If you want the shortest answer: buy the Cosori Iconic 6.5 Qt Stainless Steel. It is the pick for the person who wants an air fryer that still looks new in two years — a ceramic basket that releases without being babied, a crisper plate that goes in the dishwasher with the basket rather than being a separate hand-wash job, and a stainless shell that wipes instead of staining. If you would rather have something you can scrub with full force and never think about, skip to the Ninja Crispi at number two, because glass is the only food-contact surface in this category you cannot ruin with the wrong sponge.
Here is the problem with how this category is usually ranked. Nearly every air fryer sold in the US now prints “dishwasher-safe basket” on the box, so the phrase has stopped separating anything. Meanwhile the three things that actually make an air fryer unpleasant to own are the crisper plate that sits in the bottom of the basket and traps rendered fat under its feet, the outer shell of the basket where grease bakes on and goes brown, and the heating elementabove the food, which cannot go anywhere near water and which no manufacturer claim covers at all. So this page ranks on those, using facts you can check: what the food-contact surface is made of, whether the crisper plate shares the basket's dishwasher rating, how many separate pieces come out, and whether the element is a flat plate you can reach with a cloth or a coil buried behind a rack.
Two companion pages do the jobs this one deliberately does not. If your question is whether your existing basket may legally go in the machine, the dishwasher-safe guide answers it brand by brand and explains why several makers say yes and then quietly recommend hand-washing in the same manual. If you want the method rather than the machine, how to clean an air fryer covers the element, the shell and the smell. And if a coating has already started to lift, the basket peeling guide is the one to read before you buy a replacement.
The short answer
Quick picks
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|
| 01 | Cosori Iconic 6.5 Qt Stainless SteelThe easiest of these to keep looking new, because it is the only pick that answers all three cleaning problems at once: a PFAS-free ceramic basket that releases without a coating you have to protect, a crisper plate rated with the basket rather than separately, and a stainless exterior that wipes clean instead of yellowing the way painted plastic does. | Easiest overall | | $249.00·Amazon |
| 02 | Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Glass Air FryerThe pick for anyone who cleans with force. The food sits in borosilicate glass, so there is no coating to protect and no rule about which sponge you may use — you can scrub it, soak it, or put it in the dishwasher, and it will be the same glass afterwards. Nothing else here can say that. | Anyone who scrubs | | $152.99·Amazon |
| 03 | Cosori TurboBlaze 6 Qt (9-in-1)The best ceramic basket at a normal price. A square 6-quart basket with a PFAS-free ceramic coating, which means food releases with a rinse rather than a soak, and a shape with corners you can actually reach — round baskets hide fat where the wall meets the floor. | Best ceramic basket | | $99.99·Amazon |
| 04 | Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4-in-1 (AF141)The simplest machine here, and simple is most of cleaning. One basket, one crisper plate, both nonstick and both dishwasher-safe, and a flat element directly above the basket that a damp cloth can reach in about fifteen seconds once it has cooled. | The easy default | | $129.99·Amazon |
| 05 | Chefman TurboFry 8 QtThe large-capacity pick that did not get harder to clean on the way up. Eight quarts in one basket rather than two, dishwasher-safe, and without the racks, spits or second zone that turn a big air fryer into a weekly washing-up project. | Easiest large basket | | $79.93·Amazon |
| 06 | Cosori Pro LE 5 Qt (Ceramic)Ceramic release at the lowest price we can find it. A 5-quart basket with a ceramic coating rather than PTFE, which is the single change that most reduces scrubbing, and it costs about what a plain nonstick machine of the same size costs. | Best budget ceramic | | $89.95·Amazon |
#ad · Live prices from the Amazon Product API, as of October 18, 2026. Where we have no verified live price, we show none — a gap beats a number that has rotted.
In detail
The picks, in full
Easiest overall
Cosori Iconic 6.5 Qt Stainless Steel
Stainless exteriorPFAS-free ceramic6.5 qtSmart control
The easiest of these to keep looking new, because it is the only pick that answers all three cleaning problems at once: a PFAS-free ceramic basket that releases without a coating you have to protect, a crisper plate rated with the basket rather than separately, and a stainless exterior that wipes clean instead of yellowing the way painted plastic does.
- Release
- 9
- Dishwasher
- 9
- Element access
- 8
- Crevices
- 8
- Value
- 7
Pros
- +Ceramic release means baked-on food lifts with a cloth rather than a soak
- +Stainless shell wipes down; no painted plastic to discolour above the vents
- +Basket and crisper plate are one cleaning job, not two
- +6.5 quarts without the oven-style racks that make large machines awkward to clean
Cons
- −Ceramic coatings are generally considered shorter-lived than PTFE under hard use
- −Stainless shows fingerprints — it wipes clean, but it asks to be wiped
- −More expensive than the plain baskets further down this list
Don't buy this if…
…you are rough with cookware and will take a scouring pad to it — ceramic is easier to clean than PTFE but no more scratch-proof, and the Ninja Crispi below is the pick that survives that treatment.
We review this one in full here. The cleaning case for it is that the parts you touch and the parts you look at are solved by different materials, each doing what it is good at: ceramic inside, where you want release and no PTFE; stainless outside, where you want a surface that does not take a stain from spattered fat. Most machines in this price band are painted plastic on the outside, and painted plastic above a vent is the part of an air fryer that ages first.
Anyone who scrubs
Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Glass Air Fryer
Glass containersNo PTFE/PFAS4 qt + 6 cup450°F
The pick for anyone who cleans with force. The food sits in borosilicate glass, so there is no coating to protect and no rule about which sponge you may use — you can scrub it, soak it, or put it in the dishwasher, and it will be the same glass afterwards. Nothing else here can say that.
- Release
- 8
- Dishwasher
- 9
- Element access
- 7
- Crevices
- 9
- Value
- 7
Pros
- +Glass cannot be scratched off the way a coating can — scrub it as hard as you like
- +Containers go from the fryer to the table to the fridge, so there is one dish, not three
- +Nothing to peel, so no “when does the coating go” question at all
- +The crisper plate and glass are both dishwasher-safe
Cons
- −The power pod itself can only ever be wiped — never submerged
- −Glass is heavier than a basket and will break if dropped
- −4 quarts is a two-person capacity at best
Don't buy this if…
…you are cooking for a family — this is a two-container system, and the cleaning advantage stops mattering if you have to run it three times. The Chefman 8-quart below is the large-basket answer.
There is a reason this one also wins our non-toxic roundup: the two questions have the same answer. A surface with no coating is a surface that cannot shed one, and it is also a surface with no care instructions. Ninja publishes the glass and the crisper plate as dishwasher-safe on the product page. The honest limit is the pod — like every air fryer here, the part with the element in it is a wipe-only component for the life of the machine.
Best ceramic basket
Cosori TurboBlaze 6 Qt (9-in-1)
6 qt basketPFAS-free ceramic90°–450°F9-in-1
The best ceramic basket at a normal price. A square 6-quart basket with a PFAS-free ceramic coating, which means food releases with a rinse rather than a soak, and a shape with corners you can actually reach — round baskets hide fat where the wall meets the floor.
- Release
- 9
- Dishwasher
- 8
- Element access
- 8
- Crevices
- 8
- Value
- 8
Pros
- +PFAS-free ceramic release, published by Cosori rather than inferred
- +Square basket corners are reachable; round ones are not
- +6 quarts in a single basket means one thing to wash, not two
- +Also the quietest machine we rank, for what it is worth at the sink
Cons
- −Ceramic wears faster than PTFE if you use metal tools in it
- −The basket is deep enough that the back corner needs a cloth, not a wipe
- −Nine functions you will not use, each with a preset to scroll past
Don't buy this if…
…you want the cheapest machine that cleans well — the Ninja and the Chefman further down both do the basic job for less, they just do it with PTFE.
Cosori publishes its coating position openly on its cookware disclosures page, which is more than most of this category does, and it is the reason this machine appears on four different lists here. For cleaning specifically, the square basket is the underrated part: a round basket has one continuous curve where fat collects and your fingers do not fit, and a square one has four corners you can get a cloth into.
The easy default
Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4-in-1 (AF141)
5 qt basket1,750 W400°F maxNonstick, dishwasher-safe
The simplest machine here, and simple is most of cleaning. One basket, one crisper plate, both nonstick and both dishwasher-safe, and a flat element directly above the basket that a damp cloth can reach in about fifteen seconds once it has cooled.
- Release
- 8
- Dishwasher
- 8
- Element access
- 9
- Crevices
- 8
- Value
- 9
Pros
- +Two removable parts in total — the lowest count on this page
- +Flat overhead element, reachable with a cloth without tilting the machine
- +Basket and crisper plate share the same dishwasher rating
- +Cheap enough that a replacement basket is not a crisis
Cons
- −PTFE nonstick, so no abrasive pads and no metal utensils
- −Ninja's own guide still recommends hand-washing to extend coating life
- −400°F ceiling, where most of this page reaches 450°F
Don't buy this if…
…avoiding nonstick coatings entirely is the point of the exercise — the Crispi and the two Cosoris above are the coating-free and PFAS-free answers.
This is the machine we point most people to in general, and review in full. On cleaning it scores on subtraction rather than features: there is no window to smear, no second basket, no rack set, and no divider. SharkNinja's owner's guide for the AF101 series sets out the same routine Ninja uses across the range — unplug, let it cool, wipe the element and the interior, and wash the basket and plate.
Easiest large basket
Chefman TurboFry 8 Qt
8 qt basket450°F Hi-Fry4-in-1Dishwasher-safe
The large-capacity pick that did not get harder to clean on the way up. Eight quarts in one basket rather than two, dishwasher-safe, and without the racks, spits or second zone that turn a big air fryer into a weekly washing-up project.
- Release
- 7
- Dishwasher
- 8
- Element access
- 8
- Crevices
- 8
- Value
- 9
Pros
- +One 8-quart basket instead of two 4-quart ones — half the parts of a dual-zone
- +Dishwasher-safe basket at a price well under the ceramic machines
- +450°F ceiling, so it crisps without a long dwell that bakes fat on
- +Tall basket keeps spatter off the element better than a shallow one
Cons
- −PTFE nonstick, with the usual no-metal-tools rule
- −An 8-quart basket is a big thing to fit in a dishwasher — measure first
- −Plastic body, which discolours above the vent over time
Don't buy this if…
…your household is two people. An 8-quart basket is more surface area to wash every time you cook, which makes it the wrong choice for small portions — the 5-quart Ninja or the Crispi are the right size.
Worth stating plainly, because the category pushes the other way: a dual-basket machine is twice the cleaning of a single-basket machine of the same total volume. Two baskets, two crisper plates, two sets of corners. If you want the capacity and not the washing up, a single 8-quart basket is the answer, and the trade-off — no cooking two foods at two temperatures — is laid out in single versus dual basket.
Best budget ceramic
Cosori Pro LE 5 Qt (Ceramic)
Ceramic coating5 qt basket9-in-1Shake reminder
Ceramic release at the lowest price we can find it. A 5-quart basket with a ceramic coating rather than PTFE, which is the single change that most reduces scrubbing, and it costs about what a plain nonstick machine of the same size costs.
- Release
- 8
- Dishwasher
- 8
- Element access
- 8
- Crevices
- 7
- Value
- 9
Pros
- +Ceramic coating on a budget machine, which is unusual
- +5 quarts is the size most households should buy anyway
- +Shake reminder gets food turned before it welds to the plate
- +Simple single-basket layout, nothing extra to wash
Cons
- −The least premium build here — the body is plain plastic
- −Ceramic on a cheap machine is the shortest-lived coating on this page
- −No window, so you open it to look, which costs heat
Don't buy this if…
…you want the coating to last five years. At this price it will not, and the honest alternatives are the glass Crispi, which cannot wear out, or spending up to the Iconic.
A note on honesty here: ceramic is easier to clean than PTFE and generally shorter-lived than PTFE, and both halves of that sentence are true at once. If a coating that outlasts the machine matters more to you than a basket that rinses clean, the PTFE picks above are the better buy, and the ceramic coatings guide explains what “ceramic” means on a spec sheet and what it does not.
What “dishwasher-safe” leaves out
An air fryer has five surfaces that get dirty, and the dishwasher claim covers one and a half of them.
- The basket interior. This is the one the box is talking about. Every machine on this page is fine here.
- The crisper plate. The perforated plate that holds food off the floor of the basket. Fat collects under its feet, and on some machines it is rated separately from the basket. Check the two together, not the basket alone.
- The basket's outside. Not food-contact, not usually mentioned, and the part that goes brown. Grease that drips past the basket lip bakes onto the outer shell every cook.
- The cavity walls and floor. Where the basket sits. Spatter lands here and gets re-cooked at 400°F until it carbonises.
- The heating element.Directly above the food, permanently fixed, and never going anywhere near a sink. Every manufacturer's instruction is the same: unplug it, let it cool completely, and wipe it with a damp cloth. This is the surface that decides whether your machine smokes in year two.
Rank the machines by how many of those five are easy, rather than by the one on the box, and the order changes — which is why a plain single-basket machine with a flat overhead element beats a feature-loaded oven-style unit on this page even though the oven costs three times as much.
Material decides whether you may scrub
The practical difference between the coatings is not how dirty they get. It is what you are allowed to do about it.
| Pick | Food-contact surface | Removable parts | Abrasive pad allowed? |
|---|
| Cosori Iconic 6.5 Qt | PFAS-free ceramic | Basket + crisper plate | No |
| Ninja Crispi | Borosilicate glass | 2 glass containers + crisper plate | Yes |
| Cosori TurboBlaze 6 Qt | PFAS-free ceramic | Basket + crisper plate | No |
| Ninja AF141 | PTFE nonstick | Basket + crisper plate | No |
| Chefman TurboFry 8 Qt | PTFE nonstick | Basket + crisper plate | No |
| Cosori Pro LE 5 Qt | Ceramic | Basket + crisper plate | No |
One row of that table is doing all the work. Glass is the only entry where the answer to “can I attack this with a scouring pad” is yes, and that is the whole argument for the Crispi on a cleaning page. Every coated basket, ceramic or PTFE, is a surface you are managing rather than cleaning — and a scratched coating is the beginning of the peeling problem, not a cosmetic issue.
The shapes that are hard to clean, whatever they cost
Three design choices reliably add work, and all three are sold as upgrades:
- Dual baskets. Two baskets and two crisper plates is twice the washing up for the same dinner. Genuinely worth it if you cook two foods at two temperatures, and pure cost if you do not.
- Viewing windows. A window is a flat surface facing the food, at cooking temperature, and it fogs with fat. It is a real convenience — see the window roundup — but it is one more thing to wipe every time.
- Oven-style cavities with racks. Rotisserie spits, multiple racks and a crumb tray turn cleaning into disassembly. If a large machine is what you need, the large roundup explains what you trade for the capacity.
The habit that matters more than the machine
Wipe the element. Not weekly — after any cook that spattered. Rendered fat on a heating element is what makes an air fryer smoke, and the smoking guide traces most cases back to exactly that. It takes fifteen seconds with a damp cloth once the machine is unplugged and cold, and no machine on this page or any other can do it for you. The best pick here is simply the one that makes the other four surfaces quick enough that you still have the patience for the fifth.
How we picked
We did not lab-test this gear
Everyone in this category says they tested twenty air fryers. We have not lab-tested any of these, and we say so. What we did instead: compiled the published specifications — wattage, capacity, materials — worked out what each machine actually costs to run at the national electricity rate, read the manuals and owner reviews, and scored each one against a published rubric. The scores are judgments from documented research — not measurements we took, because we do not have a lab and we will not pretend we do. Where a number came from someone else's work, we name them in Sources.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is the easiest air fryer to clean?+
The Cosori Iconic 6.5 Qt Stainless Steel, because it solves the three separate cleaning problems at once: a ceramic basket that releases without a soak, a crisper plate rated with the basket, and a stainless shell that wipes rather than stains. If you want a surface you can scrub without restraint, the glass Ninja Crispi is the pick instead.
Are glass air fryers easier to clean than nonstick ones?+
Yes, in one specific way that matters: glass has no coating to damage, so there is no rule about which sponge or utensil you may use. A coated basket is easier to release food from, but you are managing the coating rather than simply cleaning it. Glass is also heavier and will break if dropped.
Can you put the crisper plate in the dishwasher too?+
On every pick on this page, yes - the basket and the crisper plate share the same rating. It is worth checking on any machine you are considering, because the plate is where rendered fat collects under the feet, and a plate that must be hand-washed cancels most of the benefit of a dishwasher-safe basket.
How do you clean the heating element in an air fryer?+
Unplug the machine, let it cool completely, then wipe the element with a damp cloth. No submerging, no spray cleaner into the cavity. Every manufacturer's instruction is a version of that, and it is the only part of the cleaning job that no product feature makes easier.
Does running the basket through the dishwasher wreck the coating?+
It shortens its life. Several makers rate a basket as dishwasher-safe and then recommend hand-washing in the same manual to extend coating life, which is less contradictory than it looks - the rating is about safety and the recommendation is about longevity. Our brand-by-brand breakdown is in the dishwasher-safe guide.
Is a ceramic basket easier to clean than Teflon?+
Generally yes for release, and generally shorter-lived. Ceramic coatings let baked-on food lift with a cloth where PTFE sometimes wants a soak, but they are usually considered less durable under hard use. Both halves of that are true, which is why this page ranks ceramic machines first and still recommends the PTFE picks on value.
Receipts
Sources
We do not run a testing lab, and we do not pretend to. Where a measured number came from someone else's work, we name them and link them. Where we could not verify something, we say so on the page rather than quietly leaving it out. Read our full method.
