I tested this space-age air fryer, and now it's a daily staple in my kitchen

Whether you’re trying to limit your fat intake or simply not a fan of greasy fried food, the Chefman Crispinator delivers on that promise. Whether you want to recreate your favorite fried chicken recipe or jazz up your vegetables, this air fryer has your back.

With its large 8-quart fryer basket, the Chefman Crispinator is ideal for a small to medium-sized family. Bear in mind, it’s not the smallest air fryer, so make sure you have room for it on your countertop or in your cabinets.

I tested the Chefman Crispinator for two weeks, and I can confidently say it’s one of the best air fryers I’ve used. It was the perfect size for my family of four, who especially liked how it crisped up frozen fries to perfection. Here’s how the Crispinator performed when I put it to the test

Chefman Crispinator review: Price and availability

The Chefman Crispinator is sold on Amazon for $149.99. It’s also available at major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. The Crispinator is not currently available in the UK.

It comes in two color options — Midnight and Concrete — and I tested the Midnight version. The black color matched perfectly with the other appliances in my kitchen.

Chefman Crispinator: Design

The Chefman Crispinator arrived neatly packed into a box, using cardboard rather than styrofoam to keep everything in place. The box contained the main unit, an 8-quart capacity basket, and a non-stick basket rack. Setting it up was as easy as placing the rack in the basket and sliding the basket into the air fryer.

The Crispinator has a sleek look, with primarily digital controls that prevent the display from appearing cluttered. There’s a time and temperature adjustment knob on top, and the start/stop button is right in the middle of that knob. There are two selector buttons to the left of the adjustment dial: one for selecting cook mode, and one for toggling between cook time and temperature.

The air fryer has six cooking functions: air fry, broil, bake, reheat, keep warm, and dehydrate. Each function has a default time, temperature range, and fan speed, though you can adjust these as desired. Plus, the air fry function includes a shake alert halfway through cooking to ensure your food browns on all sides. And two functions — broil and reheat — have a flip alert.

The Crispinator also came with an instruction booklet, which explains each function and offers cooking tips. But my favorite part of the booklet was the QR code that led to a digital cookbook. Whether you’re an air-frying pro or a newbie, you’ll find a recipe to suit your tastes. Some of my favorites included French toast sticks, stuffed mushrooms, blackened salmon, and mini hasselback potatoes.

Chefman Crispinator review: Performance

I put the Chefman Crispinator to work by planning most of my weekly meals around different cooking functions. In all, I tested the air fry, broil, reheat, and dehydrate settings.

French Fries

My first test was with a bag of frozen French fries. I usually have a bag in the freezer for a quick side that my kids will actually eat, but heating up my oven and cooking the fries can take time.

I tossed half the bag into the air fryer basket, taking care to space them out as much as I could. Then I selected the air fry setting, which defaults to 15 minutes at 400 degrees. The Crispinator instruction booklet includes a handy guide to cooking times and temperatures for different foods, so I set the temperature to 425 degrees and left the cooking time at 15 minutes, as recommended.

I kept an eye on the fries through the basket window as they cooked and noticed they looked nicely done after 13 minutes. At this time, the fries were evenly browned and nicely crisp, so I decided to pull them out early to avoid overcooking. We ate them with cheeseburgers and enjoyed them sprinkled with salt at the perfect level of crispiness.

Salmon and Tofu

Since I don’t really eat chicken or red meat, I opted to try the blackened salmon recipe from the Crispinator recipe book. The recipe looked simple enough, though one instruction stumped me. The recipe said to use the “roast” setting, of which there is none. I considered two options — air fry and roast — and ultimately decided air fry was probably the best choice, since salmon was listed as an air-fry-compatible food in the Crispinator instruction booklet.

Per the recipe, I patted the fillets dry, seasoned them, and placed them in the fryer basket. I air-fried them at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, then let the salmon rest for an additional five minutes. The fish was perfectly cooked and tasted delicious — much tastier than when I make salmon in the oven.

I eat a lot of tofu and often bake it in my oven, so I decided to use the Crispinator instead. I pressed and cubed the tofu, then tossed it with a small amount of olive oil, cumin, salt, paprika, and cornstarch before placing it in the air fryer basket.

I set the timer for 15 minutes and shook the basket halfway through, as directed. The tofu came out crispy and delicious, though it was a little dry. Cutting the cooking time down to 10 minutes should remedy that the next time I air fry tofu.

Vegetables

My family hates Brussels sprouts, so I rarely make them. But what better vegetable to test in the air fryer? My favorite way to prepare Brussels sprouts is to remove the stems, pick off any loose leaves, and drizzle olive oil over them. Then I sprinkle salt on top and pop them in the oven. So, I was interested to see how they would turn out in the Crispinator.

First, I placed the sprouts in a bowl and tossed them with olive oil and salt. Then, I placed them in the air fryer basket in a single layer. I chose the “air fry” setting and changed the temperature to 375 degrees, leaving the timing at 15 minutes. After shaking the sprouts halfway through, I noticed they were looking brown and crisp, so I ended the cycle early after about 12 minutes to prevent overcooking.

The Brussels sprouts were delightfully crispy on the outside and thoroughly cooked through. I’m not ashamed to say I ate half of them immediately as a snack. The entire process was quick and easy — I think the air fryer will be my new go-to for roasting vegetables.

Dehydrated Fruit

The Crispinator has a “dehydrate” setting, which intrigued me. Chefman has a recipe for sea salt and cracked pepper beef jerky, but I’m not much of a meat-eater. So, I decided to dehydrate some fruit instead!

I chose to dehydrate an apple. I cored it, then thinly sliced it and placed the slices in the basket before sliding the basket into the air fryer unit. The “dehydrate” setting defaults to six hours and uses the lowest fan speed, so I made sure I didn’t need to use my air fryer for anything else while the apples dried.

Ultimately, I removed the apples from the machine after about five hours, and they were perfectly chewy with just a hint of juice and a whole load of flavor. But I don’t see myself using this function much — the fruit has to be spread out during drying, which limits how much you can put in the basket.

Noise

It's worth noting that the air fryer’s noise level depends on which cooking function you choose. In general, the higher the fan speed, the louder the air fryer. Here’s what I measured using a decibel meter app on my phone:

• Air fry: 60 dB
• Broil: 51 dB
• Bake: 47 dB
• Reheat: 56 dB
• Keep warm: 51 dB
• Dehydrate: 44 dB

The loudest, 60 dB, is comparable to normal conversation, which is definitely manageable. However, I have an open-plan living area, so the air fryer noise was a little distracting while I was working or watching TV.

Chefman Crispinator review: Ease of use

The Chefman Crispinator is simple to operate, thanks to its intuitive design and easy-to-understand instruction booklet. Selecting a cooking mode is as easy as twisting a dial and pressing start. Adjusting the temperature and cook time is simple, as well. As a relative newbie to air fryer cooking, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the Crispinator was to use.

After each use, Chefman recommends removing the basket, pulling out the rack, and washing both with warm, soapy water before rinsing and drying thoroughly. Both the basket and the rack are dishwasher-safe if you prefer hands-off cleaning. Chefman warns against using glass cleaner on the basket window; a thorough wash or trip through the dishwasher is all it needs.

Once the basket and rack are clean and dry, simply replace them in the air fryer and store the machine for next time.

How does the Chefman Crispinator compare?

As a mid-range air fryer, the Chefman Crispinator has plenty of competition, including the Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4-in-1 and the Philips 3000 Series Dual Basket Air Fryer.

The Ninja Pro 4-in-1 is slightly cheaper than the Chefman Crispinator, making it a solid choice if you’re on a tighter budget. However, the Ninja’s four cooking modes don’t quite match the Crispinator’s six. It also has a smaller basket, which might make it better suited for a two-person household, while the Crispinator is big enough for a family of four.

Meanwhile, the Philips 3000 Series has a higher list price than the Crispinator. However, that price can be justified by the fact that the Philips air fryer has two separate drawers rather than a single large one, so you can heat up smaller items faster or use both baskets for bigger meals. The Philips also has more cooking functions than the Crispinator, though it focuses more on food type rather than cooking mode.

Should you buy the Chefman Crispinator?

After testing the Chefman Crispinator for two weeks, I can safely recommend it as an excellent mid-range pick. While it’s not as cheap as some options, its performance justifies its $150 price tag. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the food I cooked turned out — especially the salmon — and it saved me a lot of time and effort when preparing dinner for my family and me.

I also liked that I could monitor the cooking progress through the clear window in the fryer basket, which let me remove food before it became too well done. Overall, I think the Crispinator will become a daily staple in my kitchen.

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