This helps ensure the food cooks evenly and makes it easy to lift out of the air fryer once it's ready. The smallest air fryers we've tested can hold up to 800g of food – about four portions of chips and roughly equivalent to the amount of food you can fit on two baking trays in an oven. One of the reasons we loved this model is that it doesn’t dominate the countertop, despite its practical 8. Think of air-fryers as mini ovens that can tackle almost anything you’d put in a conventional oven or deep-fat fryer.

MENGYUAN Air Fryer, Multifunctional Oil-Free Oven All-in-One MENGYUAN Air Fryer, Multifunctional Oil-Free Oven All-in-One

After a brief flick through of the manual we were able to get cooking pretty quickly thanks to the easy set up.Another container for the likes of meat or fragile fish fillets can then be added over the central stalk, to double up cooking space. One thing about crowd-pleasers is they generate the desire in people to press their nose up to the glass. This tilt, combined with a rotating action tumbles your food around, helping it to cook more evenly.

MENGYUAN Air Fryer, Intellate Touch Screen, 6.5L Large MENGYUAN Air Fryer, Intellate Touch Screen, 6.5L Large

But for the purpose of the test, we shook ingredients only when prompted too and scored the appliance based on its performance. In comparison to deep-fat frying, air-frying is a healthier alternative – using convection cooking rather than oil means there's less fat in the finished food, which in turn means fewer calories. Whether you want to upgrade to a newer model, or your air-fryer has reached the end of its life, knowing how and where to dispose of your appliance is important to avoid creating more e-waste.BBC Good Food’s expert reviews team has been reviewing air-fryers for four years, and regularly tests new models to ensure we’re bringing you the most up-to-date recommendations of the best air-fryers to spend your money on. As an alternative to switching on a full-sized oven several times a week to cook a meal for two, the benefits really stack up.

MENGYUAN Home Multifunctional Air Fryer, Oil Free Electric

An air fryer can save you money, but it depends on the size of your air fryer and how many people you’re cooking for. However, for the quality of components and cooking results it’s great value for money offering roast, bake, grill and dehydrate functions in addition to air-frying.

As a general rule, if you've broken something detachable from your air fryer then you might be in luck. Any oil will collect on the doughnut-shaped tray at the bottom, with a central paddle that turns, to ensure food is slowly coated in the oil. Chips for two people were evenly browned using the preset having been pre-tossed in 1 tbsp of oil, although they were not super crisp.