PRINCESS air fryer and dehydrator
4.5
For fans of roast chicken, this Princess air fryer is one of the most versatile gadgets out there, featuring its own rotisserie function.
Pros
- Dishwasher-safe parts, rotisserie function, helpful internal light and glass panel frontage
Cons
- Slow at air-frying chips, no guide to prepping chickens for rotisserie, front gets hot
Princess air fryer and dehydrator summary
Versatility is one of the Princess's strongest boasts. Chicken lovers will be thrilled to see its rotisserie arm, as it's a way to achieve an evenly coloured, crisp chicken at home. Peering through the glass panel frontage and interior light becomes addictive as the contents slowly spin away.
- Available from Currys (£169.99) or Amazon (£149.99)
Usefully, once you've selected a preset the machine can be left to do its thing, rather than needing to give its contents a shake every 10 minutes. In that respect, it's a relatively fuss-free air fryer compared to others we tested.
Read our full guide to the best air fryers
How easy is it to build?
In the box you'll find a non-stick crumb tray, three wire trays for dehydrating that slide in, a frying basket, grill rack and handle. There's one rotisserie chip basket and fork attachments for the chicken. All are dishwasher-safe.
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Everything needs a quick rinse before use, but after being plugged in, the touch screen panel displays its presets.
How easy is it to use
The power button is what starts and stops each function, which isn't intuitive.
In terms of safety, you need oven gloves for removing the rotisserie arm, as the core parts are metal and very hot at the end of each setting. It takes a bit of practice to load this, but the basket has cool-touch handles to make it easier.
A small or medium 1.4kg chicken just about fits inside the oven on the rotisserie arm. We had to learn how to tie the bird for rotisserie in order for its wings to be kept tucked in, and think a guide on doing this should really feature in the instruction manual.
The glass panel gets hot during use, so be careful to keep kids away from the door.
Hot air is evenly released out of the bottom, which means you need to sit this on a heatproof surface. It has non-slip feet.
Cooking results
The rotisserie function really shines, cooking the chicken over 90 minutes on preset. We didn't season or oil the chicken before it was added. The resulting chicken was evenly cooked with crisp skin all over, and richly golden like those you see in the supermarket.
Although it was moist, the chicken could have been removed 10 minutes earlier to avoid dry wings – although it makes sense that the preset will go over rather than under to ensure a fully cooked bird.
The chips take much longer to cook than the preset allows, requiring two rounds of air frying. On the plus side, they are crispy and sealed when cooked, and you can walk away while they toss around.
The non-stick drip tray catches all excess fat and is easy to wash in hot water.
Summary
Stylish enough to leave out on the countertop, versatile in its offering and with a relatively large capacity, this air fryer and dehydrator with rotisserie function is a crowd-pleaser. It will go down particularly well if you're feeding a family, although the cooking process is mesmeric enough to catch the eye of even the most seasoned chefs.
Princess air fryer and dehydrator specifications
Maximum temperature: 200C
Oil capacity: 10 litres
Food capacity: six portions
Power: 1500W
Weight: 7.8kg
Dimensions: H37 x W40 x D38cm
Safety features: overheat protection, cool touch handles, automatic switch-off
Guarantee: two years
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This review was last updated in April 2021. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.