Technology
Cosori Dual Basket Air Fryer Review: Accessories Included
Expert review
Plus points
- 6 presets
- Dishwasher safe parts
- Two separate cooking zones
- Accessories for baking and skewers
Cons
- Recipes only available in an app
- Ramen can become greasy
- Large footprint on the worktop
Our verdict
Cosori’s double-basket air fryer tries to differentiate itself from the competition by being easy to program and flexible, and by adding racks for baking and roasting foods. However, beyond setting it up, there’s a lack of helpful guidance, which is shocking next to the multi-functionality. As a result, this may be your best bet for broadening your air fryer horizons rather than starting from scratch.
Price upon review
$169.99
Best Prices Today: Cosori Double Basket Air Fryer
$139.99
$169.99
Dual-tray air fryers have become increasingly popular, but for all their benefits, they can be more complicated to program and are prone to illogical button placement. Fortunately, Cosori’s 9QT/8.5L Dual Zone Air Fryer is easy to operate, and as a bonus, it comes with racks to expand the cooking possibilities.
Add a 4.5 QT/4.25 liter capacity in each tray, an optional shake alert and preheat, plus internal lighting and windows so you can monitor progress, and the result is a multitasking air fryer that can handle a variety of cooking tasks. can handle.
Design and construction
- Glass viewing panels
- Comes with baking rack, skewer rack and five skewers
- Easy to use controls
While it’s far from the thickest out there, Cosori’s 9QT/8.5L Dual Zone Air Fryer is still substantial on an average kitchen countertop. Finished in black and dark gray plastic, including the metal, protruding handle, it is 44cm wide and almost as deep, although it is only 30cm high, so it can slide under wall cupboards when not in use.
The controls are thoughtfully laid out
It weighs 9kg, so you can move it, although it’s probably better to choose a permanent home for it. Each drawer is labeled L or R, so it’s clear which slot they fit into, and has the same capacity – 4.5QT/4.25 liters – plus a vegetable tray. There is a transparent window at the front, so you can also keep an eye on the cooking. Two wire accessories – a baking rack and a skewer rack with five skewers – complete the package. The removable parts are dishwasher safe.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
The touchscreen controls are at the top: when you are not using it, you only see the on/off symbol. The controls are thoughtfully laid out, with up, down and time/temp buttons for each drawer below the display it corresponds to, a central panel with six cooking functions including air frying, baking, roasting, reheating, grilling and drying, plus options for a shake alarm (optional, although standard on some programs), preheat, sync cooking (to ensure both trays use the same settings) and sync finish (so the trays are ready at the same time).
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
The temperature and time range can be wide depending on the selected setting. For example, if you are drying food, the function will remain active for 48 hours and the temperature will be reduced to 35 °C, while the highest temperature for grilling is 230 °C.
Performance and features
- Long preheating mode
- Wide temperature range
- Preheat cannot be used with the sync setting
Air fryers don’t usually come with accessories, so the fact that Cosori’s dual-zone air fryer comes with two of these makes it unique. Unfortunately, they seem to be an afterthought, with the instructions barely mentioning what they are best used for and how to use them. For example, it was not clear whether they should be used together with the sharpener plates or alone in the tray.
We opted for the latter and opted to make toast with the baking rack on the grill setting (230°C) and vegetable skewers with the skewers and rack on the roasting program (220°C). Both settings, in our opinion, required a long preheat from the cold (7 minutes), but we liked that the preheat could be turned off and that we could adjust both the time and temperature while the food was cooking.
After 10 minutes, the roasted vegetables were perfectly roasted – moist yet cooked through and lightly charred. Toast was less successful – although the slices were well browned, they were dried out – more suitable for croutons than breakfast. However, the toast didn’t burn and we liked that the rack allowed for grilling multiple slices at once.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Next we made a batch of chips using potatoes that had been soaked, dried and tossed in oil. We cooked this on the air fry setting, which has a shake warning as standard, but a strangely short duration compared to other models: just 15 minutes.
This may be more suitable for preparing food from the freezer. We increased the duration to 25 minutes and the temperature to 205°C – the highest possible temperature.
We were roasting chicken legs and found the size of a single tray to be a challenge
We noticed that the shake alert isn’t as loud, and if both drawers are open, there’s little clue as to which drawer to shake.
The chips came out and were more soft than crispy. Although the tan was consistent, there were few pale spots. At the same time, we cooked frozen hash browns in the other tray for 20 minutes at 200°C. These turned out crispy and brown, although cooking them revealed an operational problem.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
We had the chips and hash browns set to finish at the same time using the sync finish option. However, when we opened the drawers to add the food after preheating, the sync finish turned off and would not turn back on. We found that turning off the preheating solved the problem, but found this frustrating.
We also roasted chicken legs and found the size of a single tray a challenge. Only three legs fit comfortably, meaning for a large family you might have to run more than one cycle for an entire meal. They were roasted for 28 minutes at 220°C, had a crispy golden brown skin and were thoroughly cooked.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Price and availability
In the US you can buy the 9-litre double basket air fryer on the Cosori website for $169.99, but at the time of writing it’s cheaper on Amazon, at $139.99.
The purchasing options are the same in Britain: Cosori is selling the 8.5-litre dual-zone air fryer for £199.99, and Amazon is discounting it for £159.99.
The Amazon price means the Cosori undercuts many two-drawer rivals, while offering a similar feature set and capacity – plus it comes with accessories. But to see more purchasing options, each with pros and cons and quick-read product summaries, check out our review of the best dual-tray air fryers. We also have recommendations for the best Ninja air fryer and the best air fryer overall.
Should you buy the Cosori air fryer with double basket?
There are a few things the Cosori dual-zone air fryer excels at: it delivers good overall performance, is easy to program, and has accessories that offer more cooking choices. However, it feels like it’s aimed at those skilled in air frying: there are no recipes included (instead, you’re directed to an app), minimum guidelines for different foods and quantities, and no directions for using the accessories.
It is a disappointment for those who do not want to use their smartphone or tablet in the kitchen. That said, if you’re willing to experiment with times and temperatures, it will yield good results.
