Serious Eats / Kevin Liang
While we’ve broken down how air fryers and air frying convection ovens are *distinct* entities, we admit the convenience of having one gadget that does it all (toast, air fry, bake, roast, etc.) is appealing. So when we went into our testing of air fryer toaster ovens, we wanted to find one that truly could bring the heat (er, crunch?) when it came to air frying. While many products dazzled, one stood out above the crowd: the Calphalon Air Fryer Oven.
Serious Eats / Will Dickey
Why It Won Our Review
This spacious, sleek air fryer toaster oven caught our eye at first glance, but its prowess went beyond its appealing aesthetics. It also toasted like a champ, yielding perfect, gently golden slabs of bread—a basic task that not every air fryer toaster oven aced. Another thing we liked was that the air fryer baskets slot into the notches inside the oven, which led to optimal airflow. In other ovens, you had to place the baskets on a rack, impeding convection. The slotted-in baskets, paired with a powerful convection fan, successfully crisped up even day-old chicken wings—no small feat. The Calphalon also sported an easy-to-use dial interface, with a precise timer that included seconds. Oh, and for an air fryer toaster oven (which often billow steam), it did a decent job of preventing our kitchen from fogging up. Overall, it’s a fabulous option if you’re looking for a toaster oven with air-frying capabilities, and now that it’s more than half off, you can toast, air fry, bake, broil, and more at the mere touch of a button and spin of a dial.
Good to Know
Weight: 22.5 poundsDimensions: 11.6 x 18.7 x 15.8 inchesType and dimensions of air fry basket: Standalone wire basket, 12 x 9 inchesInterface type: Manual, with two dials and 5 push-buttons total, including turbo convectionFunctions: Air fry, bagel, bake, broil, defrost, dehydrate, keep warm, pizza, Roast, ToastMinimum temperature: 150˚FMaximum temperature: 450˚F
FAQs
Can you toast bread in an air fryer toaster oven?
Yes! That said, not all of the ovens we tested were as capable of this basic task. Some produced limpid, unevenly toasted slabs of bread, while others singed and blackened them. The Calphalon impressed us with perfectly golden, evenly toasted bread every time.
What’s the best way to clean the glass door of an air fryer toaster oven?
Ah, the speckled, splattered toaster oven glass door is a formidable foe. But, we have found success tackling its greasy grime with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and some good old-fashioned elbow grease.