For the majority of us, our kitchens are brimming with appliances that either save us time or effort. These may be large appliances such as fridge freezers and dishwashers or smaller items such as food mixers and coffee makers. Sometimes we buy an appliance that we think we will use, and it sits in the cupboard or on a shelf gathering dust, eventually getting sold on or given away. There are some appliances however that once bought we find that we use them so frequently we wouldn’t want to be without and one such appliance is the air fryer.

Air fryers have improved somewhat from when they were first advertised and now are more compact, have digital displays and variable heat settings. The original air fryers have a paddle that rotates the food as it is cooking but some models do not have a paddle, so an alarm indicates that it is time to give the food a shake halfway through the cooking time.

If you are thinking about purchasing an air fryer it is worth checking that the size is adequate for your family. A two litre model is sufficient for one or two people whereas a family of four or more would be better buying one with a capacity greater than four litres.