Philips dual basket air fryer exceeded my expectations and is now all I use
Just recently I found myself and my partner having a completely serious conversation with a couple we had just met on holiday about...air fryers. I know, I'm as shocked as you are. Now considered a permanent fixture in most people's kitchens, air fryers continue to dominate the market, with new and improved models coming out left, right and centre for a number of reasons. 1) they've proven to save users time and money, 2) they couldn't be easier to use, and 3) they're a lot healthier to cook with as they don't require lots of oil.
There are lots more reasons why they've proven to be worth the investment, but I won't get into that now. Instead, I want to give you the lowdown on what might be one of the best affordable dual zone air fryers available to buy right now — Philips Rapid Air Dual Basket Air Fryer.
As sleek as it looks, I've been cooking with this gadget for the past two months non-stop, and can honestly say it's one of the most useful, well-rounded kitchen appliances I own. And as of recently, it's been slashed in price at John Lewis, down from £179.99 to just £129.99.
🛍️ Product reviewed: Philips3000 Series NA352/00 Rapid Air Technology Dual Basket Air Fryer, 9L
⏰ Tested for: Two months
⭐ Rating: 4/5
💸 Reasons to buy: Eight convenient preset modes, easy to use, simple touchscreen display, nicely designed, two different-sized cooking drawers
✋ Reasons to avoid: Limited to just air frying
💰 Best deal we've found: Get it while it's on sale at John Lewis for just £129.99 down from £179.99
Shop Philips latest air fryer model, complete with two cooking drawers and a generous nine-litre capacity.
Here's why you should seriously consider either upgrading your existing air fryer, or taking the plunge and finally discovering why the air fryer hype is oh-so real.
💸 Reasons to buy
In the two months I've had the Philips Dual Basket Air Fryer, I've cooked up a whole bunch, including everything from classic chippy dinners where I've air fried homemade chips and jumbo fish fingers, to entire roast dinners where I've used the air fryer to perfectly cook my pork loin, roast potatoes, carrots and Yorkshire puddings. Each time everything has come out evenly cooked, crispy, and tasty (and not dry whatsoever — I was particularly impressed on cooking pork loin, it was so juicy).
Let's just say I'm not using my hob, oven, or grill anywhere near as much as I used to.
✨ A closer look at the eight preset modes ✨
Fresh fries
Frozen fries
Chicken
Meat
Veggies
Fish
Cake
Reheat
£129.99 £179.99 at John Lewis £129.99 £179.99 at Currys
Perhaps my favourite design feature on this air fryer is that the touchscreen control panel is on top of the unit, rather than on the front or side. Not only does this make the air fryer look a lot smarter on first glance, it also means the control panel itself is a lot cleaner. This is because it's less likely to get dirty from the excess moisture and splashes of food that might spit out when opening and closing the cooking drawers. In practise, this is completely the case, and I've found myself not having to clean the display as much as I had originally expected to, which is a huge bonus in my eyes!
I've found the two different-sized drawers to be really useful, especially when I don't feel like cooking up large quantities, or simply want to reheat something small for a snack during the daytime.
Other times, it has been great to cook two foods simultaneously, without having to worry about one being ready before the other, as it automatically synchronises the cooking times. There's also a copy function which sets the same cooking time and temperature for the dual baskets, so you're not fiddling with buttons. It literally couldn't be more convenient.
Not quite as beneficial for me as I don't own a dishwasher, but the cooking baskets themselves are completely dishwasher-safe, making clean-up a breeze. Even so, I found cleaning the air fryer super simple to do by hand.
✋ Reasons to avoid
On a personal level, I'm not a huge fan of gold hardware on kitchen appliances, mainly because it doesn't match with everything else I own. So that's my only gripe with the actual design of this air fryer.
Otherwise the only other element worth considering is the fact this air fryer only has one cooking mode: air fry, it has no other cooking modes like a number of other models out there.
💰 Best deal we've found
Currently, this latest air fryer model from Philips has been slashed in price at John Lewis, and is on sale for just £129.99 down from £179.99 — saving you £50 altogether. For a dual air fryer with a generous nine-litre capacity and eight preset modes, this is a bargain price.
You can also find the same deal price matched at Currys.
