Chefman TurboFry Touch Dual 9 Quart Air Fryer Review

Introduction

Air fryers are quite a life-changing invention. (Okay, I’m sure they said that about regular ovens, and microwaves as well.) The ability to cook a complete meal in a small box that sits on your countertop, instead of having to heat up an entire oven (and your kitchen) is not only more convenient, but also faster. There’s only one thing that has kept air fryers from being perfect: if you’re preparing two types of foods, you’ll either need to crank up the regular oven, use the microwave, or wait until your air fryer finishes with the first item, and then insert the second one.

Admittedly, there are air fryers with dividers for cooking two meals at the same time, for example, back in 2023, my colleague David Ludlow, reviewed the highly-rated Ninja Foodi FlexDraw Air Fryer, which uses a removable divider. However, if you prefer a slightly smaller (9-quart vs 10-quart) option with two separate baskets, the Chefman TurboFry Touch Dual Air Fryer is definitely worth a look. The two baskets can cook two foods at different temperatures and times, or you can sync the baskets to mirror each other, and/or sync them to finish at the same time. Combined with the presets and user-friendly design, this air fryer is a winner.

Design and features

• User-friendly display
• Independent controls
• Dual baskets

The Chefman TurboFry Touch Dual 9-Quart Air Fryer arrived in a brown cardboard box, and inside of that, a white, branded cardboard box with a convenient carry handle on top, which made it much easier to transport the appliance up the stairs to the kitchen. The air fryer is 20” W x 13” H x 10” D. It’s bigger than the average air fryer – but since it has dual baskets, that’s to be expected. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it’s not heavy, weighing only 16.3 pounds.  

The air fryer consists of the main body, 2 baskets with handles, and 2 basket racks. There’s also a quick start guide and a user manual.

The control/display panel is easy to read and very user-friendly. It includes general selections, and also specific selections for each basket. 

The general controls are as follows: 

The Start/Stop button is used for both baskets. If only using one basket, the number (1 or 2) will be illuminated. 

The Cooking Preset buttons will automatically set both the time and temperature for 8 foods (which are displayed as icons): fries, chicken, fish, bacon, burgers, steak, vegetables, and shrimp.

The Sync Baskets button programs both baskets to cook at the same time and temperature.

The Sync Finish button ensures that the two baskets finish at the same time, even if they have different cooking times and/or temperatures.

Each basket also has its own controls:

The Time/Temp buttons select the time and temperature.

The + and – buttons are used to increase or decrease the time and temperature.

The Shake Lights illuminate at the halfway point as a reminder to shake the basket or flip/turn the contents.

The Running Lights illuminate when the basket is in use. 

I only had one concern with the design of the Chefman TurboFry Touch Dual 9-Quart Air Fryer: There’s no window, so I couldn’t view my food to see how it was progressing (without pulling out the baskets). However, Chefman also makes two 6-quart models – one with a window, and one without it. 

Performance

• Temp tops out at 400 degrees F
• Shake/flip reminder
• Food turned out great

Although the Chefman TurboFry Touch Dual 9-Quart Air Fryer tested nearly flawlessly, I discovered that the maximum temperature is 400°F.

Initially, I didn’t think this was such a big deal.  However, after perusing some of my other air fryer reviews, I noticed that when I air-fried wings in the Chef iQ MiniOven, the instructions were to set the temperature to 450°F. The Ninja French Door Premium Air Fryer Oven Toaster recommends setting the temp to 450°F when making Cheesy Bread with Marinara Sauce, and Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza.

However, I don’t think any of the foods that I tested in the Chefman TurboFry Touch Dual 9-Quart Air Fryer suffered from being cooked at a lower temperature, although it probably increased the cooking times. However, I wanted to bring this to your attention, in case the temperature range is a factor that you consider when choosing an air fryer.

In my first test, I cooked steak-cut fries in the left basket at 400°F for 20 minutes, and chicken breast in the right basket at 375°Ffor 30 minutes. I used the presets for Fries and Chicken (adjusting accordingly), and chose the Sync Finish setting. The Sync Finish delays the start time on the basket with the shorter cooking time – in this case, the fries.

At the halfway point for each (which was at different times), the Shake lights came on (not that I saw them since I wasn’t standing close by), and the air fryer also beeped, which I did hear. I flipped the fries, and later, I turned the chicken over. (Note: the shake lights and beep will occur regardless of what you’re cooking. If you don’t need to shake, flip, or turn anything over, you can just ignore the alerts.)

The fries came out perfectly. They were slightly crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.

The chicken was very crispy around the edges, but moist and tender on the inside. Both baskets have a removable basket rack (with a center grip bar that makes it easy to remove). One advantage of the racks is that they keep food off the bottom of the basket – which means that oil drains off, so food is not greasy.

If you look at the photos, sometimes, the control panel displays the remaining time, sometimes it displays the temperature, and other times, it displays the status lights. That’s because every few seconds, the controls cycle through each of the indicators. And they don’t necessarily sync, so you may see the temperature on the left side, and the remaining time on the right side.

In my second test, I air fried chicken legs in the left basket, and tossed some frozen veggies in the right basket. I selected the Chicken and Veggies presets, adjusted accordingly, and selected Sync Finish. As you can see, one basket can easily hold four legs.

 The chicken legs cooked perfectly, and they were tender and delicious. 

However, the veggies were rather dry (I knew this was a possibility, but wanted to test my theory), and a few of the veggies were singed.

In another test, I cooked frozen Alaskan Seafood coho salmon in one of the baskets. It cooked perfectly, and was so soft that it fell apart when I tried to pick it up. 

On another occasion, I toasted bread. One of my concerns with having 2 baskets that were only 4.5 quarts each was that some families would find it too small to hold enough bread. However, I was able to fit 2 slices of bread into each basket. And since they were both cooking for the same time and at the same temperature, I selected Sync Baskets. 

The toast in both baskets came out perfectly browned and was slightly crunchy.  In the photo above, I flipped one piece of toast so you can see the other side.

No test is complete without testing the air fryer’s ability to make cookies. TheNestle Tollhouse Cookies came out crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. 

In another test, I cooked chicken wings. I was able to put 10 wings in one basket, with room enough for several more. The chicken wings came out well. They were crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and quite flavorful. 

Cleanup is also relatively easy, as the nonstick baskets are dishwasher safe.

Should you buy it?