In the bustling world of culinary innovations, dual basket air fryers stand out as a beacon for those who value efficiency, versatility, and health-conscious cooking solutions. The Cosori Dual Basket Air Fryer, with its spacious 8.5-liter capacity and dual cooking zones, promises to transform how we approach meal preparation. But is a two-drawer air fryer worth the investment? Does it truly deliver on these promises? We enlisted the expertise of PIATTO’s Flavia Diamante to put this air fryer to the test in a real-world kitchen scenario: cooking an Italian dinner for a family of four!
Watch the Video Recipe!
Watch Flavia Diamante prepare an Italian feast for a family of 4 with the Cosori Dual Basket Air Fryer in this video recipe (filmed in Italy):
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Flavia Diamante Cooks Dinner for 4: The Test
Flavia’s experiment provided a comprehensive demonstration of the Cosori Dual Basket air fryer’s capabilities. Here was her menu: french fries, arancini, Italian kebobs (arrosticini) and cookies. Keep reading to see how the Cosori Dual Basket Air Fryer performed!
Air Fryer French Fries: Perfectly Crispy?
We love Italian ‘pizzeria’ style fries. In the past we always used a deep fryer to prepare fries since the oven cannot rival the deep fryer for this job.
Using the ‘sync cook’, Flavia achieved uniformly crispy fries in both baskets within 25 minutes—a testament to the appliance’s ability to handle staple recipes with ease. Flavia used the highest ‘air fry’ temperature available (205°C) and cooked a whole bag of fries at once!
We were very pleased with how crispy these air fryer fries tasted. They did rival the deep fryer fries and we were pleased with the lack of smell and mess. Overall, we decided we would use the air fryer instead of the deep fryer to prepare fries in the future. A few things to keep in mind:
- Give the Fries an Extra Spray of Oil: At minimum, you need to spray the crisper basket before these fries go in. We recommend hitting the fries with a good spray of air fryer- friendly oil. They need it to get extra crispy, and you will still be consuming less oil than you would with deep fried fries.
- Cook Longer Than the Manufacturer Recommends: At higher temperatures—such as that offered for ‘air fry’ by the Cosori TurboBlaze Air Fryer— you can get crispy fries in the 15 minutes suggested by the manufacturer. At the lower ‘air fry’ temperature available on this model, you’ll need about 25 minutes for a bag of fries.
- ‘Shake’ and ‘Preheat’: Be sure to use preheat as always before putting the fries in. Also, make use of the ‘shake’ button which will remind you with a beep when it is time to shake or flip food halfway through the cook time.
To summarize our Air Fryer Fries experiment, we made…
- a whole bag of fries
- in 25 minutes
- on ‘air fry’ at 205°C using both ‘preheat’ and ‘shake’
- the result? Very crispy fries!
Diverse Cooking Modes: Cooking Italian Kebobs and Arancini
Of course, the advantage of a dual basket air fryer is that it allows you to prepare two foods with different settings (and times and temps). Flavia tested this feature on the Cosori Dual Basket Air Fryer by cooking Italian kebobs and frozen arancini at different settings at the same time, showcasing the flexibility of having dual baskets.
For the arrosticini (Italian kebobs), Flavia cooked them…
- on ‘grill’
- at 230°C
- for about 8 minutes
- using the metal skewers that came with the machine and which fit perfectly in the basket
For the arancini, Flavia cooked the arancini frozen…
- on ‘air fry’
- at the highest temp (205°C)
- for a total of 15-20 minutes
She used the ‘sync finish’ feature of the Cosori Dual Basket air fryer to put both of these foods in at the same time, and have them finish cooking at the same time. In this case, because the kebobs required less cook time, that basket displayed ‘hold’ until the arancini had cooked for 7 minutes, at which time the basket with the kebobs began their cook time too.
Efficient Meal Coordination? Sync Finish!
The ‘sync finish’ feature was used to ensure that both the kebobs and arancini were ready at the same time, highlighting the practical benefits of this function. Pretty useful when one is trying to prepare a whole meal for a family of 4!
The kebob meat was very juicy and perfectly cooked. The arancini were cooked and very crispy on the outside—not quite as crispy as the traditional deep frying method. However, they were very crispy, and close enough to the traditional arancini coating that we will be using the air fryer (rather than our deep fryer) in the future to cook arancini and similar Italian foods like ‘Italian suppli.’
Bake… without Heating the Kitchen! Cookies
Finally, for our Cosori Dual Basket Air Fryer review, Flavia prepared cookies using the air fryer ‘bake’ setting. By using ‘sync cook’ once again, she quickly copied the settings from one basket to the other to double the cooking space allowing her to bake 12 cookies at a time.
The freshly baked chocolate chip cookies were ready in just 8 minutes, with the dual baskets allowing for double the amount without extending the cooking time. Making cookies allowed Flavia to see another advantage of this Cosori air fryer model: the ‘windows’ that allow for checking on the baking cookies without opening the baskets.
Cosori Dual Basket Review: Advantages
Dual Cooking Zones
The core advantage of the Cosori Dual Basket Air Fryer lies in its dual-basket system, which allows users to cook two different foods at two different settings simultaneously. This not only saves time but also enhances meal variety. Whether you’re preparing a side dish while cooking a main course or just making multiple components of a meal, each basket operates independently with its own temperature and timer settings.
Sync Cook and Sync Finish Features
A standout feature is the ‘sync cook’, which Flavia used to prepare fries and cookies uniformly in both baskets.
She also leveraged ‘sync finish’, a smart feature that automatically adjusts the cooking times for different dishes so they finish at the same time. This innovation is crucial for achieving a well-timed meal where all components are ready together, enhancing both convenience and the dining experience. Using the ‘sync finish’ feature, you can set each basket with a different ‘setting’ (air fry, grill, or bake, etc), cook time and temperature. Other features such as the ‘shake’ reminder and preheat can be set independently as well.
Time and Energy Efficiency
The Cosori Air Fryers shine in their ability to cook meals quicker than traditional ovens, reducing the overall energy consumption. Air frying is known for its efficiency, and with the added benefit of cooking multiple items at once, it cuts down on electricity usage and reduces cooking time significantly.
Convenience and User-Friendliness
From a practical standpoint, this air fryer features an intuitive interface that makes it accessible to cooks of all skill levels. Its preset functions and easy-to-read displays remove the guesswork from cooking, allowing for a seamless integration into daily meal prep routines.
Cosori Dual Basket Review: Limitations
Maximum Temperature Capability on ‘Air Fry’
One notable limitation we encountered was the air fryer’s maximum temperature setting for the ‘air fry’ setting. While the Cosori Dual Basket Air Fryer performs admirably within its range, it does not reach the higher temperatures offered by other models like the Cosori Turbo Blaze for the ‘air fry’ mode. As you can see in our Cosori Turbo Blaze review, that model can go up to 230°C (446°F) on ‘air fry.’
This higher temperature capability in other models can accelerate the cooking process even further on the foods we love to air fry, particularly beneficial for quickly crisping ingredients. However, the trade-off with such single-basket models is the inability to cook two different foods with distinct temperatures and timings simultaneously. Ultimately, we still achieved very crispy ‘air fried’ food—it just took a few minutes longer.
Cosori Dual Basket Review: Conclusion
We’ve completed our Cosori Dual Basket review of the 8.5 liter Air Fryer model. What’s the verdict? This model is an excellent investment for those looking to enhance their cooking efficiency and flexibility. It stands out for its dual-zone cooking, intelligent features like ‘sync cook’ and ‘sync finish’, and its energy-efficient operation.
While it may not reach the very high temperatures of some single-basket models, the benefits of being able to prepare two distinct dishes simultaneously make it a valuable addition to any kitchen. Based on our analysis and the culinary tests performed by Flavia Diamante, this air fryer not only meets but exceeds expectations in various key aspects of modern cooking.
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