Proscenic T22 Air Fryer review – quick, capacious, struggles with soft produce

The Proscenic T22 Air Fryer can broil, bake, toast and roast, too: in fact, it's one of the most multifunctional machines on the market. This 13-in-1 air fryer would make a great kitchen companion for a busy home cook looking to expand their repertoire of quick, convenient dishes.

Don't get me wrong: it isn't perfect. The Proscenic T22 Air Fryer might be great for meat and carbs, but it struggles with softer produce and more delicate processes. Since it's a single-basket air fryer, it's impossible to cook separate foods at different temperatures for different lengths of time. If you're keen to cook ingredients, rather than make whole meals in one pot, then you shouldn't have too much of a problem. 

I'm part of a product testing team here at H&G. Together, we've tried and tested the world's best air fryers. I know my way around a machine and I can spot a flaw in design from a mile away. I put the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer through its paces in our dedicated test kitchen, sampling its pre-set cooking modes for chicken nuggets, French fries, Mediterranean vegetables, and bacon. I also documented the unboxing and cleaning processes to give you the fullest possible picture of what it might be like to use this air fryer.  

Proscenic T22 Air Fryer review

Proscenic T22 Air Fryer Specifications

Unboxing the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer

The Proscenic T22 Air Fryer arrived in a slightly battered cardboard box. When I opened it, I was pleased to see all the parts and pieces intact, and disappointed to find a fair amount of polystyrene and single-use plastic. This is such a shame to see, especially since so many of Proscenic's competitors are making good use of sustainable packaging. If you're keen to invest in an air fryer that's kind to the planet, and to your wallet, you might be better off with one of the best Ninja air fryers, which are packaged in mostly recyclable materials. 

As I peeled the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer out of its plastic, I revealed a slick-looking machine with a strong steel handle and a digital display screen on the lid. These sleek features elevate of the air fryer, but they aren't very practical. I found that the digital display screen picked up finger prints and smudges that spoiled the appearance of the air fryer. I had to buff them away with a microfiber cloth as part of the cleaning process.

Just twelve inches wide and fourteen inches tall, the Proscenic T22 seems small from the outside, but it's deceptively capacious. You could roast a whole chicken in that 5-qt. basket or make multiple servings of meals to feed the whole family. This machine would make a great asset to a time-starved home cook working with a smaller space. If you're just starting out in the kitchen, you might get a lot of use out of Proscenic's pre-set cooking modes, which calculate the optimum time and temperature for foods as diverse as shrimp and toast, chicken wings and onion rings. 

When I had another look in the box, I found a quick start guide, a surprisingly comprehensive recipe book, and a QR code to download the Proscenic app. I like a smart machine, and I was looking forward to experimenting with the app. Unlike a lot of air fryer apps, which are essentially online recipe books, the Proscenic app gives you access to trouble-shooting guides and 'how-to' videos. It's a useful app, but it's pretty glitchy, and it tried to take over my whole home, wanting to connect to my Wi-Fi network and access my location data 24/7. If you're a technophobe, these smart features won't make your life much easier, but they might threaten your privacy.  

Test 1: Nuggets

I like to start each air fryer test with a simple dish of nuggets and fries. It's not the tastiest meal, nor the most nutritious, but it helps to assess how each machine handles proteins and carbohydrates. Plus, it might look and taste similar to something you'd whip up for your kids on a busy weeknight. 

First, I took the empty air fryer and set it to cook at the maximum temperature for 15 minutes. It's always a good idea to take your air fryer for a test run and burn off any unpleasant, plasticky smells while you're at it. I let the machine cool for a few minutes before pouring my nuggets into the basket. In the absence of a specific setting, I adapted the 'chicken wing' function, and set the nuggets to cook at 375°F for 15 minutes. 

Around the halfway mark, I decided to check in and see how my nuggets were getting along, so I pulled open the basket. That's the trouble with these opaque air fryers: to get a good look at what's going on, you have to open the basket and let out the heat. If I had a French door air fryer, I could just peer through the glass and monitor my machine's internal operations from a distance. 

Still, my nuggets were looking good, beginning to brown in the middle and crisp at the edges. Eight minutes later, the machine beeped to let me know my meal was ready, and I realized that I hadn't heard a peep from the Proscenic T22 until that point. The SuperDenoise technology was doing its job and keeping noise levels below 48dB, which is about as loud as a refrigerator hum. I was able to think, write, and chat without straining to hear myself over the sound of the machine. 

Then, it was time for the all-important taste test, which the nuggets passed with flying colors. For air fried food, they were exceptionally juicy, and hadn't lost their succulence under pressure. I shared the nuggets with Alex and Laura, two of my fellow product testers who happened to be in the kitchen, and they both agreed that the Proscenic T22 set the Quorn nugget gold standard.

Test 2: French fries

To complete the meal, I decided to cook a batch of French fries. The Proscenic T22 Air Fryer features no fewer than 13 pre-set cooking modes, one of which specializes in fries, which I was keen to put to the test. 

Proscenic recommends cooking French fries at 385°F for 20 minutes. Now, I've tested my fair share of air fryers: I must have made pound after pound of French fries, and I would hesitate to cook them for so long at such a high heat. For the sake of a fair test, I swallowed my pride and poured the fries into the basket without adjusting the cook time or temperature. 

I took a peek around the ten-minute mark and found that, though the fries were heating up, they were far from done. Satisfied that the Proscenic T22 wasn't burning my food to a crisp, I let the countdown clock time all the way out before opening the basket and plating up. 

As French fries go, these ones looked and tasted pretty good: they weren't the best I've had from an air fryer, but they were far from the worst. Each fry was golden brown and crispy round the edges, but the inside was still nice and fluffy. Although the fries were a little on the dry side, likely as a consequence of that high heat and long cook time, our product testing team still devoured the whole bowl.

Test 3: Frozen Mediterranean Vegetables

After the nuggets and fries, I like to throw some frozen Mediterranean vegetables into the air fryer and see how it copes with lower temperatures and tougher textures. Plus, it makes a nice change after such a carb-heavy entrée.

To get started, I poured some tomato, eggplant, and zucchini chunks into the air fryer basket, along with a few pieces of pepper. I instantly found a flaw in the design of the crisper plate. There's a hole in the middle, which makes for easy holding, but means that smaller bits of food can slip through the cracks. I scraped out the biggest bits before I started frying, but I accidentally left some dressing behind, which stuck to the bottom of the basket and stained under the heat.

The Proscenic T22 Air Fryer has a dedicated pre-set mode for vegetables, as well. As I pressed the button, the machine automatically adjusted to cook for 10 minutes at 300°F. This struck me as too short a time and too low a temperature. Seeing as the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer had just proved me wrong in the French fry test, I decided to let the machine do its job. I shook the basket around the five-minute mark to ensure quicker, more even cooking, but other than that, I kept well back.  

This time, I wished I'd intervened. The Mediterranean vegetables came out soft and juicy in the center, but still a little limp around the edges. If the machine had set a higher temperature, or a longer cook time, then the vegetables should have come out nice and charred, just the way I like them. 

Test 4: Bacon

To round off an air fryer testing session, I like to lay a few strips of bacon at the bottom of the basket. I'm keen to see how well the fat renders and how quickly the meat cooks. I can't stand the look, feel or taste of soggy, stringy bacon, but I don't like it overly crisped, either. I'm looking for an air fryer that can get it just right. 

I selected the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer's pre-set 'bacon' mode, which cooked at 320°F for eight minutes. I ended up removing the rashers a minute or two ahead of schedule, since they'd already reached my desired texture: crisp and crunchy, but not crumbly. 

Since I was the only meat-eater in the test kitchen that day, I conducted this taste test solo. Honestly, I was glad to keep all the bacon for myself. The fat was well-rendered, golden brown yet juicy, and the meat was just the right side of crunchy versus chewy. I'd go as far as to say that the Proscenic T22 made some of the best air-fried bacon I've ever tasted, which supports my theory that this machine works better with thicker cuts of meat and carbs than delicate vegetables. 

Cleaning the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer

While the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer basket and crisper plate are technically dishwasher-safe, I like to wash each piece by hand. Sure, it takes a little more time and elbow grease, but it's so much easier to scrub and get between the cracks and crevices. As for the body of the machine, all it should need is a good wipe with a damp cloth to look as good as new. The slick surface is prone to picking up finger smudges, but it's nothing a quick buff with a microfiber towel can't clear up. 

How does the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer rate online?

The Proscenic T22 boasts thousands of five-star Amazon reviews, praising its energy efficiency and versatility. A few customers have found that their non-stick coating is beginning to peel, while others have struggled to open the stiff drawers. By far the most common concern is the Alexa integration, or lack thereof. For a smart machine that sells itself on voice compatibility, the Proscenic T22 doesn't work that well with Alexa. You should be able to turn your machine on and off using the power of your voice, but you can't adjust the cooking mode, time or temperature.

How does the Proscenic T22 compare to other air fryers?

The Proscenic T22 Air Fryer is a multifunctional machine. Its versatility sets it head and shoulders above more basic, entry-level air fryers, such as the Instant Essentials. Whether you want to fry bacon or toast bread, you can do it all in this machine. 

The Proscenic T22 is deceptively capacious, with a single 5-qt, basket that's large enough to accommodate whole chickens. If you're keen to find an air fryer with two baskets, or, at the very least, a basket divider, look no further than the Instant Vortex  Plus Dual. You can set multiple components of your meal to cook at different times and temperatures, then select the 'sync finish' function to bring it all together at the end.   

If you aren't that bothered about versatility, and you just want the quickest cooker on the market, you should consider the Ninja Foodi DZ401 6-in-1 XL 2-Basket Air Fryer. Powered by a 1690W fan, this machine can broil and bake at super speed: in fact, it's the fastest air fryer we've ever tested.

Should you buy the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer?

The Proscenic T22 Air Fryer retails for around $160 on the Proscenic site and closer to $100 on Amazon. To me, that feels like a fair price to pay for such an effective, efficient air fryer. From proteins to carbohydrates, the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer cooked diverse food groups to perfection, and even the Mediterranean vegetables were perfectly palatable. The real issues with this air fryer have little to do with the machine itself and more concern its packaging and appearance. If Proscenic were to pack in the polystyrene and do something about those finger smudges, then we'd have a premium machine on our hands.