Verdict
The Chefree AFW20 is a useful twin 4L air fryer that allows you to deal with a number of dishes directly. Mixed with useful options like Sync End, a wide range of cooking modes and a window to regulate your meals whereas it’s cooking, and also you’ve acquired a tempting mid-range air fryer that’s over £100 cheaper than the Ninja-branded equal.
Execs
- Twin 4L baskets
- Sync End know-how
- Window for checking on meals
- Quick, environment friendly cooking
Cons
- Massive, heavy design
- Handles get in the way in which of the home windows
- Controls will be complicated to make use of
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Prepare dinner a number of meals directlyWith two 4L baskets and Sync End know-how, you’ll be able to prepare dinner two completely different meals at completely different temperatures for various intervals of time and have them end concurrently. -
Constructed-in home windows and lightingSmall home windows in every basket permit you to regulate your meals with out interrupting the prepare dinner. -
Quick, environment friendly cookingThe AFW20, like most air fryers, delivers a quicker cooking expertise at a less expensive value in comparison with a traditional oven.
Introduction
The Chefree AFW20 is one among a rising breed of air fryers with a twin basket design, providing the power to prepare dinner two completely different meals at completely different temperatures concurrently.
It’s not the one air fryer available on the market to take action, however the AFW20 provides a number of reasonably distinctive options in comparison with a lot of the competitors, together with a window in every basket so that you can examine in your meals with out opening the basket and interrupting the cooking course of. It’s basically essentially the most standard oven-esque air fryer I’ve used thus far, for higher and for worse.
The AFW20 can be adept at cooking loads of several types of meals with 8 cooking modes to select from, starting from customary choices like air fry and bake to extra area of interest choices like broil and dehydrate, and like most air fryers, it’s fairly rattling quick to make use of too.
That stated, does the £120 Chefree AFW20 do sufficient to tempt customers from extra established manufacturers like Ninja? Effectively…
Design and options
- Twin 4L basket design
- Takes up lots of house
- Very useful Sync End function
The Chefree AFW20 received’t be successful any awards for type any time quickly, with a largely black design with little or no flare – you received’t discover the shimmering accents of the Ninja Foodi Twin Zone right here. It’s additionally a fairly large presence on the countertop, measuring in at a not-insignificant 380 x 315 x 505mm and seven.8kg.
As such, it’ll want a devoted place on the countertop because it’s too massive and heavy to conveniently pop into a cabinet when not in use. The plastic sides additionally imply it’ll should avoid any close by hobs, additional decreasing simply the place the AFW20 can reside full-time.
Nonetheless, in case your kitchen counter tops are large enough, it’s doable – and there’s an excellent cause why it’s so massive.
In contrast to most air fryers, which provide a single basket, the Chefree AFW20 is one among a rising breed of dual-basket air fryers, boasting twin 4L baskets that may prepare dinner two separate dishes directly utilizing completely different temperature settings and timings. This basically doubles the potential output of the air fryer in comparison with its single-compartment brethren.
Inside every basket is a crisper plate, which might sit both one-third or two-thirds of the way in which down relying on what you’re cooking – you’ll be able to convey meals like sausages nearer to the warmth supply when grilling for a greater end. A useful little contact is the addition of grippy silicone ft on either side of the grill plate that helps it keep securely place, even should you’re tipping a basket of chips onto a plate.
The plates are pretty simple to scrub with little or no in the way in which of awkward nooks and crannies, and with a non-stick coating, most residue comes off simply.
One of many extra fascinating options of the Chefree AFW20 in comparison with most air fryers is the inclusion of home windows, bringing its comparability to a full-blown oven nearer than ever – particularly when mixed with in-basket lighting to present you a clearer have a look at your meals.
It’s a useful design function that means that you can examine in your meals at a look with out interrupting the prepare dinner – although the handles do get in the way in which of the home windows fairly a bit, offering extra of a sneak peek than an ideal vista.
Activate the AFW20 with the faucet of a button and also you’re given the choice to decide on to make use of both the left or proper basket, or each. When you determine, the touchscreen controls get just a little extra difficult.
That’s since you’re introduced with many buttons surrounding the central digital show. It was extremely daunting initially, and it took me a couple of minutes to work out learn how to begin the air fryer (the beginning button seems like an odd fast-forward button), however inside a number of makes use of, I’d gotten the dangle of it.
The highest row is reserved for all eight cooking modes: air fry, roast, air crisp, broil, bake, dehydrate, reheat and grill. As soon as you choose one of many cooking modes, you’ll then have the ability to faucet both L or R, relying on which basket you employ and tweak your time and temperature settings utilizing the up and down keys on both facet.
There are additionally buttons to activate every basket’s lighting, and the show within the center reveals each temperature and time settings for every basket individually.
One of many extra fascinating options of the contact interface is Sync End. Because the identify suggests, this lets you individually set every basket’s mode, temperature and time and have them each end concurrently.
It could appear comparatively easy, however the result’s a much less anxious expertise when cooking completely different meals. You now not must rush forwards and backwards to activate every basket individually and making an attempt to maintain one meals heat whereas the opposite finishes off is now not a problem both.
Efficiency
- Eight cooking modes
- Simply as succesful with contemporary meals as frozen items
- Quick, environment friendly prepare dinner instances
With eight cooking modes out there, there’s virtually an possibility for no matter you want, all the way down to reasonably particular modes like Broil that’ll ship top-down heating solely to soften the cheese in your toast completely.
In fact, you don’t purchase an enormous air fryer to make cheese on toast, so let’s discuss extra concerned meals.
Among the finest dishes I cooked with the AFW20 was honey mustard hen thighs. After prepping the thighs and overlaying them with a pleasant mix of herbs, spices and sauce, I popped them into the air fryer — every basket held two medium-sized thighs with out grievance, with sufficient room for loads of air circulation.
The primary advantage of an air fryer is prepare dinner pace, and that’s exemplified by the hen thighs. I cooked them at 200℃, turned them after round 8 minutes, and eight minutes later, they have been completely cooked with a crisp, however not dry or burnt, coating. The one function that will have improved the expertise is a built-in thermometer for checking the interior temperature of the meat – one thing you’ll discover on some premium air fryers.
The AFW20 tackles frozen meals simply as nicely. Cooking curly fries and turkey drummers (I used to be feeling nostalgic, don’t choose!) was very easy and just a little quicker than I anticipated, even at decrease settings than the air fryer-specific directions on the packaging urged.
The curly fries have been finished in 12 minutes at simply 170℃, whereas the turkey drummers got here out completely golden in little over 16 minutes at 180℃ – a course of made a lot simpler by the aforementioned Sync End function.
The reheat possibility additionally got here in useful with some leftover Domino’s pizza, which went from chilly to completely sizzling in simply over 6 minutes at 170℃ within the air fryer with out drying out the sweetcorn, hen and meatball (sure, I do know, what a mixture) toppings.
It doesn’t get too heat on the lid, besides, I’d not advocate leaving something on there that would doubtlessly burn or soften over longer intervals of use. The larger factor to fret about is the twin rear exhausts, which might put out fairly a little bit of sizzling air throughout use.
As such, it’s finest to not use it up in opposition to a wall, and which may trigger an issue for these with smaller counter tops.
Whereas the utmost 2400W draw at full capability will see a drain of roughly 71p an hour on present electrical energy tariffs, that’s nonetheless less expensive than a traditional oven, and extra importantly, it’s not fairly often you’ll use the air fryer for that lengthy.
With such environment friendly prepare dinner instances in my expertise, the one actual exception could be dehydrating meals, though it’s finished at a lot decrease temperatures and, as such, received’t draw wherever close to as a lot energy.
Newest offers
Must you purchase it?
You need to prepare dinner a number of meals directly
With two 4L baskets to benefit from, it has by no means been simpler to prepare dinner two completely different meals at completely different temperatures.
You’ve acquired a small kitchen
The Chefree AFW20 is a succesful air fryer, however it’s definitely not small or transportable, taking on a sizeable quantity of countertop house and weighing in at over 7KG.
Ultimate Ideas
The Chefree AWF20 serves not solely as a fantastic different to a traditional oven with quicker prepare dinner instances and fewer power consumption, however it additionally has a leg-up on many of the air fryer competitors.
The twin 4L basket design means that you can prepare dinner two completely different meals at completely different temperatures and even completely different cooking modes, on the identical time, with a Sync End possibility eradicating the necessity to manually time your prepare dinner so all of your meals is prepared on the identical time.
It additionally has a number of distinctive design quirks, like a built-in window and lightweight that means that you can examine in your meals with out opening the basket and interrupting the cooking course of, although the location of the handles does inhibit the view considerably.
And, most significantly, it has a wide range of cooking modes that ship a well-rounded air-fryer expertise, from cooking contemporary meat like hen thighs to frozen classics like turkey drummers and curly fries, and the reheat possibility is ideal for left-over pizza.
My solely actual grievance is the management system that, whereas simple to make use of as soon as you understand what you’re doing, can take a short time to regulate to at first.
FAQs
It’s 8L, break up throughout two 4L baskets.
At its most 2400W, it’ll value round 71p an hour to run – although you’ll not often, if ever, use it at most energy for that lengthy.
