Are split-level air fryers the next big thing? We tested one from Daewoo to find out

Dual zone air fryers with side-by-side cooking zones might be fantastically useful, but if you’re short on worktop space, they’re often just too big. So it’s no surprise that we’re seeing innovation from some manufacturers. Split level air fryers are the latest trend in the design of these small appliances. Could they become the next version of best air fryers?

It's an interesting question. We’ve seen Ninja’s soon-to-be-released stacked air fryer which we can’t wait to try out. And the Daewoo 11L Space Saving Split Drawer air fryer, has a similar concept. It offers two cooking zones, one above the other. But unlike Ninja's two basket design, this one from Daewoo features a lower zone with a flip down door and a slide-in tray.

Despite having tried and reviewed what feels like a never-ending list of air fryers over the last few years, this is the first stacked dual zone model I’ve managed to get my hands on. I’ll admit to being a bit dubious about the usefulness of the smaller lower zone. And having used it, I still have mixed feelings, scroll down and read more on whether this type of design is set to overtake the best dual zone air fryers.

Daewoo 11L Space Saving Split Drawer Air Fryer product specs

• Capacity: 11 litre 
• Modes: Air fry, grill, bake, roast, broil, reheat, bagel
• Weight: 9.15kg
• Size: (H)40.5 x (W) 32.6 x (D)43cm 
• RRP: £299.99 - but usually available at £149.99

Unboxing and first impressions

I’m always disappointed when I open a box to be faced with a huge chunk of polystyrene. There’s definitely a need to improve the packaging to make it more sustainable. 

Once out of the box though, my first impression was that despite having a footprint similar to that of a large single zone air fryer, it is very tall, which makes it look quite imposing on my worktop. At 40cm high it should slide beneath most peoples wall units, but if you have particularly low wall units or shelving, it’s worth having a measure up.

The touch control panel is completely flat, so it’s easy to wipe over. It’s intuitive to use and I didn’t need to refer to the manual to figure it out. The manual is thorough though, and includes some useful guideline time and temperatures for common foods.

The only issue I had was that one of the cooking modes is ‘broil’ which is the American term for a grill. But there’s also a grill mode, so I found this to be confusing. And since they both have the same default temperature setting, I’m really not sure what the difference is.

The 11 litre cooking capacity is divided into a 6 litre drawer with a removable crisper plate. Below this is a 5 litre compartment that has a drop-down door and an oven style tray that slides in. Both compartments offer the same cooking functions and can be used simultaneously or individually.

As is typical for a dual zone air fryer, there’s a sync finish button. Plus it automatically reminds you to ‘turn food’ half way through the cooking time regardless of the mode. Although you can ignore this and it’ll carry on cooking.

There’s also a light in both compartments, operated by a button on the control panel. But despite having decent size viewing windows in the front of both compartments, I found it hard to see inside, even with the light on. This is partly due to the light being too dim and partly because the viewing windows have a dark tint.

When the drawer is out, the word ‘open’ is shown on the display and doesn’t go away unless you turn it off at the plug. I found this annoying when it was out for several hours sitting on my draining board. Another quirk of the display panel is that there’s no off switch, so the upper menu and the lower menu buttons permanently flash unless you switch it off at the plug. 

What is it like to use?

Air fry

The very first thing I made was roast potatoes. I added parboiled potatoes covered in oil to the upper basket and set it to air fry for 25 minutes at 200C. There’s no automatic preheat, and I didn’t see anything in the manual advising a preheat, so I started it straight up.

After a few good shakes during cooking, they were golden and crisp when the timer ended. Maybe not quite as crunchy as I wanted them to be, but a decent result nonetheless.

Out of interest I air fried bacon in both the lower and the upper cooking zones, but on different days. Both times, I set it to air fry at 200C. The lower cooking zone took 10 minutes and while it was pretty well cooked, the fat didn’t render and crisp up as much as I like.

In the upper basket it was a different story, the bacon cooked exactly as I’d hoped, with golden crisp rendered fat. And it did so in a much speedier 6 minutes. I had a good look at the heating elements for both zones and the lower zone has a much smaller element. So it stands to reason that it’s not as powerful, and this is certainly something to keep in mind.

On the promotional images for the air fryer, there’s a picture of a pizza on the baking tray in the lower zone. However, it was very clear from the moment I saw it, that this tray is not big enough for a standard size pizza, it’s roughly 21 by 23cm.

I scoured the freezer section in a couple of supermarkets and eventually found a smaller-than-average frozen pizza, called a ‘pizzetta’. It’s about 8 inches which turned out to be the ideal size for the tray. I cooked it on the air fryer mode at 180C. After 14 minutes it was nicely baked with a crispy crust.

Since the pizza came in a pack of two, I thought this was another good opportunity to see the difference between the two cooking zones. So I popped the second one in the top basket at 180C. This time I almost over cooked it. After 10 minutes the cheese was a tad more golden than I’d been aiming for. But once again this perfectly illustrates that there’s a marked difference between the two zones.

Finally I made air fried fish and chips using the sync finish button to ensure both cooking zones were ready at the same time. I cut up homemade chips and soaked them in cold water for 30 minutes, then dried and lightly oiled them. I added the chips to the top basket and underneath, I placed two large frozen breaded fish fillets on the baking tray.

Both zones were set to air fry at 200C, but I put the chips on a 25 minute timer and the fish on a 20 minute timer, with a sync finish. The air fryer paused the fish while the chips got going and then it started cooking the fish at the appropriate time. It didn’t alert me to add the fish though, so it was lucky I’d already put it in at the same time as the chips.

I was pleased to note that every time I removed the upper basket to shake the chips, it paused both zones, so the timers didn’t become out of sync, which is something I’ve seen happen on a few dual zone air fryers recently.

I turned the fish over when prompted and despite the lower zone being less powerful, the fish cooked beautifully in the time. And the chips were nicely crisped and golden too. It was a great result and the lower zone surprised me with how well it worked in this scenario.

Bagel

I tried out the bagel mode in both cooking zones. The default settings are 180C for 6 minutes. In the lower cooking zone this was perfect to lightly toast a bagel, I didn’t even turn it, yet the backs were still lightly crisped.

In the upper basket, I took the bagel out after just 4 minutes. Both worked well, but it’s another clear indication that the top basket is more powerful.

Roast

To test out the roast cooking mode I roasted a medley of vegetables, including onion, peppers, and mushrooms. Once again, I left it on the default settings, which was 190C for 15 minutes. This was perfect and my vegetables were nicely roasted at the end. The edges of the peppers and some of the onion were lightly charred, exactly how I like them.

Bake

I used the bake function more than I expected to while I had this air fryer, but having said that, I only baked in the top basket as the lower zone was just too small to fit the things I wanted to bake. This mode defaults to 165C, which was the ideal temperature to bake a batch of homemade granola. It was golden and crunchy in just 15 minutes.

Choosing the bake mode to heat and brown the cheese topping on a pasta bake seemed like a no brainer. Again, I left it on the default temperature, and within 20 minutes the cheese was golden and the bake was hot on the inside.

Finally, I made a cranberry flapjack. My square traybake tin didn’t fit, so I used a round victoria sandwich cake tin which fit perfectly. The flapjack cooked in 20 minutes at 165C. It looks a little dark in the picture, but that’s because I’d run out of the sugar I needed so I used dark brown sugar instead. The final result was a chewy gooey oaty treat that reminded me I need to bake flapjacks more often.

Broil

As I  mentioned earlier in the review, broil is the American term for a grill, and what better food to grill than cheese on toast. In the top basket I lightly toasted both sides of the bread, then I added some pesto and a layer of cheese. 

At the default temperature of 235C, it only took seven minutes and that included the initial toasting before I added the cheese. So I was mightily impressed at this speedy result.

What is it like to clean?

Unfortunately none of the removable parts can go in the dishwasher. Even the small tray, which would slot beautifully into the dishwasher rack, has to be washed up by hand. This is - in my lazy dishwasher reliant opinion - a big oversight.

So I stuck to the rules and washed everything in the sink. And it's fine, the non-stick coatings do their job. Even the congealed bacon fat came away easily after a short soak in hot soapy water. 

After a week or so there were noticeable greasy finger marks building up on the control panel, so this needs a regular buff with a microfibre cloth to keep it clean and shiny. But overall, keeping it clean wasn’t too taxing.

How does it compare to similar air fryers?

If you want two equal cooking zones, the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket air fryer is available at roughly the same price as the Daewoo. On paper the cooking capacity is much less at 7.6 litres. But the dual basket design means it really doesn’t feel much smaller. It’s not too bulky and the performance is equally great across the two cooking zones.

Another model worth thinking about is the Ninja Air Fryer MAX PRO. It’s a 6.2 litre single zone air fryer. So it’s essentially the same as having the upper basket of the Daewoo and foregoing the lower baking tray zone. It’s a top performer and so compact that it’s a no brainer in a small kitchen.

Should you buy the Daewoo 11L Space Saving Split Drawer air fryer?

I was a bit sceptical about the Daewoo Space Saving Split Drawer Air Fryer, the lower oven style cooking zone had the potential to be gimmicky. And while the lower zone did prove to be slower to cook and less powerful than the upper basket, it still works pretty well. But if you’re looking for two equal cooking zones, it won’t be the one for you.

The combination of a basket and an oven tray, does have an appeal,  having the option to cook some foods on a baking tray is handy. Although it’s worth noting that the capacity of the lower cooking zone is reduced by this design. It doesn’t feel like an 11 litre air fryer, but a 6 litre air fryer with a bonus baking tray cooking zone below.

That said, the stacked design is certainly a plus point if you don’t have the space for a side-by-side dual zone air fryer, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s compact. You’ll still need plenty of space and it’s quite imposing on the worktop.