The first thing you notice is the silence.
No angry fan whirring, no greasy sizzle, just a soft glow on a compact metal box the size of a chubby toaster. On the counter next to it, a retired air fryer looks like a chunky relic from another decade, still wearing a faint halo of oil stains.
Inside the new machine, vegetables roast on one level while a salmon fillet gently steams underneath. A notification pings on a phone: “Stir once?” The owner barely glances up from the table, taps “OK”, and keeps scrolling.
Dinner is happening, almost by itself.
The air fryer, once the hero of quick meals, sits unplugged in the corner.
Something has shifted in the home kitchen.
And this time, it might be permanent.
From single-use star to kitchen dinosaur
The air fryer had its golden age.
Everywhere, countertops filled with bulky black baskets turning frozen fries into crunchy miracles and chicken thighs into weeknight saviors. Social media fed the frenzy: “You won’t believe what I made in my air fryer!” It sounded fast, healthy, modern.
But walk into people’s kitchens today and you start to see a pattern. The air fryer that once lived proudly next to the kettle is now wedged behind the blender, or exiled to the pantry. The promise of “revolutionary” cooking has given way to something more awkward.
A big, noisy object that only really does one thing well.
This is where the new wave of multi-cook appliances sneaks in.
They look calmer, more discreet, more like a serious oven’s younger cousin than a gadget from a late-night infomercial. One of the latest devices on the market claims nine cooking methods in a single box: air fry, bake, roast, grill, steam, slow cook, sous-vide, reheat, dehydrate.
Picture this: a small city apartment, one narrow stretch of countertop, and a couple who cook almost every day. They used to juggle a rice cooker, an air fryer and a slow cooker. Now it’s just this one box, humming quietly, switching from steam mode for dumplings to high-heat roast for crisping them up at the end.
One machine, no cabinet-Tetris, fewer “Where do I even put this?” moments.
There’s a logic behind this shift.
Air fryers rode the wave of “healthier frying” and speed, but they stayed boxed into their own identity. You used them for fries, nuggets, chicken wings, maybe some veggies on a good day. Then you still needed an oven for lasagna, a pan for searing, a pot for soup.
The new all-in-one appliances speak to a different reality. People are tired. Kitchens are smaller. Energy bills are high. The idea of heating a full-size oven for two salmon fillets feels absurd when a tabletop oven with precise temperature and steam control can do the job better in half the time.
It’s not just a new gadget.
It’s the quiet reorganization of everyday cooking.
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Nine ways to cook in one box
The promise is simple: one appliance, nine cooking methods, and a lot fewer decisions. You open the door, slide in a tray, tap on a screen. Air fry for crisp potatoes. Steam for soft bao buns. Slow cook for a beef stew that waits for you after work.
The trick lies in the combination of heat and humidity. These devices don’t just blow hot air like an air fryer. They can inject steam, hold a low temperature for hours, or blast at high heat to brown the surface at the end.
Suddenly, “healthy dinner” stops meaning dry chicken and starts looking like juicy fillets with golden skin and tender vegetables.
A lot of people describe the same turning point.
One day, they try using the new machine not just for a side dish, but for a full meal. For example: tray of chickpeas and cauliflower tossing in spice, a small dish of rice on the lower rack with water, and some marinated tofu pieces on top. Fifteen minutes of steam-bake, then a short burst of high heat to crisp the edges. That’s it.
The air fryer can’t really do that.
It cooks one thing at a time, in a closed basket, with no nuance of steam or gentle heat. Junk-food style sides? Yes. Balanced, layered meals without juggling three pans? Not so much. *Once people taste that difference, going back feels like using an old phone without internet.*
From a practical angle, these nine-in-one boxes also hit a nerve we don’t talk much about: clutter anxiety.
We’ve all been there, that moment when you open a cupboard and an unused appliance almost falls on your head. The bread maker, the milk frother, the ice cream machine you used twice. Air fryers are dangerously close to joining that graveyard.
A device that replaces several others isn’t just a tech upgrade; it’s mental relief. Fewer plugs, fewer cables, fewer cleaning routines. Let’s be honest: nobody really does this every single day. Consolidating everything into one oven that can air fry, steam, grill and slow cook starts to sound not just clever, but sane.
The end of air fryers doesn’t look dramatic.
It looks like people quietly choosing not to plug them in anymore.
How to actually use a nine-in-one without overthinking it
The most helpful way to approach these new appliances is not as a gadget, but as your “mini main oven.”
Think by meal, not by function. Start with three simple routines: weeknight trays, lazy weekend slow cooks, and quick reheats that don’t taste sad. For a weeknight tray, pick a protein, a vegetable, and a starch. Toss with oil and seasoning, throw everything on one pan, and choose a combo mode like steam + roast.
For lazy weekends, use the slow-cook or sous-vide setting for a big piece of meat or a bean stew. Then finish with a quick roast to brown the top. For reheats, skip the microwave: use gentle heat with a bit of steam or low-fan air fry so yesterday’s pizza or roast chicken comes back to life instead of turning rubbery.
The big mistake most people make is trying to master all nine modes in one week.
They get overwhelmed by presets, scroll through the manual once, and end up going back to “air fry at 200°C” because it feels familiar. The other error is treating it like a magic wand: throwing in random ingredients and expecting restaurant results. The machine helps, but it doesn’t cancel basic cooking sense.
Start small and real. One favorite dish: roasted vegetables with halloumi. One comfort meal: slow-cooked curry you can leave all afternoon. One “I’m exhausted” move: a reheated meal that actually tastes better the next day. After a month of this, you’ll use nine modes without even noticing.
And your old air fryer basket will gather dust a little faster.
“Once I realized this thing could proof bread, roast a chicken, steam vegetables and reheat leftovers without drying them out, the air fryer felt… loud. Like using a hairdryer to warm your hands,” laughs Camille, 34, who cooks almost every day in her 40 m² apartment.
- Air fry – For quick crisping of fries, nuggets, or finishing off roasted vegetables.
- Steam – For fish, dumplings, reheating rice, or keeping cakes moist.
- Steam + bake – For golden roast chicken with juicy meat and crusty skin.
- Grill – For gratins, cheese toasts, final browning on pasta bakes.
- Slow cook – For stews, pulled meats, lentil dishes you start at noon and forget.
- Sous-vide – For precise, tender proteins if you like playing with temperature.
- Bake – For cakes, banana bread, cookies without heating the whole kitchen.
- Reheat – For leftovers that taste freshly made, not microwaved.
- Dehydrate – For fruit chips, homemade herbs, and crunchy toppings.
What this shift really says about our kitchens
If you zoom out a little, this “end of air fryers” is less about one machine dying and more about how we cook when life feels full, noisy and expensive. People want real food that tastes good and doesn’t take all evening. They want counters that aren’t buried, utility bills that don’t spike, and recipes that don’t need five pots and a dozen steps.
A nine-in-one appliance is a kind of compromise between ambition and reality. It doesn’t make you a chef. It gives you a fighting chance at a good meal on a Tuesday night, in a small kitchen, with a brain that’s already overloaded. It folds the promise of the air fryer into something more grown-up and long-term.
The air fryer won’t disappear overnight.
But with each new multipurpose oven that arrives in a cramped apartment, its days as the default hero of home cooking look more and more numbered.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-cook replaces single-use | Nine functions in one compact appliance, including air fry, bake, steam and slow cook | Frees up space and reduces the number of devices you need to buy and clean |
| Smarter everyday routines | Think in simple patterns: tray meals, slow weekends, better reheats | Makes daily cooking easier to repeat without getting bored or overwhelmed |
| Better texture, less energy | Combining heat and steam gives juicier food while using less power than a full oven | Helps you eat better and potentially cut energy costs at the same time |
FAQ:
- Question 1Does a nine-in-one appliance really replace an air fryer?
- Answer 1Yes, as long as it includes a high-heat convection or “air fry” mode, it can do everything an air fryer does, with the bonus of steam and other functions.
- Question 2Will my food still be as crispy as in a classic air fryer?
- Answer 2With strong airflow and a finishing blast of high heat, you can get the same crunch, sometimes better, especially if you use steam first to keep the inside soft.
- Question 3Isn’t it complicated to learn nine different cooking modes?
- Answer 3Most people use two or three at the start and slowly add more. Presets and app recipes help you learn by doing, not by reading manuals.
- Question 4Does it use less energy than my traditional oven?
- Answer 4For small to medium meals, yes. It heats a smaller space, reaches temperature faster, and often cooks more efficiently, so it can cut overall consumption.
- Question 5What should I do with my old air fryer?
- Answer 5If it still works, you can donate or resell it. If not, bring it to an electronics recycling point so the materials can be recovered responsibly.