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Airfryer chicken wings
These chicken wings, prepared in the Ninja airfryer, were absolutely beautiful.
Chicken wings are almost universally beloved and a popular item to air fry. The goal of an air-fried wing is a crispy exterior and a juicy skin on the inside. To test the air frying capabilities of each oven, I air fried three frozen wings at 450 F for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. I let each oven fully preheat before putting the wings in and took photos immediately after removing them. Of course, I also tasted them once they were cool enough to eat.
Success here depends on high heat and good fan circulation of that hot air, which means faster cooking. The faster an air fryer cooks and the more effective the super convection, the faster the outer skin crisps, making the chicken less likely to be dry inside.
The Ninja Foodi oven won the great wing war by a wide margin, with the crispiest wings after 30 minutes. They were also perfectly juicy on the inside and had no real visible burning. The Cuisinart also passed the wing test, but I had to pull them out after about 25 minutes because they were completely cooked through. They even had a little burnt skin, but not enough to bother me. The Breville and Crux also did well with good browning and crispy skin, while the KitchenAid came in sixth and the Calphalon came in seventh with not enough browning or crisping for my taste.
Airfryer fries
The Ninja and Breville browned the fries the fastest, without burning them.
This second air fryer test was designed to highlight the sheer power and speed of a single oven’s air fryer function, as well as its ability to cook evenly. I placed a handful of frozen French fries (McDonald’s style) on the air fryer set to 450 F and timed how quickly each one reached that golden brown color we all crave. Since speed and convenience are key features of the countertop air fryer oven, faster is better. All oven subjects (except the Cuisinart) ultimately achieved the desired doneness, but some performed the task much faster and more consistently than others.
Breville won the French fry test, turning out perfectly golden fries in six minutes. I set the Ninja to a slightly lower temperature (390 F) per the manual, and in eight minutes I had perfect fries (a very close second, and it probably would have won or tied if I had set it to 450 F). The KitchenAid also took eight minutes at 450 F, while the Crux took nine and the Calphalon needed 12. The Cuisinart was actually the fastest at just three minutes, but it burned the edges of the fries and cooked unevenly. At this point I began to suspect that the Cuisinart has an unusually intense air fryer function, for better or for worse.
Baked salmon
The Breville and Ninja were the only ovens that produced a crust after just four minutes.
To test the grill, I brushed a 4-ounce salmon fillet with a mixture of mustard, olive oil, and brown sugar. After the oven was preheated, I slid the salmon under the broiler, about 2 inches from the top, and left it there for four minutes before removing it from the oven for a photo shoot.
The main thing I was looking for here was how well each broiler created a caramelized crust on the top of the fish. Some broilers, like the Calphalon and Cuisinart, showed almost no signs of browning, while the Ninja and Breville produced nice color and the first signs of a good crust. I decided to give them the blue ribbon for this test. The KitchenAid and Crux both showed some browning, placing them in third and fourth place.
Just plain old bread
Both the Calphalon and the Ninja made very nice toasts appropriate for their medium presets, but the Ninja (pictured) did it in half the time.
This test was to see how accurate the presets of a particular oven are and how quickly it can toast. I put a slice of bread in each toaster and set it to medium. I didn’t weigh this test as heavily as the others because honestly, all of these ovens will give you the desired toastiness, it just might take more (or less) time, some fiddling, or learning the presets to get it the way you want it.
The length of each cook time for the “medium” setting on each oven varied quite a bit, ranging from over six minutes for the Calphalon to just three and a half minutes for the Ninja. As it was, these two produced the most even and attractive toast given whichever setting, but the Ninja (the winner) did it in half the time. The Breville, KitchenAid, and Crux barely toasted the bread at all when set to medium — which simply means you should use a darker setting — while the Cuisinart over-toasted the bread.
Baked cookies
Ninja and Breville tied for first place in the cookie contest, as both ovens delivered near-perfect results.
Next, I wanted to see how accurately and consistently each oven could reach and maintain a temperature, and baking a cookie is a perfect test for that. I dumped a rounded tablespoon of Toll House cookie dough onto parchment paper and placed one in each oven on the middle rack for the recommended time and temperature (350 F for 10 minutes).
The cookie race was a photo finish between Ninja and Breville, both of which had near perfect results. The Cuisinart cookie was overbaked, as was the Crux (albeit only slightly), while the KitchenAid cookie was slightly underbaked.
Preheating test
Another great advantage of using a countertop oven over a full size oven is the speed at which it preheats. While baking the cookies, I timed each oven to see how quickly it got to 350 F.
The Ninja Foodi blew all the others away, preheating to 350 F in a blazing-fast 50 seconds. Most others took about three and a half minutes, while the larger Breville took five minutes to get up to temperature. I haven’t done a formal test of air fryer preheating, but I did notice that the Calphalon took noticeably longer than the others to get to 450 F when air frying.
Temperature accuracy and consistency test
This is one of the most important features for any oven, especially if you plan on doing any light baking in it. If an oven can’t maintain an accurate and consistent temperature, it will make following recipes much more difficult and you’ll find yourself endlessly adjusting and toning your food to prevent it from burning. I used thermocouples to measure the internal temperature of the oven while it baked for 10 minutes at 350 F. I was able to get an average temperature reading for the duration of the baking, but I also watched the thermometer in real time to see how much it fluctuated as the cooking progressed.
The KitchenAid won this test, averaging 350 F on the nose with very little fluctuation. The Ninja (343 F average temperature), Cuisinart (346 F), and Breville (345 F) also did well, although the Breville started out very hot and then dropped back down. The last two places were the Crux, which went hot (365 F), and the Calpahlon, which went cold (337 F). Both were also the most inconsistent during the bakes.
Cleaning and care
Thanks to the clever design, you can step straight into the Ninja oven and clean it thoroughly.
Other than the Ninja (more on that later), there’s nothing special about the care or cleaning of these ovens. They have standard box interiors of varying sizes, made of stainless steel, that require regular scrubbing and wiping down. Each oven also has a removable, dishwasher-safe crumb tray to catch any dropped chips or toasted bits.
Now back to the Ninja. Due to its compact interior, this oven is definitely more susceptible to splatters and stains, especially when cooking foods with fat and oil, such as wings. Fortunately, there is a clever design feature that allows the entire bottom floor of the Ninja oven to fold out, so you can just reach in with a cloth or Brillo pad and wipe it down. I’m sure the Ninja will need to be cleaned more often than the others. If you’re not diligent about that, it’s definitely something to consider.
