Let’s be honest, we all thought the air fryer was just a passing craze, but it’s earned its place in our kitchens, and not without good reason. With the potential to cut the time you spend cooking while reducing the energy you use while doing it, we put the Lakeland Dual 8.4L Air Fryer to the test to see if it’s worth your money.
What’s Hot
+ Double basket to cook at different temperatures and times
+ You can sync the drawers to finish cooking at the same time
+ Competitively priced for its size
What’s Not
– Both baskets are the same size, reducing flexibility
– Touch panel lacks sensitivity so it’s not the easiest to use
– Heating element not easy to clean
Lakeland Dual 8.4L Air Fryer: What is it?
If you’ve not used an air fryer before, think of it as a miniature convection oven that circulates heated air around the food, cooking it quickly and evenly, often using less energy than your standard oven.
The Lakeland Dual Air Fryer is configured in the most common format. It has two slide-out drawers, each with a capacity of 4.2 litres, for a total of 8.4 litres, which should be plenty of space to cook for a small-to-medium family.
At the bottom of each drawer, there’s a vented plate which allows the air to circulate effectively around the food during cooking. These lift out easily and, being non-stick, are really easy to clean or can be popped into the dishwasher.
Glass panels let you keep an eye on your food as it cooks, and the light, which can be switched on at the control panel, makes everything clearly visible without pulling out the drawer.
Is it easy to use?
The controls for the air fryer are all on the display panel, which comes to life at the press of a button. Using the panel, each drawer can be programmed individually, so you can cook two different types of food at different temperatures and for different durations. The controls do take a bit of getting used to, as they aren’t all that intuitive. Once you get the hang of it, though, it is fairly straightforward.
There are some preset cooking functions you can use as shortcuts. For example, the fries setting programmes the drawer to cook for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, which is a fairly standard time and temperature combo for frozen chips. To use these, press the M button (for Menu) to cycle through the preset options until you reach the one you want. It would have been more intuitive to select the function by pressing the relevant icon; nonetheless, you get there eventually.
If you’re cooking different things in each drawer and they have different cooking times, the sync function helps align them so both finish cooking at the same time. Simply set each drawer with cooking times and temperatures, and select the sync function. The air fryer takes care of the rest, starting the cooking for each at the appropriate time.
Are there any downsides?
The Lakeland Dual Air Fryer has some great features, like the “shake reminder” that sounds partway through cooking, and the sync function to ensure your food is all ready at the same time, but there are a couple of minor gripes, too.
While the overall capacity of the air fryer is good, with both drawers being the same size, it can make cooking larger items a challenge. We did manage to cook a decent-sized whole chicken for Sunday lunch, but it was a bit of a squeeze and removing it after cooking was a little tricky. The results were great, though. The chicken came out beautifully cooked, with moist flesh and crisp skin, and was cooked in around two-thirds of the usual time.
By far the biggest flaw is with the control panel. The slightly angled front means the light hits the highly reflective surface in a way that makes it difficult to read. Once you have managed to get yourself in the right position to see it clearly and begin programming things, the screen isn’t as sensitive as it should be, often requiring multiple button presses, which can be frustrating.
Does it offer value for money?
At the time of testing, the Lakeland Dual Air Fryer retails for £90, which is a competitive price for its size and range of functions. There are more basic, smaller models available for less, such as the Manual 4-litre version from Dunelm at £30
, but that’s a very basic, budget option. Start looking at premium brands like Ninja, and comparable options start at closer to £200.
The Dual Air Fryer might not be perfect, but for a dual-drawer model with this capacity, it sits comfortably in the affordable mid-range. It also comes with a 3-year warranty, giving you confidence in your purchase over the long term.
Lakeland Dual 8.4L Air Fryer: The verdict
While an air fryer might not be for everyone, it has some excellent qualities in the right situation. Well known for quickly knocking up basic foods like chicken nuggets and chips, an air fryer can equally be used to make fabulous veg-packed meals for the whole family.
Like many air fryers, it isn’t the most compact kitchen gadget, taking up a chunk of space on the worktop. For those with limited space available, this could be a challenge, but it does offer a good capacity in terms of cooking space.
The Lakeland Dual 8.4L Air Fryer is a good option for small-to-medium families or couples who want quick, tasty meals with minimal fuss. It’s not perfect, with fiddly controls and less flexibility than some rivals, but with its competitive price and capacity, it is a great all-rounder option for busy families.
What is it: Lakeland Dual 8.4L Air Fryer
Price: £90
Average Joes Rating: ★★★★☆
- Canal Toys Mini Speaker: Tiny triumph or massive miss? - 23 July 2026
- Blue Turaco coffee: A morning cuppa with a conscience - 17 July 2026
-
P&O Cruises Keel & Cow menu gets a makeover - 16 July 2026