When it comes to consuming fried food items like french fries, fried chicken, and bacon, we often find ourselves feeling a tad bit guilty, after all, the grease and fat that accompanies these delicious items can post quite the health risk when consumed in excess.

However, one compact kitchen appliance is looking to change this by giving individuals access to their favorite fried foods without the need for oil, pan-frying, or a lot of kitchen real estate.

Popping onto the market back in the third quarter of 2010, the Philips Electronic air fryer was the first of its kind, allowing individuals to prepare meals without the excess fat, however, they didn’t really become mainstream until 2017.

Nowadays, there are tons of these miniature convection ovens on the market and we’re going to take a look at what it is, how it works, what you can make in it, and which ones are the most affordable and budget-friendly in this 2019 buying guide.

What Is An Air Fryer and How Does It Work?

An air fryer is a compact convection oven that is counter-top friendly and even though the name states that it fries your food, it actually mimics the process instead with air.

The oven has a fan inside which circulates hot air through the fryer, which in turn, heats up your food rather quickly. Although some recipes will still call for oil so make sure to have some in the kitchen, but you’ll find that you will only need a tablespoon or two at most rather than cups that traditional recipes call for.

Other than the use of air, the convection oven bounces air off the bottom of the air fryer and back up through the food, cooking it thoroughly in minutes by jump-starting the Maillard reaction. This is what produces the crispy edges you love but without the necessity of oil.

Now it may be easy to think of air fryers as just a replacement for deep-fried foods, but they can actually cook a lot more than french fries! You can grill a nice steak, bake a pizza, and even create some desserts like cake.

Read on to find out more delicious food choices!

What Type of Foods Can You Make With It?

When it comes to the types of food you can cook, the possibilities are practically endless and really just subject to how creative you want to get with your food.

You can make garlic chicken parmesan, fried pickles, turkey, hamburgers, hot dogs, cinnamon rolls, jalapeno poppers, taco crunch wraps, pork taquitos, garlic potatoes, sweet potato tots, doughnuts, banana bread, funnel cake, meatballs, brussel sprouts, roasted salmon, salad, and so much more!

Anything that you can roast on a baking sheet or cook from frozen, it’s likely that it has a recipe out there. Now that you know what types of food you can make, let’s take a look at the best budget air fryers currently on the market.

Top 12 of the Best Inexpensive Air Fryers Currently Available

I present to you: 12 options that will offer the best bang for your buck.

COSORI Air Fryer.

The COSORI air fryer is rated incredibly high, coming in with a 4.7 star rating with 720 customer reviews. It is an 11-in-1 flagship product out of COSORI, with a slim counter footprint, and over 100 original recipes included.

It comes with a built-in digital touchscreen display that has eleven presets with adjustable temperature and time. The temperature range is between 170-400F with an F/C degree switch option and you have access to video tutorials and recipes.

It is ETL/FDA certified, has automatic shut-off protection, is BPA-free, and a cool touch handle/button system.

At 5.8 quarts, the COSORI air fryer is large enough to cook a whole chicken. That, in combination with its counter-saving design, performance, and versatility has earned COSORI their Amazon Best Seller badge for this product.

Specifications:

1700 Watt Power

5.8 Quarts

Two year warranty

GoWise USA Programmable Air Fryer With 8 Cook Presets.

The GoWise USA programmable air fryer is rated relatively high at four stars and 865 reviews on Amazon. It is electric powered and has eight programmable preset options for cooking your food. These presets include a warm option, meat options like fish, pork, shrimp, steak, and chicken, as well as a fries/chips and cake option.

It also comes with digital LCD controls that are easy to use and easy to see, allowing you to set the temperature anywhere from 180F to 400F for one to sixty minutes. It also comes with an indicator that lets you know when your desired cooking time has been reached and it will beep a few times when it is done.

The bonus with it is that it comes with a recipe book filled with fifty different options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.

Specifications:

1400 Watt Power.

3.7 Quarts.

Red in color.

Ninja AF100

The Ninja air fryer is rated extremely high on Amazon, coming in with a 4.7 rating and 552 reviews. The original price point wasn’t what you would call budget-friendly but it has been recently dropped down, making this 4-quart fryer quite an excellent pick up .

The Ninja comes with a programmable base that allows you to air fry, roast, reheat, and dehydrate your food with a temperature range sitting at between 105-400F. This means that you can gently remove the moisture from your food and have better control over how crispy you want your food to be.

The basket is non-stick, ceramic-coated, and can fit about two pounds of french fries in it. It also comes with a multi-layer rack, allowing you to dehydrate your foods with the low fan speed/ low temperature combination option. It is dishwasher safe and comes in a black/grey color scheme.

Specifications:

1550 Watt Power.

4 Quarts.

Black/grey color.

OMORC Air Fryer XL

The OMORC air fryer is rated very high at 4.7 stars on Amazon with 551 reviews. It is perfect for larger families as it comes with 6 quarts in total, which is considered large for air fryers. It comes with a multi-functional knob that allows you to adjust the timer, the temperature, and your ideal presets.

It also comes with a beautiful, sleek, touchscreen design and is dishwasher safe. It has a non-stick fry basket and pot, comes with a cool-to-the-touch handle and a button guard to prevent detachment. It uses non-toxic metals, automatic shut-off protection, and comes with a recipe guide.

Specifications:

1800 Watt Power.

6 Quarts.

8-15 Presets.

Two-year warranty.

Black in color.

Dash Compact Air Fryer.

The Dash Compact air fryer is rated decently high at four stars on Amazon with 588 review. This air fryer is quite small when compared to others on this list, only having 1.6 quarts of space, which makes it perfect for those who are single or those who don’t need to cook a lot of food in it.

It takes very little time to pre-heat and it is incredibly easy to use, you just simply load the basket up, set the temperature and then set the timer. It does come with an automatic shut-off feature so that your food doesn’t get overcooked and it comes with cool-touch housing and handles.

It is extremely lightweight, can be used in a college dorm, out in a camper/RV, or in a smaller kitchen. The non-stick fryer basket is dishwasher safe and it comes with a recipe cookbook with 15 recipes.

Specifications:

1000 Watt Power.

1.6 Quarts.

Comes in black, white, red, and aqua coloring.

Simple Chef Air Fryer.

The Simple Chef air fryer is praised on Amazon with 4.2 stars and 799 ratings. It comes with a “world class” design, using 100% BPA free plastic and state of the art components. As with many air fryers, the Simple Chef uses air circulating technology, making the use of the appliance incredibly easy.

You can make spring rolls, drumsticks, pork chops, steak, fries, potatoes, cakes and more without worrying about any sort of mess. It is dishwasher safe, comes with a 30-day guarantee, and refunds are available.

Specifications:

3.6 Quarts.

1400 Watt Power.

Comes with temperature controls ranging from 180-400F.

It also comes with a 30-minute standby timer.

Coloring is black.

Philips Viva Airfryer (Original).

No air fryer list is complete without the original Philips Airfryer, which comes in a black color scheme, has a patented starfish design for fast cooking, and is bundled with a cookbook that has 150 recipes for breakfast, dinner, lunch, and dessert.

It has one knob for selecting your temperature and timer as well as an indicator light to let you know at what is going on at all times.

You simply set the cooking time, set the temperature, and allow the automatic shut-off to let you know when your food is done. It is dishwasher friendly and comes with a free mobile application.

Specifications:

2.75 Quarts.

1425 Watt Power.

Black in color.

Avalon Bay Air Fryer

The Avalon air fryer is rated highly at 4.2 stars with 1,220 customer reviews on Amazon. It comes with a low-to-medium-level price tag and an Amazon’s Choice label.

Additionally, It comes with a few accessories including a non-stick baking dish, a multi-use rack, and a 52-page cookbook. In terms of its features, it has a temperature range of 180-400F, is made out of non-BPA plastic, has non-slip feet, and has a 30-minute timer.

The basket is detachable so that you can enjoy easy food transfer and easy cleaning.

Specifications:

1400 Watt Power.

3.7 Quart capacity.

90-day return policy.

Black and Decker Purify Air Fryer

The Black + Decker Purify air fryer comes with dual convection fans, a 4.1-star rating on Amazon with 739 reviews. The entire air fryer comes with non-stick cooking surfaces and both the air frying basket and basket separator are dishwasher-safe.

It comes with variable temperature control, ranging anywhere from 175-400F with two indicator lights. One light will let you know when the unit is powered on while the other one will turn off when the preheat temperature is reached.

Specifications:

2 Quartz (8 cups)

Can air fry two foods at once without mixing them.

Comes in a black/stainless steel color scheme.

GoWise USA 7-in-1 Programmable Air Fryer

The GoWise USA 7-in-1 programmable air fryer is one of the latest models in their line-up and comes with seven built-in smart programs for chips, meat, chicken, shrimp, fish, and steak.

Similar to other models by GoWise, the fryer comes with an automatic standby feature, a 30-minute timer, and a standby mode that it automatically switches into when food is complete.

It comes with a detachable basket, is black in color, and comes with touchscreen technology.

Specifications:

1400 Watt Power.

3.7 Quarts.

Includes recipe book.

NutriChef Electric Hot Airy Fryer Oven.

The NutriChef Electric Hot air fryer comes with an LCD digital display, a 4.1 star rating and 135 reviews on Amazon. It is considered a portable multi-cooker, is electric, and the touch button controls have multiple programmable options.

It can be set to have a 30-minute timer, has multiple cooking modes, and a power on/off/cancel button. The temperature ranges anywhere from 170-400F and the unit comes with stainless Teflon on the cooking pan and basket.

Both the basket and the pan can also be detached from the unit to be cleaned in the dishwasher or by hand.

Specifications:

1400 Watt Power.

3.4 Quarts.

Black and stainless steel coloring,

Comes with a few recipes for baking, grilling, and barbecuing.

FrenchMay Air Fryer.

The FrenchMay air fryer is rated quite high at 4.6 stars and with 112 reviews on Amazon. It is considered a multi-functional air fryer that allows you to cook traditional food types like french fries, steak, roasted potatoes, vegetables, and onion rings. However, you can also bake with it if you would like and it boasts a no oil smell, no splatter, and no mess policy.

It comes with industry-leading dynamic airflow technology which rapidly circulates the hot air throughout the device so that you can look like a uniform cook. It comes with a touchscreen control, has a 60-minute timer on it, and the digital temperature can go up to 400F. The timer will shut-off on its own once it hits the 60-minutes.

It comes with 7 presents, including meat, shrimp, steak, fish, chicken, cake, and fries/chips. What makes this air fryer different is that it is dishwasher safe has built-in cool-to-the-touch housing, and removable parts.

Specifications:

1500 Watt Power.

3.7 Quarts.

Black in color and comes with a 60-day warranty.

Are Cheap Air Fryers Any Good?

This question has been asked multiple times. It seems like a low price tag raises questions. We instantly start to look for flaws to justify the low price tag.

But the price doesn’t really say it all. In fact, some air fryers are only expensive because of the status of the brand, others are affordable because people are less aware of the brand. An affordable air fryer may perform just as well as an expensive air fryer.

Cheap air fryers can still produce extremely tasty food with the crispy perfection we’re after, however, they may be smaller in size and have fewer presets than a more expensive model would. If an air fryer is good or not depends on what you seek. The models that I’ve included in the list above perform very well and have a decent price tag.

Every model may not be the right pick for you, in fact, the best air fryer is the one that fits your criteria the best.

Conclusion: A Few Tips When Using Your New Air Fryer

Once you’ve decided on which air fryer you would like to get, don’t forget that it is still a kitchen appliance and does have a few ground rules that you should follow. Make sure to remember the following:

Always make sure you are pre-heating the air fryer before cooking even if it says that it doesn’t need to pre-heat as you will get better results this way. You only need to pre-heat it for one-three minutes in advance.

Try not to overcrowd the basket or the pan! If you end up overcrowding it, you’re not going to get the best results, giving you soggier or unevenly cooked food instead. It can also increase the amount of time needed for the food to cook.

When frying, remember to flip your food. Make sure that if you are breading items beforehand, you flip them during the cooking process so that you get the results you want.

Always clean your air fryer after use. Food particles are going to get everywhere and build-up over time due to non-washing will cause your appliance to degrade faster. Allow the fryer to cool down and then follow the instructions in your manual for proper cleaning.

All in all, you can’t really go wrong with whichever air fryer you choose, just make sure to purchase based on how large you need it to be (quart size) and on which features you feel best suits your cooking style.

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