Finally, an Air Fryer That Isn't Embarrassing to Own

Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. We may earn a commission from these links. Here’s how we test products and why you should trust us.Florence Sullivan3 min readShop $180, AmazonWelcome to the Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.I’ve been anti-air fryer for a half-decade now. Not anti for any functional reason; in that regard, the entire category is perfect top to bottom. I used to have one I got at Walmart for $30, and, functionally, it’s as good as whatever the air fryer du jour might be. Reheated leftovers came out like brand new, chicken wings were restaurant-crisp, and it took all of 30 seconds to clean. It was big and ugly and plastic, but there was enough cabinet space to put it away, so that didn’t matter.The problem came when my wife and I moved to New York about half a decade ago. Faced with a choice between a coffee machine and an air fryer—both bulky and specific—we chose the coffee machine. The air fryer got put on the sidewalk and had a new family within the day. Since then, we’ve learned to live like our ancestors—no air fryer, just roughing it with an old-school oven.The crucial change came with a Ninja Crispi. We’re on a glass storage container kick, and the Ninja Crispi promised double duty: air frying and easy food storage. We made the jump. After one week of meal prepping with air-fried salmon, potatoes, and broccoli, we asked each other: How the fuck did we ever survive with the old air fryer?Shop $180, AmazonFlorence SullivanObviously, It Cooks Food PerfectlyThe thing about air fryers is that the technology—which was invented in its modern iteration in 2010 for Philips—was essentially perfected when it was invented. Like my $30 version, any old souped-up convection oven that keeps food on a perforated cooking platform can cook crispy food. It’s genius in its simplicity.So, I can’t exactly commend Ninja for making an air fryer that works—anyone could do that. I just want to tell you, reader, that it does. And though it takes a few tries to get the hang of the attachment system for the glass containers, it’s really just a simple slide and lock. You wear oven mitts to handle the container, but that’s the only thing that differs functionally. The rest is as simple as setting a temperature and time.Shop $180, AmazonFlorence SullivanBut the Glass Container Makes It Infinitely More UsefulNow that I own it, this feels as simple as the act of air frying itself, but it’s a real design feat. Ninja uses shockproof and heat-tolerant borosilicate glass containers. I assume the problem that Ninja was initially going after was PFAS and PTFE, forever chemicals. When I was using my plastic air fryer in college, forever chemicals were just part of the cocktail of shit I was ingesting, but now I wouldn’t live like that. That’s the first problem solved.The secondary effect of the glass container is that it solves the storage problem. I most often use an air fryer to meal prep. On Sunday and Wednesday nights, I’m setting some combination of protein, potatoes, and vegetable—enough for both my wife and myself to eat over the next few days. The old air fryer made that just annoying enough between cooking and storing. This one does it all. What I don’t pack on day one stays in the container, cools, gets a lid (included with the machine), and goes into the fridge. It’s simple usability, but it makes my life infinitely easier.Shop $180, AmazonFlorence SullivanAnd Best of All, It Ain’t UglyAll that said, my biggest issue with the air fryer market, truthfully, is my own vanity. I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about the things that make my life beautiful: clothes and furniture; it’s why I work this job. My kitchen is an accessory to that. This is going to sound asinine, but when my wife and I have people over for dinner and are serving food in Le Creuset bakeware, heirloom Lodge cast iron, and end-grain wood boards—we don’t want them peeking in the kitchen and seeing that ugly old air fryer.But that's just it. Nothing about a Ninja Crispi changes the way you use an air fryer. It’s just everything you never thought about, made to function better.Shop $180, AmazonPhotographs by Florence Sullivan