If you Google “Is air frying healthier than deep frying”, you’ll get mixed reviews on methods and recipes, but one thing is for sure: You reduce the fat, calories and bad items that you consume. So when Cuisinart sent me their Digital Air Fryer Toaster Oven, I wanted to test out the benefits of making meals using this compared to oil-fried meals, and boy was I surprised.
Full transparency, I am a huge fan of fried food. Chicken wings obviously, French fries of course. But as of recent and countless tweets about eating healthy flood my timeline, I’ve slowly embraced attempting to enjoy the same foods I’ve loved all my life to match my now slowing metabolism. The best counter friends and family have told me has been: The air fryer.
Over the past 3-4 years they have become popular amongst consumers, as Amazon is flooded with companies creating their own air fryers, Pinterest having plenty of air fryer recipes, and even Reddit enjoying an entire community of various ways to give you a healthier, faster way of cooking and consuming your foods without them being fried. And then we meet Cuisinart’s Digital Air Fryer Toaster oven.
The stainless steel toaster oven is now a mainstay in my kitchen as I’ve adapted to healthier eating thanks to its ability to make everything from sliced bread for my avocado toast to sliced wedges of potatoes sans the terrible oils I traditionally add to the pan before placing into the oven. But when you typically see “toaster ovens” advertised, the photos you see are traditionally just comfort foods that you end up missing the “breaded, flour-y” taste, only resulting back to those”… Not with Cuisinart.
The company managed to include a nice cheat sheet of items that could be air fried that honestly surprised me when I checked them out including my favorites: Shrimp and vegetables. Who would honestly think that you could make your shrimp, much less VEGETABLES in an air fryer? Especially since they companies never advertise healthy foods when they sell their air fryers, so it was a breath of fresh air that Cuisinart opted to let it be known that their product is worth more than 2 am chicken nuggets and frozen fish sticks.
While the Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven is surprisingly versatile, it is also small, so you shouldn’t expect it expect to cook large portions. At max, you can cook about 20 wings at a time, or 12 slices of bacon if you opted too. It’s fantastic for a small kitchen as its two-for-one premise makes you want to toss your traditional toaster out of a window, it also very safe to use as a substitute for your own oven. So for those of you who have children who you don’t really trust to cook their own meals, the Cuisinart somehow makes it efficient for the younger people in your home to warm up a pizza slice without losing the flavor.
I personally love my Cuisinart Toaster Oven, so much so I’m giving away my standalone air fryer as this is more efficient, somehow heats up and cooks faster, and I can see the progress of my foods without pulling out a tray to see it’s progress. A countertop oven/toaster combination to rival the competition, Cuisinart knocks it out of the part both in price and practice with the Digital Air Fryer Toaster Oven is available for $269.95.
You can purchase the product directly from their site today.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review unit
What I Like: Compact; Great companion to any kitchen; Faster than my own personal oven
What Needs Improvement: A bit of false advertising — Photos stated you could place a small chicken/turkey inside, however, it’s entirely too small for this to be even remotely practical
