So, as part of our testing methods, we decided to purchase and review the Duronic Af/1 B air fryer (“B” stands for Black, a “W” would stand for the White model). It consistently scores very very well in our group tests, and wherever we look online others are also saying the exact same. So we bought one, tested it and here you can see what we did with it.
We started out with the box being delivered by Amazon, and at this point decided to create an unboxing video which you can see below. The original footage was 11 minutes long, so we sped up some parts and got it down to around 3 minutes.
Duronic AF/1 Air Fryer Review – Unboxing This Air Fryer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjrSVsh73i8
Duronic AF1 review video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzLCdbMN6pU
Once that was out of the way we then decided to switch it on and put it to use.
We elected for one of the easiest things to cook, and pulled some frozen chips out of the freezer to conduct the first taste trial!
In under 15 minutes we had some really delicious crispy chips that were very close in taste and feel to McDonald’s french fries (although we did add a fair bit of salt at the end to get closer to that McD’s taste… that in itself will make it less healthy I’m sure, but the end result was a big thumbs up from us, and two kids who happily volunteered to help with the tasting!
Want to see the video where we cooked the chips? You can watch it below (don’t worry it’s not 15 minutes long.)
Enjoy…
Cooking chips with the Duronic AF/1 air fryer video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RPfvBC4Chc
So, what’s it like?
Well, our model purchased was the Black one, and it received a big thumbs up for its design from my partner (who is very much “on the ball” when it comes to taste!), although they do also make a White version with Chrome handle which does look nice, so there are a couple of options really when you’re picking one that’ll fit in with your kitchen items.
It is a shame there weren’t more colour options like Red, Cream etc. though.
Size wize its roughly 30cm x 20cm x 30cm in size. Bigger than a kettle and similar in size to, yes a deep fat fryer, but without the fatty cooking. Our tested model now occupies it’s own corner in our kitchen and doesn’t look out of place.
Weight wize. Nothing too heavy about it in all honesty. I’d have to hazard a weight guess at something similar to a full kettle or an old deep fat fryer. Two hands and you’ll be absolutely fine.
There is a heat pad made from a kind of silicone rubber that you pop on the counter somewhere. This is to pop the drawer onto when you take it out the fryer to check, serve or shake. It can get quite hot so the pad helps protect your kitchen worktop.
The timer is a 30 minute timer and is an old fashioned timer that ticks down and dings when it reaches zero (and shuts off cooking, so at least you don’t burn your food if you’ve wandered into the lounge to watch Eastenders).
It’s not that bad. It could have been a fancy digital timer, but as this is classed as a budget air fryer you can’t expect all the bells and whistles. At least this air fryer performs brilliantly, so we can overlook some very minor “old fashioned” technologies. But really you don’t really even notice it when it’s cooking.
You can hear the air frying element whirring while it’s cooking. Again, without going on about things like this, it’s not really an issue when it cooks so well.
The cooking label on the front of the air fryer is DIFFERENT to what’s in the cook book. In the book it says to cook at 200 degrees C but on the label it says to cook at 180 degrees. We opted for 180 degrees in our test and it did the trick.
Cooking times need 3 minutes added on when it is first switched on. This is to allow the air fryer to reach the correct temperature before you pop the food in.
Duronic AF 1 air fryer close up of plastic flap you lift to press button release
Duronic af 1 air fried chips
Perfectly air fried frozen chips in under 15 minutes!
Packaging
The air fryer came to us very well packaged. The main Amazon box had the Air fryer box inside it along with some screwed up cardboard. When you get the air fryer box out there is some sticky tape to remove. It comes off easily and with our box it hardly ripped the box at all, so it still looked good (just in case we ever re-sell the fryer).
Opening up the air fryer box there is a moulded cardboard “egg-shell design” piece that sits on top of the air fryer, and another at the bottom to stop it rattling about while the delivery men have their fun throwing it around their vans. Pop these off and the air fryer is then inside a polyethylene bag.
There is an air intake vent on the top, and an air “out” vent routed at the back of the air fryer.
Note:there are two small pieces of sticky tape holding the cooking drawer in it’s place. You’ll need to peel both of these off unlike me who spent 20 seconds trying to work out why the drawer wouldn’t come out.
The Duronic air fryer comes boxed with an instruction manual which is written in easy to understand English as well as a few other languages. The writing is not too small either. Pleasing to note these minor details in today’s modern age!
It also comes with a really nicely presented 77 page cook book for recipes. The book is shiny, glossy and pleasing to hold. It feels of value and not like a cheap throwaway leaflet.
There are a number of included recipes in the book ranging from spicy fries, chicken drumsticks, rosted vegetables, soups, chicken nuggets, roasted cod and a few dessert recipes included too. If you look online you’ll also find a whole host of free air fryer recipes available as well.
A 2 year warranty. For total peace of mind. Cook to your heart’s content.
Cooking with the air fryer.
Straightforward really. No degree in cookery skills needed if you want to cook a wide range of things. Just be aware that if you’ve just switched it on, you’ll want to add 3 minutes to the timer to allow the air fryer to get up to the right temperature.
No oil, or only a tiny bit of oil is needed. Specifically you can add as little as a teaspoon of oil to fresh potatoes to help them crisp up better. Frozen potatoes do not need oil.
Chicken drumsticks take just 20 to 25 minutes, potatoes 15 to 20 minutes etc.
Our second cooking test was to try a mixture of chicken dippers and chips, and cram as many in the basket as possible to see how it came out.
The dippers were cooked first for an extra 5 minutes then the chips were thrown in, so that it would all be cooked together at the end.
The dippers came out soft and very hot. Impressed. The chips, despite shaking halfway through were a little floppy in places and ok in others, but we had literally just squeezed in a large number of items, as we wanted to see how it would cope in full capacity.
So for best results cook smaller quantities. We cooked enough for two very large platefulls.
Extra time might have remedied this, or possibly by buying one of the universal cooking tray systems you can then separate each item out for better air flow and a better end result. They’re typically around the £20 mark so good value.
It can get quite hot
For the first 5 to 10 minutes you can place your hand on the side of the air fryer and be just fine, but as time progresses this does get hotter, to an “uncomfortable” hot towards the end. While it’s not going to cause any sort of damage, it make sense to have the air fryer placed away out of children’s curious hands. In the same instance it might not be ideally placed next to fresh flowers.
Do we recommend it?
Absolutely. We tested this air fryer and 9 others in our air fryer top 10 comparison page, and this was our top rated “budget” air fryer, and even now after many months it’s still our favourite.
What can you cook in the Duronic air fryer?
Just about anything!
Potatoes, fish, meat, vegetables. You can also bake cakes, samosas, spring rolls and to finish things off, even sort out a tasty dessert if you’ve still got room left at the end.
When done you can pop the drawer and wire metal mesh basket in the dish washer and relax. Job done. Food made, full tummies. Sorted.
Have you enjoyed our duronic af 1 air fryer review ? let us know in the comments below so we can improve our work, or feel full of happiness if this helped you 🙂
We REALLY hope so. We have owned this now for several months and counting and use it every single week. We are not the most adventurous at cooking but find it invaluable for popping some oven chips in for a quick snack. No fuss and hardly any mess.
Hi Fernando, no it can not. It’s one of those manual timers that you turn. It clicks as it unwinds and dings when done.. If you go too much then just keep an eye on time elsewhere and remove the food. You can turn the air fryer off at this point and the timer will just do its thing and unwind and ding when its finished… so it doesnt affect anything. Hope that helps. shaun
I trust you are well.
I have a white model of the duronic airfryer. Apparently to me it’s very slow even when set to maximum temperature. What could be the reason? Frying half a kg of chips taking over half an hour. It’s very uneconomical.
Hi Susan. The Duronic is a great air fryer however it does lack the power of some of the bigger more powerful air fryers. What I found was to only put enough chips in at a time, plus pre-heating the air fryer for 3 to 4 minutes before putting any food in helped as well.
Can the timer be turned back if you have put to much time on?
Hi Fernando, no it can not. It’s one of those manual timers that you turn. It clicks as it unwinds and dings when done.. If you go too much then just keep an eye on time elsewhere and remove the food. You can turn the air fryer off at this point and the timer will just do its thing and unwind and ding when its finished… so it doesnt affect anything. Hope that helps. shaun
I trust you are well.
I have a white model of the duronic airfryer. Apparently to me it’s very slow even when set to maximum temperature. What could be the reason? Frying half a kg of chips taking over half an hour. It’s very uneconomical.
Hi Susan. The Duronic is a great air fryer however it does lack the power of some of the bigger more powerful air fryers. What I found was to only put enough chips in at a time, plus pre-heating the air fryer for 3 to 4 minutes before putting any food in helped as well.