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Air fryers have had a moment, and today there’s no shortage of machines to choose from. Earlier this year we went in search of the best air fryers available right now, and we came across a handful of models that impressed us. Our best pick of the bunch, the Instant Vortex Plus is one of the best for most people – and now you can get it for the lowest price yet. Amazon has the 6-Quart Instant Vortex Plus on sale for just $100, which is 41 percent off the regular price.
This air fryer hails from the makers of the Instant Pot, so it’s safe to assume this machine doesn’t just stop at air frying. It has six cooking modes — air fry, roast, grill, bake, reheat, and dehydrate — and it has a temperature range of 95 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This should allow you to cook all types of food in it and with the 6 liter machine you have enough space to cook quite a lot of food at once. In our testing, we found that the Vortex Plus takes little to no time to preheat, and we liked its intuitive controls and easy-to-clean basket.
The Vortex Plus has two additional features that set it apart from other air fryers in this price range. It has a “ClearCook” window on the front of its basket, which essentially lets you just look inside the machine while it’s cooking. Most other pod-style air fryers don’t have this, and it could come in handy when you want to make sure your food is cooked exactly a certain way. There’s also the brand’s “Odor Ease” technology, which uses built-in replaceable air filters to remove odors during cooking. We found that it didn’t completely eliminate odors, but compared to other, larger machines, the Vortex Plus’ output seemed less smoky overall.
The discounted Vortex Plus joins a number of other instant pot gadgets on sale this Black Friday. There’s the previous generation of this air fryer on sale for $80, which might be a better deal for you if you can do without the ClearCook window and odor elimination feature. There’s also the Instant Vortex Plus XL, which is 28 percent off and up to $130. It’s an eight-litre machine with two cooking drawers that let you cook two different foods at once – and both drawers have their own ClearCook windows. If you like the idea of a two-zone machine and find our choice of the Ninja Foodi XL a bit pricey, Instant Pot’s version could be a good alternative.
Buy Instant Vortex Plus (previous generation) at Amazon – $80 Buy Instant Vortex Plus XL at Amazon – $130
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