Essay: Are Air Fryers Worth It?
WIRED—May 10, 2018
I called in one of Philips new XXL models, which is both large and a good representative of the best of the industry’s offerings.
It arrived in the morning and, lacking other options in my fridge and pantry, I made baked potatoes for my wife Elisabeth and myself. Pulling the air fryer out of the box, three things became immediately apparent. First, these things take up a lot of counter space—pretty much the footprint of a five-gallon bucket, and two-thirds the height. (Other brands might be smaller but not that much.) Second, the fan that that runs whenever it’s on is loud, effectively sucking the conversation or ambient music right up into the ether. The third thing was how ridiculously tiny the cooking basket is; at nine inches by nine inches by two and three-quarter inches high, two large potatoes effectively maxed out its capacity.
The spuds were good but that was more of a sour cream, cheddar, and chives thing than an air fryer thing. Clearly, more testing was in order.
I’ll warn you now, it’s not looking good for air fryers. If you’re considering one, though, read on and let me convince you to save your pennies in WIRED.