The Black+Decker ID1901-1BDC is a very small, single-basket air fryer with a 2.0-quart capacity, available throughout the Canadian market. We tested this model in collaboration with Radio-Canada, the francophone public broadcaster in Canada. For more details, see their French-language recommendation article and video investigation on air fryers. This model is a no-frills option with a straightforward design; it has two dials that serve as the only controls, one for temperature and one for time.
Our Verdict
The Black & Decker ID1901 1BDC is a bad option for air frying. Onion rings, French fries, veggies, and other typically air-fried foods cook very inconsistently, as most come out undercooked and mushy or burnt. Just a small portion of each batch winds up crispy and well-cooked. Additionally, it takes a long time to cook, much longer than most other air fryers. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer much versatility either. With a narrow temperature range and a fixed fan speed, you can't use it for applications beyond air frying.
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Preheats quickly.
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Makes terrible-quality fried food.
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Lacks versatility.
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Cooks very slowly.
The Black & Decker ID1901 1BDC is not meant for large-batch cooking. Its 2.0-quart capacity is just enough to cook for a single person, and it works slowly, so making a large amount of food in multiple batches takes a long time. Ultimately, it makes terrible-quality fried food and isn't versatile enough for other tasks, like baking, broiling, or dehydrating.
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Preheats quickly.
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Makes terrible-quality fried food.
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Cooks very slowly.
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Tiny capacity.
The Black & Decker ID1901 1BDC offers poor air frying performance. Cooking classic air-fried snacks like chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, and sweet potato fries takes a long time. Even when your food is ready, most of it remains mushy, with a small portion burnt and just a few pieces crispy and nicely browned. Its basket has limited space to spread food out in a single layer, and its maximum fan speed is quite slow. Together, these factors mean that air can't circulate properly to cook and crisp food evenly.
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Makes terrible-quality fried food.
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Cooks very slowly.
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Limited space to arrange food in a single layer.
The Black & Decker ID1901 1BDC has an awful cooking speed. It preheats quickly but cooks food very slowly, taking longer to deliver results than most other air fryers.
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Preheats quickly.
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Cooks very slowly.
The Black & Decker ID1901 1BDC has a tiny 2.0-quart capacity, enough to serve one person. That said, it has a disappointing amount of surface area to cook with, so it's tough to spread food out for the best results.
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Limited space to arrange food in a single layer.
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Tiny capacity.
The Black & Decker ID1901 1BDC is very compact and won't take up much space on your countertop. It's easy to store out of the way in a cupboard or on a shelf when you're not using it.
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Compact design.
- 3.5 Air Frying
- 4.8 Large Batch Cooking
Performance Usages
- 3.4 Frying Performance
- 2.6 Cooking Speed
- 5.6 Cooking Capacity
- 8.6 Size
Changelog
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Black+Decker ID1901-1BDC comes in 'Black,' and you can see the label for our unit.
If you encounter another variant, please let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Air Fryers
The Black & Decker ID1901-1BDC is a very small air fryer with a 2.0-quart capacity, like the Dash Compact. While it has much in common with the Dash in terms of size and simplicity of design, it performs a lot worse. In fact, when it comes to air frying performance, it makes worse-quality fried food than most models, whether similarly compact like the Proctor Silex 35055 or larger like the Beautiful 6qt Digital. It also cooks much more slowly than most other models. For example, it takes more than twice as long as the COSORI TurboBlaze to cook a batch of French fries thoroughly. This air fryer isn't very versatile either. Unlike the Dreo ChefMaker and other high-end models, the Black+Decker doesn't offer any alternative cooking methods, like dehydrate or broil, or special features, like a preheat reminder or temperature probe. Unfortunately, this is one of the least effective air fryers we've tested, and while it's certainly compact, other very small air fryers on the market handily outperform this one.
If you want more options, see our picks for the best air fryers, the best small air fryers, and the best budget and cheap air fryers.
The Ninja Pro AF141 is a significantly better air fryer than the Black+Decker ID1901-1BDC. Most importantly, it makes much better-quality air-fried food, cooking most of each batch to a crispy golden brown, while the Black+Decker leaves more than half undercooked and mushy. The Ninja also finishes cooking in less than half the time of the Black+Decker and maintains a more stable temperature throughout, so it's easier to follow recipes. Finally, the Ninja offers additional versatility with a wider range of temperatures and fan speeds, as well as a handful of alternate cooking methods like 'Roast' and 'Dehydrate.'
The Dash Compact is a better air fryer than the Black+Decker ID1901-1BDC. While the Dash struggles to produce crispy air-fried foods, it still outperforms the Black+Decker, which leaves more than half of each batch undercooked. Similarly, the Black+Decker works even slower than the Dash, which is by no means a fast air fryer. Neither option is particularly versatile, but the Dash offers a slightly wider temperature range, and its single fan speed is higher than that of the Black+Decker, which helps it cook a bit faster.
The MasterChef AF9003A and the Black+Decker ID1901-1BDC are both small air fryers available in Canada, but the MasterChef is the better option overall. Most importantly, the Black+Decker produces terrible-quality fried food; less than a quarter of each batch comes out crispy, with the rest being either over or undercooked. Furthermore, it takes a long time to achieve this result. The MasterChef, while still somewhat slow, works much faster and produces good-quality fried food in the end. It's also a bit more versatile, with a dehydrating setting that can access a lower temperature range.
The thinkkitchen Retro Air Fryer is better than the Black+Decker ID1901-1BDC. While these are both small models with a similar design, the thinkkitchen does a much better job of air frying food. It can cook most of each batch to a crispy golden brown, while the Black+Decker under- or overcooks the vast majority of anything you try to cook with it. The thinkkitchen also cooks much faster, despite taking longer to heat back up after adding food to the basket. Neither option is very versatile, but the thinkkitchen maintains a somewhat more stable temperature throughout cooking cycles, so it's a better option for simple baking tasks, like making a few cookies.
The Gotham Steel Air Fryer is a better option than the Black+Decker ID1901-1BDC. Both air fryers are small, simple options that won't take up much counter space, but the Gotham Steel offers significantly better performance. It makes decent-quality fried food, while the Black+Decker leaves more than half of each batch undercooked and soggy. Additionally, the Gotham Steel finishes cooking faster. Neither option offers great temperature stability or versatility, so they aren't ideal for other cooking methods like baking, dehydrating, or roasting.
The T-fal Easy Fry XL is a better air fryer than the Black+Decker ID1901-1BDC. It makes good-quality fried food, while the Black+Decker struggles to make even a small portion of each batch crispy. Even though the T-fal preheats more slowly and takes an extremely long time to heat back up after you open the drawer to add food, the Black+Decker still takes longer to cook. The T-fal also maintains a more stable temperature while cooking, which makes it easier to follow recipes.
Test Results
This is one of the smallest air fryers we've tested. Its basket has enough room to cook for one person, but it has a disappointing amount of cooking surface area. Ideally, you'd want to spread food out in a single layer, so air can circulate effectively, crisping up your food quickly and evenly. However, this small space makes it difficult, resulting in long cooking times and soggy food.
This air fryer's cooking versatility is mediocre. It doesn't provide any cooking methods beyond air frying and is limited to one fairly slow fan speed, which contributes to its terrible performance. Based on its dial markings, it looks like this air fryer should reach temperatures below 180 °F, but it doesn't. The heater won't turn on until you reach this temperature, making its range fairly narrow and its minimum temperature unsuitable for tasks like dehydrating and proofing dough.
It makes awful-quality fried food. By the time your food is ready, more than half remains mushy and undercooked, while another considerable portion is burnt. Only a small part of each batch ends up crispy and well-cooked.
This air fryer delivers alright temperature stability. It heats back up decently fast after you open the drawer to add food. However, the temperature fluctuates quite a bit as you cook, making it tricky to follow precise recipes.