Air fryers have grow to be a necessary equipment in lots of our kitchens—they’re a recreation changer for frozen and beforehand fried meals. We’re air fryer lovers and have examined them extensively. Not solely are they nice for cooking and reheating historically deep-fried meals, however additionally they roast veggies to perfection. Air fryer bacon comes out crispy with much less mess, and air fryers can prepare dinner glorious baked potatoes (with out having to show the oven on for an hour)!

The draw back? Some fashions are giant and hulking, making them much less splendid for small households and kitchens with restricted counter or space for storing. I examined six in style small air fryers with a capability of 4 quarts or much less to seek out fashions that shortly produced evenly crisp meals.

The Winners, at a Look

Instantaneous Pot is the winner in our evaluation of standard-size air fryers. This smaller model cooked meals the quickest, producing crispy fries after simply 14 minutes and golden wings in half-hour. The petite two-quart basket was shallower than another fashions, placing the meals nearer to the warmth supply. It additionally featured a large floor space for extra even cooking. It has a dial to manage the digital panel and 4 cooking settings, in addition to a “flip reminder” setting. 

This air fryer includes a shallow basket with a large cooking floor. It evenly browned fries and cooked succulent wings. It has a window and a light-weight for viewing the meals because it cooks, and the digital panel makes it simple to regulate the cooking time. 

The Exams

• Setup Take a look at: I washed and dried the basket and crisping rack of every small air fryer. I did a take a look at run on every mannequin by turning every on at 400°F for 5 minutes, permitting them to chill again to room temperature earlier than beginning the assessments. 
• Frozen Fries Take a look at: I cooked a half-pound of fries within the air fryers with greater baskets. I cooked six ounces of fries within the smaller COSORI Air Fryer 2.1 QT and a scant 4 ounces within the Nostalgia Private Air Fryer 1-Quart. I cooked every batch for quarter-hour, shaking the basket as soon as at seven minutes into the cooking time. 
• Rooster Wings Take a look at: I made one pound of hen wings in every small air fryer. I tossed the wings in a single tablespoon of oil, salt, and pepper, earlier than arranging them within the air fryer baskets. For the smaller baskets, I positioned drummettes upright towards the basket partitions. I cooked the wings for 12 minutes, flipped them, and cooked them for a further 12 minutes earlier than flipping them once more. I then crisped them up for a further six minutes. 
• Cleanup Take a look at: I hand-washed the hampers and crisping racks of every mannequin after use. Then I ran the crisping racks of all fashions by means of the dishwasher on the highest rack.

What We Discovered

What Dimension Is a Small Air Fryer?

The small air fryers I examined had been all below 4 quarts, with the smallest holding only one quart and the biggest holding 2.6 quarts. All of them had been basket-style, that includes a detachable basket with a deal with for simple shaking, and included a crisping plate to raise the meals and permit air circulation. The crisping plates all featured perforations to permit airflow, in addition to grooves to channel grease out. All the crisping plates featured rubberized edges, serving to them keep put. This made it simple to dump fries and wings right into a dish with out the plate coming unfastened within the course of. 

Basket Form and Dimension Mattered

My profitable fashions, the Instantaneous Pot Vortex 2QT Mini Air Fryer and Cuisinart Air Fryer Oven, 2.6-Qt, each featured sq. baskets with a large floor space. This diminished crowding and allowed for airflow, creating a good crispness on each the fries and wings. Each fashions produced a half-pound of crispy fries and a full pound of golden wings.  

Spherical baskets, or ones that had been taller than they had been broad, just like the Nostalgia Private Air Fryer 1-Quart and COSORI Air Fryer 2.1 QT, had a smaller floor space. They held lower than a half-pound of fries and fewer than a pound of wings. These fashions additionally had the smallest footprint of the bunch, however held the least quantity of meals and took longer to prepare dinner. 

Little Particulars Had Huge Impacts

Design and small particulars made some air fryers stand out: Options like rubberized edges on the crisping plates might sound minor, however they helped preserve the plate from sliding when shaken and when dumping meals onto a plate (within the case of fries). 

Basket depth and width additionally got here into play, with brief and broad baskets holding extra meals with much less probability of crowding versus tall and slender baskets. Likewise, baskets that had been too shallow didn’t do an amazing job of circulating air, leading to much less even browning and noticeably longer cooking occasions. Moreover, digital panels with clearly labeled buttons had been simpler to make use of than totally analog fashions. 

The Standards: What to Search for in a Small Air Fryer

A small air fryer ought to have a compact design however nonetheless serve not less than one to 2 folks. The most effective small air fryers had broad cooking surfaces that effectively and evenly crisped and browned meals. Search for fashions that function a crisping plate that has rubberized edges so it does not slip or slide when shaking the basket. Each of the profitable fashions additionally featured a “flip reminder” perform with an alert partway by means of cooking time. A show window is a pleasant however pointless function. 

Our Favourite Small Air Fryers

What we appreciated: This air fryer made essentially the most evenly cooked and persistently crispy fries and wings within the least period of time. Fries had been evenly golden and crispy after 14 minutes and wings in half-hour. It has a large, sq. basket and digital panel with a knob for simply adjusting time and temperature, similar to its greater sibling, the Instantaneous Vortex Plus 6-Quart 6-in-1 Air Fryer, the winner of our evaluation of bigger air fryers. 

What we didn’t like: Like its greater sibling, it has an computerized preheat perform that provides a few minutes to the cooking course of. I examined it as prompted and by simply including the meals from the beginning (earlier than the preheat perform), and each resulted in evenly cooked meals. Principally, preheating isn’t needed; it solely cooks meals a bit quicker than if it’s added from the beginning. 

Key Specs

• Said capability: 2 quarts
• Dimensions: 11.26 x 9.02 x 11.73 inches
• Temperature vary: 120°F-400°F 
• Time vary: 1-60 minutes
• Sort: Basket 
• Settings/presets: Air fry, roast, bake, reheat
• Guarantee: 1 yr

What we appreciated: This air fryer cooked meals evenly and featured a large, sq. cooking basket. It additionally features a “flip reminder” setting. This was the one small air fryer that I examined with a viewing window, which is nice for checking on doneness with out having to open the air fryer. The management panel even includes a “mild” setting with an computerized timer, permitting you to see into the fryer because it cooks. This air fryer produced crispy and golden meals. 

What we didn’t like: Whereas this small air fryer cooked fries to a good crispness and wings to a golden crunch, it took a pair extra minutes to get to air-fried perfection than the Instantaneous Pot. 

Key Specs

• Said capability: 2.6 quarts
• Dimensions: 13 x 13 x 8 inches
• Temperature vary: 400°F max
• Time vary: As much as 60 minutes
• Sort: Basket
• Settings/Presets: Air fry, roast, bake, reheat
• Guarantee: 3 years

The Competitors

FAQs

How a lot can you slot in a small air fryer? 

Small air fryers we examined made one to 2 servings. We examined to see if the air fryers would maintain eight ounces of fries and a pound of hen wings.  

How many individuals is a small air fryer good for? 

Small air fryers are good for one to 2 folks. If you wish to serve extra folks, take a look at our evaluation of standard-size air fryers. 

How do you clear a small air fryer? 

The basket and crisping plate of all of the fashions we examined are dishwasher-safe on the highest rack. All fashions additionally cleaned up simply with scorching, soapy water and a mild scrubbing. 

Why We’re Consultants

• Cindy Rahe is a baker, recipe developer, author, and photographer with over a decade of expertise. 
• She has written recipes for Betty Crocker and Merely Recipes, in addition to Prepare dinner Smarts. 
• For this evaluation, Cindy examined six small air fryers by cooking a great deal of frozen fries and wings.