Sarki Air Fryer XL (12 t) Product Review

I was recently contacted by a company called Sarki, who makes various types of small appliances. They asked me if I'd be willing to do a product review for a thermal laminator for them. They offered to send me this laminator at no cost in order for me to look it over, review it, and post my reviews on various social media platforms that I use. I agreed, and while I was waiting to receive the unit, I started researching them, and found that they also made an air fryer.  I'm a 'regular guy with a wide range of interests', and one of those interests is cooking.  I've always wanted an air fryer, so I asked if I could review it as well, also for no cost, and they said YES! I was so excited, as I've read great things about air fryers in general, and have wanted to get my hands on one.

The unit they sent me turns out is one of the largest, if not the largest size of air fryer made. It's a 12 quart capacity model, but what I like about it the best is that it has a door on the front, and not a basket like many other models. I think this gives a much greater degree of flexibility on its use.

I filmed the unboxing of the unit, which includes a 6.3 quart air fry pan (pot) with an integrated stirring gear in the bottom, a three-bladed strirrer, a pizza tray (which I used as a drippings catcher (more on that below), a roasting rack, a chicken roasting rack, and even an oven mitt. I was rather impressed with the heft of the pizza pan and the air fry pan. They are both quite heavy. For my testing, as outlined below, I used the roasting rack, and the pizza pan.

I was immediately struck by the controls, which are a very nice touch panel:

The items on the touch panel are pre-programmed settings for various foods, such as french fries, fish, pizza, etc. These can be altered after they are selected.  For my first test, I chose the french fries option, which automatically set 400 degrees for 20 minutes, because I was cooking some chicken nuggets. I figured that 20 minutes was too long, as my usual cook time for chicken nuggets was about 12 minutes. I changed it to 10.  I fired it up, and it got hot pretty fast.

It got so hot so fast that I only let the nuggets go for 6 minutes, because I was worried that they would be too crunchy for my son to eat. I asked him when he was eating, and he said that they probably could have gone 1 more minute and would have been perfect. 7 minutes for perfect chicken nuggets is fast. Not microwave fast, but certainly fast enough for everyday use. It's faster than our convection toaster oven, which we do most of our small-scale cooking in, by the way.

My next test was some beef sausages by Kiobasa. They were frozen, so I used the defrost setting, which ran for, I believe, 6 minutes.  After that was done, I set it on 350 for 7 minutes, and they came out perfect. They were hot in the middle, had a good crisp snap on the outside, and were really juicy.

I threw a quick spinach salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette on a plate with one and had an excellent, keto-friendly lunch.

Juicy and delicious!

After filming and playing with the unit, I'm rather impressed. The retail price of the unit is ~$230 and, while steep, makes it a bit of a fringe item I would think.  It's not going to take over the spot in the kitchen that the microwave holds.  It's just too pricey, and that's unfortunate, because I see this as having a much wider range of cooking options than the good old Radar-range.  For example, I couldn't imaging cooking a whole chicken in the microwave, unless I wanted a slimy mess afterward.  The same goes for thinks that are pre-cooked and frozen, such as chicken nuggets, fish sticks, etc., unless they come in special microwave-crisping packaging. The bottom line on this is that it's essentially a convection oven on steroids. It has dual-zone heating, which is activated by your selection on the panel.  If you choose something that should be heated from above, the top element lights. From below, the bottom one.  I didn't test it, but I assume that there's a setting that will light both elements. Overall, I'm think this is something that I would have saved my money for if I'd seen one in action at a friends house, or on TV.  It might very well replace our toaster oven, as it heats faster, cooks faster, and is just cooler in general.


The basic information Amazon provides on the product is below:

• 12QT XL CAPACITY --- 12 Quart airfryer with 6 Quart frying pan. Equips with 5 removable and QuickClean accessories, the family sized fryer can fry up all favorite snacks and foods for your friends and family with ease and less time consumed, is the best choice for your family.
• RAPID AIR CIRCULATING TECH --- New version air fryer with rapid hot air circulating system, enable your food cooking in all directions and evenly heated with little oil to no oil added. LESS FAT, MORE HEALTHIER.
• AUTO-STIR FUNCTION --- Auto stirring blade combines with unique bottom design moves the air throughout the air oven for an even, perfect cook. ONE-CLICK STIRING, WITH NO TURNING NEEDED.
• EASY VIEWING WINDOW --- ETVR air fryers feature a large see through cooking window with a working light. Let you monitor cooking progress without opening the door. Now, begins your healthy frying lifestyle with ETVR Air Fryer.
• Lifetime Warranty --- Warranty for 100% satisfaction: return or refund for any reason within 3 months , exchange or replace for any quality issue within 1 year , and lifetime for repairing and technical support. Please feel free to reach us if you have any problems.

The Sarki Air Fryer XL is available here:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQRG4Q2