IFIXIT sells air fryer parts and has guides for some. Maybe look over which one has the most support and buy that one? Something like an air fryer will always break, so BIFL really means can it be fixed in these types of situations.
this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2026
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Buy it for Life
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Everything that has a plug will break. It's still possible to look for decent quality and get something that lasts long.
Looking at iFixit seems like a good start, yup. Thanks.
I recommend getting one that doesn’t have a pfas/teflon coating on the basket. There are some with glass bottoms, but they don’t look as convenient as the drawer/basket type. Some drawer models have ceramic coatings.
Also, a convection toaster oven can work as an air fryer. These usually have an “air fryer” setting. Probably not as convenient as the drawer/basket models, but they have the advantage of being multipurpose.
Hope this is helpful.
This. I have a Black & Decker toaster oven that doubles as an air fryer. I have to add a few minutes to some air fryer recipes, in my experience, but it seems to work just as well, plus it’s also a toaster oven, which is extremely convenient.
This is because an air fryer is just a small convection oven with more presets.
If your toaster oven has a fan in it, it essentially is also an air fryer.
Thirded. I have only used my toaster oven/air fryer combo, so I don't have a pure air fryer to compare it with, but this thing has been with me since before the pandemic and I love it. I use it all the time, whether for air fried stuff (French fries, my beloved), for small scale baking that I don't want to heat up the whole oven for, or just for actually toasting bread (I don't even have a toaster.) And it's all stainless steel wires and pans, so there's no PFAS. Highly recommend.
I wonder whether convection toaster ovens would need more energy. I don't need the added functionality, but I like to save energy.
I have both, and since they basically do the same thing, with a heating element and a fan, the difference in power draw should be negligible.
I prefer my Ninja Dual Air Fryer over my convection oven because it's slightly smaller and faster cooking.
Yeah, it is faster because it does not need to heat up a whole oven, of course.
That requires a lot of energy.
The convection oven that I have is roughly the same size. It's not a full sized oven.
My Cuisinart air flyer is pretty nice. It's mostly a toaster oven, but adding a fan to a toaster oven is easy, so it does double duty. It's not particularly repairable, and they don't sell individual parts. The coils are a little weaker than they used to be, but it's not too bad. Maybe not "for life", but 10 years of near daily use is a pretty good run in this context.
I'm not sure a high temperature oven with a convection fan can truly be "buy it for life", the fan is going to die eventually, it's got a lifespan built in by physics. No form of maintenance-free lubrication or magnetic bearing is going to be able to survive such extreme temperatures for very long. As far as I know they're usually built on sacrificial bearings. Without frequent replacement or maintenance it's just not practical to keep the moving parts moving forever, and nobody wants to do regular oil changes on their oven or dig into its guts to replace a fan. Should we? Maybe. But I'm not sure if anyone is even attempting to cater to that market.
In general, the more expensive the appliance and the more significant of an installation it requires, the more likely people will go to more extensive lengths to repair it. From that point of view, a proper convection oven is likely to be more repairable than a small desktop air fryer. You can get an appliance technician to come to your house to replace the fan on your convection oven, not so much on an air fryer. And at the end of the day, they're pretty close to the same thing. Just one is bigger and more repairable. You might need to adapt recipes a bit.
I’m not sure a high temperature oven with a convection fan can truly be “buy it for life”
This community also allows for things that won't literally last forever. Just lasting significantly longer than average is enough :)
i've always thought of buy it for life ethos as rejecting disposability
Agree 100%.
Everything can be bought for life if we die early /s
Of course physics apply, I'm not asking for science fiction. I'll just replace the fan. But before I choose a product, I want to find a good option.
No electrical device is literally "for life", but there are still some that last a long time.
Sorry if I came across as pedantic, I was just trying to be clear about the main design obstacle it faces. Also I know edits don't always come across properly across the Fediverse, but I tried to provide more practical advice in the second paragraph:
In general, the more expensive the appliance and the more significant of an installation it requires, the more likely people will go to more extensive lengths to repair it. From that point of view, a proper convection oven is likely to be more repairable than a small desktop air fryer. You can get an appliance technician to come to your house to replace the fan on your convection oven, not so much on an air fryer. And at the end of the day, they’re pretty close to the same thing. Just one is bigger and more repairable. You might need to adapt recipes a bit.
I don't have a specific brand or model to recommend so I can only offer general advice, sorry if it's unwelcome, I'm not trying to be unhelpful or rude.
Interesting, I cannot see the 2nd paragraph for some reason. Thanks for pointing that out.
If your oven has convection then you already have an air fryer. I usually just double whatever the recommended air fryer time is and it's great.
You do want to get a grate to put the food on though; you can't just put it on a baking sheet. It took me a few times to realize my mistake there, as obvious as it seems.
Air fryers are smaller and portable though. I don't have the space for 3 ovens. I do have the space for a small oven and air fryer with 2 compartments.
Rarely need all of them, but more than 1 or having a small one is frequently beneficial
If you have a oven, you don't need an air frier. If you just want one, that's a different story though.
I want multiple ovens, air fryer is the only realistic way of achieving that with the space I have and having essentially a micro oven is useful as it takes less power to heat up for small dishes.
Need? I mean sure, but I don't NEED to cook with electricity as I could cook over a wood fire.
I have an Instant Pot with an additional air fryer lid. It's great because it's not a single-task appliance.
The two-tier air fryer insert that I bought for it isn't the best and could probably use an upgrade. But I would highly recommend the appliance itself.
I have a breville toaster oven that has an air fryer mode. But from what I know air fryers just cook using convection.
i had a gourmia before because it was on sale.
avoid it.
they made it hard to repair by design.
Not Cosori, or maybe ours is defective. Had a Cuisinart one that made the best sweet potato fries from scratch fast, but a switch in it went defective, apparently common breakdown and very difficult to fix.
IMHO they are pretty useless once the novelty wears off. You use it a few times and put it in the closet. So even a cheap model will be BIFL.
I felt the same way until my wife talked me into one. We use it almost every day now (it’s great for veggies, so much faster than my convection oven). I bought a cheapish one and am now regretting it since it’s broken and become uncleanably messy. So this is a well timed thread, since I’m looking for a new one.
Speak for yourself. I had a toaster oven and upgraded to an air fryer. I use it several times a week. 3 years strong now.
I got the instant pot with the air fryer attachment. I've used the pot part like 3 times a year and the air fryer part 3-4 times a week.
I want a second one or a dual chamber one for two cooks.
My air fryer is nearing 10 years old, and gets used multiple times a week. Between it and my toaster oven, the only thing I need an oven for is if I want pizza, but I have cut one in half and cooked half at a time in the toaster oven....
I have yet to use all its fancy attachments and settings, but for quick "I don't feel like cooking" stuff, it's great.
I use mine almost daily 🧑🏻🍳
I have an air fryer and probably use it every 2 to 3 weeks. Depends on what you cook, it's great for reheating things quickly that you don't want to wait for the oven for.
Not really. I use mine every day, but I've been given a cheap one from someome getting a larger model and that thing isn't good quality and starts falling apart.
So now I want to get a decent unit now that I know I use it all the time.