Air fryer v oven

flopsy1973

Hi 
Not sure if this has been asked before are air fryer really cheaper to use considering they need to be on constantly versus a fan oven which will switch on and off depending on temp thermostat is set to? 
Are they really lot quicker than ovens ? 

Northern_Wanderer

My air-fryer cooks things at lower temps and quicker than the oven. Usually need to cook at 20C lower and 25% less time.

I have cut my electric use by a third since getting my Ninja Multi Cooker. Might be down to me pressure cooking a lot and making more than 4 meals instead of just two. I then freeze stuff, defrost over night and reheat in micro.

Yes, defo saving me money and quicker too.

peter3hg

They don't need to be on constantly. They also have a thermostat and will cycle on and off. Possibly this may not apply to the really cheap ones, but does for the majority.

[Deleted User]

I think people who have them report that they are not constantly on, they turn on and off just like normal ovens do.

And seem to be much faster - which makes sense because there's not so much stuff for them to heat.

Spoonie_Turtle

Cheaper than an electric oven, yes.  Not a gas oven.

rothesy

Hi.  My usage dropped by £5 each month when I bought mines a few months ago.  This was the only change in my usage, in that I stopped using the main electric oven which was on 5 or 6 times each week.  I paid £40 so it has paid for itself really.  When I am not using it, I just store it in the main oven so it is out of view.

DullGreyGuy

Northern_Wanderer said:

My air-fryer cooks things at lower temps and quicker than the oven. Usually need to cook at 20C lower and 25% less time. 

20C lower than a fan oven or conventional oven?

They are effectively a mini-fan oven and so 20C below a conventional oven would make sense but a further 20C below a fan oven would seem fairly low, especially as instructions increasingly these days ask for higher temps than they did when I was younger.

Rodders53

My mini air fryer is no faster than the same product at same temp in the main fan oven.  Many report shorter cook times but I am sceptical. 
Emperor's New Clothes?

Cheaper only when doing a little of anything imho.  They do have a thermostat switch on/off - otherwise there'd be no temperature control when cooking.  They tend to scorch the top layer unless shaken often, especially if 'full' of food.

A useful gadget but not superior or significantly cheaper than using a good oven.

dander

I think this is somewhere that size definitely counts. I live alone and absolutely swear by my air-fryer - hugely faster for me. I have a bottom of the range, small air fryer that works well for cooking single portions. There's no pre-heating, I just throw food in, shut the drawer and it heats a few litres of air to cook the single portion of food and the air has lots of room to circulate. Whereas in the oven, I'm heating a load of space that I'm not using.

 If you have a small space in your air-fryer, but it's all packed with food, there's no room for the hot air to reach the middle so it will cook slowly and badly. If you have one of these massive all-singing all-dancing air fryers, then you are getting close to just replicating your oven so the benefits become less clear. 

[Deleted User]

See this post

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79556790#Comment_79556790

Did some rough calcs and the answer is probably "no".

SuzeQStan

Not sure about the air fryer being cheaper to use than our fan assist electric oven but it sure gets to temperature faster and takes a lot less time to cook. I’m impatient/uninterested cook  so it works for me