How we test air fryers

Our independent reviews will tell you everything you need to know about an air fryer before you buy one, from the quality of its chips to how easy it is to use and clean. But how do we test them?

Unlike free-to-access websites, which typically get the air fryers they review free of charge directly from manufacturers, we buy all the appliances we test ourselves so you can have complete trust in our verdict.

The Which? overall percentage score is calculated purely on the measurements and ratings supplied by our lab, meaning there's no room for bias in our overall ratings. 

Our best air fryers guide will give you tips and advice to help you choose an air fryer, and reveal the very best models we've tested.

What are Which? Best Buy, Great Value and Don't Buy air fryers?

Our recommendations will help you narrow down your shortlist, though you should still read our reviews to check for any weaknesses that might impact your buying decision.

Best Buy air fryers

Air fryers that score 71% or more are Best Buys and come with our firm overall recommendation.

Best Buy air fryers typically excel where it really matters – they cook great food, they’re easy to use, are well-built and don't use too much energy.

Great Value air fryers

How much buyers are willing to spend on an air fryer varies, so that’s where our Great Value recommendation comes in. These models do pretty well in our tests – scoring 60% or more  – while also being at least 20% cheaper than the average price of the air fryers we’ve tested. Great Value models are the ones to go for if you’re looking for a bargain.

Some Great Value air fryers also score well enough to be Best Buys.

Don't Buy air fryers 

Air fryers that score 45% or below are Don’t Buy models to avoid.

Don't Buy air fryers typically fall down in some crucial areas – they might make soggy or burnt chips, are not the easiest to operate and use a lot of energy.

Find out which fryers aced our tough tests by checking out our air fryer reviews.

How is the Which? score calculated?

The Which? overall score is a percentage – it only takes into account the results of our tests and ignores price completely.

This means that all air fryers are tested on exactly the same scale, so you can compare any model at any price and know how it measures up against its rivals in key areas. All air fryers are tested in the same way, regardless of the manufacturers’ claims.

Weightings and star ratings

A Which? test score is made up of dozens of individual tests and checks, including key factors such as quality of cooking, cooking time, energy efficiency and how easy the air fryer is to use.

To keep things simple, the most important scores are shown as star ratings out of five on each air fryer's Test Results page as an easy-to-compare list of strengths and weaknesses, so you can quickly work out whether a model is right for you.

The most important test results have a greater impact on an air fryer's overall score:

• 60% quality of cooking (chips, chicken and baguettes)
• 20% machine performance (cooking time, energy efficiency)
• 20% ease of use (operating the controls, removing the bowl or basket and putting it back in, cleaning the air fryer and storing it, how versatile it is, how visible the food is while cooking)

Our key testing criteria

The following are our key testing categories and how we evaluate each one.

Quality of cooking

Key question: How good is the air fryer at cooking chips?

We cook frozen chips in each air fryer. The best models turn out evenly cooked chips with a crispy golden brown exterior and fluffy insides. We mark down air fryers that produce greasy, soggy, undercooked or overcooked chips. 

Evenness of cooking is also important – fryers that produce a mixed bag of part-raw and part-burnt chips get marked more harshly.

Key question: How good is the air fryer at cooking chicken?

When we asked Which? members what they cook most often in their air fryer, chips were the most popular option by far. But they aren't just for chips, so we also test how well they cook another food that's popular among Which? members: chicken.

We cook chicken drumsticks in each air fryer and rate how evenly cooked and moist they are, to ensure you'll end up with a delicious, evenly cooked meal.

Key question: How good is the air fryer at baking baguettes?

To test each air fryer's baking ability, we bake three small baguettes (or six if it's a dual air fryer) for eight minutes. We then rate their overall appearance (how evenly brown the crust is) as well as the taste.

The best air fryers produce evenly baked golden-brown loaves, while the worst bake inedible or severely undercooked baguettes.

Quality of cooking makes up 60% of an air fryer's score.

Machine performance

Key question: Is the air fryer quick to cook?

To prevent you having to hang around waiting for your food to cook, we time how long it takes each low-fat fryer to produce golden-brown chips. The quickest air fryers take 20 minutes to cook four portions of chips, and you don't have to wait for them to heat up. The slowest, on the other hand, take over 45 minutes.

For comparison, we've found that if you factor in the time it takes to pre-heat, ovens take between 21 and 39 minutes to cook a similar amount of food, while deep-fat fryers take between 15 and 31 minutes.

Key question: How much energy does it use?

We calculate how much energy (in kWh) each air fryer uses while cooking, so you don't end up with an energy-guzzling fryer that adds too much to your electricity bills. The differences aren't huge, though; if you cooked four portions of chips three times a week for year, the most energy-efficient air fryer would cost you £14.33, while the least efficient would set you back £18.43.

Machine performance makes up 20% of an air fryer's score.

Ease of use

Key question: How easy is it to use and clean?

For truly fuss-free chips, you need a fryer that is simple to use. We assess how user-friendly the controls and instructions are, and how easy it is to open and close the lid to add or get to your food.

We rate each fryer on how straightforward the cooking process is, including whether whether you need to stir the food while you're cooking, if it's easy to keep an eye on the chips as they cook and whether the fryer switches off automatically once it's done. We also check how hot the fryer gets during cooking, so you know if you need to take care when getting food in and out.

Finally, we assess how easy it is to clean both the inside and outside of the fryer, and whether you can store it easily.

Ease of use makes up 20% of an air fryer's score.

Updates to our air fryer testing

In March 2024, we updated our testing to account for the increasing variety of foods UK consumers cook in their air fryers.

We added a cooking assessment of 'baking baguettes', to represent dough-based meals such as garlic bread, bagels and even pizza.

We also changed the chips we use in the cooking assessment from freshly cut to frozen, to better reflect what our members tend to cook.

In March 2024, we also updated the way we evaluate air fryers, which lowered the Best Buy threshold to 71%. This caused some newly retested models to gain our Best Buy recommendations and others to lose it.

Make sure you avoid a dud and choose an air fryer that excels with our air fryer reviews.