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Lakeland Digital Compact Air Fryer Review
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A sleek compact air fryer with a digital readout and simple controls. But does it do the job of standard air fryers? Our tester Jennifer Howze gives her review
I knew I really loved the Lakeland Digital Compact Air Fryer when it made cheese on toast in barely 3 minutes. I’d already used it to cook chicken a couple of different ways: chicken on the bone marinated in spices and yoghurt, for a spinach chicken curry, and crispy breaded goujons.
But when I came home famished and started microwaving some homemade tomato soup, batch-cooked and frozen, I really wanted cheese on toast to go with it. Normally this would require turning on the oven grill, waiting for it to heat up, putting in the bread then checking and checking, crossing fingers that I wasn’t going to get tired of waiting, wander off, let it burn and have to start again. (It’s kind of my cheese-on-toast routine….)
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Instead, I crisped up a piece of sourdough in the toaster straight from the freezer (sliced from the fresh loaf I bought last week), sprinkled it with a little cheese and popped it into the slide-out basket. By the time I’d pulled my hot soup from the microwave, stirred it, added pepper and salt and turned back, it was done.
I flicked the air fryer power off at the plug and my energy use for preparing the evening meal was done!
Cheese on toast might seem like a small job, but it’s exactly this convenience, speed and ease that make the Lakeland Digital Compact Air Fryer a worthy appliance for your precious counter space. (According to Which, Lakeland air fryers have a good overall customer score of 77% out of 100.)
It doesn’t take up much room and I’ve found myself trying out foods for meals that I usually wouldn’t think of because it’s just so easy and convenient to use. It’s sitting right there on the counter beckoning! I’ve thrown in carrots batons that I tossed in a little olive oil and herbs, bacon (no having to scrub the splatters from the hob afterward), broccoli mixed with a little bit of garlic. They all turn out delicious.
It helps that clean-up is very fast. You remove the basket, pull out the non-stick tray, give both a quick wipe with a soapy sponge and you’re done. Such a far cry from cleaning an oven tray and big grill or washing the heavy frying pan by hand. And unlike other appliances like the blender, the juicer or the deep fryer, I don’t avoid using it just to avoid the clean-up.
Can you cook chips in the Lakeland Digital Compact Air Fryer?
Well, of course! We are a frozen chips family and insist on skinny fries, and they came out delicious and not oily. I would recommend pulling out the basket during cooking and giving it a shake or stirring up the fries with silicon-tipped tongs to get the most even results.
Who is this air fryer good for?
This compact air fryer is sleek, takes up minimal counter space and is great when cooking for 1 or 2. It’s ideal for my household — I’m a single mum with one daughter. It would also be great for my stepson, who lives with his girlfriend, as well as for teens cooking for themselves or university students who want to make real food fast.
For our family, the compact size is especially good because we can do the combo of heating up dishes from the refrigerator or freezer like lasagna, slow-roasted pork shoulder and stews and creating whatever freshly cooked side dishes or vegetables that strike our fancy. It keeps leftovers from being humdum.
If you need a bigger air fryer, take a look at the Lakeland Digital Crisp Air Fryer, whose basket can hold up to 500g of chips. Or check out the company’s wider range of Air Fryer cookers.
How to use the Lakeland Digital Compact Air Fryer
This really is the equivalent of a point and shoot camera. You plug it in, press the On button and then select up and down buttons for temperature and time. You toggle between those 2 settings with a “time/temperature” button. There are several “mode” buttons where you can choose between Manual, Poultry, Steak/Meat, Baked goods, Fresh fries and vegetables and Frozen fries and vegetables, but I mainly use the Manual.
You can pause cooking by pressing the pause button and whenever you slide out the basket, cooking automatically pauses.
I did get a bit confused initially when I first used the machine because you need to adjust temperature straight away after turning it on. I let it run for a minute then tried to change the temperature. Once I got the hang of that, it was a snap.
About the Lakeland Digital Compact Air Fryer
- It has a digital screen
- Material: Plastic
- Colour: Black
- Capacity: Can do 450g of chips
- Touchscreen digital display
- Modes: Manual, poultry, steak/ meat, bakes, fresh fries and vegetables, frozen fries and vegetables
- Weight: 2.7kg
- Power: 1200 watts
- Size: 25 x 18 x 30 cm
- Cable length: 78cm
Pros
- Big easy to read display for temperature and time remaining
Cons
- Not suitable for cooking large amounts of food
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