COSORI Pro LE 5-Qt Air Fryer

I've owned a number of different brands of Air Fryers over the past 10 years and it has been very hit or miss. I moved into a smaller place recently and wanted a new Air Fryer that was better suited for smaller spaces and not take up too much counterspace. I searched long and hard and decided on this one. There is another version of this one that is slightly smaller and is WiFi enabled. I elected to go with this one since I could not think of a situation that I would want to control this unit remotely (although you can see the WiFi indicator on the touch screen, it doesn't light up and there is no WiFi functionality in this unit. I assume the control panel on the WiFi version is exactly the same or they plan to make this one WiFi enable in the future as the reason for it being there. I've used it several times already to cook wings, fish, shrimp, and I even cooked a NY Strip in it (yep! I Air-Fried a steak... I know, I know... I said the same thing to myself that you are thinking while it was cooking), but to my surprise, using the preset worked like a charm. The steak was evenly cooked to a perfect medium well temp, just the way I like it. It was juicy, had a little char on the edges, tender and delicious (I cook a mean steak regardless). When I cooked the wings using the Chicken preset, I ended up adding additional time and increasing the temp since my previous experience with other Air Fryers indicated that the presets always undercook chicken, besides the fact that I like to flip them towards the end to ensure they are crispy all the around. The unit indicated 20 minutes @ 360 degrees. I changed it to 25 mins @390. At the end I flipped and added an additional 5 minutes for 10 wings and then after a total of 30 minutes Bam!!! Perfectly cooked chicken wings. I reduced the time by 5 minutes if I'm only cooking 5 wings or so. Pause at the 5 min remaining mark and flip. They come out just as crispy as if they were deep fried (non-battered wings) Now, 30 minutes is in no way faster than pan frying but waiting a little longer for healthier food is not a deal breaker in my book, especially if the food turns out good. The unit has a number of presets including one for Fries that alerts you when it's time to flip. I have not used that preset yet but found the presets on every Air Fryer I have owned, to be hit or miss. Cleaning is a breeze. No, seriously, you cannot get any better than this. Simply let the unit cool. (DO NOT run it under water while it is hot, as it will warp the aluminum pan due to the rapidly changing temps which will also cause the Teflon coating to start to separate prematurely from the pan). Remove the crisper tray and run it under water or use the sprayer and then gently wipe it with a wet sponge or dish cloth using just warm/hot water or a mild soap. The rubber ends are removable, but I just leave them on and clean around them. Rinse the pan and wipe the same way. This is the easiest Air Fryer to clean. The non-stick surface, like all other Teflon based coating will deteriorate over time or improper care, therefore, use silicone, Teflon based or wooded utensils in it to avoid scratching the surfaces. It comes with no cookbook or any other accessories. There is an App that you can download that controls the Wifi version, but the App has dozens of recipes specific for use with both this model and the Wifi version. It has an actual on/off button where most units need to be unplugged (I unplug it anyway since I don't trust touchscreen automated electronic panels which when defective can cut the unit on by itself). It has a timer and a preheat option. You can pause the unit, so you don't have to reset the temp/time if you open it to check on your food allowing you to continue once you close it (major plus). The outside of the unit does "not" get hot. The fan ports the hot air out of the rear and has a built-in guard to ensure you have space behind it so that it is not flush up against the wall. There is a startup process when you first get the unit. Following the instructions, you basically run through each setting and a few presets to familiarize yourself with it. You'll run preheat which will burn off and residual oils left from production. Unlike MANY of the others I have own or tried, there is no burning plastic odor when this thing is running. I had a different brand with an oven door and trays instead of a pan, that smelled like burning plastic that didn't go away until I THREW it away. I chose this brand over so many others since I bought my daughter a previous model of the same brand. Since I have not heard a single complaint about it in 3 years' time, I conclude that it is still running fine because she would not hesitate to call me and let me know how much she hates the piece of junk I bought for her for Christmas that one year. Overall, I am happy with this unit, although it did cut off prematurely once during cooking, but has since operated fine. I've had it less than 30 days but so far so good. It seems well thought out in the engineering department. While I should probably return for the one glitch, it has likely been resolved once the unit was unplugged and plugged back in. I highly recommend this unit if you are only cooking for 1-2 people. YMMV