Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I agonized over which air fryer I should buy, reading review after review after review, and trying to find an affordable one that would work well. My first air fryer, the GoWise, turned out to be defective and I had to return it, but I could tell from my attempts to use it that it wasn't going to be that versatile. For this reason, I decided against the highly rated Philips air fryer because reviews and ratings indicated that, while solidly built and durable, it is also limited in size and use. If I was going to have to shell out that much money for an appliance, I knew I would not be happy if I didn't keep it out for daily use. My apartment stove and oven are horrible, however, so I had to do something. I'd seen one of those Top 10-type rankings of air fryers, which put Philips at the top, but they also mentioned the De'Longhi MultiFry as a good choice because of its flexibility. I knew from other De'Longhi products I've owned that the brand is solid and backed by a good warranty. But when it came, and I loved it, I still butted up against what a lot of reviewers here and elsewhere have underscored: Having the nebulous settings 1-2-3-4 with no sense of corresponding temperature limits your ability to adapt your own recipes to the MultiFry and requires you to use a limited number of recipes provided by De'Longhi. I don't do recipes very well; I'm a throw-it-all-together kind of gal. I need to be able to guesstimate the best numbers for no-recipe concoctions. So I have persisted in trying to ferret out temperature settings for the MultiFry. After an extremely frustrating time trying to find the information on the De'Longhi website, reading even more reviews, and waiting many days for a response to my emails (only to be told I'd emailed the wrong place), I broke down and called them to explain why not knowing the actual temperature ranges of the dial numbers is problematic. The person I spoke to (at the U.S. site) did have to put me on hold for a while, but she managed to come back to me with some real honest-to-goodness numbers. She stressed that these temperatures are not precisely exact but do reflect an estimated temperature for each setting. (I didn't ask her if temps were in F or C, but it has to be F.) Here they are: 1 = 300 degrees 2 = 340 degrees 3 = 360 degrees 4 = 370 degrees As always, the way the food cooks in the MultiFry will depend on whether or not the bottom burner is turned on, and this is something you just have to play with. I've found that a 9.25" cooling rack fits in the cooker great, and if the legs are short, you can sit a pie plate on top and cook casseroles in it. I love the way plain old unbreaded okra cooks up crisp with just a little oil and salt and also that I can make a fine grilled sandwich or two in it. The only thing I don't love about the MultiFry is that the little stob thing onto which the paddle arm fits prevents you from sitting anything flat on it. I'm hoping to find some kind of good ring or bundt-type pan that will fit in the MultiFry that will give me even more versatility with this cooker. So far, I have used it every day and will use it even more now that I have a better idea of the temperature settings. After losing 85 lbs., I have to admit it certainly is nice to be able to eat "fried" food again, knowing I'm not having to pay the high-caloric price.