We Fried for Weeks to See if This Glass Air Fryer Is Worth It

#1: Design

The Fritaire air fryer certainly makes a statement on the counter. With a rounded shape and a glass bowl, it doesn’t look like the enclosed square-cornered fryer we’re used to. Not only is the shape and style unique, it also comes in a variety of colors so you can make it a focal point of your kitchen.

The glass bowl makes it easy and exciting to watch the food during the entire cooking process, though it also means you can see any mess afterward. It’s easy to clean on its own, but the Fritaire boasts a self-cleaning feature that involves adding water and soap to the bowl and turning the unit on to cook off any stuck food. I didn’t need to do that, even when I made a gooey grilled cheese sandwich that dripped melted cheese.

The downside of the thick glass bowl is that it’s a bit heavy. Not so much that it’s going to require a friend to move it, but it’s heavier than a typical air fryer basket. It also gets hot on the exterior during cooking. However, the inserts on the lid make it easy to lift it off of the bowl, and the bowl has handles, so things can be safely moved, even when the glass is hot. Additionally, lifting the lid turns the unit off immediately, and it resumes cooking when the lid is replaced. This is a great safety feature, but also allows you to drop in more food in the middle of cooking.

#2: Performance

Overall, this worked as well as other air fryers I’ve tested. Like most, food does need to be flipped over during cooking to get both sides toasty or browned. That was most evident with a grilled cheese sandwich when the bottom was quite pale before I flipped it over.

This has an impressively large 5.5-quart capacity, but that doesn’t mean you can pile 5 quarts of fries into it. Most air fryer recipes suggest putting food in a single layer. While I’ve been known to flout that rule by stacking things like tater tots and stirring them more often, other foods may not cook well if stacked.

#3: Versatility

To make this fryer even more versatile, it includes several accessories. For most cooking, you’ll use a rack sits at the bottom of the fryer to keep food off of the bottom so air can circulate. But I was particularly interested in the rotisserie rod, which turns the air fryer into a mini-rotisserie, with an emphasis on mini. It’s important to note that the rotisserie power unit twists onto the side of the fryer and requires batteries.

I bought the smallest chicken I could find that wasn’t a Cornish hen, but there was no way I was going to get it onto that rod. In fact, I couldn’t fit that whole chicken in the fryer without the top being perilously close to the heat. Instead, I skewered a sous-vide cooked steak that needed a final sear, which worked well. The rotisserie might be handy for very small roasts or perhaps chicken breasts, but you won’t be recreating store-bought rotisserie chicken at home with this.

A basket that also works with the rotisserie is also included. I used it for cooking tater tots as well as chicken wings. In theory, the basket eliminates the need to flip food over during cooking. Plus, it’s fun to watch. It was working well until I used it for saucy food, which caused quite the mess.

A “grabber” that hooks on to the basket or rotisserie rod is supposed to make it safer and easier to remove those accessories. It worked, but then I needed mitts to open the basket or get food off of the rod, so it seemed much simpler to use waterproof mitts rather than the grabber.

One final note…

While the fryer worked well, I had some quibbles with cleaning. The metal accessories are not dishwasher safe, and shouldn’t be soaked in water, which is fine when cooking fairly dry foods. However, when I used the rotisserie basket for wings, they dripped their juices onto the basket and stuck. I spent a lot of time brushing and rinsing the basket. Lesson learned. Use it for fries and tots, and cook wings on the rack.