I wanted to get this air fryer/toaster oven because the one we’ve had for years is incredibly loud—to the point that you can’t really have a conversation in the kitchen while it’s going. Well, the ONLY good thing about this 12L air fryer/toaster oven that I’ve found so far is that it IS quiet.
I first ran it for a few minutes just to see how it worked. The smell that it generated almost made me throw it away. It smelled like burning plastic, and I’m sure that is not a healthy thing to breath in. I later saw on the listing that you’re supposed to run it empty for 15 minutes, let it cool, then wipe out the inside with a cloth.
Nonetheless, I then used it to toast bread once the smell had dissipated. There is a “toast” button on the top menu bar, so I pushed it. When you selected “toast” from the menu of my old appliance, it would display that it was cooking at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. This new appliance doesn’t give you ANY indication of the temp or how long it is going to run. It ran for longer than 5 minutes, and I got worried that my bread would be too hard, so I stopped it at that point. I wouldn’t say that it actually toasts the bread. I’d say it dehydrates the bread. My “toast” was not at all browned, but it was very crunchy—all the way through. I prefer my toast to have a browned, crunchy outside but a soft inside. This was like having one big crouton.
Next, I heated up a frozen breaded fish filet. The instructions on the package were to cook it in an air fryer at 380 degrees for 11-13 minutes. I manually set the temp to 380 and the time to 13 minutes. When it was done, I was pleasantly surprised at first by how crisp the breading was, as it turned out better than it did in my old unit. However, by the second bite I hit the part of the filet that was still frozen. I ended up cooking it for an additional 8 minutes before it was actually done.
Then, my husband made bone-in chicken thighs in the air fryer. They were to cook at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes. When the timer went off after 30 minutes, it was very evident that the chicken was still raw. He ended up turning up the temp to 400 (which is the max this unit goes to) and cooking it for an additional 30 minutes before the juices ran clear and the thermometer registered the internal temp of 165. On the positive side, the chicken skin was very crispy when it was finally done.
However, cleaning up from this chicken dish was awful! The drip pan that goes in the bottom of the fryer is not actually big enough to cover the bottom of the unit, so there was chicken grease all over the bottom (including under the drip pan), and it seeped into the space between the walls and the floor of the unit. I hadn’t realized until then that there is was space there. I really wish I’d taken a picture of the mess. It took me a good 20 minutes to get it clean, and although I used the edge of (many) paper towels to wick up the grease that flooded the space between the walls and floor of the unit, I really can’t be sure there’s not still grease down there.
Finally, it isn’t a great fit for my kitchen as the only available space to keep it is under a cabinet, so we have to pull it out from under the cabinet before we can use the controls on the top. It would be better if the controls were at the front.
I’m giving it 2 stars only because it’s quiet. Otherwise, it’s not worth it.
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