Midea's Two Zone Air Fryer Is Your Ticket To A Quick And Easy Meal

Air fryers offer the best of all worlds for home cooks. They're different from a microwave or an oven because they use the movement of hot air to cook; one of the original intentions behind them was to create a cooking apparatus that could make food with less oil but yield the same amount of crispiness as deep-frying. They've become more advanced over time and can be used to make a wide variety of foods in an extremely convenient manner. As with an oven, you don't need to constantly monitor the food as it cooks, but unlike an oven, you don't need to worry about preheating, saving you loads of time.

It's no longer a question of if you should buy an air fryer, but which one deserves to be in your kitchen? If you're new to air frying or are looking for an upgrade, consider the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer. It's the most versatile and useful kitchen appliance I've ever had, and I'm excited to share the details of my experience with it.

One of the features that intrigued me the most about the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer is the eponymous two-zone cooking. The appliance features an upper section, which works like a typical air fryer basket. It is pulled out by a handle, and you can remove the entire basket from the machine. The lower section looks more like a toaster oven, and it has a grill tray that can easily be taken all of the way out, or you can partially pull it out, like an oven tray.

If you are making a meal with dishes that require different cooking methods, temperatures, or times, the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer helps to make the process of cooking that meal extremely simple. You can choose separate settings for the upper and lower sections and have them cook at the same time. There is even a feature called Sync Finish, which allows you to set the two dishes to finish at the same time, instead of having staggered end times. This way, your main entree and your side will be finished together — giving you a ready-to-eat meal that will be perfectly warm.

Air frying is far from the only use for the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer; there are eight total cooking settings in this small appliance. You can choose between Air Fry, Dehydrate, Grill, Roast, Toast, Bake, Broil, and Reheat. The best part is, all eight settings can be used in both the upper and lower compartments. Given that the air fryer can perform all of these actions, it almost eliminates the need for a microwave, toaster, stove, and oven.

You can also make the same type of food with different settings each time you cook it for a new outcome. For example, with chicken, you could air fry it for a crispy exterior, bake it for an evenly juicy texture, or grill it for a charred flavor. The air fryer also gives you the ability to toast bread, bagels, or even French toast. You can also use the oven to bake your own personal pizza, a small cake, or cookies. With all of the possibilities of the varieties of food you can make, it really feels like you are using an adult Easy-Bake Oven.

The Midea Two Zone Air Fryer only occupies 12.5 inches of counter space. I have an extremely small apartment in New York City, with almost ridiculously limited counter space for cooking and preparing food, and the air fryer takes up less room than my microwave and toaster while fulfilling the functions of both. What's even better is that I can cook two different parts of my meal in the same space.

Since the air fryer doesn't eat up all of my counter space, I still have room to actually prepare my meal as well. Especially if I want to get one part of my meal started in the air fryer while I prepare the second half, it's great to not have to maneuver the appliance around to make the space work in my small kitchen. Although the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer is taller than a lot of air fryers on the market (since it has the two-zone cooking), it isn't very heavy. It's incredibly easy for me to pick the air fryer up after it's cooled down from cooking and place it on a shelf for storage when I'm not using it.

I've never considered myself a top chef, and I'm always looking for the easiest way to make a meal. I was particularly excited about cooking meat in the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer, as it seems like my chicken or steak never comes out how I'd like it on the stove. I also get a bit anxious as I cook on the stove, especially when the meat begins to sizzle and pop oil all over my kitchen. With the air fryer, it's incredibly hands-off. You just place the meat inside, get it started, and relax.

The first meat that I tried out with the air fryer was chicken. I placed it in the lower compartment, clicked the Air Fry setting, and cooked it for 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The appliance beeped halfway through, prompting me to flip the food. My chicken came out cooked entirely through, crispy on the outside (I put on a tiny bit of olive oil, plus spices) and nice and juicy on the inside. Next up was steak, which was a little more difficult to figure out, since the thickness of steak tends to vary. I had an extremely thick piece of sirloin, so I cooked it on the Bake setting for about 22 minutes at 400 degrees. I was surprised to see how much juice poured out of my steak once I cut into it, and it was cooked thoroughly to a nice medium.

One of my all-time favorite sides to make with my dinners is crispy Brussels sprouts. Most times, however, I'm too lazy to preheat my oven to cook these tasty vegetables. With the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer, preheating isn't necessary, so I just jumped right in. I went ahead and covered my Brussels sprouts in a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and threw them into the upper basket. Then, I cooked them on the Air Fry setting for eight minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, halfway through, the appliance prompted me to flip the food, so I took the basket out and shook the Brussels sprouts. Once done, these Brussels sprouts came out incredibly crispy and flavorful.

I love asparagus and decided to use the Roast setting to cook some up. I also put them in the upper basket; that way I could easily shake them halfway through instead of flipping them manually. I roasted them for about seven minutes at 355 degrees, and they were incredibly crispy. They almost tasted like asparagus chips, which I was a huge fan of — I love when my food is crispy. If you don't want your veggies to have a strong crunch, definitely put them in the air fryer for a bit of a shorter time than the manual recommends.

One of the things that I was most excited about with this air fryer was the option to bake with it. As a person living alone, it feels a bit silly to preheat an oven, put in two or three cookies, and bake them. With the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer, you can put a few cookies into the lower compartment and bake them quickly. You don't have to wait to let it preheat; you can simply grab the dough out of the refrigerator and place the dough balls on the baking rack.

Like an oven, the appliance gives you the ability to see the food while it cooks, with a light feature and little windows on the front. I was able to check on my cookies as they baked, waiting for the perfect golden brown edges and gooey center. Within 12 minutes, my chocolate chip cookies were perfectly finished. I love how low-stress it is to make freshly baked cookies, I don't feel pressured to make more than I want to eat, and they taste amazing.

I would definitely recommend buying the Midea Two Zone Air Fryer. With its ability to cook food eight different ways, the possibilities are endless. You can cook an entree and a side all within the same appliance, which saves effort, time, and space. Instead of balancing two different foods on the stove or in the oven, you get to throw them in the air fryer and relax.

The air fryer gives you the ability to make better-quality food of all kinds by trying out its different settings. If you prefer crispier food, the Air Fry setting is for you. If you want something that's more juicy, try out the Bake setting. The appliance is so versatile that you'll be able to make your food exactly how you please. From deliciously made vegetables and meat to desserts and more, the Midea Air Two Zone Air Fryer is a great appliance to have in your kitchen.