Bella Pro Series – 4.2-qt. Analog Air Fryer – Black Matte

A reminder that an “Air Fryer” is just some variation of a convection oven – it’s a heating element with a fan – you can’t fry with air so most of these devices rely on efficiently heating items that have been coated with a little bit of oil.
Since most US ovens aren’t air-circulating ovens, these devices can work wonders.
All similar devices have something of a food containment drawer with enough surrounding space to allow for the circulation of hot air. The greatest effort that is recommended is that you periodically remove the drawer and shake the contents to promote overall evenness of heat throughout the cooking process.
Small air fryer appliances like this one are not really best at cooking things from scratch – this isn’t a little oven. But for reheating frozen foods (french fries, onion rings, pre-cooked chicken wings, chicken strips, …), these devices are unparalleled.
The 4.2 qt. capacity is meaningless (since you won’t be filling this with water?). In action, it would be perfect for a dorm room (in non-pandemic times) or for reheating foods in a small apartment (it doesn’t take up much space). Great for a couple who might depend on reheating foods frequently – great for anybody with a couple kids who depend on reheated frozen foods.
My attached picture: frozen onion rings.

This new class of Air Fryers is entirely new to me. i’ve been a long time fan of fried greasy foods, despite the health consequences.
Now Air Fryers provide nearly all the beneft in a much more healthy solution. It heats up very quicly and does a fantstic job reheating foods all the way through, while crisping the outside using efficient air circulation.

PROS
+ easy to use (simple design, 2 buttons, temp and time )
+ can fit a lot of food in the 4.2-qt basket at once
+ pre-heats really quickly
+ relatively quiet operation
+ it made our 4 day old soggy french fries really hot and crispy in less than 5 mins

CONS
-difficult to decrease time on the timer
-if you overshoot it, you must wait for the time to expire
-counter space footpriint is larger than 2-quart digital Bella model
-gets hot on outside so have to be careful not to touch it or have it too close to anything
-not as precise as digital model (but basket 2x as large)

CONCLUSION
I’ve seen these Air Fryers for several years now, but had neglected them as viable alternatives to a convection oven and traditional deep fryer. This Bella analog 4.2-qt Air Fryer makes it footproof, and lets this heart patient enjoy fried foods with the negative health consequences.
Recommend

used it 4 times works great but the timer letters and numbers are almost wiped off !

Got this for my daughter’s family for Christmas was missing a part Returned and was replaced same day they all love it does a good job so far