The Vortex also comes equipped with everything you need to utilize the different cooking settings. In addition to the actual air fryer, you’ll find two cooking trays and a drip pan as well as a rotisserie basket, spit, forks, and fetch tool. We were happy to see that all of these accessories were included and that we didn’t have to purchase anything separately. The large-capacity chamber allows you to cook for a family of six, while the ability to utilize two separate cooking trays means you can also prepare more than one item at once.
This convection toaster oven has 10 settings that 10 settings allow you to air fry, rotisserie, toast, broil, bake, roast, dehydrate, reheat, warm, and convection. Like most air fryers, it excels at delivering crispy food in a fraction of the time. Small but thoughtful design features dramatically simplify the cooking process. Take a leap up with Instant Omni Pro Air Fryer Toaster Oven, which includes several more program features. In addition to air fry, broil, bake, roast, dehydrate, reheat, rotisserie, toast, warm, convection, the pro model adds the ability to slow cook, proof, split cook, and temperature probe.
The instant pot duo nova VersaZone exceeded expectations, and while it’s one of the more expensive air fryers you can buy, our Reviews Editor thinks it’s a perfect choice for families. A step up from the Instant Vortex Slim, this air fryer comes packed out with all of the best features from Instant Pot’s air fry engineers, including a ClearCook window and OdorErase. All in all, I have very few complaints about the performance of the Instant Vortex Slim.
The window in the basket takes the guesswork out of knowing when your food is ready, and cleanup is a snap. If you can afford the hefty price tag, this is the air fryer to get. Another great option is our best budget air fryer pick, the Beautiful 6 Quart Touchscreen Air Fryer by Drew Barrymore. It’s half the price and was runner-up in our air fryer testing. It doesn’t have a window in the basket, an air filter, or dehydration function, but it’s an excellent value and performs basic air frying with ease. Millie Fender is our Editor for all things small appliances at Homes & Gardens.
Because we have cooked so many different things in this air fryer, we thought it might be helpful to see how it performed on different types of foods. Instant™ also has a 10-quart oven-style air fryer instant pot duo nova which looks similar to our Vortex® but is fundamentally different. From a price point, it’s not that much more than the 6-quart Vortex®. The Vortex® 6-quart air fryer is very solid on the counter.
Anything heavier than that and you risk overloading the capacity of the motor. Use the provided multi-level air fryer basket to bake with, or any oven-safe baking dish, as long as it fits in the air fryer and leaves room for air to circulate freely. The oven’s control panel is bright, easy to read and even easier to use. While the basket and crisper plate are dishwasher-safe, I preferred to wash the basket by hand.