The Dash Compact air fryer 2Qt is a budget-friendly model that stands out for its compact size. Like other Dash products, which include a mini waffle maker and mini grill, it comes in a few different bright colors and is designed for cramped spaces like dorm rooms. It has simple controls, with dials instead of buttons and screens. Its small capacity means it's suitable for preparing small amounts of crispy snacks but won't work as well for big meals.
Our Verdict
The Dash Compact isn't a good air fryer. It's slow for an air fryer and struggles to make evenly golden brown and crispy fried food. It has only one fan speed and a narrow temperature range, so it's less suitable for other methods besides frying, like dehydrating or baking. It doesn't maintain its temperature very well, which makes it difficult to precisely follow recipes and predict when your food will be ready.
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Preheats quickly.
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Small capacity.
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Cooks slowly.
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Makes sub-par fried food.
The Dash Compact isn't intended for large-batch cooking. Its tiny 2-quart capacity is only suitable for cooking small amounts of food.
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Preheats quickly.
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Small capacity.
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Cooks slowly.
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Makes sub-par fried food.
The Dash Compact's frying performance is disappointing. It doesn't make good-quality fried food, partly because of its small cooking surface area. Only about half your food comes out properly browned and crispy without overcooking. It preheats quickly but cooks slowly and doesn't maintain a stable temperature.
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Preheats quickly.
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Small capacity.
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Cooks slowly.
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Makes sub-par fried food.
The Dash Compact cooks food very slowly for an air fryer. It preheats quickly but takes a while to return to temperature when you add food.
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Preheats quickly.
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Cooks slowly.
The Dash Compact has a small cooking capacity. It's meant for small spaces and has a 2-quart round basket with a very small cooking surface area. You don't have a lot of room to spread food in a single layer for a better frying performance.
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Compact size.
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Small capacity.
The Dash Compact is a very small air fryer. Its footprint is small, so it won't take up much counter space.
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Compact size.
- 5.6 Air Frying
- 5.8 Large Batch Cooking
Performance Usages
- 5.7 Frying Performance
- 5.3 Cooking Speed
- 5.9 Cooking Capacity
- 8.5 Size
Changelog
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Dash Compact Air Fryer 2Qt comes in different colors: 'Aqua,' 'Red,' 'Grey,' and 'Black.' Here's a picture of our unit's label.
If you encounter another variant, let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Air Fryers
The Dash Compact air fryer 2Qt is much more compact than most air fryers, making it suitable for small spaces, but it doesn't have the best performance. Even compared to other smaller fryers like the Ninja Pro AF141, it has a relatively low max fan speed and doesn't maintain a stable temperature very well. The basket doesn't give you much room to spread out your food in a single layer, and as a result, it doesn't make the best-quality fried food compared with medium-sized fryers like the Chefman TurboFry RJ38-5-T. You'll get better results with very small amounts of food, so it's best suited for quick snacks like a grilled cheese sandwich or a few chicken wings.
If you're looking for a recommendation, check out our list of the best air fryers.
The thinkkitchen Retro Air Fryer is a better option than the Dash Compact. Cooking typically air-fried treats like onion rings, wings, and veggies with the thinkkitchen results in food that is mostly well-cooked and crispy. Conversely, the Dash over or undercooks more than half of each batch. The thinkkitchen also cooks faster. Neither option is particularly versatile; they both have narrow temperature ranges and only one fan speed, but the thinkkitchen maintains a slightly more stable temperature. This stability can help with delicate tasks like baking, so it will perform a bit better than the Dash if you choose to make the odd batch of cookies in your air fryer.
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 Dash Compact and Proctor Silex 35055 are both very small air fryers with enough capacity to cook for one person. The Dash Compact performs better, but not by much. It provides marginally better air frying, resulting in a slightly larger portion of each batch ending up crispy and golden brown. Both air fryers cook slowly, but the Dash has a slight edge at every turn—it preheats, cooks, and returns to temperature a little faster after you open the drawer to add food. Neither model is very versatile, but the Dash has a larger temperature range.
The T-fal Easy Fry XL is a better air fryer than the Dash Compact. Most importantly, it makes good-quality fried food, while the Dash does not. The Dash can preheat and regain its temperature faster after you remove the basket to add food, but it cooks more slowly overall. Neither model is particularly versatile; both air fryers have narrow temperature ranges and only one fan speed. They're both fairly small, but the Dash, true to its name, the Dash is especially compact.
Test Results
The basket has a small surface area. Since there's little space to arrange food in a single layer, it's best suited for cooking for one. The crisper tray has a PTFE non-stick coating.
This air fryer has only one preset, 'air fry.' There's only one fan speed, so you can't use a lower fan speed for dehydrating or baking. You can adjust the temperature, although it has a narrower temperature range than other air fryers. Some models can get up to 450 °F for quicker crisping and have a lower minimum temperature of about 90°F, so you can use the fryer as a dehydrator.
It makes poor-quality fried food. When your food is cooked, nearly half isn't crispy enough. This is partially because its small cooking surface area doesn't give you much room to arrange your food in a single layer, which is important for good airflow and even crisping. Its relatively low fan speed and power (1000 watts) also contribute to this poor performance.
It has mediocre temperature stability. It takes longer than average to heat back up after you add food. As you cook, the temperature varies quite a bit as the element switches on and off, which makes it more difficult to follow recipes accurately.