Best Air Fryers – a healthier way to fry

Just when you think you have all the appliance you need in the kitchen, there will be a gadget so innovative and revolutionary that leaves you wondering how you got on so far without it.

The Air Fryer is that gadget that will change the way we cook and prepare our meals. If you love chips, crispy fried food, fat frying and grilling, this is a must have for you.

What is an Air Fryer

Just like the Halogen Ovens, the Air Fryers or sometimes known as Healthy Fryers use hot air and sometimes a stirring paddle to cook evenly in a non-stick pan.

These new age fryers uses hot air to circulate around and cook the food to ensure that it is crunchy outside and tender inside using less fats (a lot less) than you would normally need.

It’s not your normal deep fat fryer in that there is no frying basket, heating elements, enamel or stainless steel pan. It’s the new way of frying and you will soon learn that it’s not only good for fries, fish fingers, sausages or nuggets.

Why Do You Need an Air Fryer

Here are 10 good reasons for needing an Air Frying to help you make that ‘business case’:

10 Reasons for an Air Fryer

1. Healthier – make your own home cooked fries with as little as 3% fat or one spoonful of oil to cook one kilogram of chips (differs between models, follow recommended portions)
2. Economical – think about the amount of oil you would use in a conventional fryer and how much of that ends up in the sink.
3. Easy to Clean – most models come with removable, dishwasher proof pan, covers and paddle making cleaning a breeze. Think how messy your oven gets after a grill or how dirty and oily your kitchen gets after a good fry up with the deep fat fryer.
4. Versatile – It cooks more than just fries, it can prepare a variety of dishes from fresh or frozen food including sausages, fish, chicken, vegetables and more. The accompanying recipe book will give ideas on what the fryer is capable of.
5. Quick – while some cooker needs a short pre-heating time, others will just cook from start saving you time. No more waiting around to pre-heat the oven. It also uses less time to cook.
6. Odourless – built-in filter ensures that your kitchen and house doesn’t smell like fats.
7. Timer – built-in timer allows you to set the right cooking time and automatically switches off the heat when ready. It frees up your time to do other things and not overcook the dishes.
8. Recipes – apart from the recipes you find in the accompanying recipe book, you can also find lots of other free recipes online that uses the Air Fryer to fry, roast, bake and grill.
9. Compact – smaller than an oven or conventional fryer thereby taking much less storage space
10. Efficient – Lower power consumption with a standard unit only consuming between 1300 to 1500 Watt power.

If you haven’t yet convinced yourself to get an Air Fryer, here is another reason, price. The prices of these Air Fryers have dropped down to less than half on some models compared to when they were first launched.

Students can consider this an investment, think of all the time and money you will save at the take outs. And, who says you need your mum around to do a good stir fry.

Top 10 Best Air Fryers

Ready to make the jump, let’s take a look at the 10 best air fryers in the market.

• Tefal ActiFry Plus 1.2kg – LARGE CAPACITY
• Tefal ActiFry 1kg
• Tefal ActiFry Family 1.5kg – LARGE CAPACITY
• Breville Halo Plus Health Fryer VDF105 1.75kg – LARGE CAPACITY
• Breville Halo Health Fryer VDF065 1kg
• Philips HD9220/20 Viva Airfryer Black/White 800g
• Philips HD9240/90 Avance Airfryer XL 1.2kg – LARGE CAPACITY
• Philips HD9230/20 Viva Digital Airfryer 800g
• Duronic AF1/B Healthy Oil Free Jet Fryer Multicooker Black/White 2.2litre
• VonShef Turbo Air Fryer 10litre – LARGE CAPACITY

The Others:

• Russell Hobbs 20810 Purify Health Fryer 2litre
• JML Air Wave Fryer
• Cucina Turbo Air Fryer Multi Cooker

Tefal ActiFry Plus 1.2kg – LARGE CAPACITY

What You Need to Know

• Patented hot air system, steam free viewing window and push button to open cover
• 1.2 kg food capacity, equivalent to 6 portions
• 1400 Watt power
• Stirring paddle to cook food evenly, no need to shake or turn the food
• Digital Timer up to 60 minutes with ready alarm and temperature control
• Not only good for chips, cooks curries, stew, stir fires, chicken, desserts and more
• Easy to clean, spoon and removable non-stick bowl, lid and paddle can go straight into the dishwasher.
• Companion ActiFry recipe booklet with 60 recipes and free to download My ActiFry app
• Available in grey, black and white

Tefal ActiFry 1kg

Same as above but with a smaller non-stick cooking bowl

• 1 kg food capacity
• 1400 Watt power

Tefal ActiFry Family 1.5kg – LARGE CAPACITY

Same as above but with a much bigger non-stick cooking bowl for bigger cooking capacity

• 1.5 kg food capacity
• 1400 Watt power

Breville Halo Plus Health Fryer VDF105 – LARGE CAPACITY

• Double action cooking method 0 fan assisted convection and radiated with heating elements above and below the bowl
• 1.75 kg cooking capacity
• 75 minute digital timer with display, sound alert and auto shut down.
• Tilt function and non-stick rotating bowl for even cooking (replaces paddle action)
• Removable bowl for cleaning
• Roasting rack, measuring spoon and recipes included
• No preheating needed, halogen heating element with fan

Breville Halo Health Fryer VDF065

• Dual Action Heat System – halogen heating element, fan and rotating bowl
• 1 kg cooking capacity
• 1200 Watt power
• Cook with one spoon of cooking oil or no fats at all for oven chips or frozen food
• Removable paddle and rotating non-stick bowl for even cooking, no need to shake and turn
• Use with or without paddle to fry, cook, bake, saute and roast
• No preheating needed, halogen heating element with fan
• Roasting rack accessory, removable handle to lift rotating bowl, measuring spoon and recipe included
• Reversible roasting rack to cook delicate items such as fish, prawns and more
• Timer with digital display  that automatically switches the cooker off when cooking time is complete, the beeper will sound to alert you.
• Available in Black or White

Philips HD9220/20 Viva Airfryer Black/White 800g

• Rapid Air technology
• 0.8 kg cooking capacity
• 1400 Watt power
• Time and Temperature control dial
• Recipe booklet
• Fry, grill, roast and bake

Philips HD9240/90 Avance Airfryer XL 1.2kg – LARGE CAPACITY

• Rapid Air technology
• 1.2 kg (3 litre) cooking capacity – cook for up to 5 people
• 2100 Watt power
• Digital touch screen to control time (60 mins) and temperature
• Smart pre-set button for your favourite dish
• Recipe booklet
• Fry, grill, roast and bake
• Easy to clean non-stick drawer and dishwasher safe food basket and creates less smell

Philips HD9230/20 Viva Digital Airfryer 800g

• Rapid Air technology
• 0.8 kg cooking capacity
• 1300 Watt power
• Digital time and temperature control to preset cooking time up to 60 minutes and temperature up to 200 degrees
• Double layer accessory to bake, grill or fry burgers, chicken and fish
• Recipe booklet
• Easy to clean non-stick drawer and dishwasher safe food basket and creates less smell.

Duronic AF1/B Healthy Oil Free Jet Fryer Multicooker Black/White

• 2.2 litre cooking capacity
• Circulating air technology up to 200C degrees
• Adjustable temperature control
• Timer dial control up to 30 minutes cooking
• Closed cooking system with less odour and splatter free cooking
• Dishwasher safe fry bowl and basket
• Fry, roast, bake or grill
• Recipe book included
• Compact size

VonShef Turbo Air Fryer 10 litre – LARGE CAPACITY

• 10 litre capacity bowl big enough to hold an entire chicken
• 1200 Watt power
• digital display
• manual settings for temperature (50 – 230℃) and timer (up to 60 minutes)
• 7 pre-programmed modes for quick and easy cooking (Speedy, Roast, Fries, Bake, Pizza, Steak and Skewer)
• energy efficient
• tongs, dual rack, baking cage and fork included
• grill, fry, bake, roast, steaming and spit roasting

Final Thoughts

While Tefal and Breville include a rotating paddle and paddle with rotating bowl respectively, the Philips do not come with any stirring or turning action. As such, the Philips fare poorer in making home cook fries as you would need to coat the fries with fats or shake the cooking bowl according to instructions when you can simply use the paddle in the competitors models.

All models will work fine with oven fries and other frozen food as the hot air will circulate around the food negating the need for stirring. In many ways, a fryer without paddle or rotating action actually has less things to break like the turning and rotating mechanism or plastic paddle that might become brittle with use.

Depending on the size, generally, the Tefals and Brevilles have a bigger foot print compared to the AirFryer from Philips, Duronic’s AF1 and VonShef. While with the Tefals and Brevilles, it cooks almost immediately, with the Philips, there is a short pre-heating time of 3 minutes so one would have to factor that in when preparing food on a tight schedule.

The Duronics AF1 has a retro feel to it with the old school dials and temperature indicator for timer and temperature control functions. It is very similar to the Philips in profile and the drawer arrangement but the similarity ends there. It is also the cheapest unit in our line-up.

The VonShef Turbo Air Fryer is the second cheapest in the line-up and while the looks may not inspire you, it does have one of the biggest cooker capacity. At 10 litre, it has the capability to cook for a big family or even a whole chicken.

All fryers featured here are energy-efficient when compared to your standard gas or electric cooker.

Our Line-up

Here is a quick look at our line-up again. For the most up to date prices, please click on the links below:

• Tefal ActiFry Plus 1.2kg – LARGE
• Tefal ActiFry 1kg
• Tefal ActiFry Family 1.5kg – LARGE
• Breville Halo Plus Health Fryer VDF105 1.75kg – LARGE
• Breville Halo Health Fryer VDF065 1kg
• Philips HD9220/20 Viva Airfryer Black/White 800g
• Philips HD9240/90 Avance Airfryer XL 1.2kg – LARGE
• Philips HD9230/20 Viva Digital Airfryer 800g
• Duronic AF1/B Healthy Oil Free Jet Fryer Multicooker Black/White
• VonShef Turbo Air Fryer 10 litre – LARGE

The Others:

• Russell Hobbs 20810 Purify Health Fryer 2 litre
• JML Air Wave Fryer
• Cucina Turbo Air Fryer Multi Cooker