Missouri man tests out a wide range of air fryers and ends up finding one that's the best he's ever seen

Published on Jan 28, 2026 at 8:48 PM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards

Last updated on Jan 28, 2026 at 8:48 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Emma Matthews

A Missouri man put air fryers from bargain basement to premium priced through the same brutal set of tests.

He wanted to know if a $50 machine could make things as crispy and delicious as you could with a $400 model.

By the end, one air fryer stood out as the best all-rounder he had ever used.

But the surprises were not where you would expect.

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Missouri man tests out a wide range of air fryers

Move over, dogs, man has a new best friend, and it is the humble air fryer, but which piece of tech is worth dropping the cash on?

A YouTuber wanted to see which is the one fryer to rule them all, so he lined up everything from a $53 Black+Decker to a $400 Breville smart air fryer toaster-oven and ran a consistent scorecard across multiple tests.

First came raw power: he timed how quickly each air fryer could heat the inside chamber and then raise a metal block to 200°F.

The Ninja was the quickest, but it ran way hotter than the settings suggested, blasting past the target temperature.

The Cosori was nearly as fast without the same wild temperature swing, while the Breville, despite its price, was the slowest in the heat-up test.

Then came the tastiest tests- how they fared frying different foods.

When it came to fries, the Ninja delivered the best batch with the most balanced crispness and interior texture.

The Chefman and Auster also impressed, while the Breville took far longer than the rest and produced fries that were disappointingly dry inside.

Cookies, though, flipped the script.

The toaster-oven style models performed better here, with the Breville turning out the most even cookies overall.

That style seems to handle baking more like a small oven, which helped it win that category even though it lagged in speed elsewhere.

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The one air fryer to rule them all

Bacon and chicken helped separate the strong all-rounders from the one-trick ponies.

In the bacon test, several models produced consistently cooked strips, but some quirks showed up.

The Ninja cooked quickly but moved so much air that it could shift food around, which affected evenness.

Other air fryers were slower, but delivered more consistent results across every piece.

Chicken quarters brought the juiciness versus crisp battle into focus.

The Phillips finished fastest to the target internal temperature, but the Cosori stood out for keeping the chicken especially juicy while still getting a good exterior.

After converting the results into rankings for each category, the Cosori landed on top with the best average performance.

It wasn’t the cheapest or the most expensive, but it was the most balanced across heating speed, fries, cookies, bacon, and chicken.

The YouTuber also liked that it could reach 450°F, higher than most of the lineup, even if it was a little noisy.

Ninja’s machine finished second overall, thanks to standout speed and excellent fries, but it was also the loudest and most aggressive, with temperatures that could run hotter than expected.

Auster, Instant Pot, Phillips, and Cuisinart clustered close behind in a multi-way tie, showing that there are plenty of solid choices if the top pick isn’t available.

This tasty test has got our stomachs rumbling. Can we come over for dinner?

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As a Content Writer since January 2025, Daisy’s focus is on writing stories on topics spanning the entirety of the website. As well as writing about EVs, the history of cars, tech, and celebrities, Daisy is always the first to pitch the seed of an idea to the audience editor team, who collab with her to transform it into a fully informative and engaging story.