Kitchn Love Letters

The One Gadget You Need for Super-Easy Dinners This Fall (and Beyond)

published Oct 7, 2021
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Credit: Katie Currid

First, let me just preface this by saying that I did not get an air fryer and morph into one of those “Hi, I have an air fryer” people. You know … the type of person the internet loves to ridicule. I mean, I DO have an air fryer and it IS worth the hype, but I promise that its acquisition did not become my entire personality. 

Now that we got that out of the way: I received a Philips Premium Airfryer XXL as a present for my lockdown birthday in 2020 (thanks again, in-laws!) and, nearly a year later, the novelty still hasn’t worn off. My XXL turns out the juiciest chicken wings, the meltiest grilled cheeses, and the crispiest from-the-freezer fries. It also does truly magical things to vegetables (especially fall-y ones, like Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes). A fad gadget this is not! Let’s take a deeper look.

Its name is extremely accurate: The Philips XXL is indeed XXL in both capacity and girth, so you’ll either need to be willing to sacrifice precious counter space or come up with a creative storage solution (such as, I don’t know, an IKEA Bekväm step stool). In any case, it’s worth the where-am-I-going-to-put-this-thing quandary, because the 7.3-liter basket capacity means the XXL can fit a whole chicken. A whole chicken! Or, a lot of whatever else you want.

Credit: Summer Rylander
My air fryer on its stool.

And it’s incredibly easy to use: The digital display offers five preset cooking modes, or you can choose your settings manually. (There’s also a whole host of accessories you can order to up this air fryer’s versatility even further — including a baking kit!) Although the XXL sounds very much like a microwave while it’s running, when those chimes sound and you pull open the drawer — well, that’s the beginning of the end. You’ll be so delighted with how your corn on the cob almost looks like it just came off the grill, or how your leftover pizza once again has a perfectly crisp crust with sizzling toppings that you’ll grab your phone to text a friend about it and suddenly you’re the air fryer meme. Oops.

This isn’t meant to be a defensive essay. I can note that a convection oven — which I also have — does not achieve the same results as an air fryer. The Philips XXL is a different beast. A faster, more efficient, crispier-yielding beast that is capable of making your fall extra-extra-easy. But, you know, only air fryer people will understand.

Do you have an air fryer you love? Tell us about it in the comments!