This Air Fryer Gives You All the Game Day Snacks Without the Mess—and It's on Sale

Amazon

Spicy chicken wings and crunchy fried pickles doused in ranch dressing are who I'm rooting for at a sports bar. I've tried to recreate the experience at home with a jug of peanut oil and a deep fat fryer. But while the fried chicken I made was delicious, the cleanup afterwards is not one I would wish on any other human dishwasher.

Then, I had crispy waffle fries and nachos smothered in bubbling cheese at a friend's house. When I offered to help do the dishes, I was surprised when they refused and revealed their secret: the game day spread was all made in an air fryer. The dreaded cleanup consisted of inserting a tray in the dishwasher along with our plates.

That's when the little light in my head went off about why air fryer owners really love their gadgets. And the Instant Vortex Plus 10-Quart Air Fryer, (the Pro version got our nod as the best large air fryer,) is beloved with more than 17,000 five-star reviews on Amazon. It's also at a rare price point, below $100, right now.

Courtesy of Amazon

To buy: Instant Vortex Plus 10-Quart Air Fryer, $100 (originally $140) at amazon.com

This air fryer, made by the company behind the Instant Pot, has seven different functions. You can air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat, dehydrate, or rotisserie. The real draw is how much it holds. You can cook 2 pounds of fries on the included pair of cooking trays or a whole chicken on the rotisserie spit. Catch grease in the drip pan and then rinse everything before it goes in the dishwasher. And for added cleaning convenience, the door is removable, so you can pop it off and wipe down the interior with a wet dishcloth once the air fryer has cooled.

Air fryer enthusiasts aren't just swapping in the air fryer for their deep fat fryer, they're using it instead of their oven. It preheats faster and can cook at temperatures ranging from 95 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

"The Instant Vortex Plus saves me so much time that I find myself cooking so much more," wrote one reviewer. "It cooks as good if not better than my actual kitchen oven. It fits perfectly on my kitchen counter. It really is ideal for the size of my kitchen and what my household eats. It just makes cooking fun again."

Related: Air-Fryer Fried Chicken With Hot Honey

Multiple reviewers were excited to be in the kitchen more often because the air fryer made it simpler to crisp up bacon or bring a slice of pizza back to life.

"I wish I bought this sooner," wrote another reviewer. "I absolutely LOVE my air fryer…We've been using it sometimes 3 to 4 times a day since we got it about 3 months ago. It's great for reheating leftovers without changing the texture—pasta, pizza, veggies, meats—I've warmed them all…The air fryer cooks things like chicken nuggets faster [plus] they have a crispness to the outside that the oven just can't do."

You no longer need to slog through a deep clean just to enjoy the crunch of a deep-fried pickle spear. The Instant Vortex Plus 10-Quart Air Fryer marries convenience and performance while saving you from lots of scrubbing. Snag your new favorite appliance at a discount right now.