The Cosori Iconic is the sexiest air fryer Ive tried. But better yet, its non-toxic and plastic-free.

What's in a name? It turns out Cosori was right to call its new $249 air fryer the "Iconic." With a polished stainless steel design, versatile cooking functions, and generally useful smart features, it's basically the Cadillac of basket air fryers. But that's not the only reason I think it's worth the splurge after several months of testing.

Unlike many other air fryers, the Iconic doesn't contain any plastic components that can leach microplastics at high temperatures, and its basket isn't coated in harmful forever chemicals, or PFAS, including PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene, aka Teflon). As someone who's overly picky about kitchenware for the sake of myself and my pets — Teflon is super dangerous for my parrot — I have no qualms about firing up the Iconic on a regular basis.

Design and construction

Myriad air fryers have a stainless steel finish over black plastic construction, including other Cosori models, but the Iconic has a more premium build that's almost fully stainless steel inside and out. One exception is its basket handle, which is made from plastic only so you don't scorch your hand when you grab it. Most of its exterior gets hot to the touch when it runs on a higher setting for more than a few minutes.

The Iconic's other non-stainless parts are its basket interior and metal crisper plate, both of which have a ceramic nonstick coating. According to a chemical disclosure statement by VeSync, Cosori's parent company, it doesn't contain any Teflon. (I'll mention here that Cosori's top-selling air fryer on Amazon, the $119.99 TurboBlaze, does use Teflon.) Anecdotally, I didn't notice any weird synthetic smells when the Iconic was running.

Cleaner cooking aside, the Iconic's mainly stainless build makes a big aesthetic impact. It looks luxe and matches the other brushed stainless steel appliances in my kitchen. What's more, I was surprised to find that it doesn't cling to fingerprints very easily — unlike my stainless Samsung fridge, which is a smudge magnet. Any crumbs or food crud that gets on its surface is easy to erase with a dishcloth or a damp paper towel.

The Iconic's basket and crisper plate also wipe down nicely between food batches, and you can toss them in the dishwasher for a more thorough scrubbing at the end of a meal.

I'm usually very anti-countertop clutter, but the Iconic is so sleek that I can tolerate it sitting out. I also don't really have a choice because it's too big to fit in any of my cabinets. It weighs just over 14 pounds, stands about a foot tall, and has a footprint of about 15 by 12 inches, so it's a little bulky.

Cooking modes

On the tippy-top of the Iconic, you'll find a glass touch control panel with six different cooking functions: Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Dry, Proof, and Reheat. Each function has its own temperature and time presets ranging from 90 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and one minute to 24 hours. They also have set fan speeds; Dry and Proof are basically inaudible, while Air Fry and Roast whir the loudest. I'd say they're still less than half as loud as my hair dryer, the Shark FlexStyle.

If you need a reminder to flip your food, you can press a separate Shake button that makes the Iconic beep a few times halfway through an Air Fry cycle. (It only works with that mode.)

I tried all of the Iconic's cooking functions, and they work wonderfully. Air Fry produced a slightly charred, still-pink cheeseburger and crispy fries without any oil. Roast caramelized a medley of broccoli and red onions without burning them. I used Bake to make some crusty-but-fluffy brownies, and Dry to dehydrate Honeycrisp apples and bell peppers (some snacks for the aforementioned parrot). Reheat warmed up leftovers without making them soggy; it's put my microwave out of business.

I even made whole wheat sourdough in the Iconic. The dough formed an unsightly crust on top after proofing for two hours, but it disappeared in the shaping/baking process and left me with a cute little loaf of very moist, very edible sandwich bread.

The Iconic has a 6.5-quart basket, making it a good size for a small household. It comfortably fit a whole bag of fries, four single-serve brownies (in ramekins), and every sliced round of a fat apple (laid flat in one layer).

Smart features

The Iconic supports smart controls via VeSync's mobile app if you connect it to WiFi, and they feel about 70 percent useful.

With the Cooking Functions feature, you can select settings from your phone and send them to the Iconic; they'll appear on its control panel in seconds. You can't actually start it remotely, but that's a safety feature. The app will show a timer once the cooking cycle begins and send you a notification when your food is ready.

If you're not sure how to cook a particular food, a Cooking Chart feature can suggest settings based on the serving size and "status" (i.e., whether a vegetable is chopped or meat is bone-in).

Hypothetically, you can also pull up settings by scanning bar codes on foods' packaging through the VeSync app, but it didn't work with most of the things I've tried. That includes Purdue popcorn chicken and every Trader Joe's snack I had in my freezer (hashbrown patties, falafel, breaded fish filets, and mozzarella sticks). I finally had luck with some frozen garlic breadsticks, which turned out well when I air fried them on the recommended settings — golden brown on the outside, soft on the inside.

The app contains a History list of your past cooking cycles in case you want to reuse settings. There's also an Achievements counter where you can see a weekly recap of your meals and any badges you've earned for cooking certain foods regularly. (I don't know anyone who would actually use this. Some things just don't need to be gamified!)

If you need some cooking inspo, there's a library of healthy air fryer recipes in the app under a Diet tab. It lets you add your own recipes and create shopping lists of ingredients.

Some alternatives

Other non-toxic, plastic-free air fryer options include the Ninja Crispi ($179.99), the Our Place Wonder Oven ($185 to $245, depending on the size), and the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer ($349.99). The Iconic is in the middle of the pack price-wise, but it has the best warranty: five years to everyone else's one.

For what it's worth, I also own and love the Crispi. It's easy to store and has glass baskets that double as storage containers for leftovers, though it has few settings and can't fit full bags of fries. Ninja's newer Crispi Pro has more settings, a bigger temperature range, and a larger basket than the original Crispi, but it costs $299.99. Neither model supports smart controls.

The Our Place and Breville models are both oven-style air fryers that let you cook multiple trays of food at once, which is super convenient. But the Wonder Oven doesn't have a companion app, and the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer is expensive. Plus, its pizza pan has a Teflon coating.

If you're someone who likes traditional basket-style air fryers, wants smart features and recipe guidance, and you regularly feed at least two people, you'll probably prefer the Iconic over the competition.