This £99 alternative to the Ninja DoubleStack is the ultimate kitchen space saver – and I just gave it 5 stars in this review

If you're fed up with waiting for your oven to preheat for family dinners, or maybe you're really starting to get annoyed with playing Tetris with your oven trays to fit everything into your single oven, then I've found the best air fryer for you.

Yep, I've been testing Salter's newest air fryer, which is currently on sale thanks to Prime Day for £99.99 down from £119.99 on Amazon, which is a unique design in more ways than one. It's a dual air fryer, which means it has two cooking zones, but these cooking baskets are stacked atop one another, using otherwise empty vertical space instead of extra countertop space.

This slim design makes this air fryer perfect for smaller, busier kitchens. Plus, each basket is fitted with a rack to double the cooking area it can offer, meaning you can cook four different types of foods at any one time. Game. Changer.

In a nutshell

A great air fryer for families, thanks to its four tiers and 9L of usable cooking space, this air fryer even has 12 pre-programmed settings to make cooking simple.

Featured among these programs is everything from a chips mode to pork, fish, pizza, and even baking for cakes and cookies. You can match the drawers to cook at the same time and temperature, or you can sync them for when you're cooking different foods but want them to be ready at the same time.

As far as design goes, it's perfect for smaller kitchens with minimal worktop space to offer an air fryer. Its baskets sit atop one another so as not to be too wide, while each basket also has a window and a built-in light so that you can check on your food with ease. It's super easy to use with a touchscreen to the right of the baskets, and at the top of the machine, you'll find a sticker which explains all of the programmes.

For the price tag, it's a total bargain. You get so much extra cooking space thanks to its steel racks, and it's fully dishwasher-safe for convenience. In comparison with other air fryers that are similar to this one in design and cooking space, its price tag is very reasonable. While cooking, I loved that it didn't need preheating, but did notice that foods placed towards the back of each basket didn't crisp up as well.

So, you need to ensure that you are flipping or shaking your food while they are cooking. And no, there isn't an alert to tell you to turn your food, unfortunately.

Product specs

• Type: Dual zone
• Dimensions: L32cm x D42cm x H38cm 
• Cooking area: 20cm x 20cm (x4 as there are 4 levels)
• Weight: 8kg
• Maximum temperature: 220°C
• Cooking modes: 12
• Power: 2400W
• Size: 9L
• Colour: Black, White
• Material: Plastic

Who tested this air fryer?

Annie Collyer

Annie was previously Deputy Ecommerce Editor at Ideal Home but has recently started a freelance role. She has 7+ years of review experience, having tested everything from air fryers to hot tubs and even lawnmowers.

Annie used this air fryer in her family kitchen for two weeks, to cook for herself, her husband and her daughter. Annie used it to cook the basics: bacon, chips, and fish fingers. And she also used this air fryer for lamb steaks, potato rostis and potatoes for a potato salad, plus fish cakes.

Due to its convenient size, Annie plans to keep this air fryer to use it to cook different food, simultaneously. And because of its compact exterior but sizeable interior, it's perfect for her pantry.

Unboxing

This air fryer arrived in a large box, which was admittedly heavy. I managed to lift it onto my countertop alone, but getting it out of the box proved difficult. I could have done with an extra hand — one person to hold the box and the other to yank the air fryer out, as it's quite sizeable and packaged rather tightly.

The air fryer was well-protected thanks to cardboard inserts. The one thing I disliked: everything was wrapped in plastic. The main unit itself and even then, its screen and the top of the air fryer had sticky plastic over them. Its cord was wrapped in plastic and both of the air fryer trays. A little bit excessive, IMO. This plastic wrap is recyclable, depending on your local council, that is.

The only thing that was eco-consciously protected was the plug itself — instead of a plastic cover over the prongs, it was cardboard. Inside the baskets also sat cardboard inserts, and the tape was paper, too.

Once I'd unwrapped everything, I had a quick glance over the manual. To my surprise, it didn't have any instructions on preparing the air fryer for cooking. And it had a very chemical odour to it. So, I took things into my own hands and decided to wash all of its parts — both baskets, both trays and both racks.

While testing other air fryers, it's usually in the manual to preheat them ahead of cooking, to burn the chemical odours away. This one didn't mention anything in the instructions, but I decided to do it as I couldn't get over the smell. I set it on the chip setting — 220°C— but it kept setting the fire alarm off in my hallway, so I had to stop it.

I let the air fryer cool down and then popped it on at a lower temperature, 180°C, for 10 mins, and afterwards the smell had pretty much gone.

Testing

This air fryer might look difficult to use, but really, it's anything but. It has stickers on the top of it which explain all of its programs. To turn it on, you need only press the power button on the screen to the right of the unit.

Once turned on, the screen flashes with a number 1 and 2. These correlate to the basket, 1 being the top basket and 2 being the bottom. Whatever one you press, you're turning on that basket. If you press both numbers, they turn blue and both baskets will turn on.

The light in the basket(s) you want to use will turn on, and then you need to use the dial to scroll through the settings. Press the dial when you're at the setting you want. You'll be able to see the temperature and minutes, and when you're ready, you can press the pause/play button. You'll hear the air fryer turn on, so you know it's cooking.

To switch between the settings for the baskets, just press each number. There are two more buttons, one of which is called 'Sync Finish', which means that the air fryer will cook both baskets, so that even if they need to cook for a different amount of time, they will be ready together. The 'Match Cook' button will match the baskets so they will both cook at the same time and temperature.

If you don't want to cook using one of the pre-set programmes, you can change the temperature and time by touching the corresponding words on the screen and using the dial.

This air fryer doesn't need preheating, which is also a game-changer. So, you need to put your food in before you press the go button.

It's definitely not as quiet as the air fryer I tested before this one (the Instant Vortex Compact) and but it still isn't loud. On my dB monitor, I measured a reading of 58-59dB while one basket was in use. While two baskets were used, I recorded the same reading.

Do note that this air fryer doesn't have an alert to tell you when to turn foods. Other air fryers I've tested do have this, which I have found handy.

Cooking chips
I used this air fryer to cook homemade chips and oven chips. First up: homemade. I chopped potatoes, tossed them in a little oil and selected the fries setting on the machine, which cooks at 220°C for 20 minutes.

I noticed quite quickly that the back of the air fryer seems to be a little colder than the front of the basket, near the handle. You can see this in the photo below of the chips, as the ones placed at the back are cooked, but aren't as crispy as the ones sitting towards the front.

This just shows how important it is to shake and turn your foods while cooking to ensure they are cooked evenly. And especially when using this air fryer.

Homemade chips cooked well within the 20-minute time frame. I cooked two batches, and they were both ready between 15-18 minutes. This will hugely depend on how many chips you're cooking at a time, as well as how thick you've cut your chips.

After the first batch of chips was ready, I needed to keep them warm while waiting for the rest of my food to cook. So, I tested the 'Keep Warm' setting. This sets the air fryer to 50°C for 30 minutes max. I left them for 6 minutes and they were still warm. I took a before-and-after photo to check if they had cooked any more, and they definitely hadn't, so I was impressed.

With my oven chips, I used the same setting. I checked on them before the 20-minute mark, at about 14 minutes, and they were ready! So speedy.

Although not strictly chips, we also used this air fryer for homemade potato rostis. Grated potato, an egg and a load of seasoning moulded into patties, we cooked these on the chips setting and they came out great. A little crispy on top, but perfect in the middle and so easy!

Cooking bacon
The pre-set program for pork says to cook it at 200°C for 18 minutes. However, the packet of my bacon said 200°C for 6 minutes. I managed to fit 6 rashers in one basket — three on the bottom, lying on the tray, and 3 more above, sitting on the rack.

I cooked according to my packet instructions, and at 6 minutes, they did need a little more time (as you can see in the photo below). So, I popped them back on at 200°C for another 3 minutes and they were perfect.

Cooking frozen foods
As well as the frozen chips, I cooked fish fingers and fish cakes in this air fryer. My fish fingers didn't have air fryer instructions, but the fish cakes did, handily enough.

I cooked the fish fingers at 200°C for 8 minutes, checked them and flipped them and then cooked them for 4 more minutes, and they were nice and crispy. You could fit plenty of fish fingers in one basket, I'd say 10 or more, if need be.

I managed to cook all 4 fish cakes at one time, using both drawers. I really could have fit them all in one, to be honest. I just didn't want to because two were salmon and the other two were cod. These had air fryer instructions of 200°C for 18 minutes. They were perfectly cooked after this time.

I also cooked some lamb steaks in this air fryer, which, handily enough, had air fryer cooking instructions on the back of the packet. These instructions said 200°C for 5-10 minutes. We did flip them after 5 minutes, and after around 3 minutes, we felt confident that they were fully cooked. They tasted great, and the cleanup was so simple, as both steaks fit in one basket with one sitting on the rack.

Cleaning

This air fryer is very easy to clean, thanks to the fact that both of its baskets and trays are dishwasher-safe. It also has a non-stick coating that's PFAS-free.

Just one thing to note is that the racks and trays stay hot for a good while after cooking, so to speed up cooling time, you might want to crack open each basket.

I washed the baskets by hand and in the dishwasher. They washed up well by hand, but the trays were a little more difficult to scrub clean of grease and oil.

They also cleaned well in my dishwasher, but they are large and my dishwasher is slimline, so I couldn't fit both baskets in there at the same time. I just about managed to squeeze one and a tray. I didn't put the racks in there as I didn't have the space.

Going forward, I'll wash the baskets and racks by hand but pop the trays in my dishwasher as these take up less space but are the hardest to clean, in my opinion.

How does it compare to similar models and its predecessors?

Salter sells a huge range of air fryers, big and small. The VertiCook is among the newest released air fryers in their range, and it retails for £119.99 on their website.

Among the largest of the air fryers you can buy from Salter is the Salter XL Air Fryer Oven, which is only £129.99 and is a whopping 15L. We've tested it in our review, but the TLDR is it also offers multi-level cooking, but instead of drawers, it has doors. This makes it slightly trickier to clean, but its accessories are dishwasher-safe. It has fewer pre-set programmes (6) and it offers Match Cook and Sync Finish.

Alternatively, the Salter Dual Sector Air Fryer is 9L and £132.99. Each drawer is a different size, one larger 5.5L and the other 3.5L. It has 8 preset programmes as well as Match Cook and Sync Finish. It isn't dishwasher safe.

Then there's the Salter Fuzion Dual Air Fryer, which is 8L and £139.99. It has Match Cook and Sync Finish. It offers one drawer with two handles but two cooking zones. This air fryer is not dishwasher safe.

The Salter XXL Hot Air Fryer is the same price as the VertiCook, but it's a little smaller at 8L. It has 8 pre-set programmes, but since it's not a dual air fryer, it doesn't have Match Cook and Sync Finish. It's not dishwasher safe.

In comparison with our top-rated air fryer, as per our Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer review, there's a huge price difference. The Salter VertiCook is a lot cheaper at £119 vs £269, but the VertiCook is smaller as this Ninja model is 10.4L in total.

Both have two drawers, while the Ninja offers 7 programmes and the Salter, 12. Both offer buttons to match the drawers for time and temp, and to sync them for cooking times so that all food is ready at the same time. To be honest, there's not much difference between these two air fryers other than their size, as the Ninja is larger in width and shorter in height, while the VertiCook is tall yet slim in width, so is perfect for smaller kitchens.

Should you buy the Salter VertiCook View Air Fryer?

I think the Salter VertiCook View is the air fryer for families and busy households who rely on their oven a lot more than they'd like to, and who also have minimal countertop space to offer an air fryer. Its stacked design means you can cook so much food without taking up lots of precious worktop space, while this clever design works to help crisp foods, as the removable racks mean you can cook protein sitting above things like homemade chips, meaning the fat drippings will add some natural crispiness.

Other than its size, this air fryer is also great because of its pre-set programmes that are so easy to use, and they take the guesswork out of cooking foods that don't have air fryer instructions. Better yet, you can even dehydrate foods and keep them warm, and there's a clever Sync Finish programme so that you can put your entire dinner in the two baskets and it will cook it all at different temperatures for different times, while ensuring it's done at the same time. If it's important that your air fryer has an alert to tell you to turn/flip your foods, then this might not be the choice for you, as it doesn't have this feature.

I'd probably avoid this air fryer if you're only cooking for one, as 9L of cooking space would be too much, unless you often use your air fryer to cook for several guests. It's very handy that you can put the baskets in a dishwasher, although they are sizable, so they might not fit in the same load (especially if yours is a slimline dishwasher).

Price-wise, it's a bargain considering it offers a lot of cooking space and programmes, plus it has windows and a built-in light in each cooking drawer so you can constantly see how your food is cooking, without having to let any heat out. Just note that each basket has a slight weak spot towards the back, meaning foods will still cook here, but they won't go as crispy. So be sure to flip and shake your foods while they are cooking.