We were excited about this feature, since we’ve noticed air frying smells—especially when it comes to greasy foods like fries—tend to overtake the kitchen and linger for a while. It features a traditional basket with a handle, an attachable cooking tray, and a sleek touch-screen interface. From there, you can select functions beyond air frying—like roast, bake, dehydrate, reheat, and broil.
This model took up more counter space than its smaller, 3.7-quart counterpart, and its cooking basket was a bit deeper, but its cooking surface was only about ½ inch wider. Still, this model cooked single batches as well as the smaller version. Despite its 12 customizable presets—steak, chicken, shrimp, seafood, frozen foods, french fries, bacon, vegetables, toast, bake, preheat, and keep warm—we found the machine intuitive to use. It performed nearly as well as the Cosori Pro LE that was our No. 1 pick; it actually overcooked some items and probably could have gone for a minute or so shorter than the recipe called for. The pot holds up to 8 quarts, which is enough room to air fry a whole chicken, and is equipped with 11 cooking functions that are sorted by which lid they require. The pressure-cooking lid can also sauté, slow-cook, steam, and sous-vide, and the air-fryer lid can also warm, roast, bake, broil, and dehydrate.
The instant vortex Plus 6-in 1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdorErase comes in a medium-size box that’s well-packed to keep your air fryer safe as it ships. The packaging was not too sustainable, with styrofoam layers at the top and bottom of the fryer that cannot be recycled. The pre-sets are tailored with optimum temperature and time settings – the Bake setting is set at 165°C for 8 mins, for example, while the grill feature is set to 205°C for six minutes.
Of all the air fryers we tested, this is one of the most intuitive air fryers to program. The buttons are nicely sized, clearly marked, and quick to respond. To program the temperature and time, you turn and press a dial. The basket has a rack on which the food rests and is easy to pull out and reposition in the air fryer. The display is large and easy to read and the digital controls are intuitive to use. Like other Instant Vortex models, you won’t require much oil when cooking in the Slim air fryer.
One of the biggest downsides to many air fryers is the size of the basket. Most only have room for two chicken breasts or a couple of servings of fries (or the teeniest amount of zucchini chips). We were able to air fry a whole pound of chicken, as opposed to the usual half-pound other fryers can handle.
We really enjoyed using the digital control dial that enabled us to easily experiment with precise temperatures and timings. We also appreciated the simplicity of its design and attractive finish. All of these are just a guideline, however, and can easily be adjusted with a simple turn of the dial. The temperature goes up in 1°C increments too, which is a useful feature if you’re after a specific finish.
Check the owner’s manual of your air fryer for which parts, if any, are ok to run through the dishwasher. As a standard air fryer, the Instant Vortex was able to cook very evenly despite its large capacity, doing a fantastic job with everything we threw at it. The controls are quite user-friendly, but we noted a minor flaw in that the machine uses a tray rather than a basket to hold food. This makes it tougher to shake items while cooking and requires a hot pad to remove afterward. During cooking, no spot on the exterior of this air fryer gets hot enough to cause a burn. The highest temperature that we recorded was 126.6°F on the lower-front side of the machine.
We’re big fans of the Instant Pot company for its popular line of electric pressure cookers, so our expectations for its air fryer were admittedly high. This multipurpose appliance nonetheless managed to exceed them. It combines the features of a standard air fryer with the functionality of a countertop oven, plus a rotating rotisserie. Even better, this air fryer is dishwasher-safe, so you can wash the basket and tray without having to scrub them down by hand. Plus, it’s versatile enough to roast, broil, and reheat with the touch of a button, making dinnertime a breeze.