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I've been using the Philips 5000 Series Dual Basket Air Fryer XXL with Steam for over a year now and it hasn't failed me once in that time. Despite its mouthful of a name, I love its versatility, and that's all thanks to its headline act of having an additional steam function.
The steam serves two purposes: cooking and cleaning. For the former, you can use a steam-only option for, say, dumplings and vegetables, or you can air fry+steam, which allows you to cook cakes and meats without drying them out too much. Honestly, I've not needed to use the latter because I'm yet to get air-fried results that were disappointing — I've successfully had fantastic crackling on pork belly and crispy chicken skin on drumsticks while the meat inside was still succulent.
As I mentioned in my Philips 5000 Series Dual Basket XXL Air Fryer with Steam review, there aren't too many alternatives that offer the additional steam-cooking feature. That said, Philips has a successor to this model which is a single-basket (7.2L) air fryer, but I think many families will benefit from having two separate baskets for cooking a full meal in one go — cook meat in the bigger 6L basket while sides can go into the smaller 3L one.
As much as I love and recommend this dual-basket air fryer, it would be disingenuous of me to not mention certain caveats, and they're mostly to do with the steam function.
Firstly, steaming is only available in the larger basket, so you'll need to plan your meals accordingly. For example, if you plan to cook a large roast with steamed vegetables, the meat may not fit into the smaller drawer. On the other hand, steaming fish parcels with vegetables is easier in one drawer.
Secondly, the steam can be used as part of a self-clean cycle but, again, that's restricted to the 6L drawer only and it just helps loosen grease and caked-in foods. You will still need to wash the drawer yourself — or put it into the dishwasher (yes, it's safe to do so).
There are 19 preset cooking functions to experiment with, but there's no user manual or recipe book supplied in the box to help you get started. You'll need to download Philips' HomeID app for that.
In the larger scheme of things, my complaints are minor and I would still recommend this Philips 5000 Series dual-basket air fryer — in fact, it's one of the best air fryers in Australia. I've cooked a fair amount it in since I started using it in January 2025 — tackling cheese and garlic crumpet loaf, haloumi, stuffed mushrooms, dumplings and much more in addition to the chicken drumsticks and pork belly I mentioned earlier — and it's not disappointed. Take a look at the images on this page if you don't believe me.
If you've been keen on a new air fryer, whether it's your first or an upgrade, definitely consider the Philips 5000 Series Dual Basket XXL with Steam, especially at half price.
