Salter Fuzion Dual Air Fryer Review
Part of a new breed of extra-large air fryers, Salter’s Fuzion Dual Air Fryer is ideal for families and those who air fry food regularly.
Verdict
Pros
- Flexible drawer capacity
- 7 preset programmes
- Can sync compartments
Cons
- Not suitable for dishwasher cleaning
- Takes up a lot of worktop space
- Not intuitive to programme
As good for cooking from scratch as it is quick and easy meals, the Salter Fuzion Dual Air Fryer has plenty to offer: 8 litres of cooking capacity, which can be equally split between two compartments with a divider, and the ability to cook at different times and temperatures. Plus, it’s more affordable than air fryers with similar capabilities. However, like them, it is pretty big and compact kitchens may struggle to find enough surface space for it; and, while its non-stick coating makes it easy to clean, you’ll have to wash the parts by hand rather than relying on the dishwasher.
Pros
- Flexible drawer capacity
- 7 preset programmes
- Can sync compartments
Cons
- Not suitable for dishwasher cleaning
- Takes up a lot of worktop space
- Not intuitive to programme
Key Features
- 8L cooking capacitySalter Fuzion Dual Air Fryer has a large 8-litre drawer, which can be split into two 4-litre compartments.
- 8 coooking modesIt features seven different automatic programmes, plus a manual cooiing mode.
Introduction
The Salter Fuzion Dual Air Fryer is just one of several two-compartment models, perfect for catering to the needs of larger households and families who may want to cook more than one food at a time, or need a big drawer for multiple portions. Add to that a range of handy preset programmes, digital display, and windows so you can keep an eye on dinner without opening the drawer, and it’s clear this big air fryer comes with some big advantages.
Design and features
- Needs to be cleaned by hand
- Large worktop footprint
- Clear viewing windows in drawer
For a small appliance, Salter’s Fuzion Dual Air Fryer is substantial: it’s 36.4cm wide and 37.8cm deep on the worktop. When its drawer is removed entirely, it’ll take up most of the depth of an average kitchen surface. For all its bulk, it’s surprisingly sleek, with a glossy black exterior, stainless-steel clad handles and a digital display.
The latter is set using a touchscreen, which, when not in operation, has only the on-off button illuminated, so there’s no mess of buttons constantly on show. There are seven programmes plus manual cooking – annoyingly, these have to be scrolled through, rather than just selecting the one you want – but they cover a range of common settings: fries, seafood, steak, pork (not looking dissimilar from steak, which is confusing), bake, chicken and vegetables. There’s no setting for frozen food or reheat though. Time and temperature can be toggled for each, and helpfully, also while you’re cooking.
Setting it is straightforward once you get the hang of what all the different buttons do, and consists of selecting compartment one or two, then a programme. There’s a sync button if you’d like both drawers to finish at the same time, which holds cooking for one, or match if you’d like both drawers to use the same cooking settings.
Where it can present a problem is if it’s being used as one large drawer. In that case, you’ll have to remember to set both drawers cooking using the match option, as it doesn’t do it automatically once the divider is removed, something that the Ninja AF500UK does.
The other issue I found during testing is that the drawer isn’t suitable for dishwasher cleaning. When I tried it, a substantial amount of water found its way into the drawer’s window cavity, meaning I had to drain it out and let it dry thoroughly before using it again. I was able to clean its grill plates in the dishwasher, and found it was straightforward to clean the parts by hand.
Performance
- No preheat required
- Good at cooking meat and poultry
- Better results with smaller amounts
Something that can often be overlooked in more affordable air fryers is cooking guidance. Fortunately, there’s plenty with the Fuzion, including a table of suggested temperatures and cooking durations for different foods (temperatures range from 60°C-200°C and it’ll run for up to 60 minutes), recipe ideas and defaults for each programme. The only thing that wasn’t clear was how to cancel programmes once set: hitting start again only pauses them. I settled for turning the machine off and back on again.
As there was a dedicated steak programme, and guidance for levels of doneness, I started by cooking a steak, with the aim of medium rare. There was no need to preheat the air fryer, which was handy, but there was conflicting advice as to how long to cook it for: the recipe booklet included suggested 200°C for 10-12 minutes, while the instruction booklet stated 180°C for 8-10 minutes, and the programme was set at 180°C. I went with the latter and this worked out well: the steak was nicely pink in the middle, well browned on the exterior and very juicy. This suggests that there may be a certain amount of testing and adjusting needed for some foods.
I liked that the clear windows and internal light allowed me to see inside the drawer without opening it, but realistically, I still found it hard to see how cooked some foods were.
Next, I used both compartments to cook different types of potatoes, using the sync option so they would finish at the same time. While compartment one held fresh chipped and lightly oiled potato, the other was used to cook hash browns from frozen.
While I could adjust the fries programme for compartment 1 from 20 minutes to 23 minutes at 200°C, I had to use the manual setting for the hash browns at 200°C for 15 minutes.
There’s no alert to shake food with the fries setting, like some other air fryers do, but the chips were shaken periodically while cooking. This did present a problem though – as the Fuzion has one drawer with a divider, rather than two drawers like some dual air fryers, such as the Ninja AF400UK, you end up shaking the food that’s in the other drawer as well. For hash browns, this didn’t matter, but it could place a limit on cooking delicate foods alongside chips.
When both had finished, the results were mixed. Some of the fresh chips were well browned and crisp at the ends, while there were some that were pale and hadn’t been shaken enough to reach the heat. When I cooked fresh chips a second time, I found it more effective to toss the chips with a utensil rather than shaking. This also came in handy for removing the chips – if you tip the drawer, the grill plates can tumble out.
I felt the hash browns needed a few minutes more as they were still slightly soft in the middle although crisp at the ends. While the air fryer packs in 1700W of power, it’s telling that smaller-capacity air fryers can also come in at this wattage, and tend to be a little faster at cooking.
I removed the divider to cook chicken legs. I managed to fit in five comfortably. I chose the chicken programme at 200°C and upped the time from 20 minutes to 28 given that it was on the bone.
As mentioned previously, I noticed that the light didn’t come on in the area above compartment 2, so had to set that one as well by selecting ‘match’.
The chicken emerged golden brown with crispy skin that was bubbled at the edges. It was thoroughly cooked, even in the middle next to the bone, with clear juices.
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Should you buy it?
A smaller air fryer is limiting your cooking horizons.
If you count down the minutes until fries are ready before popping in your steak, this dual model could be just the right addition to your kitchen.
You don’t have the space, or tend not to air fry food that often.
This large, capacious air fryer will just get in the way, meaning you’d be better off buying a compact one.
Final Thoughts
Air frying converts are sure to love the Fuzion: at its heart is the ability to cook more food healthily and economically, meaning that it can handle whole meals as easily as small amounts. And, unlike some dual air fryers, it’s not much more expensive than some compact models. Where it could do better is being dishwasher-safe: aside from being convenient, trying to clean a large drawer in a kitchen sink can be awkward. A little attention could also be paid to how easy it is to programme: it’s not the most intuitive without the instructions to hand. For ease of use and clean-up, you might find the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone 7.6L Air Fryer to be more your speed.
How we test
We test every air fryer we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main air fryer for the review period
We cook real food in each air fryer, making chips, frying sausages and cooking frozen hash browns. This lets us compare quality between each air fryer that we test.
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FAQs
It takes up to 8 litres, so good for larger families and keen cooks.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
