- Value: 19/20
- Functionality: 20/20
- Ease of Use: 19/20
- Quality: 20/20
- Aesthetics: 16/20
- Total: 94/100
Air fryers are nothing new. In fact, you might say they’ve dethroned the Instant Pot as the kitchen appliance “it girl”…unless you’re me, a food editor who’s resisted its pull and settled for soggy tater tots because *shakes fist* I don’t need a glorified convection oven! Yep, I’ve never used an air fryer and I thought I never would…until I discovered the Cuisinart Large Air Fryer Toaster Oven ($610; $330).
Here's the deal: I have a relatively small kitchen and counterspace is at a premium. If I’m using a specialty appliance (like a food processor, blender, stand mixer or slow cooker), it’s stored somewhere else in my apartment 99 percent of the time. So one of those clunky air fryers that looks like a small spaceship was never crossing the threshold of my home. The Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven, however, is a hybrid appliance that functions as, yes, an air fryer, but also features 12 other functions to make it worth its footprint—awfully enticing, even for an anti-single-use-appliance gal like myself. Here’s what I thought when I tested it.