Air fryer v oven

MuckChucker

wittynamegoeshere said:

Can someone define what an "air fryer" actually is?  I've seen adverts for the Tefal Actifry years ago, this has a stirrer that slowly turns everything.  So you can chuck in some spuds and a bit of oil and it will all get stirred while it cooks so won't burn and ends up like a lighter version of fried.  I get this, it all makes sense, it's a new thing that hasn't existed before and will make lower fat food.

But by the sounds of it, most of them now don't have a stirrer so are just a box with a heater and fan recirculating hot air.  That isn't anything new, it's been around for decades and it's called a fan oven.

Table top small ovens have also been around for decades.  The door's on the front instead of the top but it's a box that gets hot that you can put things in.

Is this whole trend just marketing, getting people to buy something that's been around for years that many already have?

I don't think the activfry thing was ever labelled an "air fryer" more a competitor iirc. I can remember I looked into them when we bought our old Philips one back in 2015 - I see the prices of those have shot up, was £70 back then. We only recently replaced it with a cheap (£35) Tower model which will definitely not last as long, nor do I like it as much. Cracking devices though, certainly beats powering up the 77l oven to do some nuggets/fish fingers/waffles etc. for the kids. 

We only recently started getting a bit more adventurous with it too, chicken breasts come out lovely and juicy with just a little crispness on the edges. Not tried salmon yet.

Given the nature of this place, I'm very tempted to do a proper cost analysis of use but I am certain the AF uses much less energy based on a quick look at the Bright app. I will say that I didn't pay the blindest bit of attention to energy specs when buying the big oven at the start of the year and it does heat itself unnaturally quickly so I'm guessing it's an easy win for the AF on that front.

Niv

We fairly recently bought an air fryer. It was £55.

It is part of a drive to reduce the main oven use to save a few quid. It is coupled with using a slow cooker and switching up some of the meals we have. We still use the oven if we need to.

There are without doubt some cost savings being made here but I honestly haven't ran the numbers accurately enough to confirm payback time. Everything we cook in the air fryer does take less time than in the main oven, how much less is variable based on the item. 

It is also good for doing a bit of garlic bread to have with spag bol etc as otherwise the oven needs to go on just for that relatively small item.

P1Fanatic

[Deleted User] said:

I can't remember the last time I pre-heated my oven.  I thought that was one of those old-fashioned things that people only do out of habit, but that you don't really need to do any more.

I can't say I've noticed any difference, but maybe I'm missing out on something.

Same here. Mine takes less than 5 mins to hit 200c fan and that's without enabling "fast warmup" so I just throw stuff in as I turn it on and have never noticed any adverse affects. There might be the odd thing that requires a preheated oven but I am struggling to think of one as the only pizza I do is outside in an Ooni gas oven and things like yorkshire puddings I've already been using the oven for other stuff so its ready to go.

As always its dependent on your circumstances, what you already have, what you cook, how many you cook for etc.

P1Fanatic

wittynamegoeshere said:

P1Fanatic said:

Deleted_User said:

I can't remember the last time I pre-heated my oven.  I thought that was one of those old-fashioned things that people only do out of habit, but that you don't really need to do any more.

I can't say I've noticed any difference, but maybe I'm missing out on something.

There might be the odd thing that requires a preheated oven but I am struggling to think of one as the only pizza I do is outside in an Ooni gas oven and things like yorkshire puddings I've already been using the oven for other stuff so its ready to go.

How many differently-shaped/named ovens does one household need?

Obviously that depends on what you like to cook. Some things cant be cooked properly in a regular oven and some times its just nice to cook & entertain outside.

ariarnia

P1Fanatic said:

wittynamegoeshere said:

P1Fanatic said:

Deleted_User said:

I can't remember the last time I pre-heated my oven.  I thought that was one of those old-fashioned things that people only do out of habit, but that you don't really need to do any more.

I can't say I've noticed any difference, but maybe I'm missing out on something.

There might be the odd thing that requires a preheated oven but I am struggling to think of one as the only pizza I do is outside in an Ooni gas oven and things like yorkshire puddings I've already been using the oven for other stuff so its ready to go.

How many differently-shaped/named ovens does one household need?

Obviously that depends on what you like to cook. Some things cant be cooked properly in a regular oven and some times its just nice to cook & entertain outside.

like asking how many pares of shoes someone needs. technically 0 if were being pedantic but most people will have somewhere between 1 and 100

P1Fanatic

ariarnia said:

P1Fanatic said:

wittynamegoeshere said:

P1Fanatic said:

Deleted_User said:

I can't remember the last time I pre-heated my oven.  I thought that was one of those old-fashioned things that people only do out of habit, but that you don't really need to do any more.

I can't say I've noticed any difference, but maybe I'm missing out on something.

There might be the odd thing that requires a preheated oven but I am struggling to think of one as the only pizza I do is outside in an Ooni gas oven and things like yorkshire puddings I've already been using the oven for other stuff so its ready to go.

How many differently-shaped/named ovens does one household need?

Obviously that depends on what you like to cook. Some things cant be cooked properly in a regular oven and some times its just nice to cook & entertain outside.

like asking how many pares of shoes someone needs. technically 0 if were being pedantic but most people will have somewhere between 1 and 100

Haha. I was going reply "how long is a piece of string" 😁

silverwhistle

I saw this thread earlier and thought I'd now comment. Just back from mum as the carers don't come in Monday lunchtime. I'd bought a small pastry encased pie for one and cooked it in my small and cheap airfryer which fits easily into a large supermarket bag so I can carry it down there.

The packaging said in the oven 170' for 40-45 minutes, which doesn't include the time for coming to temperature whereas in the airfryer it was all done in 25 minutes. Nice crisp pastry and she polished it all off which slightly surprised me. 

I use my oven when appropriate but the airfryer does use less peak energy as my monitor shows and it is quicker for some of the things I do. I'm not going to produce the forensic evidence some of the sceptics on here seem to require but I'm happy it's both a time and energy saving tool to have in the kitchen. especially for somebody single like me. Bread rolls made when I batch bake then from the freezer are ready and crisp with 30 seconds in the microwave and a few minutes in the airfryer, as an example.

mmmmikey

silverwhistle said:

I saw this thread earlier and thought I'd now comment. Just back from mum as the carers don't come in Monday lunchtime. I'd bought a small pastry encased pie for one and cooked it in my small and cheap airfryer which fits easily into a large supermarket bag so I can carry it down there.

The packaging said in the oven 170' for 40-45 minutes, which doesn't include the time for coming to temperature whereas in the airfryer it was all done in 25 minutes. Nice crisp pastry and she polished it all off which slightly surprised me. 

I use my oven when appropriate but the airfryer does use less peak energy as my monitor shows and it is quicker for some of the things I do. I'm not going to produce the forensic evidence some of the sceptics on here seem to require but I'm happy it's both a time and energy saving tool to have in the kitchen. especially for somebody single like me. Bread rolls made when I batch bake then from the freezer are ready and crisp with 30 seconds in the microwave and a few minutes in the airfryer, as an example.

No, no, no, no, no.

You can't just come on here and start commenting on a device that you may know as an air fryer but may or may not work by actually frying things in air, and you certainly can't make vague claims suggesting it might actually be of some use without a sworn statement confirming that from a member of the Royal Society duly countersigned by an MP, Judge and Archbishop. Whatever were you thinking of? Was your post approved by a Member of the Union of Pedantic Posturing (Energy Thread Section) - or MUPPETS as they are affectionately known?

Anyway, I digress. Have you tried cooking part baked bread bought from the supermarket in your "lifestyle cooking device" (or air fryer as they are more commonly known)?

ariarnia

 

one of the reasons i love this site is because we all approach things differently. we have technical experts and people who work in the industry and math wizzards and normal people. live and let live i say

P1Fanatic

silverwhistle said:

I saw this thread earlier and thought I'd now comment. Just back from mum as the carers don't come in Monday lunchtime. I'd bought a small pastry encased pie for one and cooked it in my small and cheap airfryer which fits easily into a large supermarket bag so I can carry it down there.

The packaging said in the oven 170' for 40-45 minutes, which doesn't include the time for coming to temperature whereas in the airfryer it was all done in 25 minutes. Nice crisp pastry and she polished it all off which slightly surprised me. 

I use my oven when appropriate but the airfryer does use less peak energy as my monitor shows and it is quicker for some of the things I do. I'm not going to produce the forensic evidence some of the sceptics on here seem to require but I'm happy it's both a time and energy saving tool to have in the kitchen. especially for somebody single like me. Bread rolls made when I batch bake then from the freezer are ready and crisp with 30 seconds in the microwave and a few minutes in the airfryer, as an example.

That seems a long time even in a conventional fan oven. The wife is partial to cheese & onion pasties and they are 14 mins from chilled or 24 mins from frozen (at 180c).

I'm intrigued how one converts standard cooking instructions over to air fryer usage - do they have some kind of auto mode where they detect the weight or is it a generic cook it for x% of the fan oven instructions and reduce the temp by 10-20 degrees?