Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven
First Impressions Of The Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven
The Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven arrived with everything needed to bake, air fry, and toast. Included in the box were the air fryer toaster oven, a baking pan, an air frying basket, and a perfectly-sized rack to bake foods like pizza.
Although I wasn’t expecting the oven to reach this size, it fit perfectly on our counter. You might need to measure the space between cabinets and countertops if you are limited. It’s a little over a foot tall and deep and requires a few inches between the outlet and the appliance.
A major difference between this model and traditional air fryers is aesthetics. You’ll notice that most air fryers are made of black cylindricals and have a removable basket. If your kitchen boasts stainless steel appliances, you may want what’s on your countertops to match. You’ll love the fact that this model also comes in black, which will suit dark kitchens. This Cuisinart air fryer is sleek and trendy, and you won’t feel bad displaying it.
I unboxed the air fryer solo, and while it was a bit heavy, it was totally manageable setting up on my own. The oven itself was already assembled, so all I had to do was pick a place to put it, and plug it in. The instructions were clear and even included a handful of recipes!
Before its first use, the directions recommend washing the removable trays with dishwashing liquid and water. It’s easy to use and can be used in minutes. You can order additional parts or accessories online at a very affordable price.
Cuisinart Toaster Oven Air Fryer Cooking Functions
Cuisinart didn’t play around with this high-quality gadget. Pick a food in your freezer and this can cook it. Air fry, bake, broil, convection bake, convection broil, warm, and toast. Pretty impressive, right?
Since I am honest with you, the air fryer is my preferred method for almost everything. The air fryer cooks everything as well as the oven. Air frying baskets are ideal for snacking like chicken nuggets and fries. The basket is large enough to hold one layer of food without any overlap, so you can cook evenly.
The air fryer is most famously used to cook chicken wings. You can make raw chicken wings or frozen wings with it. They are all delicious. In just 15 minutes, you can have crispy skin and tender meat.
The toast function makes a killer bagel and gets both sides perfectly brown. For grilled cheese I chose this setting, and I would recommend it 10/10. I was pleasantly surprised with the broil option, as it melted cheese into golden brown gooey greatness without burning.
The temperature was much higher than the oven when I used the bake function. To get similar results, I reduced the temperature by between 10 and 20 degrees F. Prepare yourself for the smell of burning plastic the first few uses, and for the sake of your nose, open up a window. It was so bad that a whole chicken tasted terrible. However, the meat had no plastic notes and the dish was cooked well. I suggest baking plain bread to get rid of the smell.
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Alright, now that we’ve talked about the delish foods, let’s talk about maintenance.
Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven – Ease of Use
What is this air fryer like to use? Since it was delivered to my door, it has been a daily use. I love it. It has replaced my oven use by at least 85 percent, and that’s not an exaggeration. It’s even been used to make grilled cheese. It’s completely kid-approved.
The machine can maintain a temperature of between 80 and 450 degrees F. It can keep food warm and even broil. There’s a handy interior light that’s way better than an oven light and allows you to check on food without opening. If you bake, you know opening an oven can be the death of your cake.
If I trusted said kids with a hot device, I’m certain even my five-year-old could use this Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven. The settings are clear and easy to read, and the timer is self-explanatory. Once the timer is finished, the loud, retro-sounding sound will alert you. The auto-shutoff feature is a nice addition, especially for young children.
The instructions give great advice as far as how to cook a wide array of foods (chicken, pork, beef, etc.) They seem very accurate.
Do You Need an Air Fryer Toaster Oven to Cook Your Food?
Air fryer ovens can be described as convection ovens that have fans at high speeds to circulate hot air to crisp up and brown the food.
These baskets also offer many advantages over traditional air fryers. Air fry pans are usually wider and shallower than traditional ones, which allows you to cook more foods at one time. It’s also easy to monitor cooking through the window and to pull out the basket to stir and flip over food.
However, few of these multifunction countertop ovens are the best at air frying. They are best for those who prefer toasting and flexibility over air-frying. You may need to increase cooking time and pay attention to how you arrange the food.
They’re also generally harder to clean. While most air fryers have easy to clean nonstick air fry baskets, the stainless steel baskets and aluminum drip pans seen here can take some soaking and scrubbing to get spotless.
When you cook something in a batter–like shrimp or onion rings–or toss in a little oil like homemade French fries, you get messy drips on the heating elements that will need to be cleaned off. Some newer models are finally starting to include nonstick interiors, which is a big plus.
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You’ll use either the oven rack, or the air fry pan, so make sure there’s enough space for both.
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Cleaning The Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven
Instructions recommend that you clean the oven’s top after every use. This part was simple. I washed the glass off after each use too, as I noticed it was looking a little greasy. Heads up, the included baking pan is impossible to clean. I washed it as soon as it cooled — it was spotted with brown stains after the first use.
The spots got worse the more foil was used. The instruction manual recommends against using foil, which is my go-to in preventing stained baking sheets. You can save money on Amazon by purchasing a rectangular, shallow air fryer liner.
Air fryer baskets and racks are easy to clean. I haven’t had the same issue with them staining. All signs of usage were removed by soap and water!
What To Know Before Buying Air Fryer Toaster Ovens
A good air fryer toaster oven fits more food than a single-function air fryer, but your food may not turn out as crispy.
Toaster ovens are capable of handling a wide range of tasks. They can toast four to six slices of bread, broil, bake, or reheat. This versatility is further enhanced by toaster oven air fryers.
Adding an air fry function gives you the abilities of a pop-up toaster, toaster oven, and more in one appliance. Some models are also able to roast on a slow cooker, dehydrate or roast, which makes them more versatile.
Other Air Fryer Toaster Ovens We Reviewed
The handsome, brushed stainless steel Breville Smart Oven Air commands top dollar, but delivers a state-of-the-art toaster oven and a consistently excellent air fryer. It’s large enough that it could truly replace your oven–Breville claims it can roast a 14-pound turkey. It can also proof bread, dehydrate and slow cook.
Although the digital controls make it easy to use and have a bright oven lamp, I still have one complaint. The manual doesn’t have any recommendations for what, how much, or how long to cook various foods. While this may not pose a problem when baking or roasting is done well, it can be problematic if you are new to air-frying. Also, all of the parts require hand washing.
The Tests
We tested toaster settings just as seriously as we tested air fry functions on these combo appliances.
We tested 17 models to determine our top choices for air fry or toaster oven performance. First, we tested how well it toasts bread, like we do with traditional pop-up toasters. It could produce different shades of bread and evenly toast each side. It could toast bagels easily
Some of the recipes included refrigerated biscuits and frozen pizza. We also tried broiled chicken breasts and refrigerated biscuits. We also air-fry frozen French fries in each case. In most, we also cooked homemade French fries and chicken nuggets, frozen nuggets, and Nashville hot chicken.
