Zwilling Air Fryer

Verdict

As if to prove that there’s room for another air fryer in what’s already a jostling category, Zwilling’s air fryer has prioritised what many don’t: design. And yet it offers much more besides. The speedy cooking, easy cleaning and compact size impressed during testing. The only bugbear is its settings – some presets will definitely be more useful than others, while the low temperature default is a nuisance. For an array of more useful presets, you may want to consider a model such as the Corsori Premium XXL.

Introduction

While coffee machines and stand mixers are often things of beauty, air fryers tend to be unwieldy devices. Not only are they capable of taking up massive amounts of space, they rarely look good doing so. Where Zwilling’s Air Fryer differs is that design appears to be a primary consideration.

This machine has a sleek touchscreen that negates the need for buttons (which can be difficult clean around and become grubby over time), while the controls are located on the top – allowing the front of the machine to remain unfettered and aesthetically pleasing. While vents – often protruding from the top or back as an afterthought – are neatly hidden in multiple locations around the machine.

Design and features

• Easy to keep clean
• LCD display
• Compact footprint

Compact enough to tuck in a cupboard, but attractive enough not to have to, Zwilling’s Air Fryer has a black glossy exterior that’s worlds apart from the more functional-looking air fryers. And while it’s on the smaller side, it still offers enough cooking space inside to cater for a couple or even a small family (up to 4 litres), making it a good choice if worktop space is limited.

There’s a pull-out drawer at the front with a removable grill plate – both of which are dishwasher safe but also simple to clean by hand – and all the controls are located on the top. These consist of six presets for chips, poultry, seafood, bake/cake, pizza and fish, but sadly, no reheat, preheat or frozen food option. This means you’ll need to add on at least a minute to each setting if you’re starting from cold. 

The presets also have to be cycled through, rather than just being able to select the one you want – or you can toggle time and temperature in its manual mode. This ranges from 80°C-200°C and up to 30 minutes. As the controls are touchscreen and the display LCD, this makes cleaning the exterior far easier than with some air fryers, as there are relatively few places for grease and grime to gather. 

Performance

• Can’t alter programmes without stopping
• Quick, efficient cooking
• Low default temperature

Overall, the performance of Zwilling’s Air Fryer is excellent; however, those used to higher temperatures and longer running times could find it limiting. On the plus side, this means that the energy usage is pretty economical at 1.4kWh – lower than some air fryers, which can range up to 1.7kWh, and more energy efficient than oven cooking. 

The Zwilling Air Fryer comes with a recipe booklet, which is ideal for working out the best times and temperatures for different foods.

Unfortunately, there’s no guidance for cooking from frozen, and the programme options are an unusual mix: while fries, pizza and bake will be handy for most, there are individual programmes for fish and seafood, but none for vegetables or frozen food. The default temperature when turned on is also 80°C – probably the least likely to be used on a regular basis.

One niggle is that the time and temperature can’t be altered once a programme has started, so any extra time has to be added on afterwards. It’s also worth noting that the touchscreen doesn’t respond to firm pressing – you’ll need a lighter touch – so it’s not for the heavy-handed user. 

I started by using the fries programme to cook chips from scratch. As the recipe booklet points to the programme being more suitable for skinny fries, and the lightly oiled chipped potato I was using was thicker, I raised the default time from 15 to 20 minutes. I added enough potato to cover the grill plate, and shook the drawer every few minutes or so. Halfway through cooking time, the potato pieces had started to brown at the edges. 

Once the time had elapsed, there was a good amount of browning throughout, with some smaller pieces very crispy, and only a few pale chips remaining. One word of warning is that there are vents all around the air fryer – around the controls at the top, at the bottom below the drawer and also at the back – so when pushing the drawer back in, it’s best to wear oven gloves as I caught the vent at the back once with my hand.  

I then used the air fryer to cook frozen hash browns. As there was no frozen programme, I cooked manually on the highest heat of 200°C for 15 minutes. They emerged crispy and golden brown, which was impressive considering that some air fryers can take longer for a crisped exterior. 

The air fryer doesn’t have a meat programme, so I adapted the 180°C bake programme for a raw steak, lowering the time to nine minutes from 12, so that I could keep track of its cooking progress. I turned the meat halfway through cooking as the top had started to cook a little faster than the underside.

The final steak was beautifully browned on the outside, with some fat below the grill plate that had run off. In terms of doneness, it was still relatively pink inside – perfectly cooked for someone who enjoys medium-rare meat. The steak retained most of its juices too. 

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