Avalon Bay Air Fryer Review: AB-Airfryer100

Rating: 4.3 Reviewed by Susan

The Avalon Bay AB-AirFryer100 is a lesser known brand that is not highly advertised, but over the past year it has built up a good reputation from lots of positive customer feedback. This 3.3 quart capacity air fryer lets you cook “fried” foods with little to no oil, and with the accessory pack (sold separately now included) it can also be used for roasting, baking, and grilling. Grilled foods probably won’t be what you’re accustomed to, but some people find it acceptable, and it’s definitely healthier.

Bargain shoppers will be glad to know this is one of the lower priced models on the market. That’s without the accessory pack, but if your only interest is air frying you won’t need that. Users agree that frozen foods work best in the Avalon fryer, but some also report good results with fresh foods. That and other details about this model are covered below.

Features

• 3.3 qt. capacity
• Layer Rack and Baking Dish now included
• 1,400 Watts
• 30 minute timer
• Automatic shut-off with alert sound
• Adjustable temperature control
• Some dishwasher safe parts
• Non-slip feet
• Top handle for carrying
• 1 Year limited warranty

The Avalon Bay AB-Airfryer100 is available in black, white, or red, and there is no price difference in colors. The black model is pictured in this review, and its exact model number is AB-AirFryer100B. The other two are the same, with the only difference being the letter at the end (“W” for white and “R” for red).

In addition to air frying, this model is capable of roasting and baking. Grilling is also possible in the sense that the included wire mesh basket will allow fats to drain from food during cooking. Realistically though, don’t expect quite the same taste you’d get from using a contact grill, especially if you like meats seared on the outside. The bottom of the basket is perforated, so you don’t have a surface designed for searing.

For convenience this airfryer has icons on the top of the unit that serve as a quick reference guide. You can see cooking times and temps for common foods without having to pull out the manual every time. The range of the temperature control is 200–400 degrees Fahrenheit.

The count-down timer will sound an alert when cooking is finished, and the machine automatically shuts itself off. In many cases you’ll need to pull the basket out for a gentle shake or to turn foods. When you do that, the timer is not going to stop. This isn’t a big deal, just something to be aware of. To be very precise you may want to set the timer for only the first cooking period, remove the basket and turn foods, and then set the timer again for the remaining minutes.

Size & Capacity

Exterior Dimensions: 13.5″ deep x 11″ wide x 12.75″ high

Interior Capacity: 3.3 quarts

Weight: 11 pounds

Click here to see it on Amazon.

What’s Included

The unit comes with a metal, non-stick coated cooking basket. This is a mesh basket with perforated bottom and sides to allow excess fats to drain off of foods during cooking.

This model now also includes both the dual rack and the deep baking dish. (These used to be sold separately.) The dual rack gives you more total cooking capacity for foods such as french fries that cannot be stacked in multiple layers. The deep baking pan is used when doing stir-fry dishes, one-pot meals, dishes with liquids, or baked items such as cakes.

There is also a small recipe booklet included, but chances are you’re going to want more. To many people, air frying is a completely new cooking method, and it can be very helpful to have some good instructions, tips and ideas. For recipes see our Air Fryer Cookbook & Recipe Guide, which includes both cookbooks for sale as well as some online sources that are free.

Optional Accessories

The only other accessory available is the shallow fry pan, which is 6.5 inches in diameter and gives you a solid bottom surface for cooking something like pancakes. Like the deep baking pan, it has a non-stick surface for easier cleaning, and the manufacturer recommends using silicon utensils to avoid damage.

To the best of my knowledge, this fry pan is not sold as an individual item. It is only available in the Avalon Bay AB-AFPACK Air Fryer 3 Piece Baking Set.

Customer Reviews

You’ll find a few complaints about food cooked in the Avalon Bay airfryer tasting too dry. This could possibly be due to overcooking, and you may have to experiment a little to get the best results. Quite often the solution is simple because all it takes is a spritz of oil before cooking.

When it comes to frozen vs. fresh, reviews are mixed. Even some of those who gave this model a 5 star rating say that they are very happy with their purchase but a little disappointed that it only works well on precooked food. For something like fresh okra that you’ve breaded yourself, you may end up with lots of flour left on the finished product.

Others have experienced success when starting with fresh potatoes and other foods. It just may take a little more work. Almost all prepackaged, frozen breaded foods contain some kind of fat in the coating. When starting from scratch, it may help to first be sure your coating isn’t too heavy, and shake off all excess flour. You can use an oil mister to spray very lightly, and then freeze your prepared food before cooking.

There are lots of good reports on cooking common foods such as frozen french fries, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, chicken wings, and egg rolls. Others have been quite happy with the results they get on a variety of foods, including hot dogs, roasted vegetables, shrimp, salmon and other fish, and even grilled cheese sandwiches. The only thing that isn’t recommended is any food with extremely high fat content such as bacon.

The non-stick surface makes cleanup fairly easy. Another bonus is that using an airfryer eliminates all the messy grease spatter you get from deep fat frying, which saves you a whole lot of extra scrubbing time in the kitchen.

Update October, 2016: This model has now garnered close to 600 online reviews. The majority of feedback continues to be on the positive side, but the overall average rating has fallen again, from its original high of 4.6 down to 4.3.

Note: A small number of reviews are on a website where every single reviewer gave it 5 stars, but every one of them also received the unit free in exchange for writing the review. For that reason, those reviews are not included in the overall average shown below. Not that I would discount such feedback altogether, but to be fair, it’s possible that some of them may not be completely objective.

Average Customer Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4.3

Pros

• Less expensive than more well-known brands
• Works well on most frozen, pre-packaged foods
• Easy clean-up
• Reports on dealing with customer service are all good

Cons

• Large appliance, takes up a lot of room on counter
• Extra grill rack increases cooking space but must be purchased separately Extra grill rack is now included
• Mixed reviews on successful results with fresh foods

Avalon Bay Air Fryer Review: Summary

While some complain that it’s all but impossible to cook your own start-from-scratch fresh breaded foods, others report that it works just fine. Your satisfaction may well depend on your willingness to experiment a little, and even your own taste buds.

Overall, the Avalon Bay Air Fryer is earning a lot more positive reactions than negative. It has user friendly controls, it’s easy to clean, and it has a nice size interior cooking capacity. It gets good ratings on most commonly cooked foods, and it costs less that leading brands. This model could be a good choice for those who want to give air frying a try but don’t want to spend a lot for a new appliance.