Buying guide
Glass air fryers: which ones are actually glass where the food sits
Most people buy a glass air fryer to get away from non-stick coatings. On most of the ones we checked, the food does not sit on the glass. It sits on a crisper plate, and that plate is usually coated or not described at all.
It is a disclosure score out of 100, not a safety rating: what it is made of, who tested it, where it is made, whether the claim matches the evidence. A product can score 20 and be perfectly fine to cook in. What a low score means is that nobody outside the company can check. The rubric is here.
The short answer
Of the nine glass air fryers we have scored, one — the Fritaire 5qt — states that its food-contact coatings are “None”: a tempered glass bowl and bare 304 stainless accessories. It scores 81/100. Everything else either coats the plate under the food, or does not say what that plate is.
Two questions are worth asking of any glass air fryer before the word “glass” does the persuading: what is the crisper plate made of, and what kind of glass is it. Borosilicate and tempered soda-lime behave very differently under thermal shock, and only some makers say which they use. Why the glass type matters.
What is the crisper plate made of? And what kind of glass is it? If the listing answers neither, the word “glass” is doing the persuading.
Every glass air fryer we have scored
United States
| Product | Score /100 | What touches the food | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | 60/60 | Best material | |
| 64 | 47/60 | Fine | |
| 43 | 26/60 | Read the caveats | |
| 32 | 19/60 | They won't say | |
| 32 | 19/60 | They won't say | |
| 16 | 8/60 | Avoid |
- 81/100
- No maker photo64/100Cuisinart ClearView 4 qt Glass Basket · US
“Transparent glass basket”, glass type not named
The full entry → - 43/100
- 32/100
Gourmia 7 qt Glass Basket Air Fryer · USThe same product page says both “fully glass basket” and “nonstick basket and crisper tray”. No glass type, no coating chemistry, no crisper-plate material
The full entry → - No maker photo32/100Dreo ChefMaker Combi Fryer 6 qt · US
Sold with a “transparent glass basket”. The only replacement Dreo sells for it is the “Extra ChefMaker Non-stick Basket” with a “clear viewing window”. Coating never named
The full entry → - 16/100
Ninja Crispi 5-in-1 Glass Air Fry System (Costco) · USGlass containers, type not stated
The full entry →
Australia
| Product | Score /100 | What touches the food | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 53/60 | Fine | |
| 21 | 8/60 | Read the caveats | |
| 14 | 8/60 | Avoid |
- No maker photo53/100
- 21/100
- No maker photo14/100
What they publish, point by point
Fritaire Glass Air Fryer 5qt — 81/100 · bare, inert materials
- What touches the food — 60/60. Tempered glass bowl · 304 stainless accessories · food-contact coatings: none
- The rest of it — 21/25. Lids, seals, handles and the outside.
- Backed up — 0/15. Named testing, published reports, and whether the claim matches the evidence.
- Made in. China — stated; designed in Florida
- They claim. "All food-contact surfaces in Fritaire are free of PFAS, PFOA, and PTFE"
- Warranty. 60 days (page title says 90)
- Heat. 400°F
The only air fryer here with no coating to disclose. Fritaire states the food-contact coatings outright as “None” — a glass bowl and bare 304 stainless accessories.
It is also the only one of the six that says where it is made. Nothing else in this category manages either.
The full entry, with every source · The maker’s own page
Cuisinart ClearView 4 qt Glass Basket — 64/100 · mostly inert
- What touches the food — 47/60. “Transparent glass basket”, glass type not named · “PFAS-free Ceramic Nonstick Crisper Plate”, coating chemistry not named · crisper plate substrate not named
- The rest of it — 17/25. Lids, seals, handles and the outside.
- Backed up — 0/15. Named testing, published reports, and whether the claim matches the evidence.
- Made in. UNVERIFIED — not published
- They claim. "PFAS-free Ceramic Nonstick Crisper Plate"
- Warranty. Three years — exclusions not stated on the product page
- Heat. Up to 450°F; crisper plate dishwasher safe
An actual glass basket, plus an unqualified PFAS-free claim on the one coated part — not hedged with “no intentionally added”, as several cookware brands hedge theirs.
It is the strongest food-contact story we could verify in this category, and Cuisinart still will not say what the ceramic actually is.
The full entry, with every source · The maker’s own page
Ninja Crispi Portable Glass Air Fryer — 43/100 · coated, or plastic in contact
- What touches the food — 26/60. Glass containers, type not named · “the coating on the basket, divider, and crisper plates are PFOA free and non-toxic” — no substrate, no chemistry
- The rest of it — 17/25. Lids, seals, handles and the outside.
- Backed up — 0/15. Named testing, published reports, and whether the claim matches the evidence.
- Made in. UNVERIFIED — not published
- They claim. "PFOA free and non-toxic"
- Warranty. UNVERIFIED — not published
- Heat. Maximum temperature not stated on the FAQ; hand wash the containers, plates and lids
Sold on the strength of the word “glass” — and Ninja’s own FAQ confirms the basket, divider and crisper plates are coated.
The glass is the container. The surface directly under the food is not glass, and its chemistry is given as “non-toxic”, which is the vaguest material statement we found in this category.
The full entry, with every source · The maker’s own page
Kogan Portable Glass Air Fryer 2.5L & 5L — 53/100 · coated, or plastic in contact
- What touches the food — 53/60. “Bowl Material: Borosilicate glass” · “Coating: Silicone coating”, location not stated
- The rest of it — 0/25. Lids, seals, handles and the outside.
- Backed up — 0/15. Named testing, published reports, and whether the claim matches the evidence.
- Made in. UNVERIFIED — not published
- They claim. No PFAS, PFOA, PTFE or BPA claim
- Warranty. 1 year
- Heat. Dishwasher safe (stated)
Names the bowl as borosilicate glass, which is the best food-contact answer in Kogan’s whole air fryer range and one of the better ones in Australian retail.
Then lists “Coating: Silicone coating” as a bare spec row without saying what is coated. If that is the bowl’s exterior, fine. If it is a rim or a lid seal, it is a food-contact material presented as trim.
The full entry, with every source · The maker’s own page
Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer — 21/100 · coated, plastic, or unnamed
- What touches the food — 8/60. Borosilicate glass containers · two crisper plates, material and coating not stated
- The rest of it — 13/25. Lids, seals, handles and the outside.
- Backed up — 0/15. Named testing, published reports, and whether the claim matches the evidence.
- Made in. UNVERIFIED — not published
- They claim. "non-toxic cooking and storage" — asserted of the glass, not the plates
- Warranty. 2 years
- Heat. All accessories dishwasher safe
Sold on glass, and the glass is properly named — borosilicate, which is the right answer for something cycled from freezer to 200°C.
But it ships with two crisper plates that sit under the food, and neither the retailer nor SharkNinja’s Australian page says what they are made of. The food does not rest on the glass; it rests on the plate.
The full entry, with every source · The maker’s own page
Our verdict
“Glass” describes the container, not necessarily the cooking surface. If avoiding coatings is the point, the Fritaire is the only one here that says, in writing, there are none. The Cuisinart ClearView is the next best story: a glass basket and an unqualified PFAS-free claim on its one coated part, with the ceramic itself never named. The Ninja Crispi, in every version we checked, puts a coated or undescribed plate under the food.
For the coating question in general, see what air fryer basket coatings are actually made of.
Questions people ask
Is a glass air fryer non-toxic?
The glass itself is an inert material. Whether the whole appliance avoids coatings depends on the crisper plate and basket parts, and on most glass models we checked those are coated or not described. Only the Fritaire states its food-contact coatings are “None”.
Does the Ninja Crispi have a coating?
Yes. Ninja’s own FAQ says “the coating on the basket, divider, and crisper plates are PFOA free and non-toxic”, without naming the coating or the material under it. Our Ninja Crispi review has the detail.
Which glass air fryers use borosilicate glass?
In our data, the Kogan Portable Glass Air Fryer and the Australian Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 name borosilicate. The US Ninja Crispi, the Costco Ninja Crispi set, the Cuisinart ClearView and the Anko model do not state the glass type. The Fritaire says tempered glass.
Do we lab-test these?
No. Every score is built from what the manufacturer publishes, and every claim is linked to its source.
Related
Sources
- Fritaire Glass Air Fryer 5qt — maker or retailer page. fritaire.com
- Cuisinart ClearView 4 qt Glass Basket — maker or retailer page. www.cuisinart.com
- Ninja Crispi Portable Glass Air Fryer — maker or retailer page. ninjakitchenapac.zendesk.com
- Gourmia 7 qt Glass Basket Air Fryer — maker or retailer page. shop.gourmia.com
- Dreo ChefMaker Combi Fryer 6 qt — maker or retailer page. www.dreo.com
- Ninja Crispi 5-in-1 Glass Air Fry System (Costco) — maker or retailer page. www.costco.com
- Kogan Portable Glass Air Fryer 2.5L & 5L — maker or retailer page. www.kogan.com
- Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer — maker or retailer page. www.jbhifi.com.au
- Anko Portable Glass Air Fryer (Kmart) — maker or retailer page. www.kmart.com.au
- MessyPig materials rubric. MessyPig materials rubric
Related pages
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