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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
My top pick for most people is the Charbroil Big Easy Bunk — it's the one rack here that's purpose-built to double your cooking surface on a specific cooker, and it does that job with almost no fuss. If you're stacking in a regular basket-style air fryer, though, keep reading, because the right answer changes with your machine.
air fryer double layer rack at a Glance
• Charbroil Big Easy Bunk — best for cooking two whole chickens or two big cuts at once; pick this if you own a Big Easy Oil-Less Turkey Fryer (models 17102065 or 14101480) and want a second level that drops straight into the existing basket.
• PUSDON Expandable Microwave Oven — best for turning dead countertop space into a two-tier appliance station; pick this if you need width that stretches from 15.7" to 23.6", three height settings, and a 160-lb top shelf.
• NETEL 3 — best for stacking three levels of kitchen gear in a compact footprint; pick this if you want a taller 31.5" frame, 110 lbs of capacity per shelf rating, and a 15.7"–25.2" expandable length.
• ALJ 6.5QT — best for replacing or upgrading the crisper plate in a Ninja Foodi; pick this if you own a Ninja 6.5QT OL500 or OL501 and want a round carbon-steel tray with a handle and silicone bumpers.
This is the most specialized product on the list, and that's exactly why it tops my ranking. The Big Easy Bunk Bed Basket is a 9-inch round chrome basket made specifically to sit inside The Big Easy Oil-Less Turkey Fryer and its hinged basket. Where most "double layer racks" are generic grates you hope will fit, this one is designed for one cooker family and sizes itself to it.
What it actually does is simple: it adds a second cooking level inside the same chamber. Char-Broil's own description points at the headline use case — cooking two chickens at the same time. If you've ever run a Big Easy and wished you could get a second bird in without a second cook, this is the accessory that answers that. The chrome finish and round shape give it a clean, low-profile footprint, and it measures about 9.4 x 9.4 x 2.15 inches, so it sits low and doesn't eat much vertical room.
Daily use is refreshingly boring, which I mean as a compliment. You drop it in, load your second piece of meat, and cook. When you're done, it goes in the dishwasher — no scrubbing, no foil lining, no guessing. The 14.4-ounce weight means it's easy to lift in and out with one hand even when things are hot and you're in a hurry.
The trade-off is compatibility. This is not a universal rack. It's built for The Big Easy series, and Char-Broil lists it as compatible with the Oil-Less Turkey Fryer models 17102065 and 14101480. If you own a different brand or a basket-style air fryer, this isn't your product — you'd be better served by one of the flat racks further down this page. In my opinion, though, for Big Easy owners, it's the cleanest double-layer solution here, because fit and finish were designed together rather than guessed at.
PUSDON Expandable Microwave Oven
Ignore the "microwave oven rack" phrasing for a second. What you're looking at is a freestanding two-tier countertop shelf, and the reason it earns a spot in an air fryer rack guide is that the lower tier is sized to hold a standard air fryer or toaster oven. The top tier holds everything else. It's a vertical-space play, not a basket insert.
The specs are what make it flexible. Width slides from 15.7" to 23.6", so it can squeeze into a narrow gap or stretch across a wider counter. The side frame gives you three height positions — 11", 13" and 14.7" — which is how you get a tall air fryer to fit underneath without the whole thing looking like it's about to topple. It's rated to 160 lbs, built from thickened carbon steel with an M-shaped reinforced structure, so the top tier can carry a heavy pot or a water jug without much drama.
Where it falls short is portability and, honestly, the name. This is a countertop fixture, not something you move between appliances, and it takes up real estate even when you're not cooking. It also isn't an air fryer accessory in the strict sense — it won't add a layer inside your basket. I'd recommend it for someone whose actual problem is "my air fryer has colonized my whole counter," not someone trying to cook two trays of wings at once.
The NETEL is the same idea as the PUSDON, pushed taller. It's a three-tier expandable countertop stand in black lacquered carbon steel, and the headline number is height: 31.5 inches. That's a genuine vertical organizer rather than a two-level riser, which changes what you can do with it.
Length is adjustable from 15.7" to 25.2", so it'll straddle most microwaves, toaster ovens and air fryers. Shelf capacity is rated to 110 lbs across reinforced shelves, and the carbon steel is finished with an anti-rust coating and a smooth surface that wipes down easily. NETEL says assembly takes about five minutes, and the structure is simple enough that I believe it — you're building a frame and setting shelf heights, nothing more.
In daily use, the third tier is the difference. Two shelves handle the "appliance below, spices above" routine that most people want. Three shelves let you add a coffee station, a row of pantry jars, or a stack of sheet pans, which matters in a small kitchen where every horizontal surface is contested. The black finish also hides oil smudges better than a light color, which is a small but real advantage near a stove.
The trade-off is that a tall frame demands more from your wall clearance and your ceiling of patience during assembly, and NETEL's own guidance nudges you toward adjusting the length and height carefully before locking everything down. It's also, like the PUSDON, a freestanding piece of furniture rather than a rack that goes inside your air fryer. If your kitchen is genuinely cramped and you want one tall unit doing three jobs, this is my pick of the two shelf-style options; if you'd rather keep things low and wide, the PUSDON is the calmer choice.
aoulela 4Pack
Different job entirely. The aoulela set is four 11-inch stainless steel racks sold together, designed for pressure canners and water-bath canners — Presto 23-quart, All American 21.5-quart, T-fal P31052, Granite Ware 0730-2, Mirro 92122A and similar. They're flat wire racks, about half an inch tall, with a large center hole.
Here's where they overlap with air frying: those same racks work as steaming platforms for fish, vegetables and other foods in a wide pan or cooker, and the four-pack means you can build multiple layers in a single batch — jars on the bottom, a rack, more jars above. If your "double layer" need is really about canning throughput, this is the practical answer, and having four identical racks means you're never short one mid-session.
The trade-off is that this is not a fitted air fryer insert. There's no handle, no nonstick coating, no silicone feet — it's a bare stainless grate that happens to be extremely good at the canning and steaming job. In my opinion it's the best value on this list for anyone who cans or steams in volume, and the least useful for someone who just wants a second level of wings in a Ninja.
This one is for a specific machine: the Ninja 6.5QT OL500 and OL501 Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Fryers. The ALJ is a round replacement crisper tray — the perforated plate that sits in the bottom of the basket and lets air circulate under your food. If yours is worn, warped or missing, this is the swap.
The materials are the selling point. It's food-grade carbon steel with a double-layer coating that ALJ says is high-temperature resistant and slow to flake, plus a handle so you can pull it out of a hot basket without a spatula rescue mission. It's dishwasher safe, BPA-free and non-toxic per the listing, and it ships with three silicone rubber bumpers and a nonstick cleaning cloth. Those bumpers matter more than they sound — they're what you adjust to get a snug fit, and ALJ explicitly tells you to tune the four feet to your specific fryer.
Reality check on sizes: the tray is listed at roughly 7.9 x 7.9 inches and weighs about 0.32 ounces, so it's a light, thin plate. ALJ also notes a 1–3mm measurement tolerance and warns against abrasive pads or metal scrubbers, which will chew up the coating. Treat it gently and it'll last; attack it with steel wool and it won't.
So where does the "double layer" part come in? This tray is the layer. It lifts food off the basket floor so air moves underneath, and pairing it with a second flat rack is how people build a true two-level setup in a Foodi. It's not itself a stacking rack, and it won't fit other brands or other sizes. If you own an OL500 or OL501, though, this is the correct starting point before you add anything above it.
We compared the published specifications and features of each product — dimensions, materials, weight capacity, adjustability, finish and included components — and grouped them by what they're actually designed to do: in-cooker racks, countertop organizers, canning racks and replacement crisper trays. The ranking is our independent editorial opinion, and no brand paid for placement or had any input into the order.
how to use multi layer rack in air fryer
Set the rack in the basket so it sits level on the existing crisper plate or basket floor, then load food in a single layer on each level with space around it for air to move. Keep the top layer lighter and thinner than the bottom so both cook evenly, and check the lower layer earlier than you'd expect — it usually finishes first.
can you stack racks in an air fryer
Yes, if the basket has enough vertical clearance and the racks are stable. The Charbroil Big Easy Bunk is built to add a second level inside The Big Easy, and the aoulela racks are designed to create multiple layers in a batch. Just don't stack so high that food touches the heating element.
can you put a rack in an air fryer
Yes. A flat stainless or coated rack sitting on the crisper plate is a common way to lift food off the bottom so air circulates underneath. The ALJ 6.5QT is a replacement crisper tray for the Ninja OL500 and OL501, and it works as that base layer.
can you use an air fryer without the rack
Yes. The rack or crisper plate is an accessory for airflow and easy lifting, not a requirement for the appliance to run. You'll get less browning on the underside of food and more cleanup in the basket, but nothing breaks by leaving it out.
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See also: Lurrose Double Layer Grill vs TEHAUX Air Fryer Silver, GSZN 5.5QT vs INFRAOVENS Air Fryer Rack, INFRAOVENS Air Fryer Rack vs GCQFZ Air Fryer Wire