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I’ve heard new parents say things like “I can’t even remember what my life was like before the birth of my child.” Well, I don’t have children, but I’m pretty sure I can relate: I can’t remember my life before my Instant Vortex air fryer. I’ve been using this helpful appliance for three years now, and things have only gotten better since. In my kitchen, anyway.
I originally got the Instant Vortex 5.7-quart so I could write more recipes for Thanksgiving food coverage. I didn’t particularly want an air fryer—how much could a small countertop oven possibly help with Thanksgiving, I thought, let alone day-to-day cooking? Why would anyone even use this thing? I judged it endlessly—until I did start using it.
The basics of using an Instant Vortex
The Instant Vortex air fryer is a fairly simple basket model air fryer. It has a sleek pod-shaped design with a handle jutting out front, and a small turning dial on the upper section. You simply plug it in, and the appliance comes alive. The panel lights up with mode options: air fry, bake, reheat, and roast. There are two additional buttons—for setting the temperature and setting the timer—that you control with the rotating dial. There’s a single grate that sits snugly into the basket, and that’s it. It doesn’t have 15 presets, or multiple grates to switch out, and simplicity is one big reason I’ve grown to love it. (Read my full review of the Instant Vortex here.)
How the Instant Vortex has changed my cooking over three years
To be clear, I still cook with my other appliances. An air fryer is not a replacement for a stove or oven, but the Instant Vortex has decidedly become a critical part of my cooking toolkit. It’s become a gadget I fully rely on for a few specific situations and when cooking certain types of ingredients. Sometimes it works in tandem with other appliances, if I’m orchestrating a large meal, but often I fire up the air fryer because I’m tired and I don’t really want to put effort into my cooking.
Roasting all the vegetables
I like my vegetables roasted, sautéed, or steamed, in that order. The air fryer has changed the way I tackle the first of those, and any time I go back to doing it in the oven I regret it. Roasting veggies in the Instant Vortex can take as little as five minutes (when I’m roasting peppers), and it can cut the cooking time for root veggies in half. When I look back on the “before times,” I think of the years I’ve lost roasting potatoes in the oven—and compunding matters, an air fryer baked potato is far superior to any oven-baked spud.
A lazy weeknight cooking special
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
As a food writer, it might not surprise you to know I cook a lot during the day. I also wash a lot of dishes because of this (many New York City apartments do not have dishwashers). After the work day is done, I’ve had enough of my kitchen. That’s when I bring my Vortex down from its home atop the fridge, plug it in, drop something or other inside, and leave the room. That’s how dinner gets cooked: A marinated pork tenderloin, turkey kielbasa, or frozen steak bites go in. While the meat rests, I can char some air-fried broccoli, quickly roast nearly any vegetable (with this method), or keep it simple and serve a side of sliced pickles. This machine is clutch for lazy weeknight dinners.
A take-out fried food revival machine
This weekend I went with my mom to the Asian market where they make this delicious battered and fried fish. I brought some for my brother and his family, but while it was packaged in the plastic container, it got soggy from the humidity. Was I worried? Absolutely not.
Whether fried chicken, fried fish, soggy french fries, or an entire fried chicken sandwich, I revive all of my fried food in my Instant vortex in about five minutes. The basket style makes it easy, because you can do the “basket shake”: Grab the handle and jostle everything in the basket halfway through the cooking time for even crisping. Reheating leftover fried food in the oven for 20 minutes is a thing of the past.
What do you think so far?
Easier dinner parties and family events
I don’t think I could part with my Vortex simply because it makes preparing dinner parties and holiday feasts so much better for me. Truly, it makes cooking large meals easier. I often set it up in a totally different area so it clears up space near the stove, and roasting side dishes or baking desserts in there frees up my oven for larger casseroles or the Thanksgiving turkey.
What I wish I knew when I first got my Instant Vortex
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
The basket depth matters
The Vortex has been my favorite basket model air fryer so far, but I was more familiar with how to use an oven-style air fryer because it mimics the shape of a toaster oven and a conventional oven. The basket on the Instant Vortex is rather deep—just shy of four inches to the grate—which is great for roasting broiler chickens or thick cuts of meat, but if you place a cake pan or something wide down into the basket, you have to navigate carefully to avoid burning your knuckles on the sides of the pan. I recommend using foil strips under wide items so you can lower them down and pull them out.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Things can go wrong in, well, an instant
Speedy cooking, as long as it’s cooked well, is never a bad thing. However, if you can’t see how fast your food is cooking then it’s easy to let it go too far. The Instant Vortex has one of the most efficient convection heating systems I’ve used so far, which is great—but it also means food can go from perfect to overcooked in a matter of one minute. I had to learn the hard way that I need to check on my food frequently when cooking with this appliance.
I’ve written about my favorite air fryers before, but if you’re interested in an easy to navigate air fryer with a roomy basket that consistently delivers evenly cooked veggies and meat, the Instant Vortex can be your helper for the long haul. Just remember to check on your food, at least in the beginning, so you don’t burn anything (which is good advice for any new appliance, frankly).
