One minute review
Ultenic isn't one of the big appliance brands, so it's no surprise that it's still not featured in our guide to the best air fryers. However, the Ultenic K10 is certainly an air fryer capable of making the cut.
The K10 is a mid-size air fryer with a 5,3-quart / 5-liter capacity that can cook up to four servings of your favorite fried foods. This is the smaller of the two air fryers that Ultenic offers. The Ultenic K20 with double drawer is the other model of the brand; it is currently only available in the UK.
Although the K10 cannot perform any function other than air frying, its app connectivity and 11 preset cooking options for a variety of popular foods will make it a great addition to your kitchen. And with a recipe book included in the box, there's plenty of inspiration to help you get the most out of this countertop cooker.
Performance in tests was impressive: we couldn't fault the food we cooked in it. And with features like keep warm, auto preheat, as well as a reminder to shake food, there's certainly nothing missing from the control panel, even with the affordable price point.
The K10 is a great, easy-to-use, entry-level air fryer with plenty of tips on cooking times and temperatures, and will suit most cooks, as long as you're not looking for a large-capacity model.
- Ultenic K10 on Amazon for €99 (opens in a new tab)
Price and availability Ultenic K10
The Ultenic K10 is available on Amazon in the US and UK. It is very competitively priced and has regular discounts, making it even better value for money.
Ultenic's other air fryer, the Ultenic K20, costs more and is a larger capacity double drawer model only available in the UK.
Price and availability: 4.5/5
K10 Ultenic Design
- Simple touch control panel
- Sleek gloss black exterior
- 11 automatic programs
The K10 is a mid-size air fryer with a 5,3-quart/5-liter capacity that isn't too intrusive on the counter. It measures just 12,1 x 10,7 x 10,7 inches/ 30,6 x 27 x 27 cm (H x W x D). The glossy black exterior features gold accents on the handle and logo, and it's likely a love it or hate it design feature. That being said, overall the K10's appearance is clean and fairly subtle on the counter. For those who prefer to stow away those kitchen appliances, the K10 isn't too bulky to get in and out of when needed.
It is controlled via the touch panel on top of the fryer. When off, the panel is black, blending in with the rest of the exterior for a clean finish. Powered on though, you'll be presented with plenty of illuminated buttons to choose from.
There are 11 preset cooking modes, each displayed with its own corresponding graphic. At first glance, it can seem overwhelming, but its use is very intuitive. The presets are; shrimp, fries, wings, steak, vegetables, fish, onion rings, pizza, bacon, pie, and toast.
Each of the presets has a suggested time and temperature, but these can be adjusted, providing maximum flexibility. Or you can choose to set the time and temperature manually, with options from 170F/75C to 400F/205C in 9F/5C increments, and the timer can be set anywhere from 1 to 60 minutes in one minute intervals.
There's an optional preheat feature - with the push of a button you can add automatic preheat to your chosen setting, with the air fryer beeping when preheating is complete to indicate when you need to add food.
Some presets, but not all, include a reminder to shake or flip food halfway through the cooking time, which is helpful if you tend to walk away and forget to do so. There's also a keep-warm feature with a preset temperature of 170 F/75 C; the time is adjustable, however.
Fortunately, the time and temperature settings can be adjusted at any time during cooking, which is especially helpful if you're new to deep fryers and need to experiment.
A button on the handle must be pressed to remove the basket from the fryer, making it difficult for young children to open it. And while the manual says that the fry basket is not dishwasher safe, Ultenic assured us that it is, and that the manual needs to be reprinted to correct it.
Design: 4.5 / 5
Ultenic K10 Performance
- Crispy golden fries
- Intuitive use
- great all rounder
The first thing we cooked was 1.1lb/500g of frozen French fries, the setup turned out to be very simple. We opted for the French Fry preset, which cooks at 385F/195C for 20 minutes. After selecting the preset, we hit the preheat button, which automatically added a five-minute warmup to the start. Press the play/pause button to turn it on and it will beep when finished preheating to let you know it's time to add food.
We only shook the fries once, halfway through, when reminded to. We let the fries bake for 20 minutes and the end result was deliciously crisp and evenly golden fries with a texture that was exactly what we were looking for.
When making fries from scratch, we consult the included recipe book for instructions. The cookbook advises using the fries preset, but increasing the time to 28 minutes, so that's what we did. We coat the raw fries with 2 tablespoons of oil per recipe, although we thought this was overkill and would cut back if we did it again.
Once preheating was complete, we added the fries to the slow cooker basket and waited for the K10 to prompt us to shake them halfway through cooking. We gave them another shake before taking them out, two minutes before time was up. The fries were perfectly cooked - soft on the inside and golden brown with a crispy outside.
We used the wings preset to cook five chicken wings. There was more than enough room in the basket for five little wings; in fact, you could have easily included a few more without them overlapping or stacking on top of each other. The default cook time is 25 minutes and we turn the wings halfway through when prompted.
After 20 minutes, we removed the wings and checked that they were cooked and the skin was crispy and golden. Inside, the meat was tender and chewy, a flavorful result with no added oil. We recorded the K10's maximum noise level at 65 dB, which is similar to normal conversation; and it's fan noise so it's not offensive at all.
Note that the position of the control panel on top of the air fryer is not particularly practical if you face vertical difficulties. At 5 feet 4 inches/1,62 meters, our reviewer had no trouble seeing the controls, but those under 5 feet/1,52 meters may find the control panel a bit hard to see.
Yield: 5/5
Ultenic K10 Application
- Requires 2,4GHz Wi-Fi connection
- Compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
- Send notifications when it's time to shake or flip food
While an app to control an air fryer isn't strictly a necessity, having the controls close at hand when you're not in the kitchen has its benefits. All control panel settings can be accessed via the app, so if you're called from the kitchen to answer the door or babysit, you can pause the K10 from another room.
Or, you can check on the progress of your dinner without leaving the couch. The app is also home to a wide range of recipe inspiration, and if you're following a recipe, simply press start at the end of the recipe and the K10 will begin cooking at the correct temperature and time. . There is also the possibility of programming cooking, which cannot be done in the deep fryer.
Application: 4/5
Ultenic K10 Scorecard
Swipe to scroll horizontallyAttributesNotesRatingPrice and AvailabilityAffordable smart air fryer that is frequently discounted4.5/5DesignSimple but a little cluttered control panel with a good range of settings and a dishwasher-safe basket4.5/5PerformanceI can't fault any of the food we made at this air fryer was also easy to use and clean.5/5AppEasy to use and provides full control panel functionality; but not compatible with 5GHz Wi-Fi networks.4/5I should buy?
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- First review: November 2022
Ultenic K10: Price Comparison
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