Tower T17088 Vortx 9L Duo Basket Air Fryer with Smart Finish, 2600W Power, Black

Product Information

Millie Fender is the small appliance and cooking editor at Homes & Gardens. She has reviewed dozens of air fryers and some of the best toaster ovens from her own home, and that includes the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket Air Fryer. Part of what helps air fryers achieve such great results is a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction. This is the process by which food takes on a “browned”, roasted flavour, and can be achieved using high heat and very little oil. After the 18 minutes had passed, I transferred all of the potato wedges into one container, making sure they were moved around. I then added the two salmon fishcakes into basket two, this time opting for the Smart Finish mode, which lets you specify different heat temperatures for the two compartments. Seeing as my potatoes had a head start, but needed more work, I did 200 degrees for basket one and 160 degrees for basket two. If you want to learn a little more about how air fryers work, and what benefits they have compared to a standard oven, then have a read of our handy explainer here: What is an air fryer? How much should I spend?

The short answer is yes. Even the simplest dual air fryer can make a whole meal thanks to its twin basket setup allowing you to cook two things at once, whether that’s two kinds of veg, potatoes and protein, or breakfast foods such as hash browns and bacon. The handy sync and match features available on many models takes things a step further, allowing you to better coordinate the cooking of your two items. Additionally, accessories such as grill plates let you cook a wider range of foods more effectively, fully opening up your mealtime possibilities.When cooking different foods with different cooking times in each basket, the Sync Finish function will do the thinking for you. At the touch of a button, Sync Finish will control cook times so that both compartment finish cooking at the same time. No more juggling multiple cooking times for easy meal preparation Good models will come with dishwasher-safe removable parts and a pull-out loading tray that slots into the machine. For easy cooking from the get-go, look out for models with preset functions for popular dishes too. These work out the timings and temperatures for you. Cooks twice as much food than a standard air fryer, so you can whip up deliciously healthy meals for all the family with minimal effort

Pre-set programs aren’t exclusive to dual air fryers, but dual fryers often come with more pre-set cooking modes than single fryers do. You'll find them on the main control panel, often with a separate button for each mode. Rapid air circulation creates crispier textures across your mealtime favourites, 30% faster than a conventional oven

Easy to use

But if you’re looking for a lighter way to ‘fry’ your favourite foods, using less energy, less mess and a lot less oil, then perhaps an air fryer is the way to go. At Tower, we believe the question should really be, 'What CAN'T I cook in the Air Fryer?' as the options are limitless! Tower is an iconic British brand boasting over 100 years of quality in manufacturing and design excellence.?Tower is the UK’s fastest growing SDA & Housewares brand loved by millions of households

Cooking food 30% faster, Tower Air Fryer use less power than conventional ovens. Save on up to 50% on your energy by simply switching to Air Fryer cooking Every air fryer in this buying guide has either been tested at home, or at our test facility by one of Ideal Home's reviewers for a number of weeks so that we can adhere to our testing protocol, and reliably tell you what's good and not so good about these products.The 360-degree stirring paddle is incredibly handy and ensures food is evenly and consistently cooked without the need for shaking your food mid-cooking cycle. Nine automatic cooking functions take most of the guesswork out of air frying but there’s still an option to manually set the time and temperature if need be. What’s more, if you’re using these presets, the Genius+ (and every other Genius model in the range) automatically adjusts the temperature and stirring paddle during cooking so your food isn’t overcooked. Easy-to-use controls with air fry, roast, bake, dehydrate, defrost and reheat functions to cook you air fryer favourites at the touch of a button, with individual control over each compartment to cook different foods at different temperatures We all know air fryers are the healthier way to enjoy your favourite food, using hot air to get the taste you love without all the messy oil. But with two independent baskets for cooking different foods at the same time, the Lakeland Dual Air Fryer takes it to a whole new level. Why is the Lakeland Dual Basket Air Fryer the best air fryer for me? The ability to use different modes in each basket – for example, grilling bacon in one drawer while air frying hash browns in the other – gives the Instant Vortex Plus a real edge for people seeking to make whole meals in their air fryer.

We found several other reasons to buy this excellent air fryer during our review process. Our expert reviewer Helen mastered everything from a leg of lamb to a toastie during tests, with a perfect cook every time. And seeing as this is a Ninja air fryer, it goes without saying that it’s simple to use, with well-thought-out settings and controls. Just make sure to go into owning your Ninja with an open mind, and join online communities if you're looking for recipe inspiration and tips. For a more in-depth explanation of how air fryers work and their benefits versus standard ovens, you can read our full-length What is an air fryer? explainer. Other settings include modes for roasting, grilling, baking, reheating and dehydrating, with the Vortex Plus’s clever setup allowing you to use a different mode in each basket. In testing, we air-fried hash browns in one drawer while grilling bacon and sausages in the other, whipping up a tasty breakfast in no time. Both air fryers look great, but I do prefer the look of the Ninja. The smaller control panel is less prone to smudges, although it does make the controls a little more fiddly.Exclusive to Tower Air Fryers, Vortx technology rapidly circulates hot air around food, cooking up to 30% faster than a conventional oven. Vortx also cooks food with a delicious crispy texture and because little or no oil is required, it’s much healthier too! Lose the fat not the flavour with Vortx Air Frying Technology Remove the basket or tray from the air fryer and wash it in warm soapy water. You can use a sponge or a non-abrasive scrubber to remove any food particles or grease. Other notable features of the Dual Zone include modes for baking, roasting and dehydrating, though its standout ability in our opinion is its Max Crisp function. Designed to cook thinner, frozen foods, the Max Crisp function works well on items such as onion rings, skinny fries and nuggets, cooking them to a brilliant level of crispiness in a much shorter amount of time than most standard ovens. If you’ve settled on buying an air fryer from Ninja but would like to take a more in-depth look at the range, be sure to take a look at our best Ninja air fryer roundup. In our testing, the FlexDrawer proved to be just as efficient as the Dual Zone and we found the addition of the removable divider incredibly useful. Foods cooked faster and more evenly than in both our oven and some other models of air fryer. It’s an excellent all rounder for large capacity cooking.