Cuisinart AirTwin XXL Dual-Zone Air Fryer review: "it didn’t replace the oven"

RRP at time of testing: £160 | Check price at Amazon or Cuisinart directly

Our verdict

There’s a moment most evenings where I’m trying to cobble together dinner from whatever’s lurking in the fridge, while someone asks for snacks for the third time in ten minutes.

This is where air fryers are supposed to swoop in and save the day. Faster dinners, less faff, fewer trays. That’s the promise.

So we handed the Cuisinart AirTwin XXL over to Josephine, a part-time working mum of two, frequent runner and the most straightforward woman at school pick-up (in the nicest possible way). She’s a confident cook who makes meals from scratch most days, but had never owned or regularly used an air fryer before.

On paper, the Cuisinart AirTwin XXL sounds like a strong contender. Big capacity, dual baskets, PFAS-free coating and handy extras like viewing windows so you can check on food without opening the drawers.

In practice, it didn’t quite earn its place in a busy family kitchen. It’s easy to use, even for someone completely new to air frying, but for Josephine it didn’t make cooking quicker, simpler or more reliable. For a family of four cooking from scratch, it felt like an extra step rather than a shortcut.

How we’ve tested the Cuisinart AirTwin XXL Dual Air Fryer

We sent the Cuisinart AirTwin XXL to Josephine, a part-time working mum of two who whips up homecooked meals most days and had never owned or regularly used an air fryer before.

She tested it over 30 days across a range of everyday meals including meat and vegetables, using it as she would normally alongside her oven and hob.

What’s in the box? 

With the Cuisinart AirTwin XXL Dual-Zone Air Fryer, Josephine received: 

• The dual air fryer unit

• Two non-stick drawers

• Two crisper plates

• The instruction manual 

The features are intuitive on the Cuisinart AirTwin, making it easy for air fryer novices to get started

Is the Cuisinart AirTwin XXL Dual-Zone Air Fryer easy to use? 

Yes, this is one area where the Cuisinart AirTwin does well. Josephine found it “straightforward” to get started and said she “rarely needed the manual”. As a first-time air fryer user, she was able to get going quickly without much trial and error.

The viewing windows are a useful touch. Being able to check on food without pulling the drawers out sounds like a small thing, but it does make the whole process feel a bit less fiddly. There are also a couple of “favourite” buttons so you can save go-to settings, which is handy if you tend to cook the same things on repeat. 

That said, none of the extra features really stood out in day-to-day use. Despite trying the sync function, shake reminder and keep warm mode, she said none of them really made cooking much easier.

Cuisinart AirTwin XXL Air Fryer: how are the results?

This is where things feel more average than impressive. Josephine rated the results as “fair” across evenness, crispiness and doneness. It wasn’t terrible for her, but it wasn’t particularly reliable either.

In general use, it cooks food through eventually, but doesn’t always deliver that really crisp finish people tend to expect from an air fryer without a bit of extra time or attention.

She didn’t find it any quicker than using the oven, and in some cases it struggled. “A chicken breast cooked badly and was still raw after over 30 minutes,” she noted. It also wasn’t ideal for meals with sauces: “Meat or veg with a sauce on… it drips to the bottom.”

Examples of food Josephine had cooked during testing

Design and style of the Cuisinart AirTwin XXL Air Fryer

There’s no getting around the fact that this is a big appliance. Josephine’s verdict was simple: “It’s too big.” And yet, despite the 10.4L size, the baskets didn’t feel generous enough for a family meal.

Part of that may come down to perspective. Josephine was completely new to air fryers, so having something this chunky take up permanent residence on the worktop felt like a lot.

From my side, as someone who relies on the Ninja dual air fryer most days, it’s not wildly out of step with the category. The Ninja AF400UK isn’t exactly small either, and once you’ve lived with one, you accept that dual-drawer air fryers are just big. The difference is how well that space is used. Here, despite the bulk, Josephine still found herself cooking in batches.

Build quality initially feels solid, but she did notice “water in the glass of the drawers” after use, which affected her confidence in its long-term durability.

One design feature worth mentioning is the PFAS-free coating. If you’re trying to avoid certain non-stick materials, this will be appealing. It also means there’s less plastic inside than you’d typically find in an air fryer.

Is Cuisinart’s dual air fryer easy to clean?

Yes, and this is arguably its strongest point. The drawers and crisper plates are dishwasher-safe, and Josephine found cleaning “simple” overall. Food didn’t tend to stick, and everything washed up without much effort. In fact, when asked what she liked most, her answer was: “The drawers go in the dishwasher.” And anyone who follows my reviews here at Mumsnet will know just how much I rate a dishwasher-friendly gadget.

"No more nasties" is Cuisinart's biggest selling point for the AirTwin XXL Dual Air Fryer

Is the price of Cuisinart’s AirTwin air fryer worth it?

It sits at a more affordable end of the dual air fryer market, and that’s really where it makes its case. Josephine felt it was “a little too expensive” for what it offers, but compared with pricier dual models, it does give you similar functionality at a lower upfront cost.

The trade-off is that it doesn’t quite match the consistency or ease that some higher-end models manage.

Comparison: Cuisinart vs Ninja vs Tower dual air fryers

Final verdict: is this the right one for you? 

The Cuisinart AirTwin XXL Dual-Zone Air Fryer has some solid points. It’s easy to use, simple to clean and the PFAS-free coating will appeal to more health-conscious households.

In many ways, it feels like a more budget-friendly alternative to the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer AF400UK. You’re getting that same dual-basket setup and decent capacity, but at a lower upfront cost, which will make it appealing if you don’t want to spend quite as much.

That said, in this test it didn’t quite live up to the promise of making everyday cooking easier.

For Josephine, coming to air frying for the first time, it didn’t replace the oven, didn’t speed things up and didn’t simplify family meals. Instead, it felt like something she had to work around rather than rely on.

If you’re cooking for one or two, or you’re new to air fryers and want something straightforward with a slightly more considered coating, this could suit you well. But for busy families hoping to streamline dinner time, it may not be quite the game-changer you’re after.

About the author

Rebecca Roberts (aka Beccy) is our resident lifestyle expert with a practical focus on sleep, wellness and everyday comfort. She’s equally at home tackling frank, NSFW‑adjacent topics as she is road‑testing kitchen appliances, mattresses and vacuums that work for real parents. A former editor of LJMU’s Looprevil Press, she cut her teeth in journalism in 2010, earned a post‑grad diploma in Journalism and later led editorial at ExpatWoman in Dubai before joining Mumsnet. As a mum of two, she writes with the time‑poor, sleep‑deprived in mind - honest product reviews, realistic routines and products that make parents’ lives easier.

When she’s not at her desk, she’s probably product‑testing with her two helpers, corralling a PTA or walking her two dogs up and down country lanes.

About Mumsnet reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of hands-on testing. We never accept payment for coverage, and our verdicts are independent and honest. We may earn a small commission through affiliate links, which helps fund our work - but it never influences our opinions.

All prices are correct at the time of writing.

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