Best 5 Quart Air Fryers (2023 Review)
The most commonly bought air fryers are the ones with 5-quart cooking capacity as they are large enough to cook for 3-4 persons at a time, maybe even 5 if you enjoy smaller portions. With so many different models for sale it can be difficult to choose which one you should buy and this is why we are here to help you.
Keep reading to find out which are the best 5-quart air fryers in 2023!
#1 Ninja AF161 Max XL 5.5-Quart Air Fryer
Ninja AF161 air fryer is equipped with 1750 watt heating element and 5.5-quart cooking basket. It has a temperature range of 105°F to 450°F – wider than most other air fryers which typically go from 180°F to 400°F..
Cooking
Being the #1 air fryer Ninja AF161 obviously does a really good job at cooking. It cooks evenly, heats up fast and doesn’t warm up your kitchen like an oven does.
Food comes out delicious and rich in flavor. Crisps food really nicely – French fries are crispy on outside as is the skin on chicken wings without using any oil (but spraying a little bit of it does make food even crispier). Meat is tender and juicy on the inside.
Works really great for heating leftovers too. They taste so much better than when warmed with a microwave albeit they still aren’t as good as fresh.
Ninja AF161 has 7 different cooking programs including “max crisp“, “air fry“, “air roast“, “air broil“, “bake“, “reheat“ and “dehydrate“.
Cooking basket is dishwasher safe and has nonstick coating.
Controls
Ninja AF161 is equipped with LCD display and touch sensitive buttons. Button layout is well thought of making air fryer easy to use.
Verdict
Ninja AF161 is the best 5-quart air fryer you can buy! It’s a bit more expensive than most other 5-quart air fryers but it’s worth the money. If you are willing to spend a bit more then this it the air fryer to get however if you want something more affordable don’t worry as there are plenty of good air fryers that are cheaper.
#2 Cosori CP358-AF XL 12-in-1 XL 5.8-Quart Air Fryer
Cosori CP358-AF XL is an air fryer equipped with 1700 watt heating element. It has 5.8-quart basket and can cook in temperatures ranging from 170°F to 400°F.
Cooking
Cosori CP358-AF XL cooks really well. Food comes out crispy on outside and juicy on inside. It tastes great and has rich flavor. Works great for French fries, onion rings, hamburgers, steaks, chicken wings and many other meals.
Cooking basket is dishwasher safe and has nonstick coating that doesn’t contain PFOA or BPA.
Cosori CP358-AF XL has 12 presets (steak, chicken, seafood, bacon, vegetables, toast, frozen foods, bake, french fries, and shrimp). You might find that the presets often use temperature that’s slightly too hot or cook a bit longer that they should resulting in overcooked food so some adjustments might be necessary but they do give you general idea of what temperature and time you should use.
Quality
Overall Cosori CP358-AF XL is well made. Only thing to complain about is how the handle was engineered as screws can come loose over time so you might have to tighten them once in a while.
Control panel
Cosori CP358-AF XL is equipped with display screen and touch sensitive buttons. Control panel is intuitive and simple to use. Touch sensitive buttons are responsive. If you can complain about 1 thing then it’s that temperature is adjusted in 10 degree increments instead of 5 (so you can’t select temperature like 365°F, you either go for 360°F or 370°F).
Other
Cosori CP358-AF 5.8-quart XL air fryer is equipped with skid marks that help it stay in place. It also has rear cooling system.
Cosori CP358-AF is ETL Listed meaning it’s independently tested and meets recognized safety standards.
Conclusions
Despite ranking #2 Cosori CP358-AF is a really good air fryer, almost as good as Ninja AF161 Max XL.
#3 COSORI CO158-AF 5.8-Quart Air Fryer
COSORI CO158-AF is a more basic air fryer that’s also less expensive but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. COSORI CO158-AF comes with 5.8-quart cooking basket and has 1700 watt heating element. It can cook in temperatures from 180°F to 400°F.
Cooking
Despite being #3 best 5-quart air fryer COSORI CO158-AF doesn’t disappoint in any way it cooks. It does a good job of making food crispy without losing moisture inside. Meals come out very tasty and that’s what matters the most!
Cooking basket is made of aluminum and has PFOA-free and BPA-free nonstick coating. It’s dishwasher safe and easy to clean.
Unlike more expensive models COSORI CO158-AF doesn’t have any presets/cooking programs but it has recommended settings printed on top of it for French fries, chicken,steak, seafood, shrimp, root vegetables, desserts and frozen foods. Keep in mind that optimal temperature and cooking time vary depending on how much food is inside the basket so you should perceive the printed settings as mere recommendations or estimates.
Controls
COSORI CO158-AF uses mechanical controls whereas most air fryer have digital ones. Which are better comes down to personal preference. Mechanical controls are simpler to use but digital ones can be slightly more accurate.
COSORI CO158-AF has two knobs – one for adjusting temperature and the other one for adjusting cooking time. That’s it! Just adjust the knobs and air fryer will start cooking.
Controls
Overall quality is decent but there might be some issues too. A common flaw for COSORI basket type air fryers is that screws can come loose over time and this can happen on CO158-AF as well. Not a really significant flaw as it takes less than a minute to tighten them but it can might slightly annoying having to do so once in a while.
Larger issue lies within the cooking basket. Some consumers have reported outer basket falling out of the inner basket without pressing release button. This can be dangerous because hot food can fall on your feet causing burns. This is not an issue with every unit and it’s hard to estimate how common it’s but keep in mind you have to be careful operating the basket as some consumers have had this problem.
Verdict
COSORI CO158-AF is not the best 5-quart air fryer but it’s still nonetheless a pretty good one despite some of the flaws. If you want something more affordable then this model might be the one you should consider to buy.
#4 GoWISE USA GW22965 5-Quart air fryer
GoWISE USA GW22965 is another great air fryer if you want something more affordable. With 5-quart basket it’s slightly smaller than the air fryers above but it’s going to be big enough for many nonetheless. GoWISE USA GW22964 is equipped with 1500 watt heating element which allows it to cook in temperatures from 180° to 400°F and dehydrate in temperatures ranging from 90° to 170°F.
Cooking
GoWISE USA GW22965cooks pretty well. Perhaps some of the higher rated air fryers do a slightly better job at making food crispy but the results are still delicious and healthy so you can’t complain.
Despite being a more affordable model it has 8 presets: air fry, roast, toast, dehydrate, grill, bake, reheat, and keep warm.
Removable pan and crisper tray have PFOA-free non-stick coating.
Controls
GoWISE USA GW22965 5-quart air fryer is equipped with display screen and touch sensitive buttons. Temperature is adjusted in 10 degree increments.
Colors
GoWISE USA 5-Quart air fryer is available in 4 color schemes: Black/Copper (GoWISE USA GW22964), Black/Silver (GW22965), Mint/Silver (GW22966) and Red/Silver (GW22967).
Verdict
GoWISE USA GW22965 is an affordable air fryer that cooks well and works just fine!
#5 Innsky 55SA1US 5.8-Quart XL Air Fryer
Innsky is a less known brand but that doesn’t mean they can’t make a good air fryer. Innsky 55SA1US is an air fryer with 5.8-quart cooking capacity and 1700 watt heating element that can cook in temperatures from 180°F to 400°F.
Cooking
Just like all air fryers in this list Innsky 55SA1US cooks well, after all this article is called “Best 5 Quart Air Fryers”. 1700 Watt heating element is powerful enough to allow this air fryer heat up fast and make french fries golden brown. Since you don’t have to use oil (or if you decide you can use a little bit of it) the food isn’t greasy but if flavorful.
Innsky 55SA1US has preheat function. Preheating often might seem like a unnecessary nuance but it actually often results in crispier and more tasty food. It also has other cooking programs including steak, chicken, shrimp, seafood, french fries, cake, bread, preheat, thaw and keep warm. Cooking programs work well most of the time but sometimes they are little bit off so feel free to adjust accordingly to results.
Innsky 55SA1US has a timer function that allows you to delay cooking for up to 99 minutes. If you have some errands outside your home that will take up an hour or so and you want to have freshly cooked food awaiting for you when you arrive back home then you might find this feature useful.
Features
Innsky 55SA1US 5.8-quart air fryer has ETL and RoHS certifications. It is made of PFOA-free and BPA-free materials.
Possible issues
Majority of consumers feedback is positive but some have reported one of the two issues: 1) nonstick coating peeling off (keep in mind you should use non-abrasive materials to clean it as otherwise you might damage it); 2) It seems that some units fail after less than 1 year of use.
Conclusions
Even though it’s not quite the best Innsky 55SA1US is still a good air fryer.
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