I have strong opinions on air fryers, because when they’re good they’re brilliant and when they’re bad they ruin my dinner. So if you’re looking for one of the very best air fryers among the Amazon Prime Day deals there’s one in particular I’d recommend: the Instant Vortex Plus.
The Instant Vortex Plus is currently 25% off, bringing the price down to $89.95 – that’s within a dollar of its lowest ever price. I really don’t think you’ll get a better air fryer for that kind of cash.
The Instant Vortex Plus is an air fryer from the same people who make the Instant Pot, and that means it’ll be immediately familiar if you’ve owned or used one of those: the control setup is very similar, and like the Instant Pot it’s easy to read while you’re doing other food things.
This particular model is a 6-quart one, and I think that’s the sweet spot for most buyers: there are bigger models, but they have a pretty huge footprint – and if like me you don’t have a huge kitchen, that’s a huge problem. This Vortex Plus is actually surprisingly compact for such a generous capacity, and its sloped design means it’s visually less imposing than other air fryers. That’s a good thing in my book.
I wouldn’t want to go smaller either. One of the things that comes up again and again when I review air fryers is that smaller ones can be a problem unless you’re cooking for one, or for two people with very small appetites.
The reason for that is airflow. Air fryers aren’t particularly high tech machines: they have a heating element and a whopping big fan to circulate the air around, and that’s pretty much it. But that air circulation is absolutely crucial because without it, you don’t get even cooking. That means partly-cooked fries, chicken that’s either over- or under-cooked and other food fiascos. By having an air fryer like this one, with a decent sized fry basket, you can get a good amount of food in there without ruining the airflow and your dinner.
Key features of the Instant Vortex Plus
It wouldn’t be an Instant cooker if it wasn’t a multi-function one, and the Instant Vortex Plus has six cooking modes: air fry, of course; roast; broil; bake; reheat and dehydrate. Reheat is one of my favorites because it’s ideal for day-after takeout. There’s also a selection of one-touch smart programs for one-touch wings, roasted veggies, garlic potatoes and more.
The other important feature I really like here is that the Instant Vortex Plus has a window so you can see into the fry basket without having to open it, losing some of the heat as a result. That’s not so much of a problem with very quick cooks such as reheating, but when you’re using higher temperatures – this fryer goes up to 400ºF – that can be a problem. The window solves that.
There’s another feature that’s particularly important if, like me, you have a really small kitchen. Instant Vortex air fryers are really quiet. I’m used to Instant devices – my daily driver is an Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid – so I kinda take that for granted, and that means I’m often surprised by how loud different brands’ air fryers can be when I’m testing them in my kitchen. Noise is less of an issue if you have a larger space, but trust me: if you have a cramped kitchen you’ll appreciate the relatively quiet fan and effective soundproofing on this one.
I’d definitely recommend this deal: I’ve put it through my usual price-checking tools (PayPal Honey, CamelCamelCamel.com and so on) and this one’s legit: with very few exceptions, this air fryer usually sells at around $130. So if you’re looking for a good quality, quiet and large capacity air fryer this is a deal worth going for – but you’ll need to be quick, because the price will go back up when Prime Day’s done.
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