3 things to consider when buying an air fryer on Black Friday

Black Friday is the perfect time to pick up an air fryer, with all the big retailers offering deep discounts on models from brands like Ninja and Instant Pot. But there are so many Black Friday air fryer deals, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed.

Before you start browsing this year’s Black Friday deals, it’s worth taking a minute to sit down and think about exactly what you want from an air fryer, so you don’t get tempted by a great-looking deal and end up with an appliance that’s not quite right for your kitchen.

The best offers are unlikely to sell out in a matter of minutes – planning ahead means you’ve got time to investigate the specs and weigh up your options before adding it to your shopping cart. Here are three things to keep in mind when choosing which air fryer to buy this Black Friday.

1. What’s your budget?

It’s possible to pick up an air fryer for under $100 / £100, but opting for one of these models typically means making some sacrifices. Budget air fryers usually only offer a handful of cooking modes, you’ll only have a single drawer, and there probably won’t be a window so you can check your food while it’s cooking. Examples of cheap and cheerful air fryers we’ve tested include the Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer, Magic Bullet Air Fryer, and Instant Vortex Mini.

However, the joy of Black Friday is that appliances that would usually be outside your budget are suddenly within reach. This opens up a new world of options, including dual-drawer air fryers that have a capacity large enough for family meals, anti-odor technology to reduce cooking smells, and extra cooking options.

There’s even more on offer when you enter the realm of premium air fryers. These include the ingenious Ninja Double Stack (and its big sibling, the Double Stack XL), which won this year’s TechRadar Choice Award for best air fryer. Its two-tier design gives you the cooking space of a dual-drawer air fryer, with half the footprint. The Double Stack would usually cost $229.99 / £269.99, but we’ve already seen it deeply discounted for Black Friday 2024.

If you can spend over $250 / £250 on Black Friday then you’ll be able to enter the realm of premium air fryers. These include fryers that can replace multiple appliances in your kitchen, such as the Samsung Combi Smart Microwave Oven and the Ninja Double Oven Air Fryer.

2. What do you like to cook?

Do you just want to prepare the occasional serving of fries, or do you plan to make whole meals? Budget air fryers generally have capacities between 1.5Qt and 5Qt. These will be fine for couples (though the smallest ones will only have enough space to cook a side), but if you need to prepare dinner for a larger family, then you’ll need to think bigger.

Family-size air fryers typically have a capacity between 7Qt and 12Qt. This space may be split between two drawers, which is convenient if you want to cook two different dishes, but if you’d like to prepare a whole chicken (for example) then look for one with a removable divider between the sections.

It’s also worth looking out for an air fryer that can sync cooking so both drawers finish at the same time, and beware air fryers that suffer from heat transfer between their drawers. All the dual-drawer models listed in our roundup of the best air fryers are designed to keep each section at its intended temperature.

If you need some inspiration for air fryer recipes, the Ninja Test Kitchen is full of recipes written by Ninja’s own food technicians and submitted by freelance food writers. I’ve found that Ninja’s own recipes are generally reliable, and even if you don’t want to follow them exactly, spending a little while browsing should give you a good understanding of what an air fryer is capable of.

As Good Food (formerly BBC Good Food) explains, there are a few foods that should never be cooked in an air fryer, including pasta and anything with a sauce. If you prefer your dishes saucy, you may be better off choosing one of the best Instant Pots instead.

3. How much space do you have?

Before choosing an air fryer this Black Friday, take a minute to measure the space available on your kitchen counter – and in the cupboard, if you’ll need to stash it away when you’re done cooking.

Even the smallest air fryer we’ve tested isn’t especially tiny, measuring 11.3 x 9 x 11.7in / 29 x 23 x 30cm. You’ll need a reasonable amount of room unless you’re planning to replace your microwave – which you can do with a device like the Samsung Combi Smart Microwave Oven.

If you have plenty of headroom under your kitchen cabinets but not much space on the counter, a Ninja Double Stack air fryer (with the baskets one on top of the other rather than side by side) could be the solution. The Double Stack XL has an impressive 8.3-quart / 9.5-liter capacity, and measures 15.1 x 11 x 18.5in / 38.5cm x 28cm x 47cm.