that stick out. Also, there are bottom liners available that you can wash in the sink/dishwasher and reuse. Those can help prevent build-up there. Examine the interior before you buy and avoid those that have a lot of nooks and breaks between metal pieces where grease can build up. Finally, make sure you wipe it down after each use, or you might attract six-legged roommates depending on where you live.

Also, get one that's the correct size for what you expect to cook. For example, do you want to cook 12" frozen pizzas or whole chickens? The smaller ones won't accommodate those, but the larger ones will.

[2naSalit]

25. Also depends on...

What kind you get.

[Bobstandard]

14. Check Goodwill or similar second hand stores.

There are many and they’re super cheap because few people find them useful. You might, so try it out inexpensively.

[spinbaby]

15. Sort of

I swapped my toaster oven out for an air fryer a while back. I’ve found it to be a bit fussy and not terribly useful for stuff I cook. It excels at reheating fried foods, which I don’t eat often . Also good for reheating pizza, which I also don’t eat often. The best use I’ve found for it is roasting vegetables and this is why I’m keeping it around.

[Martin68]

16. We were very disappointed by the results and it has been in the basement ever since. Take a lot of space on a

counter, but not very tasty. A bit of a bother to clean.

[brush]

17. They're called air fryers but can you actually fry battered fish and chicken with no oil?

[MLAA]

18. If you are like me and your guilty pleasures include anything fried you will love it.

I use it frequently for:

French Fries and sweet potato fries straight from frozen or to reheat when I have restaurant left overs that in the past I threw away as it took too long to preheat the oven
Onion rings
Gardein and Morningstar fake chicken cutlets
Reheating leftover pizza

I’ve even used it for a small Impossible burger meatloaf and to reheat other dishes.


If you don’t like fried foods or leftovers it would probably be a waste of money and counter space.

[NotASurfer]

19. I think of it as a tabletop convection oven

So if you already have a toaster oven with a convection setting, you can try that. Might not need to lose more countertop space.

[pandr32]

20. I bought a combo countertop oven.

It is a toaster oven, convection oven, and air-fryer.
In my case, living in Hawaii, it saves using the stove oven for smaller and quick things. For me, it gets lots of use, but not the air-fryer option. As a skilled cook I find it is rarely needed. We don't eat much 'fried' food.

[Redleg]

21. I like using mine, especially in the summer

My almost-ex-wife got it for me just before I moved out of the house. It has been useful. Does a good job on wings, potatos, frozen tots, hamburgers, sausages, etc. I am going to try using it for some yellow squash today.

[love_katz]

22. I love mine.

My air fryer is an Emeril's. The interior is all stainless steel and the cooking pieces can be put in the dishwasher or washed by hand. (I don't have a dishwasher).
I love it for air frying, reheating food ( I hate microwaves), and proofing bread dough. It also bakes and broils very nicely. It can rotisserie cook chicken, but I think you have to stick to about a 3 pound bird.
I'm skeptical of slow cooking with it, because it doesn't have very thick walls, but, overall I am really pleased with it.
It has lots of pre-programmed settings, which I haven't gotten around to using. They have several sizes available for the oven. I bought the middle sized one. I also bought some cookbooks for it.
I chose stainless steel because I don't trust so-called non-stick cooking surfaces. I have smelled plastic smells emanating from them and I refuse to use them. I prefer cooking with either cast iron or stainless steel.
I keep my air fryer on a roll around cart in the breakfast nook. I wouldn't want one if I had to store it in a cupboard, because it would be awkward to have to get it out to use.
Edited to add: I usually cook from scratch, but I have used the air fryer to cook frozen foods and I have been pleased with the results. Breaded chicken fingers and breaded shrimp came out beautifully crisp. I have found mine to be worth it.

[Oopsie Daisy]

23. Thanks for your thorough and detailed reply.

[La Coliniere]

24. I use our Ninja air-fryer quite a bit

Great for low fat versions of french fries, sweet potato fries, crispy tofu, frozen products, certain vegetables like cauliflower and brussel sprouts. The Ninja is very easy to clean.

[yourout]

26. I like ours but would get one with French doors if..

I ever get another.

[2naSalit]

27. I love mine...

It is more like a box oven but it isn't hard to clean up, has trays. It's a Sur la Table brand which didn't mean much to me until I told my sister about it and she sold me they have a brick and mortar store in San Diego somewhere. I use it at least three times a week for a variety of things. I like that everything tastes better and isn't greasy unless I add greasy things. But it has a rotisserie along with baskets and other stuff. I like the kabob wheel, use that often.

You should try one, I recommend not getting one that is just a basket, those are so limited in use that they are just another thing on the counter.


Mine is 13qts and has a 14" x 14" footprint on my limited counter space. It's worth the space it takes up.

[Oopsie Daisy]

29. Yes, the one I was looking at is a "twin" basket style (side by side, separate independent controls)

... I'll keep looking around. Thanks.

[2naSalit]

32. Definitely...

Look at the different kinds. Costco carries a number of them, that's where I got mine, looked at four or five different brands.

[CrispyQ]

28. My husband loves it & because he loves it, I love it.

If you like frozen food treats it's good for that. Potato treats, poppers, meatballs. It toasts my English muffin nicely, but does tend to dry things out. Hubs uses it 3-4 times a week.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. Our daughter gifted us with one Christmas 2022 and we love it

I cook chicken breasts quite often and I have never had them turn out as tasty as they do in the Air Fryer - even on my electric outdoor grill. Porkchops also turn out exceptionally well.
I have roasted potatoes and carrots, Mr YD makes cinnamon toast and we both make regular toast with it every day.
(this particular model has a separate toast setting) It has a nice sized square bucket which can be used for other things, but I have not experimented with it very much. We are getting good use out of it though.

It came with some nice racks and there is a tray that sits on the bottom to catch crumbs, etc. There is a rack which sits about 1/2 inch above the bottom of the bucket which I use for the meats I cook. I put foil underneath it and usually do not need to do anything more than a simple wipe before I put it away. Otherwise it can go in the dishwasher (as can the racks and tray)

Our old toaster oven had finally kicked the bucket, and this was the replacement. It is deeper than our other appliances but it isn't as much of a problem as I would have expected.

I do need to play around with it some more, though.

[Emile]

31. We use our air-fryer almost everyday.

[The Wizard]

33. It's a counter top convection oven the uses less energy than a full sized oven.

[tulipsandroses]

34. I love my air fryer. I've been using Air Fryers long before they were readily available in stores.

However, they are not all created the same.
The first one I bought at Home Goods. Phillips - IMO, the best air fryer ever made. They are a lot more affordable now. Back then, the only store that carried it was Bed Bath and Beyond for $299.
I loved that thing. Problem was size. You couldn't fit much in there, which then made it very time consuming to do things in multiple batches. The only Air Fryer that produces similar results are the Ninja air Fryers.
I've had several over the years and I absolutely love them. I rarely use my stove.
They keep adding new features so that is the only reason, I've bought more than one over the years. They last forever. I give away the older model whenever I buy a newer model.
The one I have now the Ninja Speedi- It has multiple functions. I love the steam and crisp function.
I do whole chickens in it and so much more. I don't remember the last time I turned on the oven. It has a self cleaning function. Not hard to clean at all.
Compared to food cooked in others brands, Ninja air fryers win hands down. They are more expensive, but totally worth the price to spend a little more. If you are open to shopping on Amazon, you can always find refurbished ones at lower prices.
My dad has another brand, can't remember the name, but the results are not the same at all.

[Emile]

36. Our first air fryer was a round NuWave. Worked great, but the plastic

dome developed a crack. Once I saw how great you can sear a steak and cook brats, I had to have another. Warmed up cold pizza taste just like it came out of the oven and much cheaper to run than a stove oven.

[IbogaProject]

35. Very mixed reviews

I am not a fan of how things come out, but my wife loves the instapot air fryer attachment she uses it for things with sauce on it so not the typical use case.