Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven Review

We purchased the Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven so our reviewer could put it to the test in her kitchen. Keep reading for our full product review.

Air fryers have come a long way from the single-task appliances they used to be when they first broke upon the small appliance scene, and the multitasking Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven is proof of that evolution. You could say they gained popularity because they helped cook meals faster, needed less oil than frying, and made people (that would be me) love brussels sprouts. But if I am being honest, it does a few more things than that. It is a partner in crime in helping make just one cookie for yourself when the late-night snack craving comes knocking. Or, you may make two small portions of frozen chicken nuggets for the kids between activities. They help speed things up. And as their popularity increased, so did their functionality. It isn’t uncommon now to find air fryers with multiple preset programs and other additional cooking features.

They often double as the second oven, toaster, dehydrator, and even a dough proofing device. I couldn’t be more pleased with the addition of all these extra features because they reduce the total number of single-function appliances. But I am also wary, as sometimes the appliances do not deliver on the promise of crisp chicken wings or the best air-fried French fries. Truly, eating a bendy French fry is not worth the calories or the disappointment, healthy or not.

To test all the new features in the Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven, I put it through some rigorous tasks. Of course, the first thing I made was the French fries, but then any air fryer worth its salt should be able to do that. In addition to the air frying capabilities, I wanted to see if I could say goodbye to my trusted toaster, make small batch apple chips without lugging out my huge dehydrator, and bake cookies and bagels without heating up the entire kitchen.

Read on to see how it performed.

Design: Sleek but needs dedicated space

The Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven isn’t compact by any means, but it is sleek enough to be left on the counter if you have the space. It looks like a countertop oven, and that works in its favor in the looks department. It is tall, which makes it easy to roast a 4-pound whole chicken. The oven fits underneath the cabinets without blocking airflow. It has a single door that drops down on the counter, which wasn’t my favorite feature in the oven. Taking out the tray from the bottom rack position after cooking is tricky. There isn’t much space to grab the tray with mittens on. I found pinch mittens worked better, but I had to pay complete attention to not scrape my hand against the hot door. The construction is lightweight and is easy to move around for cleaning inside and around the oven.

Performance: Quick and quiet but with a learning curve

With four heating elements on top and two at the bottom, the oven preheats super-fast. When using the bake function, the preheating time is included in the total time. For chocolate chip cookies, I set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 11 minutes, and the oven was ready to go in less than 3 minutes. I made the mistake of not realizing that I only needed to put in the cookies, shut the door, and walk away. I pressed the start button again, which turned the oven off, and then I had to press start again. When I did this, the oven took another minute or so to preheat and come to temp. The cookies baked a lot faster than they do in my standard oven and had more browning on the edges.

I had the same results with French fries the first time I made them. They were slightly burnt at the edges. During the rest of the testing, I set the oven 25 degrees lower than my recipes required. Chicken wings turned out crisp from the outside and tender inside. The results were the same whether I used fresh wings or started with frozen. In the case of frozen wings, I sprayed some oil after about 10 minutes to give them the boost for that coloring and crispy texture. The French fries on my second try were fabulously crisp as were the purple sweet potato fries. Toasting bread and bagels resulted in uneven browning, so the oven definitely has hot spots. The oven also has settings in the control panel for previously frozen foods like fries, nuggets, and pizza.

The oven can get to 450 degrees Fahrenheit heat, but its strength also lies in the fact that it can go low for dehydrating and slow cooking. I dehydrated apples, garlic, ginger, and herbs, and the results surprised me. I would probably not be using it to dehydrate the produce from my garden, but when there is fruit on the counter that no one wants to eat, it would be easy to prolong its shelf life by dehydrating it. The dough proofing function is handy. I was able to speed up the proofing for bread doughs and made yeast-free bagels in less than two hours from start to finish. Other pre-set functions like toast, roast, broil, and pizza worked well as long as I reduced the suggested temperature. The reheat function works really well to reheat any food, especially pizza. While I was able to make a pizza, I wasn’t super thrilled with the crust or the process. 

Air-fried bacon might be my new favorite thing. This oven cooked an entire pack of it in minutes with less mess than on the stovetop, while I prepared the rest of the breakfast. I roasted a whole chicken at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 55 minutes. In under an hour, I had a perfectly roasted chicken that was evenly cooked. Overall, very impressive for an oven of its size.

The oven is super quiet. Being used to many appliances that have a fan that is noisy, this oven took me by surprise at how quietly it functioned. After cooking, it stays on to cool itself for a bit, but even that is super low volume.

Features: Provides impressive control

The control panel is loaded with features to toast, broil, roast, dehydrate, air fry, etc., but what really impressed me was that I was able to fine-tune the preset features to my liking. The preset is more like a guide panel pointing you in the right direction, but you have total control over choosing the time, temperature, and airflow. I found the single knob function very easy to operate. The oven is definitely user-friendly, and the presets take the guesswork out for someone just starting to cook. The oven capacity is good enough for a small family. I cooked 4.51 pounds of whole chicken, toasted six rounds of bagels or bread at one go, and made a 2-pound bag of French fries in no time. The dial gets hot during cooking, especially while air frying, so I had to be careful with it especially when using the oven for cooking multiple things one after the other.

There’s a little handy reference booklet that has all the time and temperature settings for foods. It conveniently slides into a slot underneath the oven for easy storage.

Cleaning: Mostly easy

The baking pan and the frying basket are dishwasher safe, and I preferred to wash these in the dishwasher. The stuck-on oil and caramelized starches that otherwise needed a good scrubbing cleaned really well in the dishwasher. The wire rack is not dishwasher safe, but it is very easy to just wash it by hand. The pull-out crumb tray slides right out for cleaning and also needs to be hand washed.

The one annoying thing about the cleanup is that the oven needs to be unplugged when you clean it from the inside. While this is a safety measure and not a problem by itself, the clock needs to be reset every time you unplug the oven. Technically you could just not reset the clock, and the oven would still function, but I found it annoying to have a clock in there and then have to reset it every time.

The oven can be cleaned with just a bit of dish soap and wiped with a cleaning towel. After cooking anything greasy, the oven needed to be cleaned at the top near the fan to keep it functioning properly.

Price: A worthy investment

The Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven Retails for around $300. Though it looks like it is steeply-priced, it is worthy of its price tag. There are other air fryers available for a cheaper price, however, the Cuisinart outshines a lot of them in its quiet functioning, versatility, and looks. If you have the means to invest and the space for it on the counter, go for it.

Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven vs. Instant Vortex Plus 10-Quart Air Fryer Oven

The Cuisinart Digital AirFryer is a toaster oven and an air fryer with multiple other functions like proof dough, dehydrate, and reheat. Meanwhile, the Instant Vortex Plus contains all the bells and whistles as far as air-fryers go. It cooks fast and has multiple features like roast, bake, broil, air fry, and dehydrate. The best feature about it is the rotisserie basket, so you don’t have to turn the food around. Even better, it retails for less than the Cuisinart option. If you really want a toaster oven, though, that doubles as an air fryer, the Cuisinart is a contender that we found worthy of its price tag.