Instant Vortex Plus Dual Air Fryer with Large Double Air Frying Drawers and 8-in-1 Smart Programmes - Air Fry, Bake, Roast, Grill, Dehydrate, Reheat, XL Capacity - SyncCook & SyncFinish-1700W

Product Information

Air fryers have become so popular in recent years because their size and clever designs mean they’re speedy, energy efficient and need very little to no oil to effectively crisp up food. This is in contrast to traditional ovens, which are larger and therefore require more time and energy to reach the same temperatures. 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. The Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer offers a cooking temperature range from 35ºC / 95ºF to 205ºC / 400ºF for up to 72 hours at a time – although the latter is at lower temperatures. At its maximum temperature, the air fryer can cook for up to one hour. It’s also possible to adjust the cooking temperature in one-degree increments, compared to the three-degree increments offered by the Instant Vortex Plus. 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.

We also noted that when tipping out fries once they were cooked, the crisper plate didn’t fall out – something that regularly happened during testing of the Instant Vortex Plus. When it comes to cooking duration, you can set each basket to complete cooking independently, or utilize the sync feature that stalls the basket with the shorter cooking time so that the two zones complete at the same time.If your kitchen cupboards are overflowing with pans and single-function cooking gadgets cluttering the shelves, the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Air Fryer may well be the answer to all your culinary prayers. With two baskets for separate or synchronised cooking, easy-to-use touchscreen controls and 8 cooking functions, its versatility is surely enough to impress even the most experienced chef. We started with 450g / 1lb frozen steak cut fries in basket one, using the default air-frying settings: 196 C / 385 F for 15 minutes. Usefully, the air fryer automatically preheats for three minutes once a time and temperature has been selected, while also offering a visual and audible prompt to add food when it reaches temperature. Just like the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Drawer Air Fryer, the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook & OdourErase sports an angular design. This ensures it has a smaller overall footprint than its predecessor, measuring 39.2 × 30 × 33cm / 15.43 x 11.81 x 13 inches. The touch controls are positioned closer to the top of the air fryer, while the dial to adjust the cooking temperature and duration is slightly smaller than on the first iteration of the Instant Vortex Plus. Both frying baskets can be used at the same time. It’s possible to cook food at varying temperatures for a different duration in each drawer, while also ensuring that cooking completes at the same time, with the Sync Finish feature.

The ClearCook windows let you view your food so you can monitor its progress without having to disturb the cooking cycle by opening the doors and letting all the heat out. And to give you an even clearer view, there are lights on the inside to illuminate your food while it’s cooking. As well as air fry, the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Drawer Air Fryer can roast, bake, grill, reheat and dehydrate. The air fryer has a total capacity of 7.6 litres / 8 quarts, which is split evenly across the two frying baskets. The front of the baskets feature a built-in plastic window, which, along with a light in the cooking cavity, ensures you can see how cooking is progressing. For easy cleaning, both the baskets and the crisper plates that sit inside them are dishwasher-safe – an improvement on its predecessor, where only the crisper plate could be cleaned in the dishwasher. The glass panels and the ability to turn a light on inside the cooker, to see what's going on, is also fantastic--so much better than the older versions.The dual basket feature allows me to prepare multiple dishes simultaneously, cutting down cooking time even further. The build not only looks sleek but also ensures durability. SyncCook mode – with the simple touch of a button, you can mirror the settings for both baskets so they’re doing exactly the same job – ideal if you’re catering for a crowd. It became apparent that the air fryer couldn’t cope with the usual quantity, so we reduced the batch to 300g / 10.5oz. This time the fries were spread across the frying basket in one layer, rather than being piled on top of each other as they were with the larger quantity. After 18 minutes, the results were evenly browned and crisp fries, with soft fluffy potato inside. When it came to homemade fries, we used our experience with the steak cut fries, placing only 300g / 10.5oz in the frying basket. We used 1.5tsp of oil, which is what the recipe called for. This time we set the air fryer to 191 C / 376 F for 20 minutes, the suggested cooking time for homemade fries in the Instant app. Once the cooking time had passed, the potato batons had been turned into crunchy, evenly browned fries that were soft and fluffy inside. EASILY DOUBLE UP YOUR PORTIONS OR COOK MEAT AND VEGGIE VERSIONS OF THE SAME DISH – handy SyncCook function automatically sets the same settings in both baskets

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. The other major upgrade over the previous version is the OdourErase technology, which uses built-in air filters to reduce cooking smells wafting through your home – compared to other models on the market, we could certainly detect a clear reduction in cooking smells when using the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook & OdourErase. Given their higher price point, some extra functionality beyond the norm is to be expected with dual fryers. This can include additional settings for roasting, dehydrating and grilling, or special features such as the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone’s Max Crisp setting or the Tefal Genius XL 2in1’s self-stirring paddle, both of which we’ll discuss in more detail below. Can you cook whole meals in a dual air fryer? Damage resulting from accident, alteration, misuse, abuse, neglect, unreasonable use, use contrary to the operating instructions, normal wear and tear, commercial use, improper assembly, disassembly, failure to provide reasonable and necessary maintenance, fire, flood, acts of God, or repair by anyone unless directed by an Instant Brands representative.Once the cooking time had finished, however, it was clear the fries weren’t cooked to our liking – they were pale and soggy, with some still raw in the center. So we added a further three minutes to the cooking time. Frustratingly, the air fryer goes through the automatic preheat again, in effect pushing cooking time to an additional six minutes. However, the fries still weren’t crisp and crunchy enough, so we added a further two minutes (five with the preheat). The fries still weren’t properly cooked,, in spite of the additional time, so it was clear this wasn’t going to be a success, so we abandoned cooking. With a simple dial control to manually select your desired cooking time and temperature, and a touch screen display to choose between the smart programmes, it’s really easy to use. And to make life even easier, there’s a progress bar to show where your food is up to in the cooking cycle, as well as simple step-by-step instructions displayed throughout each stage of cooking.