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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-22 · 11 min read · Independent comparison
If I had to pick one machine for frying donuts at home, it's the ROVSUN 22.8QT — twin tanks, twin temperature knobs and a basket big enough to fry a real batch at once.
• ROVSUN 22.8QT — best for frying real doughnuts in oil at home; pick this if you want two tanks running at two different temperatures so one basket can finish while the other starts.
• Tongjude 8 — best for an air fryer or oven without a dedicated donut tray; pick this if you want eight stackable silicone moulds that cover round, cyclone, pumpkin and donut shapes in one set.
• Kazozobi 2 — best for bite-sized donut holes and mini cheesecake-style rings; pick this if you want 24 small cavities per bake with removable bottoms for clean release.
• CAKETIME Jumbo Muffin Pan — best for fat, bakery-style jumbo donuts; pick this if you want 3.5-inch top-diameter cups and a flexible silicone mould that pops out cleanly.
• CHEFMADE Baking — best for finishing and cooling; pick this if you want a rigid non-stick wire rack to sit under a flexible mould or hold fried donuts while they drain.
This is a countertop deep fryer, not an air fryer, and I'm putting it first on purpose. If the goal is a donut with a real fried crust — the kind that puffs and cracks when you bite it — oil is what does that. The ROVSUN is a double-tank electric fryer in stainless steel, with two separate heads and two power plugs, so each tank runs independently.
The spec that matters most for donuts is the temperature range: 60°C to 200°C (140°F to 392°F). Doughnuts want a fairly hot, steady oil — hot enough to set the outside before the middle soaks up fat — and having a knob per tank means you can hold one tank at a hotter setting for the first fry and drop the other lower for a second pass. That's a genuinely useful setup for anyone frying in batches.
Capacity is where it separates itself from a small household fryer. Total maximum capacity is 22.8QT/21.6L, with a recommended oil capacity up to 13.7QT/12.96L, and each single basket holds 4.2QT/4L. Basket dimensions are 8.3 x 7.3 x 4.1 inches. In practice that's a basket wide enough to lay several rings flat without stacking them — stacking is what gives you pale, greasy patches and rings that stick together. Two baskets also means you can fry donuts in one and something else in the other without everything tasting like the same oil.
The build is heavy-duty stainless steel with a thickened tank that detaches for cleaning, and the U-shaped heating tubes are designed to spread heat evenly rather than in one hot spot. There's a lid to keep oil from splashing, a basket handle in plastic so you're not grabbing hot metal, and an indicator light that tells you when the unit is heating. Those are small things that matter when you're standing over hot oil with wet dough.
Two honest trade-offs. First, this needs at least a 16A outlet — check what your kitchen circuit can actually carry before you plan around it, because a standard 15A kitchen circuit is common in older homes. Second, it's a big footprint at roughly 16.9"D x 21.25"W x 11.8"H and about 7 kg, and it's oil frying, so there's cleanup, oil storage and the smell that comes with it. In my opinion it's the right call for someone who hosts, sells at a market, or just refuses to compromise on texture — not for someone who wants a five-minute cleanup.
Tongjude 8
Now the other half of the story: donuts made in an air fryer rather than a vat of oil. The Tongjude set is the tool that makes that practical. It's eight pieces of food-grade silicone bakeware — two 6-hole round cups, two 6-hole cyclone-shaped cups, two 6-hole pumpkin cups and two 6-hole donut cups. All grey, all BPA-free, all non-stick.
The heat range is the practical headline: safe from -40°F to 446°F (-40°C to 230°C), and rated for oven, air fryer, microwave, freezer and dishwasher. Freezer-safe matters more than people expect — you can portion batter or freeze finished donuts and reheat them later. Dishwasher-safe matters on the other end, because silicone that's been in contact with batter and oil is exactly the thing you don't want to hand-scrub.
Release is the other design point. Silicone flexes, so the method is to let the donuts cool for a few moments, then press on the back of the mould and they drop out. That's a very different experience from a rigid metal tin where you're levering at the edges with a knife. Cleaning is similar logic — soak in warm soapy water and the residue lifts off with a soft cloth.
Trade-offs, and they're real. Flexible silicone has no structure of its own, so a loaded mould has to sit on a flat tray or it will sag and spill. It's also not going to give you a crisp fried exterior — air-fried donuts come out more like baked cake donuts, which is a different food. And it's stackable for storage, but that's also a hint that it's thin and floppy rather than rigid.
The Kazozobi set takes a different angle: small, precise and built for release. It's two mini muffin pans, 12 cavities each, so 24 small cakes, cupcakes, donut holes or mini cheesecakes per bake. Dimensions are 13 x 8.1 x 1.5 inches, which fits most ovens — worth checking against your air fryer basket or oven shelf before you commit.
The material is thickened carbon steel, and that's the meaningful difference from silicone. Carbon steel conducts and holds heat, so you get more even browning and a firmer edge on small baked goods. Bite-sized donut holes are exactly the case where you want that: they're small enough that a soft, pale result reads as underdone, and a metal pan pushes them toward actual colour.
The removable bottom is the feature I'd buy this for. With a fixed tin, mini donuts and cheesecakes are genuinely annoying to get out in one piece — you end up with torn edges and crumbs. A push-up base means you press the cake out from underneath with the sides intact. The pans are also non-stick, which helps on both release and cleanup.
Who it suits: someone making donut holes to dunk, mini cheesecakes, or bite-sized muffins for a crowd, and someone who wants the results to look deliberate rather than "rustic". Two pans running at once also means you can bake a full 24 in one go instead of cycling a single tray.
The trade-off is care and capacity. The manufacturer is explicit: no sharp objects on the surface, hand wash recommended, and air dry thoroughly before storing. That's a pan that punishes lazy habits — moisture trapped in a carbon steel tin is how you get rust and a ruined non-stick layer. It's also mini only. If you want a proper jumbo donut, this isn't it.
CAKETIME Jumbo Muffin Pan
If your idea of a donut is a big, fat, bakery-window ring, this is the one to look at. The CAKETIME is a six-cup jumbo silicone mould, 12.3 x 8.3 x 1.8 inches overall, with each cup measuring 3.5 inches across the top, 2.7 inches across the bottom and 1.8 inches deep. That top-to-bottom taper is what gives a proper domed, wide-shouldered donut instead of a squat puck.
The flexibility is the whole point of the design. Once the donuts cool enough to firm up, you press the mould and they release without a knife and without greasing the daylights out of it. The non-stick surface is described as impermeable and durable, and cleaning is a soak-and-wipe job rather than a scrub.
Use cases are wider than donuts. The same mould handles muffins, tarts, small breads, cheesecakes, mousse, jelly, cupcakes and custard — anything where you want a large single-portion shape. I'd call it the best pick here for someone baking for a household rather than a crowd, because six jumbo portions is a reasonable batch.
The critical instruction: because food-grade silicone is flexible, the pan must sit on a metal tray or cookie sheet before you fill it. Skip that and you'll be carrying a wobbling, batter-filled mould across the kitchen. Beyond that, the usual silicone caveats apply — it can't crisp a crust the way a metal tin or hot oil does, and it needs support the whole way through the bake.
The CHEFMADE rack isn't a donut mould, and it isn't trying to be. It's a 12.2-inch rectangular wire cooling rack in champagne gold, and it earns its place here because donuts need somewhere to go the moment they're done.
Think about the actual sequence. Fried donuts come out of hot oil and need to drain and cool where air can move underneath — put them on a flat plate and the bottom steams and goes soggy. Air-fried donuts out of a flexible silicone mould need to cool before you can press them out. Either way, you want a rigid rack.
The build is thickened 3.0mm carbon steel with a strengthened edge to resist warping, coated in food-grade silicone that's non-Teflon and PTFE/PFOA free. That coating is why it works as a baking rack as well as a cooling one — you can put it in the oven under a flexible mould for support, or use it to hold glazed donuts while the glaze sets. Less oil needed, easier release, easier cleanup, according to the manufacturer's own description of the coating.
Dimensions are 8.46"D x 12.24"W x 0.63"H. Low profile, so it slides onto a counter or into an oven without dominating the space, and it's light enough to move around with one hand while the other hand is holding a basket of hot donuts.
The trade-off is obvious: it makes nothing. It's a supporting piece, not a donut maker. If you already own a rack you're happy with, this adds nothing to your setup. But if you're tired of donuts going soft on a plate, or you're using a flexible silicone mould and need something rigid underneath it, this is the piece that makes the other four work better.
How We Picked
We compared the published specifications and features of each item — material, capacity, temperature range, cavity count, dimensions, and how each is designed to be used and cleaned. The ranking is our independent editorial opinion, weighing how each product behaves in a real donut-making workflow rather than any single number. No brand paid for placement, and no brand had any input into the order.
how to air fryer donuts
Fill a silicone donut mould with batter, set it on a rigid tray for support, and bake it in the air fryer basket within the mould's rated temperature range — the Tongjude set is rated from -40°F to 446°F and works in an air fryer. Let the donuts cool briefly, then press on the back of the mould so they release. You get a baked, cake-style donut rather than a fried one.
how to air fry donuts
The same process, and the shape of the mould decides the result. Use a donut-shaped cup for rings, or a jumbo cup like the CAKETIME's 3.5-inch top diameter for thick bakery-style donuts. Always place the flexible mould on a metal tray or cookie sheet before filling, because silicone has no structure of its own.
how to make air fryer donuts with biscuits
Canned biscuit dough is the shortcut version: separate the biscuits, shape or punch a hole through each one, and cook them in the air fryer basket directly — no mould needed, since the dough already holds its shape. If you want the hole, a small round cutter or a bottle cap does it. Finish them with glaze or cinnamon sugar once they've cooled on a rack.
how to make air fryer donuts without yeast
Skip yeast entirely and use a batter or a baking-powder dough — cake donuts and biscuit dough both work without any proofing time. Pour the batter into a silicone donut mould, or shape a firm non-yeast dough by hand, then air fry. If you'd rather fry in oil, the ROVSUN's 140°F to 392°F range lets you hold a steady frying temperature without a yeast-raised dough.
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