I’ve been on a ketogenic diet for just over a year and one of the keto bloggers that I like had recommended one of the other GoWise models—the one that's more like an oven, with the rotisserie feature, etc. I had that in my Amazon cart for the better part of the past year. Almost bought it so many times but stopped myself each time. I love the idea of an air fryer but it’s a new way of cooking and I’m such a creature of habit. It felt overwhelming/intimidating to me to be learning to cook my dishes a new way—on top of just learning to cook keto.

　　Around the holidays, my son happened to mention something about air fryers and I told him how I had this one in my cart forever and he was all excited about the dehydration feature (as was I) so I thought, okay, I’ll get it. So I ordered the oven-style one and of course, as soon as I did, I started second-guessing myself. Did more reading and thought maybe I don’t need all the bells and whistles. Since it's my first one, I thought maybe I should just go with the more traditional basket style. I really wanted to make things like Brussels. So, I ended up ordering this one, as well. It still had the dehydrator feature that my son wanted, so I figured I’d look at both once they arrived and make a decision.

　　When this one arrived, I definitely liked the way it fit my counter and the size of it more than the oven style one when comparing them side by side. The basket is HUGE! Unfortunately this one was DOA. I plugged it in and it didn’t turn on or light up. I immediately called GoWise and they were very apologetic and said to send it back. At the same time, I liked the red of the other model, so after a lot more back and forth (I still wasn’t totally convinced I needed an air fryer at all or if I needed one that was so big!), I finally decided I’d re-order this basket style one but I would get it in red. Of course, by then, Amazon didn’t have the red. So, apologies, Amazon (who I order EVERYTHING from), but I ended up ordering this model in red from another retailer. (But I did buy the accessory kit, silicone 'parchments' and Emmerich's Keto Air Fryer Cookbook from Amazon!)

　　After using it for just a few weeks, I can’t believe how much I vacillated. I had told myself not to feel pressure—that if I just used it 1-2X per week to make Brussels or wings, that would be okay. Well, it turns out I use it daily. Several times a day, in fact. It makes the best Brussels I’ve ever had. Crispy on the outside, mushy on the inside. It makes killer baby bok choy in 5-6 minutes. It makes amazing chicken—not just wings (which are totally crunchy/crispy) but also chicken breasts. Yes, you can do the air-fried chicken breasts with pork dust or parmesan crust so it’s like KFC, OR you can just do a marinated chicken that still gets nice charred edges but is juicy inside. So simple and low maintenance. Poppers, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed zucchini, meatballs, string beans… it does a great job on all of them. I’ve only had this for maybe a month now and I'm loving it. I hope this review gets posted even tho the unit I ended up keeping was NOT from Amazon. Again, I have this same model but in the red.

　　If you're like me and not totally sure if you need this or if you’ll use it enough to warrant buying one or giving up the real estate on your counter or if you should go with a smaller one, I would say JUST DO IT! I am SO thrilled that I ended up getting it—and going with the 7 quart. I actually cannot imagine having one of the smaller ones (like with the 5.8 qt basket). This one is roomy enough to make 3-4 chicken breasts at a time or 12-15 wings, and not have to cook in batches. So far I’m just cooking for 2 people most of the time, but it’s perfect. With air fryers, it's definitely better to go too big than too small. But this one's been just right.

　　As others have said, clean-up is a breeze. I bought the silicone liners instead of parchment, but I only use them about maybe 20% of the time, if that. They're good, but both the basket and tray clean up so easily without it.

　　A few go-to's so far:

　　frozen Brussels: 380 for 18 minutes, shake basket every 5 minutes (or less)

　　baby bok choy: 350 for 5-6 minutes (shake basket midway)

　　marinated chicken breasts: 360-400 for 15-20 min

　　Keto fried chicken breasts: 400 for 22 minutes for regular thickness (or 14-16 min if they are sliced thin)

　　the best crispy wings ever: 375F for 25 minutes, shake basket midway

　　Enjoy!!