Love love love that I don’t have to mess around cleaning the bottom of the actual unit. This is not one of those kitchen appliances you pull in and out of a cupboard. Unlike small appliances, it is one that stays on the countertop.
In her free time, she is an avid home cook who is in the process of mastering the art of baking sour dough bread. The Vortex can accommodate a chicken larger than 4 pounds, if it is placed on the baking tray. We know consumers want appliances to be compact for counters, so it was more about keeping the overall footprint smaller.
In the other air fryers we tested the bacon was blown around the inside of the cooking area by the powerful convection fan inside the air fryer, but the Instant Vortex Plus did not do this. It left us with sizzling rashers that weren’t overcooked, and five minutes was the perfect amount of cooking time. As you’ll see in the full review below, we put the Instant Vortex Plus 6 Quart 6-in 1 Air Fryer to the test cooking fries, chicken strips, bacon, and roast vegetables. We put the Instant Vortex Plus 6 Quart 6-in 1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdorErase to the test to see how well it makes fries, cooks bacon and roasts vegetables. We carried out this testing alongside reviews of other air fryers to compare if there was a difference in the odors and the cooking quality of these machines.
The controls couldn’t be simpler, and we definitely didn’t need to consult the manual before getting started. Brussels sprouts, frozen French fries and breaded chicken cutlets came out just about perfect; all were browned, crisped, moist and tender. Homemade French fries came out reasonably browned and crispy without becoming dry or cardboard-like in just 18 minutes. This air fryer didn’t perform quite so well on chicken wings though, as these were cooked to doneness, but could have been better browned and crisped. As the manufacturer claims you can cook 2 pounds of French fries, we cooked a whole bag at once.
Bacon cooked on air fry was one of my favorite results in testing. It was crispy and the design of the slotted baking tray allows grease to drip through to a foil-lined crumb tray below, making cleanup nice and easy. Another great option is our best budget air fryer pick, the Beautiful 6 Quart Touchscreen Air Fryer by Drew Barrymore.
Both the insert and the basket are coated with non-stick, which means they mostly wipe clean and then need a little scrubbing with some dish soap and water. With this air fryer you get a removable air fryer insert grid which can be lifted and instant vortex removed using a hook in the center of the grid. The drawer is not quite square, and we found it a little confusing to fit this inside the air fryer on the first use. Once we realised it needed to be turned 90 degrees, this was easy enough.
We will continue to monitor and update our recommendations accordingly. We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Many people don’t like to cook with Teflon coating for various different reasons that I won’t get into here, but this is a drawback for some people. What is cool about this, is that halfway through your cook cycle, it will beep at you and tell you to flip your food. Rotisserie Basket – At first, I wasn’t sure what to do with it or if I would use it, but I actually use it a lot. I also put anything that won’t fall apart with the tossing into it.
Like with the Instant Pot, there will be a learning curve with the Instant Vortex Plus. It isn’t as straightforward as following the oven or air-fry directions on your packaged foods. You’ll probably need to lower the temperature while you’re baking and the air fry mode may need to run longer than expected.
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval moosoo air fryer on them. If the heating element gets dirty, you can wipe it with a damp cloth when the unit is turned off, cooled, and unplugged. None of the Cosori models on our list were included in the February 2023 recall.