If there is one kitchen appliance that has taken the country by storm in 2022, the air fryer must surely be it. And with more than half of all owners surveyed by Which? saying that they use theirs at least once a week*, it looks like air fryers are here to stay.
If you're keen to get in on the trend, you should know that with air fryers, there is a correlation between price and quality. But this doesn't mean that all expensive air fryers are good, nor the opposite.
We think that you need to spend around £60 to get a decent basic model, although we'd advise you to use our air fryer reviews to make sure you're getting one that does a good job.
Here’s what you need to know before you buy a cheaper option.
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1. Many cheap air fryers only make small portions
Air fryers that are at the cheaper end of the spectrum tend to be the basket type. You might find that some of these are only suitable for smaller households or for preparing side dishes.
Most cheap air fryers also only have one cooking chamber, which can limit variety in the meals you prepare.
The smallest air fryer we've tested is the George Home Black Compact Air Fryer, which has a claimed maximum cooking capacity 0.3kg, roughly enough cooking space to prepare chips for one to two people.
On the plus side, small air fryers are easier to store. Some, especially the multicooker-style models such as the Ninja OL750UK Ninja Foodi Max 15-in-1, are big and come with lots of attachments that might be unnecessary if you only want to cook chips every now and then.
Want to know which ones came top in our lab tests? Read our guide to the best air fryers 2022.
2. A cheap air fryer may cook your food unevenly
Some larger models come with in-built paddles, which automatically turn your food while it cooks. Cheaper options are unlikely to have these.
Without a self-turning mechanism, you'll need to keep checking on your food during the cooking process and stir it to get the best results.
Cheaper air fryers also rarely come with viewing windows, which can be really useful for checking on your food while cooking.
While many of the air fryer manuals advise that your food won't require stirring or moving, in our tests, we find that you do need to be hands on to get the best results.
Discover which air fryer brand owners rate the most highly in our guide: Ninja Foodi vs Tower Air Fryer vs Philips Actifry.
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3. Cheap air fryers tend to have a single function
Don't expect too many frills from your cheap air fryer multiple cooking functions are generally reserved for more expensive models. You should certainly expect your air fryer to cook the basics, but they will be more limited than the pricier air fryer multicookers.
Multicookers offer air frying as just one of a number of functions that can include baking, roasting and even dehydrating. The NinjaFoodi MAX AG551UK, for example, boasts five cooking functions as well as its air frying capabilities.
Can't decide between Ninja, Phillips, Tefal and Tower? Check out which brand to buy.
4. A cheap air fryer might take some getting used to
Even the cheapest and most basic air models still have special programme settings for foods such as chicken and chips.
However, our tests have shown that cheap air fryers don’t always cook these as well as you’d expect them to.
You can't always adjust the temperature or timing of presets on cheaper models, so you’ll need to play about with the manual controls until you get the hang of cooking times for your favourite dishes.
It's also important to remember that some foods, such as those in wet batter or any dishes with a sauce, don't respond well to air fryer cooking.
Got a question? See our guide to the most common air fryer questions.
Discover the right model for you by checking our reviews
Cheap air fryers we've tested recently
In our latest tests, we put a number of models under the microscope to see how they performed.
Among the appliances tested were three models that cost under £80, these were:
- Gourmia GAF798, £99 – a basket-type air fryer with a 6.6-litre capacity.
- Wilko AFM06, £50 – a basket-type air fryer with a 4-litre capacity.
- Wilko AFM11A, £80 – has an adjustable 60-minute timer and a 8-litre capacity.
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*Based on a survey of 2,330 people who own air fryers conducted in May 2022.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/4-things-you-should-know-before-you-buy-a-cheap-air-fryer-this-black-friday-afyK77G0fgSB