Best 4-Quart Air Fryers (2023 Review)
In the past few years air fryers have become the trendy kitchen appliance and not without a reason. They are simple to use and can cook healthy yet delicious meals without having to use any oil. On of the most popular air fryers are the one with 4-quart cooking basket. 4-Quart air fryers are large enough to cook for 3 persons at a time making them the perfect size for many.
Since you have come across this article you probably want to find out which 4-quart air fryers are the best and without further ado let’s do that!
#1 Ninja AF101 4 Quart Air Fryer
Ninja AF101 is an air fryer with 4 quart cooking basket that can cook in temperatures from 105°F to 400°F. It’s equipped with 1550W heating element.
Cooking
For a smaller air fryer Ninja AF101 cooks really well. Food tastes great, is crunchy and rich in flavor. Ninja AF101 heats up fast, cooks evenly and doesn’t heat up your kitchen. It’s also quieter than most other air fryers.
These things stay true for pretty much anything that you would cook in an air fryer. French fries, potatoes, burgers, onion rings, bacon, steaks, chicken wings and many other meals come out delicious. Works really well for reheating leftovers too. Sure, they aren’t as good as fresh but they are a lot better than if you warm them up in a microwave.
Most smaller air fryers don’t have any cooking programs but Ninja AF101 has 4: Air fry, roast, reheat and dehydrate. They all have default temperature setting but you can adjust it to match the optimal temperature for specific meal you are cooking.
Cooking basket and crisper plate have ceramic nonstick coating. They are dishwasher safe (so is the multi-layer rack).
Controls
The layout of controls is intuitive and easy to use. Control panel is essentially divided into 3 parts.
The upper part features buttons for adjusting temperature and cooking time as well display screen. Middle part features buttons for cooking programs. The bottom part features buttons for turning air fryer on/off and starting or pausing the cooking process.
Possible issues
Some consumers reported burnt smell when cooking good with Ninja AF101 air fryer. This might sound troublesome to you but this is not something to be concerned about.
What you should know is that air fryers have protective substance on heating elements to protect them during storage and shipping. This substance burns off when you start using air fryer which might initially produce weird smell.
For this reason we would recommend you burn off this protective substance before you actually cook anything (this applies to any air fryer not just Ninja AF101). The best way to do this is to clean the basket and then cook vinegar, lemon juice or sliced pieces of lemon for ~15 minutes at 300° to 350°F. This usually is enough to burn the protective substance fully but you can repeat the 15 minute cooking process 1 or 2 more times if you want to be safe.
Verdict
Big brands doesn’t always produce the best product in this this case they do. Ninja AF101 is the best 4-quart air fryer!
#2 Instant Vortex Plus 4 Quart Air Fryer
Instant Vortex Plus is an air fryer with with 4-quart cooking basket and temperature range of 120°F to 400°F (49°C to 205°C).
Cooking
Second best is still really good. Instant Vortex Plus heats up fast and cooks great. It makes food tasty and crispy which is what you want from an air fryer. Air fry basket and tray have non-stick coating which makes them easy to clean.
To be fair Instant Vortex Plus is pretty much as good as the Ninja. Choosing between the two is a really hard task. You can’t really say that one is better than the other however they are slightly different due to subtle differences.
One of the main differences is the shape of the cooking basket. They are both the same capacity however Ninja’s is circular shape whereas Instant Vortex’s is square. Ninja’s basket is a bit taller whereas Instant Vortex Plus has larger diameter. In simple terms Ninja offers more cooking capacity vertically whereas Instant Votex horizontally. For most foods Instant Vortex Plus shape is very slightly more advantageous however in some cases the extra height you get with Ninja can be crucial.
Instant Vortex Plus has 6 smart programs: Air fry, broil, roast, dehydrate, bake and reheat. They have factory settings but can also be programmed to your liking.
Controls
Instead of having physical buttons Instant Vortex Plus has touch sensitive ones. Which are better? It comes down to personal preference (Ninja has physical).
Temperature and time are adjusted with a knob (on Ninja you use up and down buttons). Using a knob is faster and easier than using buttons however that also might be a personal preference.
Verdict
Instant Vortex Plus might as well be #1 4-quart air fryer. It’s as good as the Ninja and choosing one over the other is very, very difficult.
#3 PowerXL HF-509DT 4-Quart Air Fryer
PowerXL HF-509DT air fryer is equipped with 1200 watt heating element and 4-quart cooking basket. It can cook in temperatures as high as 400°F.
Cooking
French fries, veggies, chicken wings and steaks come out tasting great. Just because it’s #3 air fryer in our list doesn’t mean it’s not good, on the contrary, it’s a really good air fryer. French fries are crispy on outside, meat is juicy on inside.
It’s a little bit less powered than some of the other air fryers so might take longer to cook with or food might be a bit less crunchy but it still tastes great!
PowerXL HF-509DT has 7 presets: french fries, roast, bake, fish, shrimp, chicken and steak. They make cooking simpler but in some cases some minor adjustments will be necessary for perfect results.
Cooking basket has nonstick coating that makes it easier to clean. When you remove the basket you have to be careful not to tilt it too much to either side as otherwise some hot grease might spill out.
Controls
PowerXL HF-509DT 4-Quart air fryer is equipped with display screen and touch sensitive buttons.
Verdict
Even though PowerXL HF-509DT is not the best 4-quart air fryer in our opinion it’s still a really good unit overall.
#4 Ultrean AF01 4.2 Quart (4 Liter) Air Fryer
Ultrean AF01 is an air fryer with 4.2 quart basket that can cook in temperatures ranging from 180° to 400°F.
Cooking
Ultrean AF01 cooks well. Food tastes good, has rich flavor and is crispy without using any oil making it also healthy. For a small air fryer it does a good job.
Ultrean AF01 doesn’t have any cooking programs, you have to select temperature and time manually. This is not really a big disadvantage as cooking programs usually doesn’t select the best cooking settings for every situation but they do give you a general idea of them.
You should be careful when operating the cooking basket. It has vents on sides through which hot grease can leak if the basket is turned to either side too much.
Controls
Ultrean AF01 has very basic but easy to use control panel. It has display screen and 5 buttons: two for adjusting temperature, two for adjusting time and one for starting cooking.
Possible issues
Ultrean AF01 is a very popular air fryer but there are a few reports of plastic in base melting which can be a fire hazard. It’s hard to say what’s the cause for this issue. Is it just faulty units or bad engineering? Considering the rarity of the issue it’s likely the former but it doesn’t make it not concerning.
Verdict
Ultrean AF01 is a pretty basic air fryer but it cooks quite well. Only concerning thing is that some of the consumers had potential fire hazard issue.
#5 GoWISE USA GW22953 4 Quart Air Fryer
GoWISE USA is a pretty popular air fryer manufacturer so it’s not a surprise to see one in this list too. GoWISE USA GW22953 has 4-quart cooking capacity and a temperature range of 180°F to 400°F.
Cooking
Just like all air fryers in this list GoWISE USA GW22953 cooks really well, otherwise it wouldn’t be featured in an article called “Best 4-quart air fryers”.
It does a good job of giving chicken wings crispy skin or french fries crunchy outside without losing moisture on inside.
It also has 8 presets which is more than other similarly priced air fryers (Fries, Steak, Wings, Fish, Shrimp, Chicken, Kebabs, and Dehydrate). Removable pan and cooking basket have PFOA-free non-stick coating.
GoWISE USA GW22953 also has window that lets you see food while it’s cooking which is something no other air fryer in this list has!
Controls
GoWISE USA GW22953 control panel features display screen and touch sensitive buttons.
Verdict
Despite being the last in this article GoWISE USA GW22953 is still a tremendous air fryer for the money. Think about it this way: there is no shortage of different models for sale today and most of them are pretty good so to make it to top 5 is something outstanding.
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