We did find it browned frozen French fries and chicken nuggets well, but the limited capacity of the inner pot made it difficult to air fry large batches of food. The moosoo air fryer has four pre-programmed settings to air fry, bake, roast and reheat similar to the Instant Pot’s seven settings. The caveat here is the Vortex only has eight buttons, four of which are those programs, plus Start, Cancel, Time and Temp.
This means you can cut down on your batch cooking and get your food to the table faster. Any good air fryer should excel at crisping up frozen breaded foods. While an oven can often leave one side charred and the other a little soggy, an air fryer will circulate hot air around the food as it cooks and often significantly reduce the cooking time. Not all air fryers have a pre-heat function, but the Plus does.
There are some awfully expensive air fryers out there, but the Cosori Pro LE proves that higher price doesn’t always mean higher quality. It has a really nice, compact, sleek, and—most importantly—safe design. Air fryers have gained popularity for producing crispy, evenly browned “fried” foods without the use of a deep fryer. They work by circulating hot air around food, similarly to a convection oven, and eliminate the need for much (if any) cooking oil. Many air fryers are programmed with multiple cooking functions and can double as a toaster oven, convection oven, warmer, rotisserie, indoor grill, and more.
Other items that cook up well in the air fryer include vegetables, like brussels sprouts and broccoli; light fish dishes, such as salmon or trout; and Italian favorites, like lasagna or personal pizzas. Air fryers are far more versatile than countertop oil fryers or toaster ovens, so they’re worth a second look even if you’re not a huge fan of standard fried fare. Another bonus of air fryers is that you can open them at any time to check on your food’s progress without losing heat or affecting the cooking time. This helps you get your food to your own perfect level of “fried” for a more personalized meal. Since the air fryer uses such a small amount of oil, you’ll want to stop and shake your air fryer’s basket throughout the cooking process to make sure that nothing gets stuck to the sides.
You also shouldn’t take the leap with this product if its main appeal to you is the OdorErase filter, since that feature doesn’t perform as well as we anticipated. When it came to testing the XL Dual model, we experienced similar results to the singular Vortex Plus model—with some disappointing differences. We were satisfied with the crispy, tender results that this machine delivered. The Plus includes a rotisserie spit and two forks to secure each end of the food.
It’s air fried evenly since day one and has never given us mechanical issues with the electronics, internal burner, basket integrity (even after an accidental drop), etc. Along with our in-house experts, our team analyzes thousands of product reviews from the most trusted websites. These parts are also easily cleaned by hand with warm, soapy water and a non-abrasive sponge. If there’s any particularly difficult to remove grease or stuck-on food, let the parts soak in hot, soapy water first. The basket is on the smaller side, but it’s dishwasher-safe for simple cleanup. If you’re a beginner, this couldn’t be simpler to use, and if you’re more experienced, it’s well-built for daily use.