We stuck an air probe thermometer inside each oven to see how well they maintained a set temperature. We also used all of the controls to see how easy they were to navigate and how accurate the cooking guidelines were for preparing common foods such as french fries and chicken nuggets. Additionally, we compared the cooking capacity of each model, and we took note of any egregiously noisy fans or annoying beeps. After testing, we washed all of the fryer components to see how easy they were to clean. Fancier toaster ovens have special cooking modes including broil, roast, dehydrate and air fry. That said, the Ninja Foodi oven (from previous testing) came the closest to imitating those high-heat cooking methods with any type of success.
French fries and chicken nuggets cooked using the standard time and temperature settings recommended on the packaging came out less browned than we’d like. And both batches cooked unevenly—none of the fries had a nice golden crisp to them, and a handful of the bunch were overly floppy and soggy. Similarly, the breading on the chicken nuggets was pale and crumbly in comparison to the batches that the Philips Premium Airfryer produced. But we’ve found that most pod-shaped air fryers struggle to cook food evenly due to their cramped cooking baskets. For the price—and the nice user interface—we still think the Pro LE is a good option. Designed to match other Cafe brand appliances like the Cafe fridge, coffee maker and more, this Couture Oven with Air Fry will make a statement on your countertop.
That means we fried more than 20 pounds of wings and frozen fries to see how quickly and evenly they crisped up. As in other toaster oven air fryers, a shallow basket is provided for air frying food in a single layer. We were very happy with the browning and crisping on breaded chicken breasts. Brussels sprouts and frozen crinkle fries came out lightly browned and crisped. However, neither chicken wings or French fries came out with the kind of results we’d expect from fried food. If you want to cook multiple ways but don’t want a cluttered kitchen countertop, you need an appliance that does it all.
These were ridiculously easy and very delicious for a midweek side dish to go along with some seasoned ground beef. Definitely recommend if you have a lot of green beans that need to get eaten ASAP. The baking tray that comes with the Panasonic FlashXpress was much easier to clean than the one that hamilton beach air fryer accompanies the Hamilton Beach. The Foodi lists for $240, but can often be found for $200 or less, which I view as solid value considering the quality, versatility and performance of this countertop appliance. You can easily season kale chips with your favorite herbs or spices after cooking.
If you primarily want to cook frozen foods or are looking to reheat leftovers that would get soggy in a microwave, a pod-shaped air fryer might be all you need. They also make cooking kind of fun—pop open a drawer, pour in some food, toss it halfway through, and it’s done before you know it. For that reason, we think they’re a great tool to get uninitiated chefs interested in cooking for themselves. Pod-shaped air fryers can also be an invaluable cooking alternative for people with certain disabilities (video), since they don’t require handling a hot tray, or bending over to open or close an oven door.
You’ll also want to think about what you’ll be using your toaster oven for most often. If you like toast with your coffee each morning, prioritize a toaster oven with a precise preset. If you like to broil things like hamburgers, make sure you get a toaster oven with a high top rack position just 2 or 3 inches underneath the heating elements. The Breville Mini Smart Oven, GE and Hamilton Beach are good examples of broil-friendly ovens. The Comfee was fairly accurate too, although it ran an average of 22 degrees hotter than the temp I set it for. If you don’t have a real oven or you just really don’t like using it, this big fella can take on a lot of the tasks of a full-size oven.
We set the air fry function as per the provided manual or based on package directions if there was no information in the manual. We then tested the bake/oven function by baking five 1-ounce store bought cookie dough balls at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. Our last performance test was to roast 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts at 425 degrees F until internal temperature was hamilton beach 165 degrees and note how long it took, how crispy the skin was and how juicy the meat was. We also test the air fryer toaster ovens’ baking ability by making frozen pizza (to see how evenly the cheese melts) and boxed cake mix. Read on to learn more about how we test air fryer toaster ovens, what to consider when shopping and more about how air fryer toaster ovens work.
Its streamlined interface has only four preprogrammed settings—air fry, roast, bake, and reheat—all operated by a single dial, which makes the Instant Mini easy to use right out of the box. They ranged from four functions to 13, were a variety of sizes and watts and both manual and digital. For each oven, we evaluated the size (both actual size and internal oven capacity), number of functions, how easy it was to use and how clear the directions manual was, and if it made any special claims. An air fryer toaster oven is a true workhorse and if you’ve been looking for a way to ditch your microwave oven, this might be the way to go. These countertop appliances do exponentially more than just re-heat leftover pizza and make toast extra crispy.
For my purposes, I toasted four slices of thin, white sandwich bread in each toaster oven on medium. The aim of this test was to see how evenly each oven toasts in all areas of the oven and how well-calibrated the medium toast setting is. Evenness is especially important when you’re making breakfast for a group. Ideally, you’ll want them all to come out looking as close to identical as possible. If you’re looking for a basic toaster oven for your morning staples, the Comfee is simple, small and does the most basic toaster tasks well. It also held heat more consistently than any other oven, likely due to its small size and lack of a convection fan, which moves hot air around.