Halogen oven versus air fryer

lindatoo

Whilst visiting my 89 yr old Dad today, we got into a discussion on cooking appliances. He had been reading that air fryers were the most economical cooking method after microwaves and slow cookers but he never sees any mention of halogen cookers and wondered why. I have an air fryer and previously had a halogen oven, so I have a little experience of both. Also I googled it for him. and whilst there were several different views the consensus seemed be that air fryers used less energy, however my personal opinion is that halogen ovens being generally larger means he can cook for 2 easier using an air fryer and that they are generally more versatile. (He doesn't eat a lot of fried food) Therefore I recommended he stick with the halogen oven he's got. He was also interested in knowing how his soup maker fared in the energy stakes, he uses his several times a week. I wasn't sure how that would compare to cooking on his electric hob, but said I felt it would probably cost him no more than using the hob. I wonder if anyone else has thoughts on these subjects that I can share with him.

On a separate matter he said that he wouldn't be using his GCH as he believed using 2 electric heaters would be cheaper and despite my fervent disagreement he would not be moved on this, he is very independent and more than a little bit stubborn. Bless him.

mmmmikey

I had a halogen oven for years and when it finally packed in I replaced it with an air fryer. I certainly found the halogen oven more versatile but the air fryer is better for chips - but I guess it really comes down to personal preference. I can't imagine there's much dfference between them in terms of power consumption. My halogen oven was 750W and my air fryer is 1000W, but things are a bit quicker in the air fryer. I doubt an air fryer would ever pay for itself in cost saving over the halogen oven that your Dad already has. Having said that, a plus side for me for changing was that it encouraged me to try and cook a few different things.

As far as the soup maker is concerned, mine uses about 0.3kWh (about 10p worth) of electricity to make 4 good helpings of soup. I can't imagine that you'd save a lot, if anything, using the hob and it's certainly a lot more convenient. (My money saving soup making tip is to buy yellow stickered veg from the Co-op and use them, even if they look a bit tired they're fine for soup. And good to pick up a yellow-stickered bread roll to have with it.)

Swipe

I considered an air fryer but I'm happy with my halogen oven until it packs up. It will do pizza and oven chips in 10 mins if they are cooked using the raised stand and the same for my vegetarian sausages. That's pretty much all I use it for.

facade

My actify takes 20 minutes to cook chips from frozen, so it costs about 16p.

I suspect the gas oven would be cheaper, and I could bake a cake or something on the other shelf...

Astria

facade said:

My actify takes 20 minutes to cook chips from frozen, so it costs about 16p.

I suspect the gas oven would be cheaper, and I could bake a cake or something on the other shelf...

But the heater on your actifry is unlikely to be running constantly, and will cycle depending on the temperature inside, so might actually cost 8p... When I last cooked chips the meter said 0.11 kWh was consumed.

facade

Astria said:

facade said:

My actify takes 20 minutes to cook chips from frozen, so it costs about 16p.

I suspect the gas oven would be cheaper, and I could bake a cake or something on the other shelf...

But the heater on your actifry is unlikely to be running constantly, and will cycle depending on the temperature inside, so might actually cost 8p... When I last cooked chips the meter said 0.11 kWh was consumed.

I thought the heater was on all the time.  Next time I cook chips I'll run it through the smart plug thingie and check how many kwh it used.  0.11 kWh is about 1/4 of my 20 minutes @ 1.4 kw