Instant Vortex Plus Dual Air Fryer review: a five-star gadget that cooks to perfection

Price on writing: £110 | Buy now from Amazon

Our verdict

If you’re on a quest for an air fryer that speeds up midweek meal prep without compromising on taste, the Instant Vortex Plus is a great option. With its dual drawers, SyncCook function, and quick cooking times, it takes the fuss out of preparing multiple dishes at once, and it even allows you to serve up meals with different cooking times simultaneously.

Whether you’re crisping up roast potatoes, reheating leftovers, or cooking steak to perfection, the results are fantastic—it's no wonder some Mumsnetters favour their Instant air fryer over the oven.

The downsides? As with many of the best dual air fryers, it’s not the most compact model, and while it's ideal for a family of three, larger households may want to opt for a bigger capacity. However, considering the overall quality, convenience, and value for money it offers, it's hard to find fault with this impressive air fryer.

Cooking in the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Air Fryer: how easy is it to use?

The Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer is a huge upgrade over our old Ninja air fryer, the single-basket AF100UK. The main advantages are that it has more space (7.6 litres of capacity compared to the AF100UK's 3.8 litres), and the independent drawers offer greater flexibility, removing the hassle of doing multiple batches.

Between baskets you can control cooking mode, temperature, and timing for each side, so we can cook two different foods simultaneously using separate settings and have them ready to serve up at the exact same time. Plus, in our case, with a vegetarian in the house, it's also handy as it means we can keep one drawer exclusively for veg and the other for meat without any risk of cross-contamination.

I find the presets pretty generic, but they work well enough to give some idea of how much time is needed for different foods like fries, chicken and fish. I generally adjust cooking times according to how well-done the food looks, and this is easily controlled via the central knob on the display and the two buttons for 'Temp' and 'Time'.

It is also super easy to check on the food without opening the drawer, as each basket has its own independent light and viewing window (another highlight which sets it apart from Ninja models). The SyncCook feature adds another level of convenience to air frying, so if you’re really feeling too lazy to cook, you can literally just chuck some frozen chicken and chips in each of the drawers, choose the individual settings for each basket, press the sync button and let the air fryer do the rest. It will ensure that both drawers finish at the same time—nice and easy!

I also love that this air fryer preheats the basket before telling you to put your food in, and it includes a useful alert to remind you to shake the baskets halfway through the cooking time.

Related: The best slow cookers, tried and tested

Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer performance: how are the results?

I’ve cooked all sorts of meals in the air fryer, and I’ve even tried using it to cook a perfectly medium-rare ribeye steak, which it does admirably well— and that's saying a lot from a fuss-pot like me!

For the most part, I use it to heat up convenient frozen meals quickly and efficiently with little mess or fuss. I also regularly use it to crisp up homemade chips, which is much faster than using our conventional oven.

I tried roast potatoes in the air fryer using the roasting function for the first time and roasted the outer skin to golden brown perfection. It’s also great for reheating chicken without making it too dry.

Day-to-day we cook for three people, but when we hosted Christmas, we catered for six and used it to bulk cook roast potatoes; this worked a treat and all our guests loved them!

Related: The best microwaves for families

Instant Vortex Plus Dual Air Fryer: design and style

The air fryer is quite large; however, the unit is made from quality plastics and stainless steel which make it feel solid and well built. Whilst cooking, it runs relatively quietly.

The capacity is more than enough for our household of three, but if you want to cater for more people, you’d probably need to cook in two rounds or invest in a larger air fryer. If this is the case, we have a guide to the best air fryers for a family of four, which may be useful.

Related: The best food processors for speedy meal prep

Is the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Air Fryer easy to clean?

Both drawers can go into the dishwasher, but they’re quite bulky so we tend to only put the grated inserts in and wash the baskets by hand.

The grates have a handle that makes it easy to take them out for washing, too.

Related: Best budget air fryers

Price: is the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket Air Fryer worth it?

With an RRP of £170, I feel it’s a good product that is priced well against other popular brands on the market. Even better, you can currently snap it up for just £110.

How we tested the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket Air Fryer

MNHQ's Performance Partnerships Manager, Sajana Neil, put the Instant Vortex through its paces in her north London kitchen, whipping up a variety of meals with it. She tested it thoroughly over a period of eight weeks, rating the air fryer on its ease of use, ease of cleaning, design, value for money, and those all-important results.

• Tested in a family household of three over a two-month period

• Used frequently during testing

• Cross-compared with other air fryers Sajana had tested

About the editor

Natasha Gregson is a Senior Content Editor at Mumsnet, with an expertise in home and kitchen product reviews and round-ups. With numerous years of editorial experience under her belt, her work has also been featured in prestigious national publications like The i Paper and Stylist Magazine, and she's written on a wide range of topics.

An avid foodie, Natasha oversees all kitchen gadget content on Mumsnet. This year, she's on a mission to find the top air fryers, which regularly involves testing out top models herself—including Ninja, Cosori, Salter, and more. She's also edited numerous air fryer guides on Mumsnet, including everything from the best air fryers for 2 people to the best air fryer cookbooks.

When she’s not busy seeking out the best buys and advice for Mumsnetters, you can find her searching for the next best restaurant, watching live music, curling up with a good book, cross-stitching, or enjoying a good hike or run.

About Mumsnet Reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real people after extensive research and testing. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage.

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