Basket air fryer
Instant Air Fryer 3.8L AFB4002BK
Model AFB4002BK — United Kingdom
The smallest fully specified machine in the catalogue, and the only manufacturer anywhere in it that separates black smoke from white smoke.
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Where to get real advice for this machine
Almost everything that changes a cooking answer is a property of the architecture rather than the badge. This is a basket air fryer, and the Basket air fryer page carries the cooking guidance that actually applies to it.
This is the baseline every cooking page on AirfryerHQ is written for. Times and temperatures are stated for a single layer in a drawer of this kind, so no adjustment applies. The one thing worth knowing about it is that the usable area is much smaller than the advertised litres suggest — the depth is mostly headroom, and food still has to go in one layer.
Does it genuinely air-fry?
Genuine air frying
Genuine. A perforated basket in a deep drawer with the element and fan above, fat draining below the food, and a published ceiling of 200°C. At 3.8 litres the chamber recovers temperature about as fast as anything in this catalogue.
- 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 Instant Air Fryer 3.8L AFB4002BK — User Manual (PDF), retrieved on 2026-08-13.
It is rated at 1500 W, an ordinary domestic rating that recovers temperature reasonably quickly after cold food goes in. It has a single cooking drawer, so everything in it cooks at one temperature for one time. It runs from 100°C to 200°C, which covers ordinary air frying and is too warm at the bottom end to dehydrate with. It is sold as 3.8 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.
Size and capacity
- Advertised capacity
- 3.8 litresA volume, not a cooking area.
- On the worktop
- 252 × 351 × 296 mmBefore clearance. It needs space above and behind as well.
- Weight
- 3.9 kg
Power and heat
- Power
- 1500 W
- Temperature range
- 100–200°C
Setup and cleaning
- Cooking zones
- 1
- Dishwasher safe
- Cooking tray, Removable air frying basketEverything else is a hand-wash, and the main unit never goes in.
Retrieved from Argos's manual library for Argos product 299/8361.
7 figures we could not establish
Each of these says WHY it is missing. “Not recorded by the sources consulted” means the manufacturer does not publish it in the document we read — not that nobody looked, and not that the figure does not exist.
- Usable cooking area
- Not recorded by the sources consulted — Not published.
- Chamber
- Not recorded by the sources consulted — Not published. The dimensions given are the appliance's, not the chamber's.
- Power range as published
- Not recorded by the sources consulted — A single rated figure is published.
- Adjusts in
- Not recorded by the sources consulted — A continuous dial rather than stepped settings.
- Standby power
- Not recorded by the sources consulted — Not published by this manufacturer. Very few models in this catalogue publish a standby figure at all.
- Preheating
- Not recorded by the sources consulted — No preheat instruction appears in the copy read.
- Supplied with
- Not recorded by the sources consulted — Not itemised in the copy read.
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.
| On the panel | In plain terms | Starts at | Settable range | Preheat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warm | Keep warm | 76°C | Fixed — cannot be changed | Not stated |
- Warm: A fixed position below the 100°C floor of the main dial, published as 76°C.
Questions owners ask about this machine
Answered from this model’s own manual (Instant Air Fryer 3.8L AFB4002BK — User Manual) and nothing else. Where the manual does not address a question, it is not answered here from another machine’s.
What this manual calls the parts
- Cooking tray
- The perforated plate the food sits on.
Other manufacturers use different words for the same parts, and sometimes the same word for a different one. What each part is called, brand by brand.
- Before the first cookDo I need to run it empty before cooking in it?
- The manual says you must. With the basket in and no food, turn the temperature dial to 200°C and the timer to 15 minutes, let it chime at the end, then let it cool.In the manual: Test run.
- Where it stands, and the space it needsHow much space does it need around it?
- At least 13 cm above and around all sides, for air flow. The manual says not to stand it on top of another appliance.In the manual: Initial set up, step 3.Why the clearance matters, and where not to stand one
- The parts, and how they go inDo I cook on the tray or take it out?
- On it. The manual says the perforated cooking tray is there to let air through and should be used for most foods, with the food placed directly on the tray and no foil or other covering.In the manual: Cooking: What to cook in.
- Settings the panel does not explainWhat are the controls?
- Two dials and nothing else: one for temperature and one for time. There are no programmes and no display to set. The basket is in properly when its front is flush with the front of the cooker, a light shows while it is heating, and the air fryer chimes when the time is up.In the manual: What's in the box; How to use: Cook; Finish.
- How much goes in at onceHow full can I fill it, and what is the tray coated with?
- Not to the point of overfilling: the manual says overfilling may cause food to contact the heating element, and gives no line or weight. The cooking tray has a non-stick coating, which the cleaning table says to keep away from metal utensils, steel wool pads and harsh cleansers. The coating is not named.In the manual: Important safeguards; Care, cleaning and storage.
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.
AirfryerHQ does not hold this code for this manufacturer. That is a statement about this catalogue and not about your appliance: most manufacturers publish no code table at all, and a code's meaning is specific to the firmware that produced it. Do not read a meaning across from another brand — check your own manual, and contact the manufacturer if it is not in there.
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.
Which parts go in the dishwasher
Stated as dishwasher safe for this model: Cooking tray, Removable air frying basket. Anything not listed is washed by hand, and the main unit never goes in.
The cleaning table marks both dishwasher safe, with a footnote that some discolouration may occur after machine washing without affecting safety or performance.
Source: Instant Air Fryer 3.8L AFB4002BK — User Manual.
| Part | What is on it | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Basket | Ordinary residue after cooking | After every use |
| Basket | Burnt-on residue | When it needs it |
| Basket | Stuck food | When it needs it |
| Cooking tray | Looking after the coating | When it needs it |
| Drawer | Greasy film | After every use |
| Interior of the chamber | Greasy film | After every use |
| Interior of the chamber | Greasy film | About weekly |
| Interior of the chamber | Lingering smell | When it needs it |
| Heating element area | Carbonised deposit | About monthly |
| Fan and air intake | Greasy film | About monthly |
| Exterior and body | Greasy film | About weekly |
| Controls and display | Greasy film | About weekly |
The troubleshooting table makes the cleaning link explicit: food residue on the heating coil or in the chamber is one of the three published causes of black smoke.
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.
Black smoke from the appliance
The manual attributes it to an oil with a low smoke point, to food residue on the heating coil or in the cooking chamber, or to an appliance malfunction.
Cancel cooking, unplug and let the appliance cool to room temperature. Choose a neutral oil with a high smoke point, and clean the chamber and all accessories thoroughly. If it is a malfunction, contact consumer care.
White smoke from the appliance
The manual attributes it to cooking high-fat foods such as bacon, sausage and hamburgers, or to water vaporising into thick steam. It is not treated as a fault.
Check the cooking chamber for excess oil or fat and remove it before air frying. Pat moist food dry, and never add water or other liquid to the chamber when air frying.
Smoke with seasoning involved
Seasoning has blown off the food into the heating element.
Spray vegetables and meats with oil before seasoning so the seasoning sticks to the food rather than being carried into the element.
The appliance does not run
The manual attributes this to the basket not being fully inserted into the unit.
Make sure the air fryer basket is fully inserted.
Replaceable parts
AirfryerHQ holds no replacement-part details for Instant Air Fryer 3.8L AFB4002BK. That is a statement about this catalogue rather than about the appliance: its removable parts can wear or be lost like any other machine’s, and the manual read for this model does not list them with references we could record. What can be replaced, and what to ask for covers the general case, including where to find the model number a parts desk will ask you for.
Recall and safety status
No recall known to us at the review date
No entry for this model was found in the OPSS product safety register when it was searched for air fryers on 13 August 2026. That is a statement about that search and not a clearance.
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.
Finding the manual
The document read for this page is Instant Air Fryer 3.8L AFB4002BK — User Manual (PDF), retrieved on 2026-08-13. A different revision, or a booklet for another market, may not match it.
Publishes a sixty-minute continuous-use limit, which is the shortest in this catalogue and is worth knowing before starting anything long.
About this model
A 3.8-litre entry-level drawer machine with an analogue-feeling dial pair. It publishes a complete specification panel — capacity, wattage, weight and dimensions together, which only a handful of manuals in this catalogue do — and a troubleshooting table that distinguishes two kinds of smoke with two different causes and two different responses.
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.