I'm far from a professionally trained chef. Within the last few years, though, I fell in love with cooking and felt more comfortable experimenting with different foods and flavors. But my kitchen space is cramped, prohibiting two humans from cooking at once without causing slight chaos. And since my cat refuses to pick up his paws and help (he instead judges me from the counter until I feed him), I've acquired another buddy who lends a helping hand: Cuisinart's Air Fryer Toaster Oven.
After growing up using a classic toaster in my youth, I fully converted to the toaster oven lifestyle as an adult, and I'm never looking back. So, when my partner announced a few years ago that he was upgrading our toaster oven to a toaster oven/air fryer combo, I was apprehensive. But I quickly jumped on the bandwagon and haven't looked back.
Since I'm a vegetarian and my daughter and boyfriend aren't, I often cook frozen meat and non-meat options, requiring extra oven space, and that's where this nifty machine shines. If the oven is filled with garlic bread and veggies, I can pop some meatballs in the Cuisinart, and everything cooks simultaneously without additional wait time. It's also excellent for heating food quickly without waiting for the conventional oven to heat up, especially when my daughter wants a quick snack.
Since it's a two-in-one machine, it takes up less space in my kitchen, which is a win for my already cramped counter space. The device has a plethora of settings, including bake, air fry, broil, and warm, which is always helpful when making food in batches, and I don't want something to get cold before serving it. The Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven also comes with an oven rack, baking pan, and air fry basket, so I can quickly swap one out for the other and cook various foods, from asparagus and toast to chicken nuggets and pizza slices. And the pan, rack, and basket are all dishwasher safe, so they're easy to clean when they get gunk or grease on them.
While it's a steep investment at just under $200, it's been worth it in our kitchen for its quality and durability. Some of the newer models even have a grill function, which I'm sure works great, but my current one is so reliable I haven't even considered upgrading. But because I've enjoyed this model so much, and it's been well worth the investment, it'll be an easy choice should the time ever come.
