The air fryer is supposed to be a healthier and lower-fat way of cooking. They combine hot air and a very small amount of oil to cook food and the results are similar to that of food properly deep fried in oil but without all those fattening calories. So of course air fryers have become very popular in the last few years. We all love fried foods and the chance to have it without feeling quite as unhealthy is a big draw. You can also cook some food from frozen so you don’t need to defrost first.
However not all air fryers are made even, some are complicated to use and even harder to clean. Plus there are big variations in price with them. A common question we are asked about air fryers is whether you can get a good one for less than $100. The answer is yes and this article will look at the best ones available in that price range. Please note that the air fryers we look at here were less than $100 at the time of writing but they may be priced more than that now or in the future.
Contents
1. GoWISE USA 3.7-Quart Programmable Air Fryer with 8 Cook Presets, GW22639
How about this great looking unit from GoWISE? Not only can you air fry all your favorite foods but you can also bake with this device. So if you fancy baking a cake you can do it in your air fryer. No idea why you would want to do that but the option is there!
To make this air fryer user friendly they have preset buttons on the machine for the most common types of food. So you can put the food in and press the button, as easy as that. Of course you can also set the temperature and time of cooking yourself if you wish with simple button controls on the front of the device. An LCD display tells you how long is remaining before you can serve up. It also lets you see and adjust the temperature. A handy bee[ping sound alerts you when your food is ready.
Comes with a recipe book so you won’t have to worry about not knowing how long and at what temperature to cook your foods at.
Safety features include overheat protection, automatic switch off, and automatic standby mode.
2. FrenchMay Air Fryer – 3.7Qt, 1500W
Very similar in design to the GoWISE this too has presets you can select for ease of use. This has a more modern interface as the whole control panel is a touch screen. This is fine as long as you aren’t cooking something else at the same time as the touch screen may struggle to recognize your fingers if they are a bit greasy or messy.
This fryer does it all including frying, baking, grilling and roasting. This is a really impressive air fryer at this price range and it has been the number 1 best selling air fryer on Amazon for some time now.
One of the best things about this fryer apart from being easy to use and producing lovely tasting food is that it is a breeze to clean. You can whack the innards in the dishwasher and you are done. No faffing about.
This is an absolute bargain.
3. Gourmia GAF365 Digital Hot Air Fryer Classic
This option from Gourmia changes it up a little bit in terms of design but not much we must admit. Most air fryers look very similar and no one seems to be breaking the mold in terms of design. This comes in a few different sizes so if you only need a smaller fryer then you have the option of that here. It comes in 2.2, 4.5 and 6 Qt sizes. The design varies slightly for each size.
There are no preset buttons here so you will need to use a recipe book to find out how long to cook certain items but once you have used it a few times you will start to get a feel of how long things take to cook. Fortunately this item comes with a cookbook.
Food tastes great and cooking times are in line with other devices. This has been a very popular seller for Gourmia.
4. Big Boss Oil-less Air Fryer, 16 Quart, 1300 watt
Ok this one does look a lot different to the others but I’m not sure it’s a look we are particularly fond of. The best thing about this one is that you can see your food. So it’s a bit easier to tell when it is ready, you don’t have to keep opening it up to check on it as you can see exactly what is going on.
It works using halogen and convection heat and promises to leave your food moist on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Another cool feature of this is that it has a little shelf so you can cook two different foods at once without them having to be mixed in together. The controls are simple, there are 2 dials on the top of the device to set temp and time.
It cooks food really well and we love the fact we can see what is going on. The design might put some people off but that’s all down to personal preference.
5. VonShef Air Fryer
VonShef are well known for their quality products. They make and sell a wide range of cooking devices and have a reputation for reliable products. There are two options with this one, you can get the manual version or the newer digital version. They are very similar in terms of design but the newer digital version has the edge in terms of looks and features.
All the controls for the digital version are on top of the device and really easy to use. There is a large handle on the front so you can easily pull out the food drawer and carry it to where your plates are for easy serving.
It does a great job on all kinds of food and the basket can hold up to 1kg of food. This is a great air fryer that comes with the bonus of coming from a well known brand.
Conclusion
There are absolutely loads of air fryers to choose from in the under $100 range. The choice on which one to go for may just boil down to the size of the device or the design. They all perform in a very similar way and the results they produce are also very similar. There seems to be no stand out candidates in terms of any of them making better food than the others. They all produce great results. Some can hold more food than others so that is probably going to be your main concern depending on how many people you are cooking for or how much counter space you have available. If you are looking to spend a bit more than $100 then check out this guide from reviews.com
Other than that just choose the one you like the look of. You can see all the air fryers available at Amazon in this price range by clicking here.
