Cookworks 9L Dual Air Fryer

Where to get real advice for this machine

Does it genuinely air-fry?

Genuine air frying

Assessed by architecture: a dual-drawer machine with frying trays and crisper racks, element and fan above the food, and a non-stick chamber the manual warns against scraping. Fast air and air reaching every surface are met by construction. No measurement of this specific model has been made by AirfryerHQ.

• Air moves fast, not just around
• Air reaches every surface of the food
• Recovers temperature quickly after loading
• Fat and moisture drain away
• Reaches genuine browning temperatures

What we know about this machine

Read from Cookworks 9L Dual Air Fryer KDF-5577DTW — Instruction Manual (PDF), retrieved on 2026-08-13.

It is rated at 2600 W, which is toward the top of the domestic range and means it recovers temperature quickly after cold food goes in. It has 2 independent drawers, so two foods can cook at different temperatures at once — which buys variety rather than volume. It runs from 50°C to 200°C, and the low end is genuinely useful: it is enough to dehydrate, prove dough or hold food warm. On preheating: has a preheat programme. It is sold as 9 litres, which measures the whole drawer including the space above the food that you must not fill.

The figures above are the manufacturer’s. What they mean for cooking is AirfryerHQ’s reading of them, not a measurement — nobody here has run this machine.

In the manual’s own words: A Preheat preset that runs 3 minutes at 180°C — identical to the Tower T17088's, one of several signs the two badges sit on a common platform.

Retrieved from Argos's manual library for Argos product 148/6630. Cookworks is Argos's own brand; the manual names the manufacturer only by model number KDF-5577DTW.

What each setting actually does

Read from the manual. The first column is the name printed on the panel; the second is what that setting is in plain terms, so you can use advice written for somebody else’s appliance.

Questions owners ask about this machine

Answered from this model’s own manual (Cookworks 9L Dual Air Fryer KDF-5577DTW — Instruction Manual) and nothing else. Where the manual does not address a question, it is not answered here from another machine’s.

Before the first cookWhat do I do before using it for the first time?

Remove all the packing material and wash the frying trays and crisper racks in warm water with washing-up liquid and a non-abrasive sponge, or in the dishwasher. Wipe the outside with a moist cloth. The manual says not to remove the silicone rubber grips at the corners of the crisper racks. It also says the appliance may give off some odour when first used, from lubricant on the elements burning off, and that this is normal and does not continue.In the manual: Important safeguards, item 25; Before First Use.

The parts, and how they go inCan I tip the food out of the tray?

The manual says never to. The crisper rack sits loose in the frying tray, and tipping the tray upside-down can release the hot rack along with the food. Large or fragile food is lifted out with tongs.In the manual: Using the appliance, end-of-cooking steps 3 and 4.

Settings the panel does not explainWhat do Match Cook and Smart Finish do, and does Start/Pause switch it off?

Match Cook copies one setting to both sides: any preset, time or temperature is duplicated in both trays, for the same food in each. Smart Finish is for different foods: pressed first, just after switching on, it delays the start of the shorter cycle so both sides finish together. Start/Pause only pauses; the Power button switches the unit off. Left alone, it runs a one-minute cooling-off period after the timer ends, beeps ten times and switches itself off.In the manual: Automatic Switch-Off; Match Cook; Smart Finish.

How much goes in at onceHow full can I fill the frying trays?

The manual says not to overfill the frying trays with food and not to pack food into them. It prints no fill line and no maximum weight.In the manual: Using the appliance, notes 7 and 8.

The non-stick coatingWhich parts are coated?

More than on most: the manual says the frying tray, the crisper rack and the inside of the appliance all have a non-stick coating, and that metal kitchen utensils and abrasive cleaning materials may damage it. The material is not named. The same manual says not to overfill the frying trays and not to pack food into them.In the manual: Cleaning; Using the appliance, notes 7 and 8.What wears a coating, and when a part is finished

Error codes and display states

Only what this manufacturer publishes, and only for this manufacturer. A code means whatever the firmware author decided it means, and reading one across from another brand is the commonest way to misdiagnose a fault.

Cleaning this model

The parts this machine has, what collects on each and how often it needs doing. Full methods and prohibitions are on the cleaning pages.

Clean after every use. The frying trays, crisper racks and the inside of the appliance have a non-stick coating, which metal utensils and abrasive cleaners may damage. The trays and racks are washed in hot soapy water with a non-abrasive sponge, and the manual says they are dishwasher-proof. Taking the trays out lets the machine cool faster.

Faults the manual documents, as printed

Only what the manufacturer publishes. AirfryerHQ does not invent the meaning of an error code, and where a manual documents one undifferentiated fault state that is what appears here.

• The air fryer does not work

  Two causes are printed: the appliance is not plugged into the mains, or the timer has not been set.

  Put the plug in an earthed wall socket and set the time as the manual's Using the Appliance section describes.

• Results are undercooked or overcooked

  Too much food in the cooking tray, or a set temperature or time that was not correct. The manual says a preset's temperature and time will often need adjusting for the quantity and size of the food.

  Cook smaller batches, which the manual says fry more evenly, and raise or lower the temperature or time after choosing a food type.

• The ingredients are fried unevenly

  Some ingredients need to be shaken halfway through the cooking time.

  Shake ingredients that lie on top of or across each other, such as fries, halfway through.

• Fried snacks are not crispy

  A type of snack meant for a traditional deep fryer was used.

  Use oven snacks, or lightly brush some oil onto the snacks.

• Cannot slide the pan into the appliance properly

  Too much food in it, or the tray is not placed in the unit correctly.

  Reduce the amount in the tray or make use of both trays, and push the tray fully into the unit until it clicks.

• White smoke comes out of the appliance

  Greasy ingredients, or greasy residues left in the tray from the previous use. The manual says white smoke is caused by grease heating up in the bottom of the tray under the crisper rack.

  For greasy foods the manual says it may be necessary to set a temperature below 180°C. Clean the tray properly after each use.

Replaceable parts

Recall and safety status

Recall status not checked

No verified recall or safety notice is currently recorded in AirfryerHQ for this appliance. That is a statement about this catalogue and not about the product: AirfryerHQ holds a small number of checked alerts and is not a copy of the UK register. Check the authority's own register before concluding that an appliance is unaffected.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards publishes the UK register of product safety alerts, reports and recalls on GOV.UK, and Electrical Safety First operates a recall checker for electrical appliances. Registering an appliance with its manufacturer is what makes a direct notification possible.

AirfryerHQ has no recall data feed and has not checked. That is not a clean bill of health — it is an absence of checking, and it is recorded as one. Check the manufacturer’s own recall page and your national product-safety register.

Finding the manual

The document read for this page is Cookworks 9L Dual Air Fryer KDF-5577DTW — Instruction Manual (PDF), retrieved on 2026-08-13. A different revision, or a booklet for another market, may not match it.

The cooking chart runs to roughly sixty rows across poultry, beef, pork, lamb, fish, frozen foods and vegetables, most qualified by weight or cut dimension. Times are single figures rather than ranges, which makes them checkable and also means the manufacturer is publishing a point estimate for a process that genuinely varies.

About this model

An Argos own-brand dual-basket machine. Own-brand appliances are systematically under-covered by air-fryer content and are in a very large number of UK kitchens, which is reason enough to hold one. Its manual also happens to carry a cooking chart of about sixty rows, most of them qualified by a weight or a cut dimension.

Owning this machine

The questions that come after the cooking.

• Looking after itFive minutes a week and one check a month, nearly all of it about grease.
• What to clean it withIncluding which tool every manufacturer in this catalogue prohibits.
• The coating, and when a basket is finishedThe part that decides how long this appliance lasts.
• Replacing a part, and what to ask forWhere the model and serial numbers are, and why no order code appears here.
• Accessories, and whether you need themWith the verdicts first and no affiliate links anywhere.
• Repair, replace, or stop using itThe symptoms that mean stop now, and the ones that mean a part.