REASONS TO BUY
Good cooking performance
Easy to clean
REASONS TO AVOID
No digital readout
Lower temperature setting somewhat inaccurate
Black+Decker Purifry Review
An incredibly capable cooker that offers up commendable performance and an okay price tag
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
RELATED: Best Air Fryers of 2024
Our Verdict
The Black+Decker Purifry is one of the best air fryers we tested, offering field-leading cooking performance, hassle-free cleaning, and good temperature accuracy. The biggest knock against this device is that the Ninja Air Fryer, which offers equal cooking performance and a slightly more streamlined user experience, retails for less money. The Ninja also has a four-quart cooking capacity, which is nearly double that of the Purifry. While the Purifry is a great product, you'll likely be better off spending your money on the Ninja.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The BLACK+DECKER Purifry is a high-performing air fryer that is just slightly bested by some of its main competitors.
Performance Comparison
The Purifry is a high-performing air fryer that is just slightly bested by some of its main competitors.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Cooking Performance
The Purifry produced the best results for some foods in our testing but had some drawbacks with others. This combination of performance allowed it to share the top score in this metric with a few other models. It earned superlatives in our cooking tests for onion rings, tater tots, and chicken breasts. Its onion rings were perfectly golden and crispy, yet nice and tender inside. It repeated that feat with tater tots that provided a nice crunch, quickly giving way to a delightful fluffiness. Its chicken breast came out tasting like store-bought roasted chicken.
The Purifry's air basket fits snugly enough that you generally need to use two hands to slide it in and out.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
It had some weak points when it came to doughnuts and (like all the air fryers we've tested) sweet potato fries. Doughnuts came out with a nice crust, but the insides were a bit overcooked and tasted a bit more chewy than fluffy. Sweet potato fries came out browned but not crispy. However, the only model we've found that could produce even a slightly better texture than that is the GoWISE, and even that model fell short of the crunchy decadence one would hope for.
User Friendliness
We generally like the Purifry's user interface and experience. However, it missed out on a top score, as it was lacking a digital readout. Ithas two knobs — one for selecting cooking time and one for temperature, and some indicator lights to let you know when preheating is done. This interface is simple and easy enough, but we prefer a digital readout that shows the exact temperature and time, versus knobs that aren't always precise. The numbers on these dials are also small and relatively hard to read, so it's fairly easy to set the wrong temp or time by mistake.
We found the Purifry's lack of any sort of digital readout slightly disappointing.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Another minor complaint we have with the Purifry is the fact that its frying basket fits very tightly. That makes it a bit difficult to remove it with one hand, as you generally need to stabilize the unit with a second hand as you pull out your food.
Ease of Cleaning
We had almost no issues in cleaning the Purifry. The fry basket tends not to hang onto grease, and there aren't any nooks or crannies where food scraps can hide. Our only complaint is that the texture of the fry basket is a little rough, so it might tear tiny bits off of your sponge.
The Purifry's basket design makes for easy scrubbing.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Temperature Accuracy
At higher temperatures, we found the Purifry's temperature accuracy to be spot on. At the lowest temperatures you'd use for air frying (300˚), it tended to run a bit hot.
Value
The Purifry retails for a fairly reasonable price, especially considering its outstanding performance. While it isn't a bad value, other models in our review score higher and cost less.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Conclusion
The Black+Decker Purifry offers good all-around performance but isn't the best model in its price range.
—
Max Mutter and Michelle Powell
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