What Size Air Fryer Do I Need For Family Cooking

Air fryers are a must-have kitchen appliance nowadays. They offer healthier and faster cooking which saves your time, improves your health, all while serving the same delicious taste.

However, there are a lot of factors you need to consider before buying an air fryer. You can easily find loads of buyer’s guides on the internet that will extensively talk about every detail you need to consider.

In this article, we will talk about different air fryer sizes so you can make a decision about what size air fryer you need to buy?

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What Air Fryer Size Do I Need?

If you live alone, live in a hostel room, or have a small family of 2-3 people you can make do with a small air fryer. Buy an air fryer with a cooking capacity of 1-2 quarts and you are good to go.

You can cook enough food and easily store them without having to worry about your limited space. If you are a part of a family, read the following to know the best sizes for each family size.

What Is The Best Size Air Fryer For 1 Person?

An air fryer with 2 quarts of cooking capacity is enough for 1 person. This is the smallest size available in air fryers, but they are still perfectly useable and provide great-tasting food. Moreover, these are quite compact and won’t take up too much space.

What Air Fryer Size For A Family Of 2?

If you are a family of 2-3, the best and most efficient fryer for you is a small air fryer with a cooking capacity of 1-2 quarts. The capacity is enough to cook complete meals for 2 in one go and the fryer is overall compact enough for easy storage.

What Size Air Fryer is the Best For A Family of 3?

If you are looking for an air fryer that can cook enough food for a family of 3, at the minimum, you’ll need a 4-quart air fryer. A 4-quart air fryer can cook more than enough food for 3 people, without the need of cooking in batches.

Is A Small Air Fryer Worth It For A Single Person?

It depends on your usage. If you will only be for one person, a small air fryer is definitely worth it because the cooking results are very impressive. But, sometimes you might have to serve some guests, and then a large air fryer will come in handy.

What Air Fryer Size For A Family Of 4?

For a family of 4 people, a medium air fryer will perfectly do the job. Medium air fryers will offer up to 5 quarts of cooking capacity which is more than enough to prepare meals for a family of 4 people.

It will take more space on the kitchen counter but these are still compact enough to be stored in a kitchen cabinet after use.

What Air Fryer Size For A Family Of 5?

Any air fryer with a cooking capacity of up to 6 quarts is good enough for a family of 5. According to Howell’s of Richmond classification, a medium air fryer will do the job.

If you cook bigger meals or regularly have guests over, a large air fryer with up to 8 quarts cooking capacity will be a good option too. But if you are strictly going to be cooking for 4-5 people, an air fryer with 6 quarts capacity will do just fine.

What Air Fryer Size For A Family Of 6?

Any air fryer upwards of 8 quarts will do really. For 6-8 people, you can easily prepare full meals in a large air fryer with an 8-10 quarts cooking capacity.

The bigger fryer will, however, take up more space on the kitchen counter or the cabinet. If you have no shortage of space then you don’t need to worry about that.

What Air Fryer Can Cook A Whole Chicken Or A Small Turkey?

A large air fryer. You can easily roast a full chicken or turkey in a large air fryer that has a cooking capacity of between 8 to 10 quarts. Anything smaller than that and you will have to cut the chicken or the turkey into smaller pieces.

What Are Air Fryer Sizes?

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To answer “what size air fryer do I need?” you need to consider two things, “how much food will you be cooking?” and “how much space do you have?”

Air fryer sizes are dependent on their cooking capacity. In addition, you should check the size of the deep fryer.. A fryer with a smaller cooking capacity will be compact and take less space in the kitchen as compared to a fryer with a large cooking capacity.

People who live in a hostel single room won’t buy a 16 quarts capacity air fryer because they do not have enough space either do they need it. Similarly, a family of 6 can’t make do with a fryer that has a cooking capacity of 2 quarts.

They will need a bigger fryer because they need to cook bigger meals. That is why buying the right size air fryer is so important.

Let’s take a close look at the four different air fryer sizes so you can decide which one you need.

Small Air Fryers:

• Dash Tasti Air Fryer-2.6QT
• GoWISE USA 3.7-Quart Air Fryer
• Chefman Air TurboFry 2-Quart
•  Elite Gourmet Air Fryer-2.1Qt

This one is on here solely for the budget buyers (get it for $60 from Amazon) or for people who need an ultra-compact and portable air fryer. Ultrean’s AF02 almost fits the mini air fryer category because of its small cooking capacity and even smaller footprint.

The cooking capacity of this air fryer is 4.5-quart, so you can imagine that it will only suit 2-3 people. But, at the same time, it gives you the freedom to take it anywhere you want. For instance, if you’re planning a road trip with your family, this will be the perfect addition to your RV kitchen.

Moreover, the versatility that people expect from an air fryer is there in this mini air fryer too. You will have to manually set everything, but this air fryer can bake, roast, and grill very well.

If you live in a dorm room, a hostel, or alone in an apartment, a small air fryer will be more than enough for you. Small air fryers have a cooking capacity of 1-4 quarts.

These are perfect to cook a full meal for one person. For example, you can cook one chicken breast and prepare a bit of fries for your dinner.

If you have a date or a friend is coming over, a 4 quarts air fryer can cook a couple of chicken breasts, fries, and even fry wings for a full meal.

These are compact and lightweight which makes them easy to store and clean. The smaller air fryers can easily fit on the kitchen counter. If you have limited kitchen counter space, the compact size allows you to store them in your cupboard.

Small air fryers are also a perfect partner if you are going on a road trip. You can easily keep them in your vehicle and cook your own food wherever you want. In short, for 1-2 people, small air fryers with a cooking capacity of 1-4 quarts are the way to go.

Medium Air Fryers:

• Ninja AF 101 Air Fryer
• COSORI Air Fryer5.8QT
• Ultrean Air Fryer, 4.2 Quart
• GoWISE USA 1700-Watt 5.8-QT

People who are just starting to cook for themselves need this air fryer at their disposal. The AF0301 is as versatile as it gets, and at the same time, it is extremely easy to use, which is why we recommend this to beginner cooks. The touchscreen controls are super easy to learn, and the separate buttons for time, temperature, and cooking functions make it easier.
But the reason it’s so good for beginners is the 10 presets. With a single tap of the screen, this air fryer will automatically set everything to perfectly cook a food item. The 10 presets you can choose from are french fries, toast, pork, chicken, pizza, fish, cake, and a couple more popular items.
The cooking capacity is that of a mid-ranger- not too big, not too small. So for a family of 3-6 people, this air fryer will do very nicely.

For 3-5 people, medium air fryers are the better option. These offer a cooking capacity of 3-6 quarts. These are perfect for a small family of 2-4 people.

The cooking capacity is more than enough to allow you to cook your favorite meals. A fryer with 3 quarts cooking capacity will allow you to prepare fries for up to 4 people in one go.

If you go towards the 5 or 6 quarts fryers, you get to prepare bigger meals and even two different dishes at once. Using an air fryer with 5 quarts cooking capacity, you can even prepare a full dinner for up to 5 people in one go.

This is the most sought-after size by customers because the cooking capacity is enough to prepare meals and snacks for a whole family.

The overall body size is also compact enough so it doesn’t take up all the kitchen counter space. You get to experience the full utility of air fryers of this size. Of course the bigger the size gets, the better the features get too.

Large Air Fryers:

• Dash Deluxe Electric Air Fryer-6Qt
• YEDI Evolution Air Fryer 6.8 Quart
• Instant Vortex Air Fryer 6 Quart
• Chefman Digital Air Fryer-6.3Qt

A brand developed in America in the early 1970s by Carl Sontheimer, Cuisinart quickly rose to fame because of its quality. Today, culinary legends Jacques Pepin and Hubert Keller continue to use and endorse Cuisinart products.
The TOA-60 is actually a premium-size toaster oven with a built-in air fryer. It brings up to 7 different functionalities in a single kitchenware unit. Using a maximum of 1800W power and allows you to bake, toast, roast, broil, heat up, and air fry the foods.

In short, you can prepare almost any kind of meal you are craving just healthier, and without excess fat and oils. Another great thing is the convection feature. This allows the food to cook better and quickly.
Convection ovens are more efficient as well because they use less power and are able to generate more heat.
When it comes to the cooking capacity of this air fryer toaster oven, you can roast a 4-pound chicken, air fry 3 pounds of chicken wings, and even bake a 12” pizza.

It comes with some extra accessories which allow you to cook all these meals. You get an oven rack, a baking pan, and an air fryer basket as well.

The one thing that’s a bit odd about this toaster oven is the analog knobs and buttons. Where most of the modern kitchen-ware is turning digital, this fryer by Cuisinart still sticks to knobs and buttons to get the job done.
However, by no means does it affect the cooking ability of the fryer cum oven. It’s just that using analog controls can be difficult for some people in comparison to much easier digital touch buttons. Some people actually prefer knobs to touch buttons, if you are one of those this toaster oven is for you.

For a bigger family, let’s say up to 7 people, an air fryer with 6-10 quarts cooking capacity is the only suitable option.

You simply cannot cook food or even prepare snacks for so many people in a small or medium-sized air fryer. For these many people, you need a big air fryer. Anything above 5 quarts will do really.

These large air fryers allow you to prepare up to 2-3 different dishes at the same time. These come with a lot of extra accessories like a cooking basket, a pan, grills, etc.

Thanks to the big cooking compartment, you can fry chicken wings, make fries, and cook the chicken as well at once. Another great thing about the large-size fryers is the addition of the baking feature.

You can bake in small or medium fryers but not to the same effect.

You can make cupcakes or small pastries in those, but in large air fryers, you can bake delicious, fluffy cakes and serve them to the whole family.

Extra Large Air Fryers:

Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer Oven-10Qt
Ninja Foodi DT251 Smart XL Air Fryer
NuWave Brio 15.5-Quar Smart Air Fryer
GoWISE USA 14.7-Quart Air Fryer
Philips Premium XXL HD9650/96 Air Fryer

A toaster oven is one of those kitchen appliances that you don’t realize you need until you use it once. These multi-purpose ovens help you replace several kitchen appliances like an air fryer, a toaster, a baker. A toaster oven brings all these and more in a single unit.

The Instant Omni Plus Toaster Oven is another excellent multi-purpose kitchen appliance from the world-renowned Instant brand. This air fryer toaster oven is made from stainless steel and contains components of plastic in the outer shell.

With the 11-in-1 functionality, this air fryer will save you time and space in the kitchen.
With this air fryer, you can air fry, slow cook for up to 10 hours, dehydrate, roast, toast, bake, broil, proof, reheat, and rotisserie your chicken as well.

The oven also brings a cooking capacity of 26 liters, meaning you can cook multiple meals at a time for the whole family. The Instant Air fryer also has a sleek black LED display, two knobs to set the cooking temperature and time, start and stop buttons, and the 11 preset buttons for easy and fast cooking.

The fryer oven comes with some extra accessories included as well such as an oven rack, cooking pan, air fryer basket, rotisseries spits, forks, and lift. You won’t have to buy any accessories separately, just unbox and get cooking.
All this manufactured and assembled under the trustworthy brand name Instant makes this air fryer toaster oven a great option. This air fryer will not only bring a healthier aspect to your diet but also brings extra comfort to the kitchen.

Instead of having to use 4-5 devices for different meals, you get all that functionality in one device. That’s a pretty good deal if you ask us.

This is the biggest size available in air fryers at the moment. The cooking capacity ranges from 10-16 quarts. These size air fryers are for cooking on certain occasions like cooking a Thanksgiving dinner or if you have a big family and have to cook regularly for all of them.

Thanks to the spacious cooking chamber, you can cook a whole chicken or turkey in a single go. You can make desserts for the whole family and prepare snacks for a party as well.

Just like large air fryers, these also allow baking as well. In short, these are suitable for big gatherings and big households.

If you have a small family or only occasionally cook yourself, you shouldn’t spend big on the bigger fryers and instead buy smaller sizes.

Also read:

Best Air Fryer Under $50
Best Air Fryer With Dehydrator Features
Best Air Fryer For Family Of 5

Conclusion

In short, the answer to “what size air fryer do I need?” is relative. It depends on your needs. We have classified the fryers into four different sizes according to their cooking capacity. We hope this information will be enough for you to make the right decision.

FAQs

Should I Get An Air Fryer Sized For One Person?

If you live alone or if you live with one more person, only then is it a good idea to buy a fryer sized for one person. If you are going to regularly host 3-4 people then we suggest you buy a bigger fryer with 3-5 quarts cooking capacity.

How Much Do You Need To Spend To Get A Good Air Fryer?

You can easily get a high-quality air fryer with tonnes of features under $100. For premium and branded fryers, you will have to spend upwards of $200.

Is A Large Air Fryer Too Big For A Small Family Or An Individual?

Yes and no. A large air fryer offers 6-10 quarts cooking capacity. If you host a lot of people regularly then it’s a good investment but if you are only going to be cooking for yourself or using it for a family of 2-3 people, it’s not efficient.

Because it will be expensive, it will consume a lot of electricity and much of that will go to waste because you won’t be cooking that much food. So, it’s better to get small air fryers for small families or individuals.

How Do I Choose The Right Size Air Fryer?

It all depends on how much you cook. What you cook and how often. If you plan to cook meals for your family, a large air fryer is the best choice. A small air fryer is sufficient if you only make fries once per month.

You host many gatherings such as family dinners, office parties, and other social events. You will need an air fryer that can cook 10-16 quarts.

How Do You Determine An Air Fryer’s Size?

The size of an air fryer is determined by the cooking capacity. The cooking capacity of the air fryers is measured in quarts, liters, or pounds depending on the brand of the air fryer. In the USA, 1 quart equals 0.94 liters or 2 pounds.

Using these standards, you can easily determine the air fryer’s size.