VonShef Cream Fika 5L Air Fryer Review
A solid, affordable air fryer.
Verdict
For a more affordable air fryer, the VonShef Cream Fika 5L Air Fryer is a solid performer, cooking food reasonably well and offering a simple user experience. It’s a good-looking appliance too, and is reasonably well-built. If you’re looking for your first air fryer to try, this is a contender.
Pros
- Sleek, Scandinavian-inspired looks
- Simple to operate
Cons
- Good value
- Inconsistent cooking
Key Features
- CapacityThe 5 litre basket is ideal for smaller families or couples who want to cook a fair bit of food.
Introduction
Air fryers have exploded in popularity, thanks to their fast cooking, crispy results and, relatively, low energy use. It’s also getting to the point where they don’t have to cost an arm and a leg, either, as this VonShef Cream Fika 5L Air Fryer demonstrates.
Of course, I should temper expectations by saying it is just an air fryer, but for those who want a fuss-free experience, then it may well be a solid choice.
Design and features
- Good, Scandinavian-inspired looks
- Larger capacity
- A multitude of handy presets
Because it isn’t the most flashy of appliances, it would be easy to assume that the VonShef Cream Fika 5L Air Fryer doesn’t look that exciting. To that, I’ll tell you to open your eyes and take a look.
Unlike the other grey or glossy black plastic boxes, VonShef’s cheap air fryer is white with an accent of lighter wood on the handle. The design is, as VonShef states, Scandinavian-inspired, and this VonShef air fryer probably wouldn’t look out of place in an Ikea backdrop.
It’s almost square in shape, and with a height of 322mm, a width of 337mm and a depth of 273mm, is also rather compact. Despite its compact frame, its 5-litre capacity is especially reasonable and is enough space for four reasonably large chicken breasts, a good portion of chips or similarly beige food. Inside the drawer is the fryer’s crisper plate, which keeps food off the drawer’s base, allowing air to circulate.
As opposed to offering a myriad of functions like Ninja’s single and dual-zone air fryers, the VonShef Cream Fika 5L Air Fryer keeps things simple by being a simple air fryer and nothing else. With that in mind, its large control panel that adorns the front may give the impression it does more. That’s easy to dispel, however, as all the food icons on the front relate to preset cooking times, as opposed to different functions.
Hit an icon, and the fryer will light up with a specific time and temperature combo. All in all, there are 10 presets in total, ranging from options for chips to drumsticks to an entire cake. There is also a preheat setting, as is typical for air fryers, and VonShef recommends putting the air fryer to 180 degrees for three to five minutes. Once that’s done, then you can select a preset function and press play to begin cooking.
The control panel allows you to change the time and temperature once you’ve selected a preset, but it’s a shame you can’t choose either yourself. There is a handy readout for both with a digital display, but the timer only displays in minutes, as opposed to minutes and seconds so you know exactly how long your food has left.
Once you’re done with the fryer basket and crisper plate, they can both be put in the dishwasher. You’ll just have to watch out not to cut yourself on the crisper plate’s handle and edges because they are rather sharp. I nearly got caught myself out with this, and my finger was left with a small mark from grabbing it too hard.
Performance
- Reasonably even cooking
- Doesn’t get as warm as the competition
In my couple of weeks with the VonShef Cream Fika 5L Air Frye, I cooked a multitude of different items to best gauge how well it cooks. The three-minute preheat time is reasonable, although depending on the preset, food isn’t the most even, and cooking times aren’t the easiest to gauge.
For the first test, I cooked some store-bought onion rings at 200°C, the highest temperature this fryer will go to, for 15 minutes. They were done in 10 minutes, were reasonably crisp and evenly done, and were shaken a few times during cooking.
Turning my hand to meatballs, these were cooked on the fryer’s meat preset (200°C for 12 minutes) and were done a little sooner. Testing these with a meat thermometer revealed a two-degree discrepancy between different meatballs – they were all between 73°C and 75°C, which is roughly where they should be.
In cooking a seasoned chicken crown, the results were less impressive. It was cooked on the dedicated chicken preset that called for 200°C for half an hour. After this time, it wasn’t fully cooked and took an extra ten minutes. This wasn’t a particularly large crown either, but took about as much time as it would in an oven to cook in the basket. Cooking four chicken breasts was a much better affair, taking a total of 25 minutes to cook at 180°C. They weren’t dry and tasted excellent.
The big issue with everything that cooked was that it cooked in more grease than in my usual dual zone Ninja AF400UK, given that the crisper plates sit further down in the VonShef option. With that, fat and grease don’t drain away as effectively as with other fryers. When cooking, there is also a lot of exhaust heat, which is just something to bare in mind.
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Should you buy it?
You want a stylish looking option:
The white, Scandinavian-inspired chassis is what sets this VonShef air fryer apart, and if you want a modern and stylish option, this is one to consider.
You want more cooking modes:
As much as this VonShef option is a solid air fryer, that’s all it does, and if you want more cooking modes, you may want to look elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
For a more affordable air fryer, the VonShef Cream Fika 5L Air Fryer is a solid performer, cooking food reasonably well and offering a simple user experience. It’s a good-looking appliance too, and is reasonably well-built. If you’re looking for your first air fryer to try, this is a contender. Those wanting more cooking modes or more even cooking, such as with the Ninja Air Fryer AF100UK may want to look at our list of the best air fryers.
How we test
We test every air fryer we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main air fryer for the review period
We cook real food in each air fryer, making chips, frying sausages and cooking frozen hash browns. This lets us compare quality between each air fryer that we test.
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FAQs
It has a 5-litre capacity, which is good for smaller portions or families.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
