How We Test Air Fryers
To compare each air fryer, we’ve cooked up batches and batches of fries and chicken wings. As well as evaluating how, crisp, evenly browned and in the case of chicken wings, how moist and juicy the meat was, weâve also compared how easy they are to use.
We rated each design on how many settings it offers, how durable and easy to clean the body and parts are, how loud their fans are and how hot the exterior casing gets. For each model we wanted to know whether it was simple to use design and didnât require reading a thick instruction manual before use, came with useful accessories such as frying baskets, or a recipe book for inspiration.
Southern Fried Chicken Power Air Fryer Xl Review
June 14, 2017 by Laura Tucker
I received a Power Air Fryer XL as compensation in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are 100% my own!
When you think of southern style food, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Casseroles? Sweet tea? What about fried chicken? If you automatically thought of something battered and fried, youre definitely not alone! Its no secret that we love our fried foods here in the south. Heck, we even fry our vegetables! Just walk into any local diner around here and youll find that the majority of the menu items are fried and if theyre not, the cooks will be more than happy to fry it for you!
While I love fried foods as much as the next person, Im also aware that frying all of our foods isnt always the wisest choice to make in regards to our health.
But how can I possibly still enjoy my favorite southern-style favorites without breaking out the oil and frying pan? When I make fried chicken, I want it to be golden brown and crispy, and you cant achieve that kind of magic by throwing it in the oven to bake!
But that, my friends, is where the Power Air Fryer XL stepped in to save the day, and its completely changed my fried chicken game in a really BIG way!
For this recipe, I decided to use chicken drumettes because theyre my very favorite. I tossed the chicken in a bowl and covered it in a layer of creamy buttermilk. I covered the bowl and let it set in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.
How Does An Air Fryer Work
Air fryers don’t fry food in the traditional sense. Instead of oil, air fryers use hot air to crisp and brown foods. All air fryers contain a heating mechanism and fan that keeps the heated air circulating around the food. The process is similar to a convection oven.
Air fryers contain a perforated or mesh basket that allows air to move around the food for even cooking. The only downside to this design is you can only air fry breaded foods since battered foods would drip through the perforated air fryer basket.
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Grillgrates For The Powerxl Air Fryer Oven
10 GriddleGrates for the Power XL Air Fryer Grill!10 GrillGrate 2 Panels + 1 gap panel, measuring 12.375 wide
- Includes the short handled GrateTool and User Guide
- Fits perfectly in the Power XL Air Fryer Grill
- Raised rails sear and efficiently transfer heat to the food
- The valleys sizzle juices just below the food for true grilled flavor the valleys are a flavor system
- Made of hard anodized aluminum
Setup Basics:
- Use GrillGrates on top of the Power XL Air Fryer Grill wire shelf, position in the center
- Flip GrillGrates over to grill smashburgers, scallops, and stir fry
- Use canola oil, Duck Fat Spray, or Grate Wipes to season for the first few uses
Care & Cleaning Basics:
- Do not clean GrillGrates in the dishwasher, dishwasher detergent is caustic and will pit aluminum cookware
- Soak GrillGrates in mild dish soap such as Dawn
- Use scrubbie or steel wool to remove debris and grease
- The GrillGrates cleans easily and will develop enhanced non-stick properties with use
PERFECT SEAR MARKS
JUICIEST FOOD
Turn your air fryer or smart oven into a grill and a griddle!
PERFECT SEAR MARKS
Make restaurant-quality food in your smart oven or air fryer.
JUICIEST FOOD
GrillGrates sizzle juices in the valleys for the best-tasting food.
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There are no refunds or exchanges on CUSTOM CUT GRILLGRATES.
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How Do You Clean An Air Fryer
Most removable parts on most air fryers are dishwasher safe. Check the owner’s manual of your air fryer for which parts, if any, are ok to run through the dishwasher.
These parts are also easily cleaned by hand with warm, soapy water and a non-abrasive sponge. If there’s any particularly difficult to remove grease or stuck-on food, let the parts soak in hot, soapy water first.
The interior and exterior of the air fryer can be wiped clean with a damp cloth, but should never be submerged in water since it contains electrical components.
If the heating element gets dirty, you can wipe it with a damp cloth when the unit is turned off, cooled, and unplugged.
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Air Air Fryers Healthy
Dietitian and therapist Corrie Van Horne, founder of Omni Counseling and Nutrition, says “Air fryers can be a quick and convenient way to create a balanced and nutrient-dense meal or snack. Each individual has different nutritional needs and desired health outcomes, so whether cooking with low or no added fat is optimal will depend on the individual. The air fryer can be a helpful tool in meeting nutrient intake and health-oriented goals.”
In other words, what’s optimally healthy for you will depend on your individual needs, but air fryers can be helpful whether you’re aiming to add more or less dietary fat into your diet.
What To Consider When Buying An Air Fryer
There are a number of considerations that need taking into account when choosing the best air fryer for you.
Start by deciding which type of air fryer you want. Basket air fryers tend to be healthier because they funnel the juices, as well as the fat, away from the food but you canât check on the food without opening them and letting cold air in, which can stall the cooking process.
Bowl air fryers, however, have glass lids so you can keep an eye on your meal, but the cooking juices remain in the air fryer and in contact with the food, making it tastier but not as healthy.
Youâll also need to check the capacity of the air fryer. If youâre feeding four or more mouths, look for larger air fryers, which can hold around 6.5 quarts / 6 liters, while couples will find designs that have a capacity of around 2.5 quarts / 2.5 liters will be sufficient. Some of the best air fryers also have more than one compartment, which means you can cook multiple foods at the same time.
As weâve already mentioned, if youâre tight on space look for air fryers that offer a multitude of different cooking methods, to cut down on the number of appliances that clutter up your kitchen countertop. Also, consider whether you want an air fryer with smart features that means you can switch it on or off from your smartphone.
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Power Xl Vortex Air Fryer 2 Qt Accessories
This tristar Power Xl vortex air fryer 2 qt accessories is a top-of-the-line Replacement for your original air fryer, this fryer comes with 5 quart capacity and is basic to clean. It is conjointly efficient and powerful, peerless for frying up your food, the Power Xl gowise 7 qt air fryer plus 5 quart accessories bundle includes a Power Xl vortex air fryer plus 5 quart accessories, including an air fryer plus 5 quart accessories. The new powerxl air fryer grants a much more than enough Parts for you to have access to all of your food, with this new plate, you can finally feel confident that your food is cooked to perfection. The original powerxl air fryer had a variety of different part Replacement options available to those who purchased it in the 7 qt model, this gave people the ability to maintain and improve their fryer by changing part number and part type to get exactly the part they needed. However, this was a very expensive and time-consuming process, so continued to offer the 7 qt as a substitute between a warranty and a lower-cost alternative, the new powerxl air fryer extends an alternative of different air fryer grills with different Replacement Parts and can be set to work with either the 7 qt or any other air fryer on the market. The all-in-one design of the powerxl air fryer makes it basic to adopt and maintain, and it comes with an 2-year warranty.
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What Can You Cook In An Air Fryer
Fries, roast potatoes, chicken wings, and other deep-fried favorites are obvious dishes to cook in an air fryer, but that’s not all you can whip up in one of these handy kitchen gadgets. You can prepare anything you can cook in a traditional fan oven, space permitting, because they work in the same way.
So whether that’s frozen foods, mini pizzas, or even gnocchi and ravioli – it can all be cooked in an air fryer. You can even make fudgy brownies in an air fryer, in less time than it takes in an oven.
In fact, we’ve spent more than 12 months attempting to cook some of our favorite dishes in this kitchen gadget. We found an air fryer can rival KFC when it comes to fried chicken, and was also the answer when it came to creating crisp, crunchy crackling on pork belly.
It also proved to be the best way to cook cinnamon rolls and Krispy-Kreme-style donuts.
As well as being used in place of an oven, air fryers can be an easier way to prepare dishes usually cooked on a stove, without having to watch them like a hawk and turn them before they burn. In particular, we discovered French Toast and grilled cheese work extremely well in the kitchen gadget.
If you’re a fan of fries but unsure how to go about making them in an air fryer, then check out our advice, which even details an air fryer trick that’s a game-changer when it comes to cooking fries.
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How Do You Preheat An Air Fryer
Not all air fryers need to be preheated, while others automatically preheat before starting the cooking timer.
To preheat, select the preset preheat function if your air fryer has one, or just set the cooking temperature and let the air fryer heat for 3 to 5 minutes before adding your food.
We’ve tested models that automatically preheat and ones that let you get cooking without any preheating. In our tests, we found foods cooked similarly whether we preheated or not. Some air frying guides recommend preheating for better results when air frying meat you want to get a nice sear on, like steak and chicken breasts.
How To Make Air Fryer Boxed Brownies
Start by making the brownies, per the instructions on the box.
Then mix well. Next, pour into an air fryer safe pan, and then place in the air fryer basket. It is so simple to make and there is no need to wait for the oven to preheat. Just whip up this dessert. Give this method of making brownies a try.
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Do Brownies Freeze Well
Brownies are one dessert that does freeze nicely. Just allow your brownies to cool down once you pull them out of the oven. Then you will want to slice and place it in an airtight container. Then freeze for up to three months.
Thaw on the counter and enjoy a brownie whenever you get a craving. If you have a vacuum sealer you can extend the shelf life even longer.
How To Choose The Best Air Fryer For You
Preheat times are short when air frying and they also use less electricity than a traditional oven. For more on these benefits, take a look at our dive into the question: ‘do air fryers use a lot of electricity?’.
Most modern air fryers consist of a pull-out drawer with a crisper tray inside, similar to the perforated trays found in a fryer or oven. This design allows any excess oil to be removed from the contents, decreasing the eventual fat content on the plate. The handle found on the drawer is also handy for shaking the food part-way through cooking, which encourages an even distribution of crispiness.
Some larger air fryers even have dual-zone modes that allow you to set specific settings for different foods you want to cook at the same time. For more tips and tricks on getting the most out of your appliance, take a look at our guide to how air fryers work.
There are many other benefits to enjoy when switching to one of the best air fryers, including the relative lack of clean-up when cooking traditionally oily foods like sausages. And even if you do end up making a mess, you can take a look at our article on how to clean an air fryer – which may involve just popping the relevant elements into the dishwasher when you’re done.
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Why Trust The Spruce Eats
This roundup was written by Sharon Lehman, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who happily makes space for any gadget that makes cooking faster and easier. She has tested and reviewed several air fryers for The Spruce Eats, including the Chefman TurboFry Air Fryer and Emeril Lagasse Power Air Fryer 360.
The Spruce Eats Editor Siobhan Wallace compiled testing data from our official Lab as well as insights from our home tester’s full product reviews to update this roundup.
This roundup was updated by Katya Weiss-Andersson, a writer and editor who has nearly a decade of experience as a professional chef. Katya started out as an air fryer skeptic, but it is now the most beloved appliance in her kitchen.
The Best Air Fryer : Tried And Tested
Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
The brand behind the iconic Instant Pot also makes air fryers, and its top-of-the-range model consistently turned out the crispiest fries and chicken wings of any air fryers we tested. In our testing, the fries had crisp exteriors but soft, fluffy insides, and the chicken was moist, while its skin was crispy and retained loads of flavor.
The Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook & OdourErase builds on the previous iteration, the Instant Vortex Plus, with a plastic window in the basket, and a light, that lets you keep an eye on food while it’s cooking, and has a built-in filter to reduce smells too.
However, it doesn’t come with any cooking charts, which means you will need to spend time experimenting to achieve the right cooking duration and temperature, particularly when it comes to frozen food. We also found the crisper plate falls out if the basket is tipped up too much when removing food, and the display suffers from fingerprint marks. However, these are minor gripes on what is in our eyes, the best air fryer on the market right now.
It has seven presets for dishes such as bacon, seafood, and cake. It also has a reminder to shake, which can be activated when setting the cooking time that will alert you halfway through cooking so you can turn the food to achieve an even crisp.
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And just like that, youve got a batch of perfectly golden crisp southern fried chicken without the guilt! The Power Air Fryer XL has been a joy to use, and cleanup is super easy. Im currently making a list of all the recipes that I want to try, and Im pumped to be able to indulge in all of my favorite foods without the extra grease!
You can find the Power Air Fryer XL to purchase at powerairfryer.com, or at these select retail stores: Kohls, Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. It comes in either red or black, and the 3.4 quart size retails for $119.97 while the 5.3 quart size retails for $149.07
Looking for a few more Air Fryer recipes to try? Check out this roundup of 16 Must-Try Breakfast Recipes!
And this roundup of 20 Game Day Air Fryer Recipes!
What recipes would you love to make in a Power Air Fryer XL? Leave a comment below and share the love!
