Moulinex Easy Fry Infrared: the air fryer now under €100

The extractor fan was humming, a single slice of pizza sat on a baking tray, and the oven was heating to 200°C “just for five minutes”. It was late, we were exhausted, and waiting for a full-sized oven to heat up for a quick snack seemed faintly ridiculous. On the worktop sat the new Moulinex Easy Fry Infrared: compact, quiet and slightly futuristic, with its black dome and glossy front.

We put the pizza into the basket, pressed two buttons and left it alone, equally doubtful and intrigued. Seven minutes later, the crust was crisp, the cheese was bubbling, there was barely any smell of hot oil, and the kitchen had not been hit by a blast of heat.

That was when we realised that everyday cooking had quietly changed. And this appliance is now available for under €100.

The Moulinex Easy Fry Infrared is no toy-like air fryer

The first thing that stands out about the Moulinex Easy Fry Infrared is how substantial it feels. Plenty of air fryers resemble oversized plastic eggs destined to be banished to the top of the fridge. This model is more compact and angular, with a finish that does not shout “budget gadget”.

It does not take over the worktop. Its control panel is straightforward and responsive, without a clutter of meaningless icons. You get the time, temperature and cooking modes, and little else. It feels more like a compact, capable oven than an upgraded deep-fat fryer.

There is another benefit once it is running: the kitchen does not become unbearably hot.

We used it for a week in the way people genuinely cook: hurried lunches, late evening meals and weekend snacks. That meant frozen chips after work on Wednesday, marinated chicken thighs on Friday evening, and leftover vegetables on Sunday. There was no carefully styled food and no immaculate meal-prep containers.

Its headline feature is the combination of infrared heating and hot-air circulation. In everyday use, this delivered quicker browning and reduced the need to turn food halfway through cooking. A batch of homemade potato wedges became properly golden outside while remaining soft within in under 20 minutes.

We also cooked a small salmon fillet with broccoli for 10 minutes at 170°C. The top developed a light caramelisation, the salmon remained moist, and the broccoli stayed bright rather than becoming limp and grey.

What separates this appliance technically is its use of infrared heat to speed up browning at the surface while hot air cooks the food through. Together, those methods create crisp edges without reducing everything to dry cardboard.

Here, infrared is not simply a marketing claim. It is especially obvious when reheating yesterday’s pizza: the base becomes crisp again instead of soggy, while the cheese does not turn rubbery. In effect, it behaves more like a mini grill oven than a basic fan heater.

For energy use, preheating is very brief, or unnecessary for smaller portions. When compared with switching on a conventional oven for a single tray, the time and electricity savings become meaningful if you do it three or four times each week.

Using it every day without becoming a food influencer

The easiest way to make the Easy Fry Infrared work is to approach meals as “small trays” rather than “big meals”. Choose one protein and one vegetable, cook for 15–20 minutes, and dinner is ready. The basket has enough room for two servings or a generous meal for one.

One routine that worked well in our tests was this: roughly chop vegetables such as carrots, courgettes and peppers, then coat them with a spoonful of oil, salt and paprika. Cook them at 180°C for 10 minutes. Add chicken or tofu on top at the same temperature, then cook for a further 10–12 minutes.

Open the drawer and there is a golden, sizzling meal, without having to manage three pans on the hob. It is not restaurant cooking; it is practical weekday food that does not leave you drained.

The main difficulty people have with air fryers is the gap between expectations and reality. No, it will not transform frozen junk food into a Michelin-standard meal. And yes, setting the temperature too high because you are impatient can still result in dry chicken or disappointing chips.

The sensible approach is “medium heat, little check-ins”. Begin at a slightly lower temperature than the preset recommends, then look inside halfway through. The transparent front panel and simple drawer make this easy to do.

Let’s be honest: nobody really does this every day, perfectly timing and weighing each portion. On some evenings, you will simply put in frozen nuggets and press “Go”. And that’s perfectly fine too.

During testing, colleagues who borrowed the appliance for an evening repeatedly made the same observation:

“I stopped using the big oven for anything under 25 minutes. This thing is just faster and less tiring.”

That is the understated change it offers. It is not a dramatic lifestyle overhaul, but it creates less resistance between “I should cook” and “I actually cooked something decent”.

In practical terms, these were the uses people returned to most often:

• Reheating pizza, quiche and savoury tarts without leaving the pastry base soggy
• Cooking frozen chips and nuggets that remain crisp for longer on the plate
• Quickly roasting vegetables from whatever remains in the fridge
• Toasting small pieces of bread, naan or pitta directly in the basket
• Finishing cheese toasties or gratins with fast, intense top heat

Why a price below €100 matters

The price is important, because this new promotion is where the appeal becomes particularly strong. Air fryers began as €150–€250 “nice-to-have” appliances: the sort of purchase you put off or wait to buy during Black Friday. Bringing a model with infrared technology and the Moulinex name below €100 changes that calculation.

It shifts from being an impulse splurge to an everyday tool that may genuinely save money over time, particularly through lower energy use and reduced food waste. You preheat less, reheat leftovers more successfully, and prepare smaller portions instead of ordering a takeaway simply because you are tired.

For anyone watching their spending, that is not just a theory. It is the difference between a 40-minute oven cycle and a 12-minute basket session that can run while you take a shower.