Salter EK5196 Dual Air Pro – 7.6 L Digital Air Fryer, Sync & Match Cook Function, Oil Free Fryer, Sensor Touch Display, 10 Cooking Functions, 60 Min Timer, Non-Stick Cooking, Stainless Steel, 1700 W

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The price tag puts the Salter into the upper end of the market but as it does multiple ways of cooking this can be more beneficial than buying multiple cooking devices. Air fryer technology is improving all the time. Older models might take a while to get going, and can require more oil than newer designs. Cheaper models may also require you to parboil chips, which might not be ideal if you’re looking for fast cooking times. Upping the game ahead of Christmas dinner, I tested out Brussels sprouts cooked with bacon. This time, too long meant they'd reduced to barely the size of a pea and were very crispy. By Christmas Day, I’d figured out the perfect cooking time of 10 minutes and they were plenty flavourful. Bacon is also a great meat to cook in the air fryer if you like it crispy, but a beefburger dried out and didn’t retain its moisture, so it was almost inedible. The biggest bonus about owning an air fryer is not only the promise of cutting down your cooking time but doing so with as little need for oil as possible, not to mention it saves energy on the household bills. It means you can still achieve that deep-fried effect you're probably craving after healthy eating, without that unhealthy aftertaste.

I was sceptical about the health benefits of air frying but my mind has been opened up to the many options available - particularly the child-friendly meals that could be created from scratch with fresh ingredients but a crispy, fried finish to keep the kids happy. An air fryer is essentially a small convection oven. It circulates hot air around the food to get that crispy outer layer and fluffy or moist inside. It is also more energy-efficient due to its size and power, compared to heating your kitchen oven.

Like the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone, the Dual Air offers a choice of combined or independent control of its two baskets. By default, you can programme a temperature and time for each, then both will start at the same time. In Sync mode, the longer programme gets a head start so that both sides finish cooking at the same time. Finally, Match Cook mode sets both sides to cook with the same settings, which is useful if you just want to cook lots of the same thing. Performance If you’re a fan of fried foods, air frying offers a healthier way for you to keep enjoying your favourite meals in 2022.

I decided to keep things simple and tried some home-made air-fried chips, which turned out to be very crispy and the kids didn’t complain. If you want to learn a little more about how air fryers work, and what benefits they have compared to a standard oven, then have a read of our handy explainer here: What is an air fryer? How much should I spend? The booklet also explains all the different timings and how to use the settings for air frying, baking, roasting, grilling and dehydrating. How to clean the Aero Grill Pro Combining and air fryer and grill in one appliance makes a lot of sense: it doubles up of the number of uses and, for the grill in particular, keeps smoke and smells inside the appliance. Mostly, products like this are very expensive, but the Salter Aerogrill is cheaper than a lot of air-fryer only cookers. Bauer Consumer Media Ltd, Company number 01176085; Bauer Radio Limited, Company number: 1394141; Registered office: Media House, Peterborough Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA and H Bauer Publishing, Company number: LP003328; Registered office: The Lantern, 75 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PLIt’s quite a beast, but if you use an air fryer all of the time, cook large portions (or for lots of people) and want quality results each time, then there’s nothing better than this model.

There’s another catch that’s more specific to this fryer. While the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone goes up to 240℃ in its Max Crisp mode, the Dual Air tops out at a rather modest 200℃. That’s plenty for many dishes but, as my tests confirmed, it’s a little gutless for getting the best browning on chips and other items that need a really good crisping or searing. If you were cooking meats, you would do exactly the same but insert the temperature probe once done - which will tell you how cooked it is in the middle. Most air fryers tend to look a lot like deep fat fryers, but the Sage the Smart Oven Air Fry looks a lot like a microwave oven. This design lets you spread out food, so that it’s evenly cooked, rather than having to shake food as you do in an air fryer. While the Salter comes with a recipe booklet, there will obviously be some of your favourite recipes that aren’t included.We have to say that the manual controls are a little confusing with lots of buttons for dedicated cooking modes, such as seafood, chips, fish and meat. A simpler layout would help, although once you’re used to the T22, it’s often easier to set a temperature and time manually. So simply insert food and it will automatically cook without having to lift a finger. It even alerts you on completion.