Air frying means the food contains less trans fats, which are the type of fats linked with many serious health issues, including cancer, diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

While most recipes call for a teaspoon or half a teaspoon of oil. We found we got a more even coating on some foods by decanting our choice of oil into a small spray bottle and using that. Never use one-calorie oil spray, which is a step too far in the diet stakes we found, producing nasty, chewy fries. Style: Basket | Capacity: 6.6L | Size: ‎35.56 x 27.94 x 38.35 cm | Cooking modes: Air fry, bake, dehydrate, plus more | Dishwasher-safe parts: Yes | Wattage: 1500W What we like While it's fairly large and will take up quite a bit of space on your countertops, it feels robust and good quality. It also comes with 3.8L cooking pot, crisper basket and a grill plate as well as its own cleaning brush. Several parts are dishwasher-safe too. To get into the specifics, basket air fryers tend to smaller and therefore may be a little more economical than countertop oven models, but it really depends on voltage and how long you'll be using your air fryer for, so bear that in mind. Which brand of air fryer is the best? Helen is a freelance contributor who trained as a Home Economist and another of Ideal Home's air fryer experts.

How does an air fryer work?

Yep, your air fryer can achieve everything that a standard oven can. If it helps, just think of an air fryer like an oven that sits on top of your work surface. The Ninja Foodi is worth every penny and will save you money cooking. For example, my gas fan oven will take 20 minutes to cook after warming up, my Ninja does it in nine minutes."(Vetted by Mumsnet user OldTinHat) Our verdict These clever appliances can achieve the same as an in-built oven can, though they do tend to be smaller in capacity. Our dedicated feature on air fryers vs ovens has all of the details you need on the main differences and similarities. The Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer with ClearCook got a rare five-star from Helen McCue, one of our expert appliance reviewers, and from the Ideal Home team during independent testing too. It's amazing. You can roast veggies in it to put in soups, it cooks, bakes, reheats, has max crisp (frozen stuff cooked to perfection in 10 mins). It also has a dehydrate function. My husband isn't veggie and one of the drawers is his but we can cook his meal and any of my sides to finish cooking at the same time. It doesn't heat the kitchen up so it uses less energy. I love mine."(Endorsed by Mumsnet user HuffleWoof)

Everything we cooked in this air fryer emerged perfectly done, which was probably helped by the range of different presets that we experimented with. If you're a newbie to air frying, these programs can really help you to get to grips with frying up different foods, and COSORI has more up its sleeve too - with a comprehensive recipe book and access to an app also included. Stirring paddle – Some air fryers have a stirring paddle so that you don’t have to shake or stir your food during the cooking process to ensure an even fry, although the jury’s out on whether stirring paddles improve the finish or not. You can sometimes remove the stirring paddle if you’d rather not use it. The bigger the basket capacity, the more people you’ll be able to cook for. So if you’ve got a family, then a 5 litre machine (which usually provides a chip capacity of around 800g to 1kg) is probably a must. The best models will have a number of basics you should look out for. These include weight and temperature settings, so you can adjust the heat and cook time to suit your ingredients.

Are air fryers worth it?

Air fryer technology is improving all the time. Older models might take a while to get going, and can require more oil than newer designs. Cheaper models may also require you to parboil chips, which might not be ideal if you’re looking for fast cooking times. Having said that, if you’re looking to limit how often you need to turn on your big, power-guzzling oven then look no further than the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer - it's answered every air fryer conundrum out there. Offering 13 preset cooking functions and a digital one-touch LED control screen if you don't want to use the app, this air fryer is simple to get to grips with – perfect if you’re a newbie to the world of air fryers. The removable basket is dishwasher-safe too, which is always a winner when it comes to cleaning up after family meals. Other useful settings include preheating and keeping warm options in case you can’t sit down to eat as soon as the food is ready. A big selling point for most air fryer enthusiasts is their money-saving capabilities, but there's no point in making the initial investment on a machine that ends up gathering dust in the cupboard. We scrutinised the cost of each of our chosen air fryers to make sure they represented good value for money in the long run.

We have the COSORI 5.5L. It's great, easy to use, easy to clean, takes up very little space. We've had it three months or so and I'm very happy with it." (Tried and tested by Mumsnet user TheBitterBoy)

How we tested

An avid foodie, she loves nothing more than trying new culinary creations in the kitchen, which often includes testing out and researching the latest time-saving gadgets for Mumsnet. She has also had work published in The i Paper, Stylist Magazine, Gransnet and Exposed Magazine. Why you should trust us

Key specs – Power: 1,500W; Capacity: 1.2kg; Display: Digital touchscreen; Accessories: Measuring spoon I couldn’t afford [a Ninja] so have a Tower one and it’s been brilliant. My oven broke for the third time and no way was I paying for another repair so the air fryer has completely replaced my oven!" (Brand recommended by Mumsnet user ThatsRoughBuddy) Our verdict Tefal air fryer here. Chipped Maris potatoes and a teaspoon of coconut oil makes lovely, soft-in-the-middle but crispy-on-the-outside chips.” (Tried and tested by Mumsnet user TeensArghhhh) Our verdict The beauty of a dual-draw air fryer is the ability to cook two different things at once and this device excels at that; it even has a SyncFinish mode so you can ensure both sets of food are ready at the same time, even if they have a different cooking time.

Can you put foil in an air fryer?

Once considered mostly in terms of getting the best flavour out of 'beige' food, air fryers have exploded in popularity over the last few years as energy costs have risen, and are now viewed by countless households as the better alternative (in terms of cost as well as health) to conventional cooking methods. The best thing about the air fryer is that it is low energy, high heat and no oil. We use it for BBQ skewered anything, homemade oat biscuits, pitta bread from scratch, pizzas from scratch, tear and share bread from scratch, dough balls from scratch, panko breaded anything, chips (and cheese) sausages, goujons, burgers, quesadillas (flat bread cooks up well) etc."(Recommended by Mumsnet user BobbyGentry) Our verdict When it comes to air fryers, there's one brand that takes the top spot time and time again during our testing process: Ninja.