This is without a doubt the funkiest looking cooking appliance I have ever reviewed. It looks like it has arrived from space, but is it everything that it says it is on the box? In this review, I am going to show you its self-cleaning cycle in action, everything I cooked in it, how much energy it uses, and all about its pros and cons.
If you are looking for an air fryer that is free from forever chemicals, the Fritaire might look like a good bet. It claims to be Teflon free, plastic free, phthalate free, and BPA free. But I know what you are thinking: is it actually an air fryer? Because it looks an awful lot like a halogen oven.
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Air Fryer or Halogen Oven?
To clear things up, halogen ovens have been around for at least 30 years and look very similar to this appliance. Generally, they cook using a thermostatically controlled halogen bulb which turns on and off during cooking. Air fryers, on the other hand, generally do not look like this, with the exception of the recently launched Ninja Crispi, and they cook using a heating element.
On the box and on the product page, the Fritaire is described as an air fryer. However, when you read the description more carefully, it talks about how it delivers perfect air frying powered by a 1500W halogen heater. If you look inside the lid of the appliance, you can actually see that it has a heating element and a very small bulb, and the light does not turn on and off during cooking.
I emailed the manufacturers to try and get some clarity, and they told me that it is classed as an air fryer but is heated by halogen, which I think is a little bit confusing. So rather than getting drawn into a very long argument in this review, I am going to refer to it as an oven, and you can share your thoughts in the comments about what you think it actually is.
Design & Colors
The Fritaire is sold in four colors in the UK and six colors in the US. I love the look of it. I think it is brilliant and it looks amazing when it is lit up. I have said for a while that what we have really been missing is more variation in the colors of air fryers on sale, so I was quite excited about seeing whether this appliance would actually do the job.
What Comes in the Box
The tumbler and rotisserie are powered by a separate battery-powered motor that fixes onto the side and is turned on separately. The batteries are not included in the box, and because it is battery powered, there is the possibility that the batteries may run out midway through cooking. This would mean having to faff around trying to remove the motor next to the hot glass bowl and replace the batteries, which is far from ideal.
It comes with a range of stainless steel accessories. There is an air stand, which is for dehydration cooking, crispy snacks, and reheating bakery items. There is a French tumbler, which is recommended for fries, nuggets, or anything that needs all-round crispiness. There is also a grabber to help lift the tumbler out and a rotisserie for meat, fish, or vegetables.
Build Quality and Practical Design Concerns
The main oven is made up of a 4.8L glass bowl with a plastic base and handles that do not detach, and a top half where the heating element and motor sit. The first thing to point out with this type of design is that the top is the heaviest part and needs to be lifted off every time you want to take food in or out or to turn the food during cooking.
It has some tiny little legs on the lid, but even so, I did not feel confident placing it on the worktop with the heating element facing down just after using it. When I took it off, I either put it on the hob or turned it upside down with the heating element facing up, but then that has its own problems because you are exposing the hottest part of the oven to anyone else in the kitchen.
The whole appliance also gets pretty hot during use. I tried and failed to get a temperature reading off the outside of the glass, but you can see that even the handles and the base get quite warm, which also means the appliance is going to be wasting a fair amount of energy through all the heat that escapes.
Settings, Temperature Performance, and Cooking Functions
For cooking, the Fritaire has six functions preconfigured with suggested times and temperatures. These are French fries, steak, seafood, chicken, bake, and dehydrate. You can set it for between 1 and 60 minutes, with a maximum temperature of 200 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 30 degrees Celsius.
However, be warned: it really struggles to reach the temperatures it quotes. I set it for 200 degrees Celsius, and after 10 minutes my oven thermometer was reading just 165 degrees Celsius. I put the lid back on and set it for an additional 20 minutes, after which time it had only reached just over 170 degrees Celsius. Compare that to the Ninja and the Cosori Dual Drawer models, which will both reach around 200 degrees Celsius in under 5 minutes. That is the kind of performance you should expect from a proper air fryer.
Cooking Results
The heat on this model comes directly from above and it does not have a strong fan, which is very noticeable because it is incredibly quiet when running, registering a maximum of just 52 dB on my sound meter compared to around 70 dB on a standard air fryer. Because of that lack of fan speed, it cooks more like a grill than an oven.
If you are not using the tumbler or rotisserie, you need to turn your food regularly, otherwise the bottom will not cook at all. Even when you do turn your food, results with the air stand are not great. I turned a frozen item halfway through what would have been normal cooking time, but the outside was already burnt and the inside when finished was underdone.
There is also no way you can bake bread, cakes, or pasta bakes in this oven because the top will burn way before the middle is cooked. Results were better, as you would expect, when using the tumbler, with no burning and more even color. However, the potatoes took twice as long as they would have done in a standard air fryer. I also tried the rotisserie, and it took about 30 minutes for chicken thighs to cook through, which again is longer than they would have taken in a regular air fryer.
The Self-Cleaning Cycle
Then we come to cleaning. All the accessories are stainless steel, but that means food can stick to them. You could see the potatoes starting to stick quite early in the cooking process, and cleaning the basket afterwards was a nightmare, particularly because the manufacturers state in the instructions that you should not leave the accessories to soak or even leave them to air dry once they have been washed.
However, the Fritaire does have a self-cleaning cycle, and this is genuinely impressive. To use it, you add one to two inches of water and a small amount of dish soap, put the top back on, and run it for 10 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.
The results were actually much better than I was expecting. The cycle did a really good job, although you do need to remember to remove the motor and put the bung back in place, or the water will leak out of the side. Afterwards, the bowl only needed a quick wipe and it was spotless again.
Energy Usage
In terms of energy, this oven used 0.157 kilowatt hours running at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes, which is less than the equivalent size Ninja AF160. However, it is worth remembering that it did not actually reach anywhere near 200 degrees Celsius during that time, so the energy saving needs to be taken in that context.
- Unique and eye-catching design available in multiple colors.
- Free from Teflon, BPA, plastic, and phthalates.
- Self-cleaning cycle works surprisingly well and leaves the bowl spotless.
Specification Table
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Product Name | Fritaire Glass Bowl Air Fryer Oven |
| Power Output | 1500W |
| Capacity | 4.8L |
| Maximum Temperature | 200 degrees Celsius |
| Minimum Temperature | 30 degrees Celsius |
| Timer Range | 1 to 60 minutes |
| Cooking Functions | French Fries, Steak, Seafood, Chicken, Bake, Dehydrate |
| Accessories Included | Air Stand, French Tumbler, Grabber, Rotisserie |
| Motor Type | Battery Powered (batteries not included) |
| Materials | Glass Bowl, Stainless Steel Accessories |
| Chemical Free Claims | Teflon Free, BPA Free, Phthalate Free, Plastic Free |
| Self-Cleaning Cycle | Yes (water and dish soap, 10 minutes at 200C) |
| Noise Level | Maximum 52 dB |
| Energy Use (10 min at 200C) | 0.157 kWh |
| Available Colors | 4 (UK), 6 (US) |
Final Verdict
Despite the Fritaire’s very funky looks and its surprisingly effective self-cleaning cycle, it was in the end a little bit of a disappointment. Lifting the heavy lid to access food is cumbersome and impractical, and none of the cooking results were fast or particularly impressive.
If you are still searching for an air fryer that is free of non-stick coatings, there are plenty of other options worth exploring. The Fritaire has personality and charm, but when it comes to everyday cooking performance, it simply does not deliver what a modern air fryer should.
Read More: Are Expensive Air Fryers Worth Buying?
