There are two blades for skinny or fat fries and switching blades over is a little clumsy at first but becomes easier. There are eight preset programmes to choose from on the digital touchscreen display to make things really easy. The temperature can be read from every angle, and the fine probe we found to be excellent for checking food in the air-fryer.

But for the purpose of the test, we shook ingredients only when prompted too and scored the appliance based on its performance. Thermapen is used by professional cooks and chefs but works well in home cooking because of its accuracy. Sage uses technology that combines a supercharged convection heater with air-frying to really crisp things up. If you’re wondering whether air-fryers are really worth it, we think the primary perk of owning one is convenience.

Foods can also be cooked from frozen using trays or accessory racks, kebabs on skewers and special racks and dishes for reheating leftover foods too. And if you enjoy pub classics like scampi or onion rings, you can cook them from frozen using no oil at all.

These dishes were always in the recipe leaflets tucked alongside the instructions and often ignored, but now are found everywhere in cookbooks, magazines and online. Our only grouch with the mitts is they are pretty small, which is OK for small to medium hands, but large hands would be unlikely to be able to use them. But both the preset times and temperatures are higher and longer than they need to be, so we recommend reducing the cooking time and temperatures slightly to avoid any overcooking or burning.One thing about crowd-pleasers is they generate the desire in people to press their nose up to the glass. Interior paddles: The Tefal model we looked at has an interior paddle – its stirring motion keeping the food moving around a doughnut-shaped tray.