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Hey PapaJ,

Thanks for your questions. The vast majority of air fryer basket and crisper trays are listed as dishwasher safe, however we always recommend hand washing them, as the harsh conditions inside a dishwasher can have a negative impact on the nonstick coating lifespan. Whether they will fit inside the dishwasher is primarily dependent on the air fryer capacity; 2-4 qt. models will easily fit while larger, 6 - 8qt. models can take up a lot of room.

As for materials, the outer housing of most air fryers are constructed of heat-resistant thermoplastics like polypropylene or ABS. Air fryers make use of a secondary fan that circulate air within the walls of the plastic housing, which helps to cool external surfaces and keeps them within safe limits - that being said, some models do get noticeably warmer to the touch than others.

The surfaces that touch the food (the basket and crisper tray) are typically made of carbon steel and coated with PTFE or a sol-gel ceramic coating for non-stick properties. The safety and durability of these coatings is a valid concern in the community, and it’s definitely something we plan to explore further in future testing. There are models available that use glass cooking chambers.

I’ve taken note of your questions, and we will consider them as we further refine our testing methodology. Don’t hesitate to reach out with more!

Thank you, Tristan

Feb 25, 2025 10:33 PM By Heiro78

51

Usually mixed or individual vegetables ranging from broccoli, corn, carrots, peas, cauliflower, and water chestnuts. Additionally vegan nuggets, personal pizzas, and empanadas. I’ve also baked cut up chicken breast as well as a whole chicken breast from frozen to ready to eat in about 40 minutes. Not the best use but it worked. The next closest adventurous thing has been some flounder which turned out great. I tried out the air fry a couple times but only really use it for the nuggets

That’s really interesting! The DZ550 lowers its fan speed significantly when set to the Bake function, although it cannot turn off its fan completely. It sounds like the foods you baked respond well to having a lower level of forced convection. We’ve tried baking more sensitive foods like cake and cookies in air fryers, and even with the lower fan speed, these types of foods tend to do better without any forced convection at all. I’ll have to try baking some of the foods you mentioned. Thanks for the information!

Tristan

Feb 21, 2025 11:36 AM By Heiro78

51

Man, I wish I knew this before Christmas or had thought to about it then. I got the Ninja air fryer DZ550 and use it as an oven for my day to day cooking since it heats up so much faster. Baking is so much easier. The preheat and air fry measurements tell me the DZ550 is superior to the Ninja Foodi DT201.

Hey Heiro78,

Thanks for taking the time to check out the article! I’m curious to hear about your experience baking with the DZ550—what types of foods do you usually bake in it?

Thanks, Tristan

Feb 03, 2025 09:53 AM By ARating2024

2

Can you add something along the lines of repairability as an add on or something like that as I had a - Instant Pot 140-4004-01 Omni Pro Air Fryer Toaster Oven, 19QT - and the touch screen broke and was offered no real fix for it so I spent 300$ for something that lasted me only 1 year 11 months. I loved the thing but the fact it couldn’t last that long for that price was disappointing the fact I couldn’t repair it made me never want to buy that oven again or anything like it from Instant Pot even though I love the pressure cooker.

Hey ARating2024,

That’s a real bummer that the control panel failed so quickly. Unfortunately, repairability is tough to assess since many countertop appliance manufacturers don’t sell replacement parts, especially for electronic or internal components. I had a look online but was unable to find anything for your particular model.

Generally, mechanical dials and pushbuttons tend to outlast touchscreens, which can be vulnerable to failure via moisture buildup during cooking if not properly sealed.

I hope that helps. Tristan

Dec 13, 2024 02:33 PM By deepgroove

2

Your description is incorrect. You mention that the nonstick coating on the cooking tray and cooking chamber surfaces is ceramic. The manufacturer website says: “The baskets are made of aluminum with a PTFE nonstick coating. The crisper plate has a PTFE-free ceramic nonstick coating.”

Hi deepgroove,

That’s a great catch - sorry we missed that. I’ve updated the description on the nonstick coating type to be specific to the cooking tray. The same applies to the Ninja DZ071, SL201, DZ401 and DZ201.

Thank you!

• Tristan

Oct 01, 2024 11:06 PM By RocketSurgeon

3

Excellent article. As I read each section, I thought: “Well, what about … . ” And then you covered that topic in the following sections. Except for - how does the shape of the air fryer affect its performance. Some have a smooth circular shape which I suspect is better than the rectangular ones. However, the almost infinite variations in shape would be time consuming to test and would probably involve complicated aerodynamics. I suspect the middle 85% of designs would perform so similarly that consumers would find other features more important (e.g., how does it look on my counter, was it discounted). We are still counting on you to identify extreme examples of poor design that overwhelm the positive features. Please resolve the debate about preheating air fryers. Some say preheating is important. Others say don’t bother. It is obvious that pulling out the drawer to load food at the end of the preheat phase greatly offsets the benefit of preheating. Your graphs above show that temperature recovery can take a long time. Should we just load all food at the start? Or should we preheat only when food crispiness is essential - like french fries?

Hi RocketSurgeon,

Thanks for your insightful reply. I’m glad you found the article informative!

Air fryers use a centrifugal style fan, pulling air through the center and expelling it radially and down towards the food. The desired air pattern is a vortex that is constantly circulating and heating the air as it passes through the heater (you may have seen marketing graphics showing this airflow). I agree that simulating or even just trying to record the airflow is a complex task. In theory, I also agree that a circular basket shape would promote this airflow pattern. In practice however, the food inside the basket creates so much obstruction that it’s hard to imagine anything other than a very turbulent flow. Manufacturers are more frequently choosing a square basket shape to maximize the surface area available - as opposed to growing the basket in height to save counterspace. A good example of a bad design would be the Dash 2qt Air Fryer; while it’s small capacity warrants a small surface area, the surface area could have been maximized instead of having a taller, narrower basket (it also has a circular basket shape and has some of the worst air frying performance we’ve tested).

As for preheating, I think it depends on preference. We tested our air fryers this way because during our research, we found that the majority of users do tend to preheat. The large drop you see in the temperature stability graph is partially due to the thermal mass of the air leaving the system upon opening, but it’s mostly due to adding the frozen food. If you didn’t add the food before reinserting the basket, the temperature recovery time would be a fraction of what it is. In addition, the metal basket and cooking tray are what retain most of the energy from the preheat. Notably, food sizzles immediately once it’s added to a preheated basket, which could produce crispier results by immediately transferring energy to the surface of the food, instead of gradually bringing the chamber and food up to temperature together.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Thanks! Tristan

Hi rdclark,

Thanks for your insightful comment. You’ve highlighted an important point: toaster oven / air fryer combos are becoming very popular as the do-it-all countertop appliance. It raises a valid question about the necessity of a dedicated appliance when multifunctional ones are available.

The Ninja DCT-451 is especially interesting as, in its lower chamber, it houses a heating element right next to its fan - like an air fryer. Many toasters ovens simply add a fan to circulate air inside the cooking chamber, which is more akin to a conventional convection oven than an air fryer.

We’re also curious about their air frying performance, and diving into these products and questions would certainly be interesting and relevant for many people.

Thanks! -Tristan

Sep 23, 2024 09:14 PM By tentes

180

Is air fryer better for health?

Hey tentes,

Thanks for your comment! Air fryers are marketed as a healthier alternative due to their ability to cook with less fat. This comparison is mostly drawn against other cooking methods that use a lot of fat or oil, like deep frying. While it may be possible to achieve similar crispy results in an air fryer without needing lots of fat, the healthiness depends on what type of food and how much oil you add.

I hope that helps clear things up. -Tristan

Sep 25, 2024 02:57 PM By TuckerDog

16

Nice to see a window … but … there are others. We have a Kalorik with a 12 x 12" footprint, full window and air fryer/oven settings. Shoulda looked at that one.

Hi TuckerDog,

Thank you for your comment. Our initial launch included 20 of the most popular models, and focused mostly on basket-style air fryers. That being said, we are always open to testing more products in the future. If you’d like to share us the link to the product, we will consider buying and testing it!

Thanks, -Tristan

Sep 25, 2024 09:08 PM By felzenmat

1

I don’t understand. In the general overview, this model was used as the example of how two baskets can make things worse: https://www.rtings.com/air-fryer/learn/research/basket-size#two-baskets-doesn-t-mean-twice-the-speed. But it gets a great review and I don’t see any of the issues (e.g., slow temperature rise, long cook times) noted in the review.

Hi felzenmat,

Thanks for your comment - that’s a great point. When testing our dual-basket air fryers, we only use a single zone for the cooking speed and temperature stability tests. In this configuration, they operate similarly to any other single-basket air fryer. However, for dual-basket air fryers, a test with both cooking chambers operating simultaneously could be a great addition and we will consider it moving forward!

I hope that helps clear things up. -Tristan

Sep 22, 2024 11:46 AM By mugabuga

5

I’m sure you all have thought of this already, but ease of cleaning is a huge component I’d love to see tested and ranked. I love my current air fryer for cooking, but I don’t use it simply because the bottom of the basket has sharp metal edges that cut my hand every time I try to clean it.

Hey mugabuga,

Thank you for your suggestion! Cleanability is something we investigated in depth, and found that the majority of basket-style air fryers are extremely similar in terms of ease of cleaning. Notably, PTFE-coated baskets were easier to clean when it came to removing stuck-on food, compared to models with ceramic coatings.

Which model of air fryer do you have? We didn’t notice any particularly sharp edges in our cleanability analysis, but its possible that sharp edges could become exposed with extended use. Have you noticed any flaking or damage to the nonstick coating?

Thanks! -Tristan