Masterbuilt 7 in 1 Outdoor 20Qt Air Fryer

[John McLaughlin]

Well the devil made me do it. Yes I bought the new Masterbuilt 7 in 1 Outdoor 20Qt Air Fryer however it is not due to arrive until Wednesday. So now I am wondering if anyone else has one and if so how do you like it?

 

[John McLaughlin]

I recently purchased the Masterbuilt 20 qt 7 in 1 Air Fryer. Here are my thoughts on the product. First it was very well packed as shown by my photos. The air fryer was packed in styrofoam and the corners on the styrofoam were protected with plastic edges (very nice touch). Except for the baskets all pieces to include the nuts and screws came in the two boxes and all of the parts were bubble wrapped. Assembly was easy. The directions were clear and easy to follow, however, you will need two different size Phillips and/or flathead screwdrivers. Assembly will take about a half hour. After assembly I allowed it to run for about 30 to 40 minutes to eliminate any odors etc from packing. I then air fried a 5 1/2 pound chicken. The chicken was rubbed inside and out with homemade Baharat rub and extra virgin olive oil. It was cooked for approximately 1 1/2 hours. The first 30 to an hour was at 400, (the air fryer preset), then raised to 425. (See photos). I did not used a thermometer during the cook as I mostly relied on time. So when I pulled it my instant read thermometer read well over 165 in areas. However that said we all agreed to include our guess said the skin was crispy and the chicken was very juicy. Overall I would say this was a successful first cook.

Now for the pros and cons.

Pros: Directions a are clear and makes it easy to put together
Well constructed and sturdy
Air fries very well
Basket worked well
Clean up was easy

Cons:
Poor cooking directions (basically non existent
No recipes included
Control system is not state of the art.
It does not come with a built in thermometer or timer

Overall observations. I do believe it is worth the money and is great if you want a large air fryer that is electric and want to use outdoor. But I did walk away thinking Masterbuilt rush building this product in order to get it to the market before Thanksgiving. The controller is old school, very old school. Especially in this day and age where so many manufactures have gone digital and offer so many functions that you can set and monitor (length of cook, total cook time, elapsed time, temperature monitoring etc). There is none of this available on the Masterbuilt 20 qt Air Fryer. There is no way you can fine tune the heat or set a timer You either use the presets for each function or turn the knob to the set increments and then guess as to how long it will take to cook. IMO this is a major drawback unless you like cooking by the seat of your pants.