I tried Cuisinart’s toaster oven-style air fryer for two weeks — here’s how it went

I’ll be honest — it took me a while to get on the air fryer bandwagon. As an experienced home cook and former food editor, I was admittedly skeptical at the idea that I truly needed an air fryer. I always figured that anything someone might make in an air fryer, I could simply make in the oven or on the stove. It wasn’t until I got my first air fryer in 2022, the Beautiful 6-quart digital air fryer from Drew Barrymore, that I started to understand the hype around this appliance. I love making dishes like roasted broccoli, french fries and grilled cheese sandwiches and burgers, all of which I soon realized are noticeably better when made in an air fryer. 

Two years later, I’m still very much “team air fryer”, and while my Beautiful air fryer is still going strong, I’m always up for trying a new gadget when the opportunity presents itself. Cuisinart recently sent me a sample of the Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven with Grill, which is an upgraded version of the brand’s discontinued TOA-60 model. I spent two weeks with the air fryer making burgers, quesadillas and grilled wraps. Below, I cover my experience using the appliance, including how well it heated and cooked food, how easy (or not so easy) it was to clean and how each of the trays performed.

SKIP AHEAD What is the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven? | How I tried the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven | My experience with the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven | Who is the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven for?

What is the Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven with Grill?

Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven with Grill

Imagine an air fryer, toaster oven and grill pan all morphed together to form one versatile kitchen appliance — this is the Cuisinart air fryer. It cooks the same foods that you’d cook in an air fryer, like roasted vegetables or grilled cheese sandwiches, but it’s also equipped to cook some baked goods like cookies. Plus, the air fryer comes with multiple trays, including a grill pan for things like burgers and steaks that fit inside the large baking tray (which also doubles as a drip tray — more on this later). 

Dimensions: 12.25 x 15.75 x 13.75 in. | Weight: 25.6 lbs. | Capacity: 0.6 cu. ft. | Wattage: 1800 W | Warranty: 3 years

Parts of the Cuisinart air fryer

In addition to the actual air fryer, you’ll get four trays you can use for cooking: the grill tray, baking tray, basket tray and oven rack. All of the trays fit securely in the air fryer by hooking onto the grooves on the sides of the oven. There are four grooves (two on each side) in the air fryer that hold the baking tray, basket tray and oven rack. You place the trays in either the top or the bottom rack.

Air fryer body

The air fryer itself is relatively large compared to toaster ovens I’ve used in the past. Although the air fryer isn’t as tall as a basket-style air fryer, it’s wider, so you do need at least two feet of width on your counter to use it comfortably. The instructions for the appliance recommend not placing it less than a few inches against a wall while using it. I’m assuming this helps with proper airflow and prevents the heat from the air fryer from damaging any surfaces. That said, this imposes the need for even more space on my counter.

Door and dials

The air fryer looks like a traditional toaster oven with a door that opens downward, rather than a drawer-style air fryer basket. Plus, the device is manually operated, with four function dials for — time (in minutes), temperature, cooking style and toast. The door of the air fryer also has a rounded bar handle that you use to open and close the air fryer. Aside from the dial for the time, the dials were easy to read and use. The door also was simple to open and close and didn’t slam shut.

Power button 

There is no on/off button on the appliance, so the minute you plug it in and select a temperature and time, the device gets to work. That said, there is a small red light above the oven light button that turns on when the air fryer is running. When the time is up, the air fryer “dings,” similar to more old-fashioned appliances. 

Oven light

On the far left of the dials is a button to turn on the light on the inside of the air fryer, so you can monitor your food as it cooks (and presumably prevent accidental burning). 

Basket tray

This is the Cuisinart equivalent of the basket you pull open when using a drawer-style air fryer. It’s made of a metal wire in a grid, similar to the material you’d find on a metal colander or strainer. You can use this to cook many of the same things you’d cook in any air fryer for added crispness, such as chicken wings or fries. To use this tray you have to always place the baking tray underneath so that it can catch any drippings, which would otherwise fall to the bottom of the air fryer.

Baking tray/drip tray

The air fryer comes with a metal baking tray that is meant for making things like cookies, biscuits or scones, though you could technically cook some of the same things you’d cook in the air fryer basket tray, such as vegetables. When you’re not using the baking tray to bake, it acts as a drip tray that you have to always have placed underneath the basket tray or the grill tray.

Grill tray

You can use this tray to make meals you’d typically cook on a grill or in a grill pan, such as burgers, hot dogs and fish filets. To use the grill pan, you have to set it inside the drip tray, so it can catch the grease flowing off from the grates. 

Oven rack

The appliance also comes with a wire oven rack, which you can use on the top or bottom rack oven the oven. You can use separate small baking sheets of your own on the rack.

How I tried the Cuisinart air fryer

I started using the Cuisinart air fryer to make quick dinners and side dishes in the evenings. Before using the Cuisinart air fryer, I typically use my regular air fryer for either meat or vegetables, since these are best suited for cooking in an air fryer with a fryer basket, in my opinion. With the Cuisinart air fryer, I continued with my usual routine, but since it’s an oven style air fryer with both a baking tray and grill pan (in addition to the usual slotted basket) I was eager to cook more than my usual ingredients. 

Since I don’t always have a ton of energy at the end of the day but want to avoid ordering takeout, I started cooking burgers in the Cuisinart air fryer, including turkey burgers I made by hand and frozen chicken burgers I bought from the store. I placed the grill tray inside the larger baking tray, sprayed it with cooking spray, placed it in the air fryer and set it to around 400 degrees to preheat. 

While I didn’t use the air fryer all that much in the mornings, I did cook breakfast foods like bacon in the air fryer using the grill tray in the evening quite often, since I love making breakfast for dinner some nights. I also used both the grill pan and the basket tray to make grilled wraps with sliced turkey, ham and salami, so that I could see if there was a difference in how they cooked or how crispy the tortilla got.

I only cleaned the inserts of the air fryer after each use if I cooked something that was raw such as meat or poultry or if the inserts were super dirty. If I was cooking something that wasn’t raw or messy, such as vegetables, I usually only washed it after every three uses or so. I did this by hand since I couldn’t find anywhere on the site or manual that explicitly mentions if the trays and rack are all dishwasher safe. But I also have a habit of always washing metal bakeware and cookware by hand because I’m afraid it’ll get ruined in the dishwasher regardless if the directions say it’s technically dishwasher safe.

My experience with the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven

I found the Cuisinart air fryer the most useful when it came time to make lunch or dinner. I also used it to make side dishes that I normally make in the oven such as broccoli, potatoes, quesadillas and burgers. Since the oven often makes my apartment super hot, the air fryer was a great alternative and it made me more motivated to cook in general, since I wasn’t worried about sweating while cooking. I also liked that I didn’t have to use a lot of oil to get that crispy texture on my food. 

What we like

Multiple useful parts

I loved that the air fryer came with a few trays because it meant that I could swap one out for the other depending on what I was making. Certain foods are better suited to certain types of trays because they help the food achieve the right texture more efficiently. In my case, I enjoyed putting the burgers on the grill pan because they cooked quickly but weren’t burnt. Additionally, I used the fryer basket more often to cook quesadillas or vegetables, since the airflow from underneath allows them to get crispy without having to flip or toss them. I mainly used the baking tray as a drip tray to catch grease from the grill tray or basket tray, which I liked because it prevented the bottom of the air fryer from getting dirty, so I only had to worry about cleaning the removable parts.

Oven light and glass door prevent accidental burning

I really liked the oven light that comes on when air frying and the glass door on the front, both of which help you monitor your food as it cooks. This way, I didn’t worry at all about my food accidentally burning or overcooking. Regardless of what I was cooking, I always used the oven light. It’s a great feature that I wish more drawer-style air fryers could incorporate in some way. These features are things you’d typically see with a traditional oven, but Cusinart took those features and transferred it into a much smaller package. 

Multiple cooking styles let you customize your cooking

While the device is labeled as an air fryer and toaster oven in one, it technically also works for baking, roasting and toasting things like bread. The turn dials on the front made it easy to choose the cooking setting. I mainly use it on the air frying setting, since I personally found that it’s the best for making food crispy faster. That said, in the future, I’d also experiment more with cooking more sweets such as cookies, biscuits or maybe even a thin sheet cake.

Odorless first-use

If you cook with air fryers often, especially brand new ones, then you know that it’s common for some appliances to emit an unpleasant, chemical-like smell upon the first few uses. This was the case when I used the Beautiful air fry (which the brand does mention in the instruction manuals), though it did go away after the first couple weeks. The Cuisinart air fryer, however, didn’t have this problem. I saw a little bit of smoke or steam come from the air fryer, but no noticeably bad smells.

Potential drawbacks to keep in mind

Among the many good things I liked about the air fryer, there were also a couple aspects that I didn’t love or ones that I have a preference against. 

Manual timer

The air fryer is manually operated, which means you use the dials on the front to turn to whichever setting you want, including the timer. The dial has some tick marks for time in minutes such as 10, 20 or 30, but since it’s not digital, it’s somewhat difficult to know for certain that the timer is set to a more particular amount of time, such as 23 minutes. Yes, you can use your phone to time it more accurately, but it would be more convenient to do everything via the actual air fryer. Also, depending on what you’re cooking, such as baked goods, timing is very important, and a matter of minutes or seconds could make a difference in the outcome.

Handwashing is best but could be tedious

While I don’t have a problem handwashing most cookware or bakeware, there are certain types that are more tedious to clean, in my opinion. The grill tray has grates, which help achieve grill marks, but if you do plan on using this often, I’d recommend using a cleaning tool for getting in between the grates, something more thorough than a sponge. I cleaned the grill tray going up, down and side to side with my usual sponge until it looked clean. After letting the tray dry however, it still noticed there was some residue on it. This is the same problem I ran into with the basket tray, which is made of woven wire. When I cooked sandwiches, quesadillas or anything with cheese, it stuck to the wires and was sometimes difficult to remove by scrubbing with a sponge. This is more of a problem with the trays than the air fryer itself, but it’s something to be aware of. 

Who is the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven for?

As someone who cooks often but is also looking to cut down on both time and excess use of cooking oil, I really enjoyed using the Cuisinart air fryer toaster oven. Like with other air fryers, this model did a good job at heating very quickly and making food crispy without having to deep-fry it. I also like that it feels like a miniature oven on your countertop, minus the intense heating of your entire kitchen. I also love that the appliance is reminiscent of vintage cookware but is also modern in how quickly it works. That said, I wish the timer was digital for accuracy’s sake and washing some of the trays was a little time-consuming.

If you enjoy quick-cooking kitchen appliances that also crisp up foods like vegetables and meat without having to deep fry them, then an air fryer like this one from Cuisinart is a great choice. Also, if you often use a regular toaster oven at home and/or enjoy the nostalgic feel of it, this air fryer is a happy medium between both old and new. I would, however, recommend making sure you have a decent amount of counter space to support the air fryer. The appliance is a little pricey compared to other drawer-style air fryers like the Beautiful Digital Air Fryer ($69) or the Instant Vortex Air Fryer ($112). Air fryer ovens, such as the Cosori Air Fryer Toaster Oven ($143), tend to be more expensive than their drawer counterparts.

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Cory Fernandez is a commerce editor at NBC Select, where he covers cooking appliances, cleaning gadgets and wellness related content. He’s an avid home cook and former food editor with recipe editing experience.

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