A few years ago, air fryers were a rarity. Now they’re the norm. Most of us do at least some of our daily cooking in an air fryer. They’re faster, easier to use and, crucially right now, cheaper to cook in than an oven. Each iteration brings new innovations that take us further from the original black countertop box with a pull-out drawer.
There are so many types of air fryer that we now have dedicated round-ups for the best air fryer of all types, the best dual-drawer air fryer, the best air fryer oven – and we even have a Ninja-specific round-up.
But this year’s winner was easy to choose. It’s a complete reinvention of what an air fryer should be able to do, and how you can use and store it. We’ve also awarded a runner-up prize.
Best New Air Fryer of the Year – Winner: Ninja Crispi
Ninja
Like last year’s winner, Ninja’s Double Stack XL, we expect this model to be much copied over the next few months. But as yet, the Crispi is unique.
Why? It’s a modular air fryer that gives you much more freedom over how you use and store it. It’s the first ever alternative to the monolithic countertop appliances that currently dominate both retailers and homes across the world. Ordinarily, if you buy an air fryer, you’ll stick it on your counter and that’s what you’ll be looking at every time you enter your kitchen.
The Ninja Crispi is genuinely innovative
Not so the Crispi, which you can store in pieces in a cupboard. It’s made up of a heating element, two countertop-safe glass dishes (3.8-litre/4-quart and 1.4-litre/6-cup) and two lids that fit the dishes.
Cooking is simple: attach the cooking head to one of two glass cooking dishes. When your food is ready, you can bring the dish to the table and serve it straight from there. Have leftovers? Pop one of the supplied lids on the dish and stick it in the fridge. Plus, as all parts except for the cooking head are dishwasher-safe and there are no non-stick surfaces to protect, you really can just throw everything in the dishwasher at the end.
The Crispi isn’t just innovative for its own sake – it works for the way people live now. Not everyone has a large, dedicated space for cooking equipment. Plus, more and more people have housemates, and communal appliances can be a source of contention: who made the mess and who’s going to clean it up? A cooker you can pack up and store means you can choose whether to share.
It does have limitations. There are only four cooking modes – bake, air fry, recrisp, and max crisp – and its lower capacity means that sometimes the oven will be a better option. But the Ninja Crispi is genuinely innovative and the perfect air fryer for cooking for one.
Read Tech Advisor’s full Ninja Crispi review to find out more.
Best New Air Fryer of the Year – Runner-Up: Tefal Easy Fry Dual Air Fryer and Grill
Rebecca Shepherd / Foundry
A dual-drawer air fryer would be our recommendation for most families. Two drawers mean you can cook an entire meal in your air fryer, without having to switch on the oven at all. But Tefal’s Easy Fry Dual Air Fryer and Grill has some extra features that elevate it beyond rivals of the same type.
Tefal has made the decision to split the drawer sizes asymmetrically. Most dual-drawer models have cooking areas of the same size, which can mean there’s not enough space for mains for four people – and wasted space for a side. This model’s cooking zones have a 5.2L and 3.2L capacity, giving you space in the larger drawer for an entire chicken.
The other function that sets it apart from rivals is that the larger cooking zone can grill, providing a healthier way to cook bacon, and bringing more taste to chicken and fish. Grilling is one of eight pre-set cooking programmes, others of which include fries, chicken, vegetables, fish, dessert and dehydrate. That means it’s versatile and the learning curve to using it is gentle.
Not only is it sturdily made but we were impressed by its power. It’s a 2700W appliance. Although this means that, on paper, it could cost more to run, what we actually found when we tested it was that it cooks food extremely quickly, so it’s efficient to use.
Find out more in our full Tefal Easy Fry Dual Air Fryer and Grill review.
Author: Emma Rowley, Deputy Editor, Tech Advisor
Tech Advisor's Deputy Editor, Emma has been a journalist and copywriter for over 20 years and has been testing and writing about home tech and appliances for seven years. She tries out every appliance she writes about at home, and aims to recommend time- and energy-saving products that will last.