It’s a brilliant idea to look for the best air fryers with racks if you are interested in spacious air fryers that allow you to cook a bunch of foods at the same time.
That’s absolutely the major advantage that the best air fryers with shelves have over basket air fryers.
Basket air fryers are shaped like the original air fryer and they mostly include the basket and a crisper plate or a single rack to put the food on. Thus, our space is limited in this type.
However, basket air fryers are also usually the cheapest, a clear evidence being that we can even find air fryers under $50 among this type.
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Best Air Fryers with Racks Reviews
Air fryers with racks or shelves are usually shaped similarly to convection ovens or toaster ovens. In fact, some will bear the name convection toaster oven air fryer.
Another major advantage is that these air fryers with shelves also work like a countertop oven.
They are versatile appliances that will fit perfectly in homes that don’t already own a convection oven.
As you can see, it’s going to be an absolute pleasure to review some of the best air fryers with racks.
It’s also going to be a surprise to discover just how many shelves we can fit in these amazing air fryers.
For example, while many air fryer toaster ovens come with a single air fryer basket and a baking pan that we can use to cook foods at the same time, there are other models that will come with 2 air fryer baskets.
All in all, the basic fact remains that the best air fryers with shelves allow us to cook foods on two shelves at the same time, if that’s what we choose to do, which can be awesome if we want to multitask.
I will also try to review models to match all budgets. However, a decent one will cost around $150.
Frankly, I would have liked to review the Black+Decker TO3265XSSD Air Fry Toaster Oven because it costs around $100 but it comes with too many negative reviews for my expectations.
Check it out if you think that the lower price is something you might be willing to compromise for.
1. Ninja FD401 Foodi 12-in-1 Deluxe XL: Overall the Best Air Fryer with Racks
When you’re looking for the best air fryers with racks or shelves, the Ninja FD401 Foodi 12-in-1 Deluxe XL is not the classic appliance that you might imagine coming across.
I mean, even in my introduction I mention that these air fryers with racks are designed as a countertop or toaster oven. That’s the classic look we might expect to come across.
On the other hand, this Ninja is a multi-cooker that looks pretty much like a pressure cooker that can also air fry whatever foods we want.
If that’s the case, why would I want to review an air fryer + pressure cooker combo as a suitable choice for an article reviewing air fryers with shelves?
It’s also one of my favorites so let me tell you why that is. If you want to know more about this Ninja Foodi, I recommend checking out these resources.
However, I should also warn you that this is not a cheap appliance. While we can find toaster oven air fryers that cost $100-$120, the Ninja FD401 Foodi 12-in-1 Deluxe XL costs about double that.
Deluxe reversible rack
Let me first cover the accessory that allows me to include this Ninja Foodi in this article.
The deluxe reversible rack allows us to air fry on two racks. It’s made from stainless steel.
We can air fry meats and vegetables at the same time without any problems. Or we can double the amount of ingredients we air fry in one session.
Ninja mentions that thanks to those 2 racks we can air fry up to 8 chicken breasts or salmon fillets at once. That’s pretty amazing.
Of course we can remove one of the racks if we only want to cook on one layer. The two are detachable so we’re not stuck to always cooking on two layers. It’s up to us.
We can use a single rack on higher position to broil chicken, steak, seafood or on lower position to steam vegetables and sides.
Or we can use the deluxe assembly, both racks at once, that automatically increases capacity.
Another thing that I came across is the fact that we can separately buy the Foodi Dehydrator Stand if we want to dehydrate ingredients on multiple layers. This stand has 5 stackable layers so we can make enough snacks to last quite a while or enough for a big family to enjoy.
You’ll have to spend around $30 to buy the Foodi Dehydrator Stand but I think it can be a good investment for those passionate about dehydrating fruits, veggies, and meats.
Air fryer + pressure cooker components
In order to achieve both modes of cooking we need some awesome components:
- crisping lid
- pressure lid
- deluxe reversible rack (stainless steel)
- 8 quarts cooking pot for the pressure cook function – it’s a ceramic-coated pot
- 5 quarts cook & crisp basket for the air fry function – this is a ceramic-coated, nonstick basket
- 45-recipe cookbook
Thus, we get two separate lids, one for pressure cooking and the other for air frying.
Many recipes will start by using the pressure lid and the switch to using the crisping lid for finishing off the ingredients.
The pressure lid creates an air-tight locked chamber. The unit generates high-pressure steam to tenderize the food.
On the other hand, the crisping lid is used for preparing crispy foods, for air frying all kinds of foods on the Air Crisp function.
There are a bunch of cooking functions we can use:
- Pressure
- Steam
- Slow cook yogurt
- Sear/sauté
- Air crisp (the air fryer function)
- Broil
- Bake/roast
- Dehydrate
We can pressure cook, air fry/air crisp, steam, slow cook, yogurt, sear/sauté, bake, roast, broil, dehydrate, sous vide, and keep warm.
We can also convert oven recipes by using the bake/roast function and reducing the cooking temperature by 25 degrees F.
Size
For the 8 quart pot, Ninja mentions that it can serve 8-10.
Thanks to the Deluxe reversible rack that cooks on two layers, we’ve already established that we can cook up to 8 chicken breasts or we can choose to air fry a main dish and the side dish at the same time.
The 5 quarts basket is also big enough for a whole 7 pound chicken. Or for air frying up to 4 pounds of fries.
All in all, I would say that the Ninja FD401 Foodi 12-in-1 Deluxe XL is absolutely perfect for families of 5-6. It’s a multicooker that works even for larger families.
How to use the Deluxe reversible rack
If we want to cook 2X the protein, we should place half of the protein on the lower layer. After 5+ minutes, place the rest on the top layers.
We can place rice and grains beneath the rack. Then, roast vegetables on the lower layer. On the top layer, we can cook the protein.
Thus, we can even cook in 3 layers a combination of proteins, veggies, and grains at the same time.
There’s also a recipe from Ninja for crispy chicken thighs with carrots & rice pilaf that demonstrates how this 3-layer cooking works.
Overall, the recipes that come with this Ninja are quite nice but you’ll need a bigger cookbook if you intend to cook a variety of recipes in this multi-cooker.
2. Ninja 12-in-1 Smart Double Oven: Best Value for Money
Technically, the Ninja 12-in-1 Smart Double Oven is not exactly what we would be looking for when we shop for the best air fryers with racks.
Let me tell you what the Ninja 12-in-1 Smart Double Oven is.
Just as the name recommends, it’s 2 ovens one on top of the other. So it’s not an air fryer with shelves. It’s a small toaster oven on top and a much bigger oven on the bottom and this one on the bottom is the one that includes the air fry function.
We can use these 2 ovens at the same time to cook completely different foods under completely different functions, etc. Or we can use just one while the others doesn’t cook anything. It’s up to us.
The Ninja 12-in-1 Smart Double Oven is definitely not cheap with a price around $300 or something like that.
But we could also consider that the Breville BOV900BSS Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro is even more expensive than the Ninja 12-in-1 Smart Double Oven. And this Ninja might be even more tempting than the famous Breville.
Cooking functions
The cooking functions for the smaller oven on top are:
- Broil
- Toast
- Bagel
- Reheat
- Keep warm
We also get some buttons: Top, Temp|Shade, Time|Slices.
For the bottom oven we get some amazing functions:
- Whole roast
- Air roast
- Air fry
- Conv bake
- Pizza
- Dehydrate
The bottom one is called Bottom Convection & Air Fry Oven.
We also get the following buttons: Bottom, Temp, and Time.
If we add up the two ovens, we get 12 cooking functions: bake, broil, reheat, keep warm, bagel, toast, air fry, convection bake, pizza, air roast, whole roast, and dehydrate.
Overall, we get some amazing cooking functions on both these ovens. And that’s why I wanted to review the Ninja 12-in-1 Smart Double Oven as one of the best air fryers with racks, even though technically it’s not exactly that. It might be even better. is not only my favorite as one of the best French door toaster ovens but it’s also an amazing air fryer.
Components
- 2 sheet pans
- 2 wire rack
- air fry basket
- removable crumb tray
- chef created recipe book with 15 recipes
You can also check out this YouTube video for a visual introduction to this Ninja 12-in-1 Smart Double Oven.
And you can also check out some recipes here.
Capacity
Its dimensions are: 18.6 L x 16.39 W x 13.26 H inches.
We can make: 1-2 pounds chicken nuggets. 6-12 fish fillets, 1-2 pounds French fries, 4-6 chicken breasts, 12 drumsticks, etc.
It can be used to make for 4 servings. So it can be enough for a family of 4.
The recipe guide has a recipe for a whole-roasted BBQ chicken with Mac n Cheese for a 4 – 4 ½ pounds whole chicken.
We also get recipes for sheet pan pancake made with 3 cups pancake mix and a quiche made with 5 large eggs and 9-inch pie crust.
Another recipe is for candied bacon 8 slices.
In the top oven we can also make 4 grilled cheese sandwiches.
3. Cosori Air Fryer Toaster Oven CS130-AO, 32QT
This Cosori looks like an appliance you might expect to find when you’re looking for the best air fryers with racks.
It’s shaped exactly like a toaster oven. A pretty big countertop oven. If it weren’t for the air fry function, we wouldn’t be able to tell that it’s a modern countertop oven only. Thankfully, there’s also the possibility to air fry our ingredients.
Before going into the deeper workings of this Cosori, I should mention that it’s pretty expensive. With a price around $200, it’s certainly not the cheapest choice you could make.
If we look at the Cosori Air Fryer Toaster Oven some of us might discover that it looks quite similar to the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. Of course, the one from Breville is about $120 more expensive.
Components & features
We get plenty of accessories:
- wire rack
- food tray
- crumb tray
- fry basket
- rotisserie fork set
- rotisserie handle
There are also 12 cooking functions to take advantage of:
- Toast
- Bagel
- Pizza
- Bake
- Roast
- Air fry
- Broil
- Cookies
- Rotisserie
- Dehydrate
- Ferment
- Warm
It seems to really cover everything we might ever need.
It also includes a recipe book with 100 recipes.
The temperature range is between 80 up to 450 degrees F, which is great. The time range is 0-24 hr, which is awesome for the dehydrate function.
Size
We only get the exterior dimensions: 20.1 L x 16.5 W x 12.1 H inches. However, someone posted a picture showing that the height is actually 12.5 inches so I don’t know how Cosori got their own measurements wrong.
In terms of foods we can cook, we can cook a whole 5-pound chicken since we have the rotisserie attachment and cooking function.
We can also bake a 13-inch pizza, which means that it’s on the larger side of air fryer toaster ovens.
We can also toast 6 slices of sandwich bread.
Cosori mentions that we can cook for 5-7 people. Well, a 5-pound chicken might not be enough for 7 people among my family and friends so I would say that it’s better for feeding 5-6 decent servings.
In order to understand the Cosori Air Fryer Toaster Oven better, I also decided to consult a cookbook for this model.
It included recipes that could serve 2, 3, 4, 6 or 8. Thus, I would think that a family of 6 could be totally satisfied with the size of this model.
On the other hand, all of the recipes were cooked on a single rack, whether the ingredients were placed on the wire rack, food tray or fry basket so that part wasn’t exciting.
4. Chefman Air Fryer Toaster Oven XL, 20QT
A much more affordable option is this Chefman Air Fryer Toaster Oven with a 20 quart capacity.
It is among the cheapest air fryers with racks. But there are also plenty of negative reviews to take into account.
Components & features
Let’s first go over the components for this Chefman:
- baking rack
- air fry basket
- broil pan
- removable crumb tray
They’re all pretty basic but some will definitely appreciate these components, especially if you’re one of those people who doesn’t care about rotisserie attachments at all.
I should also mention that I chose to review the analog version of this 20QT Chefman. There’s also a digital model for the same size. The only difference is that the digital one includes touch buttons and a display.
Choose whichever you’d prefer most but the analog version, the one with the buttons is significantly cheaper.
We have 4 dials for:
- Time: up to 60 min
- Temperature: between 200 and 450 degrees F
- Cooking functions: warm, broil, conv. broil, toast, bake, conv. bake, and air fry
- Toast timer: off, light, med, and dark
We also get a button for illuminating the interior.
I think that this one with the dials is the better version because it’s so easy to use and straightforward.
It’s described as a 7-in-1 appliance that: air fries, bakes, broils, convection bakes, convection broils, toasts, and warms. It’s not as complex as some other models but it’s more than enough.
Size
We get both interior and exterior dimensions.
The interior measures 12.5 L x 13 W x 7.25 H inches.
The exterior measures 16.75 L x 15.5 W x 14 H inches.
Chefman mentions that we can toast 4 slices, cook a 12-inch pizza or roast a 5.5 pound chicken.
In a picture we are also shown that we can cook a pizza on the baking rack on the medium level and air fry some potatoes in the air fry basket on the bottom. Place the air fry basket into the broil pan to avoid making a mess.
According to their recipes from the Digital Guide, we can air fry 2 pounds of chicken wings, 1 pound Brussel sprouts, make 2 bone-in strip steaks each about 1 pound, and make 5 tortilla chips.
I would say that it’s pretty decent for a family of 4 or maybe even 5.
5. Instant Omni Plus, 19QT
With a price around $250, the Insta Omni Plus is not a cheap air fryer at all. It’s actually the most expensive among my recommendations.
Components & features
There is s satisfying list of components
- air fry basket
- oven rack
- enamel baking tray
- rotisserie spit and lift
The interesting aspect is that under product details, Instant mentions PFOA/PTFE-free cooking. That’s really awesome.
We also get a satisfactory list of cooking functions:
- Air fry
- Broil
- Bake
- Roast
- Dehydrate
- Reheat
- Rotisserie
- Toast
- Warm
- Convection
The temperature ranges between 170 to 450 degrees F. I find it a bit odd that the temperature only goes as low as 170 degrees F because the dehydrate function is usually used at 140 degrees F and even lower.
We can also select 5 customizable toasting levels for perfect bread and bagels.
The time range for the air fry function is 5-45 minutes. The default temperature for air fry is 400 degrees F but we can set it up as high as 450 degrees F.
Size
We only get the exterior dimension: 15.75 L x 16.54 W x 13.9 H.
In terms of cooking, it bakes a 12 inch pizza or toasts 6 slices of bread.
And it can roast a whole chicken up to 4 pounds. It’s a decent size, pretty good for a family of 4 or maybe even 5.
6. Cosori Air Fryer Oven, 10QT
While the Cosori Air Fryer Toaster Oven that I reviewed above is pretty expensive, this Cosori Air Fryer Oven is considerably cheaper with a price around $130.
Well, it’s also smaller so there is a considerable difference between the two immediately.
Components & features
This is one of the few air fryers with racks that manages to look more like an air fryer than an oven. The shape is significantly different.
But we get plenty of interesting accessories:
- air frying basket
- wire rack
- crumb tray
- crisper plate
- 2 dehydrating racks
I really like this list of accessories.
We get a combination of 8 presets for specific goods and 6 cooking functions so Cosori called this model a 14-in-1.
The 14 cooking functions are:
- French fries
- Chicken
- Steak
- Vegetables
- Seafood
- Shrimp
- Bacon
- Frozen food
- Toast
- Bake
- Roast
- Dehydrate
- Preheat
- Keep warm
Size
The external dimensions are: 13.5 x 12.7 x 14.9 inches.
Cosori mentions that the 10 quarts capacity is suitable for 5 to 7 people. I guess that’s true.
7. Ninja AG301 Foodi Grill
It seems quite fitting that I started my reviews with a Ninja Foodi and I’m ending them by reviewing another Ninja Foodi. Such unintentional symmetry.
I debated on whether to add the Ninja AG301 Foodi Grill to my reviews for the best air fryers with racks because this grill doesn’t have any racks or shelves.
If we want to get technical, this Ninja doesn’t have a place here.
However, I can stretch it a bit by mentioning that, even if we can’t cook multiple foods on racks, we actually get an air fryer with a very interesting accessory: a grill plate.
We can air fry ingredients in the crisper basket. And then we can use the grill grate on top to grill some meats or other ingredients.
Thus, even if it doesn’t allow for cooking in two layers simultaneously, it’s still an interesting choice for those who want an air fryer and grill combo. It’s a lot differently than what you might expect. And that’s why I can totally understand if this appliance is really not your thing at all.
Components
Let’s see what are the components for an air fryer + indoor grill on top:
- 10 x 10 grill grate
- 4 quart crisper basket
- 6 quart cooking pot
- splatter shield
- 15 recipe cookbook
- cleaning brush
They are all ceramic-coated and PFOA/PTFE-free.
On the grill side we have 4 cooking levels:
- Low : bacon, sausages, calzones, and when cooking thicker barbecue sauces
- Medium: frozen meats and batches of marinated ingredients
- High: steaks, chicken, and burgers
- Max: veggies, fruit, fresh & frozen seafood, and pizza
On the air fryer side we have the following cooking functions:
- Air crisp
- Roast
- Dehydrate
- Bake
Size
The 4 quart basket and the 10 x 10 inches griller plate make this Ninja AG301 Foodi Grill a medium air fryer.
It’s good enough for 4 people or for 2-3 people with bigger appetites.
We can grill 4 burgers, 4 steaks, 5 hot dogs, 4 ears of corn, etc.
The cookbook has recipes for marinades, spice rubs, and dipping sauces.
The recipes in the cookbook are nothing mind-blowing but they’re exactly the kind of food I crave when I don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen.
Best Air Fryers with Racks Buying Guide
Let’s see which features you must pay attention to when shopping for the best air fryers with shelves.
Price
If your budget is under $50, then air fryers with racks are out of the question. In that case, basket air fryers that have a 2 quart capacity are the best option for you.
Most air fryers with racks will cost at least $120-$150. They’re not the cheapest, that’s for sure.
Size
This refers both to how much space you have on the countertop and both to choosing air fryers sizes based on how many people you cook for.
Some air fryers with racks will be shaped similarly to countertop or toaster ovens so they will take up a bit more space than basket models.
Others are significantly taller than toaster ovens so you don’t have to pay attention only to length and width. I also recommend checking out the height, too.
Moreover, exterior dimensions are totally different from interior dimensions. The interior dimensions will be smaller so you should pay attention to both in case you want to use certain baking pans or a particular size.
When it comes to determining air fryer sizes, I don’t recommend only checking out the number of quarts it has.
For some, the number of quarts doesn’t tell them much.
The more practical way is to check out the quantities of food that an appliance can cook.
For example, some manufacturers will specify that it can cook a certain number of pounds of French fries. Or that it fits a 7 pound chicken or something similar. Or that it can bake 12-inch pizzas.
Thus, check out this kind of info because it paints a clearer picture about its size and about how many servings you can cook at one time.
The possibility of layering ingredients on multiple racks means that we could possibly cook the entire dish in one go, main and sides. Or that we could bake 2 pizzas simultaneously.
Number of shelves & accessories
The general idea is that we can cook on two racks.
We can either place the ingredients in an air fry basket and a baking pan or we can use 2 air fry baskets and place a dripping tray underneath.
Cooking in 3 layers is pretty rare. Your expectations should be that cooking on 2 racks is certainly doable for the right combination of ingredients that are cooked under similar temperature levels.
The accessories that an appliance comes with determines how you cook food on multiple racks.
Some will include rotisserie accessories.
Others will stick to the basic baking pan, oven rack, air fry basket, and maybe a crumb tray for some.
Cooking functions
Most air fryers with racks are a combination of different functions: air fry, bake, toast, roast, pizza, broil, dehydrate, reheat, warm, etc.
Some might even have functions for making yogurt or proofing dough.
The number of cooking functions we get varies from model to model. Some are certainly more complex than others.
However, the number of cooking functions we get are not that important because all models come with dials/buttons for temp & time.
We can cook anything we want as long as it fits inside the machine and we set the right temp & time. We don’t need cooking functions in order to do that.
A temperature range between 100 and 450 degrees F and a timer that allows us to go as high as we want are the ideals we are looking for if we want utmost versatility in cooking functions.
How to Use Air Fryers with Racks
If you end up spending a bit of time looking for the best air fryers with racks or shelves, you’ll come across pictures of these appliances where foods are often cooked on two levels. There are also pictures of foods being cooked on 3 levels but those are a bit rare.
So, let’s take the standard and consider that we can cook food on two racks at the same time.
For example, we can bake two pizzas simultaneously or cook meat on one rack and vegetables on the other. These are the usual combinations that we come across.
That sounds really great. This ability to cook a larger quantity of food at the same time is a big advantage for air fryers with racks.
The other alternative is to get air fryers with 2 baskets, although the advantage of air fryers with shelves is that they also work as toaster ovens or convection ovens.
The thing is that we’ve established that we can prepare multiple ingredients at the same time, which is great news.
However, things are never that simple.
Choose foods that require similar temperatures
It’s great if we bake two pizzas at the same time because we know that they require the same temperature. However, we must adjust the timing because it’s going to take longer to cook two pizzas vs baking one, even at max temperature.
Thus, when we cook multiple ingredients on two shelves at the same time, we must pair ingredients that can mostly be cooked under the same temperature.
The timing will increase for both types of foods because hot air needs to circulate between two shelves.
Thus, you need to pay attention to cooking times until you have it all figured out.
You also need to turn and toss your ingredients if you cook a larger quantity of them at the same time.
Arranging ingredients on multiple racks
Another thing to keep in mind is that we must also have a bit of space for the hot air to go between the shelves, too.
If things get too crowded and there’s no space between the racks, the hot air won’t be able to cook the ingredients on the lower rack so that will delay your plans for eating by quite a while.
If you’re cooking marinated foods, place the marinated ingredients in the baking pan or place them on the air fry basket but make sure to have the dripping pan placed on the floor of the air fryer to catch all the drippings.
Also, place the meat on the top level in the air fry basket and the vegetables underneath in the baking pan only if you are prepared for all the meat juices to drip all over your veggies. If that’s okay with you, you can totally do that.
Thus, we must also take into account how your foods will perform during cooking and how the ingredients on the other rack will fare.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, generally, cookbooks only have instructions for cooking one dish at a time. In my opinion, cooking on multi-racks works best when we know the recipes by heart because then we can adjust as we go.
Dehydrating food on multiple racks
Another reason why some people might be looking for air fryers with shelves is that they allow us to dehydrate bigger quantities of ingredients in the same session.
Dehydrating vegetables, fruits, and meats is a lengthy process because very low temperatures are used to extract the moisture from the ingredients. It can be a good idea to use an appliance with multiple shelves. And that’s another reason for reviewing the best air fryers with racks or shelves.
