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Food is cooked with 99% less fat from using only one spoonful of oil, so you can enjoy classic fried meals completely guilt-free. Built for family cooking, this air fryer features an extra-large 7 litres cooking basket to serve up more of the food you love. Like its predecessor, the FlexDrawer comes with an array of thoughtful functions including its match and sync settings, the former of which allows you to match the time and temperature of both sides of the fryer without having to input all the information twice, while the latter syncs up both sizes of the fryer, so they finish at the same time, even when at different temperatures of cook times. You’ll also recognise all the classic settings for air frying, roasting, baking, reheating, proving and dehydrating, as well as the Max Crisp setting, which allows you to crank up the heat to a whopping 240ºC. Good models will come with dishwasher-safe removable parts and a pull-out loading tray that slots into the machine. For easy cooking from the get-go, look out for models with preset functions for popular dishes too. These work out the timings and temperatures for you.
Alongside a varied set of preset functions, the Genius XL’s standout feature is its rotating paddle, which does away with the need to pause your cook and shake midway through, instead gently stirring your food throughout for consistent results. The air fryer’s 1.7kg capacity is split between two cooking compartments, with the bottom compartment utilising the stirring paddle and a second static section sitting on top – though the latter can be removed for extra room if needs be. Air fryer technology is improving all the time. Older models might take a while to get going, and can require more oil than newer designs. Cheaper models may also require you to parboil chips, which might not be ideal if you’re looking for fast cooking times. The Dual Zone’s Max Crisp function is also worth shouting about, as it cooks thinner frozen foods such as chips, onions rings, and nuggets in a fraction of the time it would take a standard convection oven. During testing, one portion of frozen potato lattices came out perfectly crisp and golden in just six minutes, compared to the recommended 15-minute oven cooking time stated on the bag. This air fryer can also bake, roast, dehydrate, and reheat, making it a versatile tabletop multi cooker. The ability to use different modes in each basket – for example, grilling bacon in one drawer while air frying hash browns in the other – gives the Instant Vortex Plus a real edge for people seeking to make whole meals in their air fryer. Air fryers work by convection, meaning they circulate hot air around your food, ensuring every bit of surface area is exposed to the oil and heat. You simply need to spray or pour a little oil onto whatever you’re cooking before switching on the appliance – although you don’t always have to use oil if you don’t want to. Add just a dash, however, and a clever chemical process called the Maillard reaction creates a crispy result with far less fat – up to 99% in some cases.In our testing, the FlexDrawer proved to be just as efficient as the Dual Zone and we found the addition of the removable divider incredibly useful. Foods cooked faster and more evenly than in both our oven and some other models of air fryer. It’s an excellent all rounder for large capacity cooking.
Given their higher price point, some extra functionality beyond the norm is to be expected with dual fryers. This can include additional settings for roasting, dehydrating and grilling, or special features such as the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone’s Max Crisp setting or the Tefal Genius XL 2in1’s self-stirring paddle, both of which we’ll discuss in more detail below. Can you cook whole meals in a dual air fryer? The Vortex’s clever design is matched by its great performance and range of features. Its twin baskets benefit from Sync Cook and Sync Finish features: Finish will make sure your two baskets are done at the same time, even if they require different times or temperatures, while Cook mirrors the settings on your baskets, for when you’re cooking two portions of the same thing. All that space isn’t just there so you can bulk fry chips, though. The extra-large capacity houses Tefal’s 2in1 function, which enables you to cook two different elements of your meal in one place. With a rotating stirring paddle on the bottom and a static upper tray on top, you can cook a curry and air fry samosas in the same machine, saving on time and washing up. For a more in-depth explanation of how air fryers work and their benefits versus standard ovens, you can read our full-length What is an air fryer? explainer.Part of what helps air fryers achieve such great results is a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction. This is the process by which food takes on a “browned”, roasted flavour, and can be achieved using high heat and very little oil.
The best models will have a number of basics you should look out for. These include weight and temperature settings, so you can adjust the heat and cook time to suit your ingredients. Despite being a budget-friendly option, the T17023 was no slouch in testing, cooking oven classics such as spring rolls and hash browns to a commendable crispness and performing solidly when tasked with more delicate items like meat and vegetables. Other settings include modes for roasting, grilling, baking, reheating and dehydrating, with the Vortex Plus’s clever setup allowing you to use a different mode in each basket. In testing, we air-fried hash browns in one drawer while grilling bacon and sausages in the other, whipping up a tasty breakfast in no time.Ultimately, if you’re looking for a versatile air fryer that is decidedly mid-range in price, this is the best option we’ve come across. If you want to learn a little more about how air fryers work, and what benefits they have compared to a standard oven, then have a read of our handy explainer here: What is an air fryer? How much should I spend? Key specs – Power: 1,500W; Capacity: 1.2kg; Display: Digital touchscreen; Accessories: Measuring spoon Other notable features of the Dual Zone include modes for baking, roasting and dehydrating, though its standout ability in our opinion is its Max Crisp function. Designed to cook thinner, frozen foods, the Max Crisp function works well on items such as onion rings, skinny fries and nuggets, cooking them to a brilliant level of crispiness in a much shorter amount of time than most standard ovens. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{
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