I’ve had both: a really fancy Cuisinart and a much cheaper and better basket-style one from Instant Pot. The Instant Pot one is simpler. You set time and temp, it preheats, beeps when it’s time to put the food in, beeps when it’s time to flip it, and beeps when it’s done. It simple and I burn things less often.
We have an Instant Pot Vortex 6 quart basket. It's huge and does a great job.
But for a family of 5 you may be better off with two units.
We also have a microwave/convection oven and a gas convection oven.
Both of those have a keep warm setting which is basically 175 - 225 degrees.
A lot of times we cook things separately and keep one warm while we cook the next thing.
I have the two instant vortex the 6 quart basket and 10 qt oven style.
They each have plusses.
I like the oven for toasting/reheating since I can put the tray up high.
It's better for chicken too since I can do two trays at a time and flip them easily.
Good for anything you want in only one layer and I can do two trays of that at a time
The basket is great for throwing a lot of veggies at once like asparagus, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower
You could get a very fancy rice cooker for several hundred. Goodwill is full of basic ones that just click on. I've cooked curry in these ones. It shuts off automatically. I'd recommend one of these and if you really want to invest in something better after using a goodwill one after awhile you. For more rice cooker recipes there's a reddit community too.
For an airfryer I like the Instant brand. I think mine is 6 quart and I can get a pound of chicken in there. I love it and cook a lot in it. It doesn't heat my house up the way the oven does.
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1
Ninja
Foodi Dual Zone Series
86% positive of 232 users
Dual zones for smart cooking, but baskets are small.
Tofu_buns
