Bosch Series 6 Air Fryer review: brand new and brilliant

Specifications

Unboxing

I’d heard and seen a lot about the Bosch Series 6 Air Fryer, so I came to it with a lot of expectations and preconceptions. Glancing at an image online, it looks just like every other air fryer, but it it’s full good (good) surprises.

The first surprise is how light this is. Given its capacity and appearance, it looks like an air fryer that would be cumbersome to move and dense, but it is really easy to shuffle around. It doesn’t feel cheap: pulling and pushing drawers won’t knock this off its feet, for example, but if you decide to pick it up and move yours from one end of the counter to the other, you won’t be putting a back out.

A large bulk of the packaging is recyclable, which gets a big tick from me. There is one exception, which is the thin plastic bags that sit around the air fryer. There are increasing numbers of places that offer recycling of thin flexible plastics (namely supermarkets), but it’s not as easy as popping your cardboard in the recycling.

Bosch includes a handy QR code that offers recipe inspiration and set up instructions too, but you really won’t need them. The only bit of set-up you’ll need to do is clipping the handle into place and that’s explained in a sticker that holds the front drawer in place.

Who would it suit?

Don’t be fooled by the compact appearance of the Bosch Series 6 Air Fryer. It boasts a 7.2-litre capacity which is enough for a small family to dine out on (with leftovers). One basket, with the rack used to make a second layer, can comfortably feed two to three people, which is really impressive. When you account for the size of this air fryer, it’s almost unbelievable.

Price wise, this is also at the affordable end, without looking cheap. It’s about the perfect amount of money to spend on an air fryer. If you look after it well, it’ll last for a long time. You get all the Bosch quality guarantees too.

There are also some nice features that I think make this the perfect air fryer for novices. The pre-sets are brilliant if you haven’t yet got a barometer for air fryer cooking, as is the viewing window. Few air fryers have a way to keep an eye on your food that is as low maintenance and fog-free as this. If you can’t already tell, I’m pretty smitten.

What is it like to use?

The menu of pre-sets makes it very easy to cook. If you’re new to air frying (or lazy like me) you can click on an icon and the air fryer will set a temperature and timer for you. The icons running across the screen include chips, meat, fish, baking, reheating, and grilling.

There’s no need to pre-set, because this is hot from the get-go. It’s a great, money and time saving feature that you won’t appreciate until you don’t have it. And you can tweak the time and temperature using side buttons too. Overall, getting this ready for whatever you’re cooking is a really straightforward process.

Test 1: chips

Chips and air fryers are a match made for testing. I made French fries, wedges, and sweet potato chips in here and all were equally as good as each other. The pre-set on the air fryer recommends 23 minutes at 180 degrees. If you follow this, you can have fluffy chips from frozen at just a touch of a button. It’s a little longer on the time front than some other models, Ninja’s air fryers normally only need eighteen minutes for example, but I watched the chips through the door and have to agree that 23 minutes is the sweet spot with Bosch.

Half way through cooking, the air fryer will give you a friendly flip reminder. I used this as an opportunity to shake the chips around so that they would cook evenly. Again, this is pretty standard for an air fryer and it’s useful to have Bosch’s reminder bleep at you.

The only mistake I made was with my wedges, which come seasoned. This means that they naturally look like they’ve been toasted before they’ve even seen some heat. It was the first test that I did, so I pulled half out at 17 minutes and declared them cooked. Whilst they were edible, they were definitely undercooked, so it’s good to stick to Bosch’s suggestions. They definitely know best with the Series 6 Air Fryer.

From just one layer on the air fryer tray, I managed to cook a full plate of chips. I’d say that’s a serving that could feed three people pretty comfortably, which is really good for an air fryer like this. If you make use of the grilling tray, you can layer more chips on top or add another element of your meal in at the same time. I did this with fish fingers, but we’ll talk about those later on.

Test 2: mixed vegetables

Of of the most exciting features of the Bosch air fryer is a dedicated grill function. Other competitors might have grill pre-sets, but this comes with a special rack for your kebabs as well as skewers, so they really do encourage you to get grilling.

Over my tests, I grilled halloumi (excellent in seven minutes), sausages (fabulous in 12 minutes) and vegetable kebabs. I always do a grilled vegetable test, so this is perhaps the best test to dissect.

The grill setting wanted 20 minutes for my vegetable kebabs, which I lowered into the basket on the grill accessory. It was easy to get in place whilst everything was cool, so I was pretty pleased with myself.

The air fryer bleeped for a flip half way through (I half heartedly tried to spin the kebabs, but it was tricky when they’re hot), and then when the time was up, I opened the drawer. You can see that my vegetables grilled really well. They have lovely charring on the outside, which is enough to give a barbecue feel without so much that it’s a bit overcooked. The vegetables were tender and delicious, which is a great success overall, I think.

Test 3: fish fingers

I mentioned the fish finger test and now we’re here. These came from frozen, so I put them on the same setting as the chips. I used the grill rack to stack fish fingers over a base of chips to test whether I could cook a whole meal in 23 minutes. Spoiler alert: I could.

The fish fingers that I tested have come off a little dry in tests before, so I was hesitantly intrigued to see what the Bosch would serve up. The results were actually brilliant. I had four other people test the fish fingers to make sure we were in agreement, because these are the best I’ve cooked in an air fryer. They crisped up wonderfully on the outside, whilst remaining succulent and tender on the inside. They’re a hit.

Test 4: baking

You don’t always get bake functions on air fryers, so when I do get the option, I love to test them out. In theory, it’s a way for you to bake cakes, breads, and sweet treats without having to heat up a whole oven (a brilliant time and money saver).

These cookies are the results of seven minutes in the air fryer. My baking paper slotted neatly inside and the cookies browned evenly and quickly. If you want to know how the taste test went, you’ll need to ask my family. I quite literally turned around to clean the air fryer drawer and when I turned back there was a crumb and one smear of chocolate left on the paper. Don’t worry, I made a second batch for myself and they were fantastic.

Test 5: reheating

The fish finger results gave me some hope for the re-heat function. This is set to crisp up and warm up any meals you saved for leftovers the next day. In the morning, I tested this with a pain au chocolat, which I can highly recommend. My pastry was flaky and the chocolate was smooth and well melted inside.

The other big test for the reheat setting comes with pizza. The Bosch beautifully crisped up the base of my pizza, warming my toppings and melting the cheese perfectly. The sauce didn’t dry out and it certainly did a better job than my oven ever could, so it gets top marks from me.

Cleaning

I don’t know what they’ve done, but Bosch has cleverly escaped a common pitfall that faces air fryers with viewing windows. The basket and accessories are dishwasher safe, but I washed them my hand. At this point, I would normally see fog and mist clouding the viewing window and yet this stayed clean. In fact, any grease and residue that I’d left in the air fryer slid straight out, making the whole process impressively easy.

I wiped down the control panel after my testing, but actually it had stayed relatively fingerprint free, which is unusual for a flat, shiny surface like this one. All in all, it’s a really low-maintenance air fryer in terms of aftercare. And, if you’re looking for tips on how to clean an air fryer, we have an expert guide online.

How does it compare?

For a single-drawer air fryer, this is really competitive, especially when you account for the price. If your budget is £100 and you can’t find the Bosch on sale, you might want to take a look at the Instant 4-in-1 Air Fryer. This is inexpensive and definitely more basic (you only get four pre-sets), but it does a really decent job of basic air frying. You get more capacity with the Bosch, so if you know you occasionally host or you think you might be exploring your cooking options, this is a great bet.

Alternatively, if you’re short on space, but keen to explore what else is out there, Ninja’s new Portable Ninja Crispi Air Fryer might catch your eye. This is one of the first air fryers that I’ve ever tested that legitimately could be stored in a deep drawer or cupboard. It’s essentially a glass, tupperware base with an air fryer attachment lid on top. You can watch your food cook, serve out of the air fryer, and then use the base as tupperware in your fridge. It makes the Bosch’s simple clean-up look complex. However, the Ninja is almost double the price and a lot more limited on settings. The Ninja can air fry, roast, crisp, and re-heat, so you lose the special grilling element that makes the Bosch Series 6 Air Fryer really stand out.

Should you buy it?

If I want an air fryer that delivers top-notch results with luxury touches, such as a range of pre-sets and viewing windows, this is a brilliant investment. I’d particularly recommend it for smaller homes with two or three mouths to feed.

How we test

At woman&home we have a series of standardised tests that we run every air fryer though. These cover cooking chips, roasting vegetables, crisping up frozen fish fingers, and re-heating pizza. In the case of the Bosch Series 6 Air Fryer, I threw in some extra tests, from baking cookies and grilling sausages through to re-heating a pain au chocolat. I make notes on the time it takes to get results and the quality of those results too.

Our testing process is not just dining out on air fryer food though. I make notes on how easy the air fryer is to unbox and set-up, whether it comes up clean very easily, as well as looking at how it compares to other models. By the end of my review, you should know whether this is the perfect air fryer for you. If not, you can always email me. I have lived with every air fryer for enough time to know all there is to know about it.

To find out more, you can visit our dedicated page for how we test air fryers.