I love my little air fryer. Perfect size for one person (me!), and not a ton of knobs and gadgets to deal with. Just a basic air fryer that does what it is supposed to do, and does it fairly quietly, taking up very little space. Simple to clean, simple and uncomplicated to use. So refreshing in this age where everything has to be so damned complicated and clunky to use in real life. I am happy with this purchase and I recommend this Dash air fryer. Read more
It’s perfect for making single serving meals and appetizers for two. It cooks evenly and I have just taken frozen fries, frozen tater tots, frozen buffalo chicken wyngz, and frozen mozzarella sticks, so far into the fryer. Straight from packaging to cooking and it’s easy. I usually cut the full cooking time in half and when it dings, I turn the items over. With fries, I shake them and “stir them” with tongs about 3 times during the cooking process. Everything turned out great. My guest was impressed with the mozzarella sticks in particular because they were perfect and without the grease. Cleanup is easy! It’s non-stick, if you didn’t read the description, and you just need to shake out crumbs before wiping with a soft sponge with soap and water. They recommend wiping the heating element off if grease or food gets stuck to it. The fan sits above the food, and the fan pushes the heat down to the food. So it’s not going to get dirty often unless someone overloads the basket. I keep it to one layer of chicken or mozzarella sticks, but fries take up more room. It’s fairly quiet, and certainly not noisy. You just hear the whole of the fan. It gets to peak heat within minutes and it has to be cheaper than heating a whole oven for one person to eat a meal or snack. I hate using the oven for something like fries or tater tots. It’s a waste of energy ($$$) for something so simple. One tip is to preheat the unit by running it for about 3 minutes before you put food in to cook. This way the energy used during cooking will go directly to your food rather than not be able to gauge how well the food is cooking. You’d have to preheat your oven for 5 minutes and it’s a much bigger use of energy. Those photos were not taken for this review. I just happened to have a few I took to send to someone when I was cooking dinner with it. So that’s from my first go-round. If you are cooking for more than one, then get something bigger, but if you’re cooking for yourself, then this will help you out nicely. Read more
I totally love this air fryer! I use it almost every day. I am losing weight, and this has really opened up so many possibilities to make plain food fabulous! I use it for EVERYTHING! Makes fantastic homemade chicken nuggets, "fried" vegetables, fish, roasted new potatoes....everything comes out wonderfully crispy and/or browned. It even makes a humble veggie burger into a restaurant quality meal! I like the food so much better without all the oil that you have to use with frying or even sauteing. It's super easy to use and to clean. It is attractive - I have the turquoise color, and it looks good on the counter. It is very small and hardly takes up any space. It is very convenient, and I don't have to heat up the oven or stove to just make a quick lunch. Just a few things to think about: The timer knob is black, and the dot to set the time is just a raised black bump. It is really hard to see when you are turning the knob. I was thinking of putting a dot of paint on there or something so I can actually see it. Also, this fryer is very small. It only has room to cook a serving for ONE. It's perfect if you just want to make a meal for yourself, but if you want to cook dinner for two or more, I'd recommend getting the bigger size. Overall, this is the best little appliance! Love it! Read more
I've had the Dash Compact Air Fryer for nearly 6 months, and I love it. It's small and prefect for 1-2 people. Great quick toaster oven that creates health crispy food with little or no oil. It works by circulating air over the top of the food, so you need to flip over or toss the food. PROS: It's perfectly cooks food that comes in smaller pieces (french fries) or meat that cooks up quickly (beef, shrimp, salmon). Oven Fried Chicken: I could never get my oven fried chicken to get crispy like a oil deep fryer. After baking it in the oven, I would quickly air fry for 5 minutes to give in a crispy skin and coating. Frozen Fries: Works well with most types of frozen french fries, but Shoe String Fries are the best for air frying due to their thin cut. CONS: 1. The Non-Stick Coating. A lot of comments complain about the non-stick coating flaking off. Many modern cooking appliances have cheap non-stick coating, and this is no exception. I used to have a Foreman grill that had the same problem. I learned through past experience to use parchment paper under my food to prevent the food from sticking and the flaking of the non-stick coating. PRO-TIP: For the Dash Compact Air Fryer, I used the removable circular tray to trace and cut out perfect parchment paper liners (see pictures). It makes clean up super easy and preserves the coating on the cooking surface. I added a picture of my air fryer tray after 6 months of regular use (looks like new). It takes about a minute to cut the parchment paper to size, and I usually pre-cut a dozen ahead of time. Don't pre-heat the air-fryer with parchment paper inside because it will be blown up into the heating element and burn the paper. Make sure the parchment paper is weighed down by food. 2. The Spring-loaded Timer. The manual timer is spring loaded and requires sufficient tension to be accurate. If you set the timer for less than 5 minutes, it will turn off before the 5 minutes. I'm not certain if this is a design flaw or just my machine (your mileage may vary). I wouldn't recommend cooking anything for less the 5 minutes. Most food requires more than 5 minutes, so this shouldn't be a huge problem. 3. Thick food. This is not just a problem for this brand or model. All air fryers operate by pushing hot air over the surface of the food. So, thinner slices of food work better. I wouldn't cook a thick cut of steak in it (unless you like it blue) or thick cuts of pork/chicken. As I mentioned above, I would bake thicker pieces of meat in the oven and crisp the outside in the air fryer. For food cut into small pieces (like fries), lay them on the tray in a single thin layer. Don't fill the basket to top. Despite the few drawbacks, I love the Dash Compact Air Fryer. It doesn't do everything, but it's great at one thing: making things crispy. I use it for baked salmon, crisp up baked fried chicken, cook frozen fries, burgers, bratwurst, etc. It permanently replaced my toaster oven, and its thinner footprint means I save counter space. PS: If you have leftover fried food, try re-heating it in the air fryer. It will make it crispy again. Read more
