Best Elite Gourmet Air Fryer: Which Model Fits Your Kitchen?

The EAF6535 is the Elite Gourmet we would buy first. A 3.5 Qt drawer sits above a larger 7 Qt drawer, letting you cook a main and a side separately without mixing flavors. We use the lower drawer for larger portions. Sync Cook mirrors your settings across both baskets, and Sync Finish lets two different foods end together.

It runs at 1700W, reaches 400F, and has 10 one-touch presets and dual 60-minute timers. The PFAS-free baskets are top-rack dishwasher safe.

When we cooked two foods at different temperatures, Sync Finish timed them to finish together. The stacked layout also used much less counter space than a model with side-by-side baskets. The presets were simple and the baskets cleaned up easily, though the controls took a few minutes to work out at first.

Where the EAF6535 asks you to learn two baskets, the EAF5317D is a no-frills workhorse with one basket that heats fast. Reheated leftovers, meats, vegetables and frozen foods all went in without fuss, and it is easy enough that kids can run it in a small kitchen.

Elite Gourmet rates it at 5.3 Qt and a 3.75 lb load, but Consumer Reports measured 3.8 Qt of usable space, so cook for two or three rather than a crowd. It draws 1350W, has 7 functions and a PFOA and PTFE-free nonstick basket, and carries a 1 year warranty.

The picture icons are fixed presets, so setting your own time and temperature takes extra button presses. The coating on the tray and basket side can peel at around six months, and a handle can crack if you drop the unit.

The 11 Qt dual zone is the most capable model Elite Gourmet makes and the one we trust least over time: the coating can start chipping within the first few months, and the control panel can fail between seven months and a year, with dead buttons and the unit powering off mid-cook.

Unlike the stacked EAF6535, this model divides a single cooking cavity into two zones. To set the time and temperature, we had to select a preset first and then adjust it. Sync Cook and Sync Finish took a few tries to learn. Even with the divider in place, the two foods can mix when you tip out the basket.

When it works, it handles sausages, burgers and a T-bone steak well and serves a family as a daily oven substitute. Pull the divider and it fits a 5 to 6 lb chicken, and it looks sleeker on the counter than its capacity suggests.

Leaving the baskets behind, the EAF1010D is the only oven-style model here, and it suits cooks who prefer dials to menus. It offers 10L of space, 1500W, a 60-minute timer and temperatures up to 450F, the highest in the lineup, and it comes with a pan, rack and basket whose removable parts are dishwasher safe.

The usable cooking space feels smaller than the 10L rating suggests. The dials provide manual control without presets, so we watched the first few batches closely to learn how it cooked. A pizza placed against the back wall burned on top while the bottom stayed underdone.

The door and tray fit feel flimsy, and the basket can slide out of its slots when pulled and expose hot metal. It can also shut itself off after about five minutes and run hot, though not every unit does, so treat that as a possible fault rather than a certainty.

Stepping down to one or two servings, this fryer fits no more than 1.5 lb in its 2.1 Qt basket, and some units stop working over time, a fair risk at the budget tier. The EAF0201X code from our shopping list has no current retail unit, and the EAF2612D is the 2.1 Qt model sold now.

Chicken tenders and fish both came out crisp. The nonstick basket was easy to clean, the handle stayed cool, and the exterior wiped clean with a damp cloth. The digital controls cover 176F to 392F with a 30-minute timer at 1000W, and it has no presets, which keeps things simple.

Size is the limit here: the 1.1 Qt basket holds up to 0.75 lb, which in our kitchen meant one frozen burger patty and nothing else. It is smaller than most people expect, yet wings, fries and chicken came out crisp in small batches, and the unit saves real counter and cabinet space.

It has manual dials, a 176F to 395F range, a 30-minute timer and 1000W of power. We found little use for the lower temperature settings and cooked on the highest setting. Food needed flipping, and neither toast nor croissants turned out well. It gave off a plastic smell at first, so wash the basket and run an empty cycle before cooking.

The glass is the hazard: the bowl gets hot enough to burn a hand and can shatter, and a small plastic screw holding the basket handle can give way while you shake the basket, dropping it and breaking the glass.

In exchange, the clear bowl lets us watch food cook, which cuts down on overcooking, and the PFAS-free ceramic-coated Ceralast rack avoids a traditional nonstick coating. It uses 1150W, reaches 400F and takes up about as much counter space as a small coffee maker. The basket is small, so keep portions modest to help food cook evenly.