I've been wanting a small air fryer for an upcoming car-camping trip. So I experimented with our large one for the last few weeks making chicken wings. It went so well, that I decided to pull the trigger on this one. Breaking It In: First concern was the plastic-y smell. The instructions say to wash the bowl and tray with warm soapy water before first use. But the silicone feet on the tray still smelled. The manual says to run it at full heat for 15 min. to burn off the heating element coating from the manufacturing process. After 30 min., I could still smell it. So I did another 30 min. and that seemed to take care of it. First Test Run: I divided some large chicken wings into two pieces, (1) the drumette, and (2) the outer two sections of the wing. I could fit two pieces of the outer two sections plus a drumette, or two drumettes plug an outer wing. That's a decent amount for a single person who is eating other things along with the wings. Being the smallest air fryer out there, that seems reasonable. The manual said to cook at 395 degrees (the highest temperature setting) for 20-24 minutes for chicken wings. I did two runs of 12 min so I could turn them and season the second side in the middle of the run. They weren't quite as crispy as I like, so I did a little more time. They turned out pretty good, but I'll do 15 minutes per side next time. To be fair, the manual does say that it takes 3 min to "preheat" so you should add that time when starting out "cold," which is how I started. Ease of use: It could hardly be simpler to use. Plug it in. Load it up. Set the temp using the top dial. Set the timer using the front dial and it starts cooking. Come back when it goes "ding." It's Teflon coated, so it pretty much wipes clean with a paper towel. Power Consumption: I ran this first test run through a kill-a-watt type meter and measured the power usage since I'll be using it from an EcoFlow Delta Mini power station. The power station puts out 1400W maximum and has an 880Wh energy capacity in the batteries. The specs for this air fryer say it uses 1000W. Indeed, I found that when the heating element is on, it draws between 950-1000W. The fan alone uses 15W. My chicken wing test run was at the highest temp setting, 395 degrees, and the heating element turned on for about 30 seconds every two minutes, for a "duty cycle" of about 25%. Considering that was pretty much the maximum amount of chicken that would fit below the "max" line in the bowl, I think that's probably the most power-hungry the thing will be. When the heating element would kick on, the power draw would be 997W, and would slowly drop to about 950W over the 30 or so seconds it was on. Then the power would drop down to 15W (the circulation fan only) for one and a half minutes before the heat would kick back on. Overall, the power draw was about 6Wh per minute. So, 6Wh/min x 30 min = 180Wh to cook my 1.5 chicken wings. That's less than 1/4 of my power station's available energy. That would be replaced during a couple of hours of driving, or an hour of solar (if I'm stationary for a while), so I think that is quite workable. Second Test Run: I decided to test it from the power station that I bought it to use with (I had photos for each step, but it looks like the site scrambles the picture order). I loaded it up with two wing drumettes and an outer wing. Sprinkled it with Montreal Chicken Seasoning and drizzled on some Hot Buffalo sauce. I decided to run at 395 degrees for 15 + 15 min. At first, it started drawing 1007W from the station in the preheating phase. Power draw dropped slowly to about 980W by the end of the preheat. It drew about 18W from the power station when only the fan was running. After the first 15 min run. Pieces flipped and seasoning applied to second side. After the initial preheat, the max power draw was 999W at the start of subsequent heating cycles. After the second 15 min cooking session. The combined 30 minutes of run time consumed 22% (started at 44% and ended at 22% state of charge) of the battery in the power station. That was 880Wh X 22% = 194 Wh of energy. The bowl before cleaning. The bowl was mostly clean after wiping with a paper towel. It cleaned up fairly easily with soap and water the rest of the way.
