Oven energy use v air fryer

BellaBlondykeTheThird

We have both a Neff electric fan double oven and a Dual tray air fryer.

I do find it funny the way many money saving people are saying bin the oven for an air fryer so wanted to share some figures.

We had the oven on for 95 minutes today and cooked the following over that period.

8 jacket potatoes
2 pasta bakes
4 fish cakes
10 Banana protein bites
Sweet potato fries
Roasted Parsnip/carrot mix

The pasta bakes are for the next few days as are the jacket potatoes and running the oven at 180oC it used 1.6kwh.

To do the above in the air fryer we would have to run both sides 4-5 times so what do you think our Ninja can draw 2.4kwh using both draws but as the oven won't be on all the time.

I think batch cooking wins even with the reheating of pasta bake in the microwave but I don't mind being proved wrong.

subjecttocontract

That's entirely what I would have expected. If you have lots of things to cook, cooking them at the same time in the oven makes sense and will be cheaper than cooking them individually in an air fryer. However, if like us there are just 2 of you and you can cook a meal in an air fryer it's generally gonna be cheaper than cooking it in an oven.

BellaBlondykeTheThird

subjecttocontract said:

That's entirely what I would have expected. If you have lots of things to cook, cooking them at the same time in the oven makes sense and will be cheaper than cooking them individually in an air fryer. However, if like us there are just 2 of you and you can cook a meal in an air fryer it's generally gonna be cheaper than cooking it in an oven.

Even for two of us we batch cook. Just something we have always done make use of all shelves in the oven when on.

I wonder if the energy saving advice should be learn how to batch cook before spending £200 or a bug enough air fryer for a family?

masonic

I only have a cheap air fryer, so I don't know if they are all like this but mine continuously draws in cold air and runs it over a hot element and down onto the food momentarily before being blown out of the exhaust. That's very inefficient, compared to say a fan assisted oven, which cycles the hot air, but with the latter there is a larger thermal mass to get up to temperature initially which is inefficient for small amounts. I generally use an air fryer to achieve results I couldn't get using a conventional oven, or to reduce mess / use of oils when frying. I have definitely avoided using it in the evening when I was on a TOU tariff due to the high energy consumption. I try to make use of the microwave or hob for cooking smaller amounts economically, or pressure/slow cooker for batch cooking. Combining these two methods makes it very quick and easy to get a meal ready on a weekday evening.

Scot_39

It's like a lot of these gadgets - it comes down to how you use them and what you cook / when.

I thought long and hard before getting one - dismissing as hype initially - and not having tons of space on worksurfaces - but have never regretted the small outlay (about £50-60 for supermarket own brand).

It can take best part of 20min for my built in oven to reach 200C at 2.2 kWh - (with convection fan and a lower setpoints maybe 10-15 mins) - there's just a lot more bulk (metal) to heat - my medium sized air fryer takes about 3m at around 1.7kWh - then mark spaces after - but seldom needs to run for the 20 minutes - even cooking multiple things.

It's not wasted heat in winter - but it is in summer.

But it's not just energy - for me - its time.

I can often have het - I'm a lazy singleton so often from fridge or freezer packaged foods - dishes - faster than my built in oven takes to heat to cooking temperature - and then cook for a longer time once it has been put in.

My E10 off peak starts at 8pm GMT - and I'm normally disciplined enough to wait - so shifting even 15-20 mins for a hot meal after a long day - another important bonus of the tech.

cannugec5

I have, and love , my air fryer. But I’m careful about when I use it. I love roast potatoes in it. But today I was roasting a chicken and potatoes for three. It made sense to use the oven. 

I like jacket potatoes. I don’t like reheated jacket potatoes so I won’t cook them to reheat later. I mostly cook them in the oven when the main part of the meal is also in the oven. 

calleyw

Don't wander on to the air fryer FB groups.  As people have got rid of the cooker so there is a gap in the kitchen.  I assume they own and don't rent. Blows my mind, I don't use my oven that often but do my hob so I won't be getting rid of the my gas cooker any time soon. But I do own 2 ninja's

Green_hopeful

We don’t pre heat our oven unless it’s a cake or Yorkshire pudding or something. We set it to 160 fan and generally the item is cooked before it reaches temperature. If we are going to bake a cake we try to make sure it is on a day when we are already using the oven. 

Obs with meat you have to check it’s cooked through. 

I have noticed when batch cooking the timings are not necessarily the same. We were cooking a roast dinner with roast veg and it took ages longer for a chocolate brownie to cook. I guess it was the moisture in the oven changing how it cooked. 

Krakkkers

I used my today when my solar panels were outputting enough to run it for free but if i had used my main oven it would have to have drawn an additional 800w from the grid.
Over a long period the element is on for around 40% of the time so my 1400w air fryer uses 560wh.

northernstar007

bella you can start doing my teas if you want

BooJewels

I was given a small one for Christmas and simply don't see it as an either/or scenario - the air fryer supplements my other cooking methods - it's just another option.  I use my microwave, grill, hob, oven and air fryer for different things - often in combination.  I had a fry up tonight for the first time in maybe 3 years as I've been craving one for ages.  I did bacon in the air fryer in about 9 minutes and it was beautifully cooked and did everything else in a large frying pan that doesn't need fat.

As I live alone, it's ideal for me for smaller quantities - and I am actually really liking how it cooks too.  Mention of baked potatoes - I buy the frozen ones as I eat so few potatoes it's not worth buying raw ones.  I microwave them for 4 minutes and in the air fryer at max for about 6 or 7 minutes whilst I lay the table etc and they crisp up lovely.  Likewise with dishes like lasagne - assemble it, microwave it to start it going and about 12-15 mins in the fryer makes it lovely and golden, like it's been in the oven for 40 minutes.  So for me, the big saving is in time.  Plus it cooks nice and evenly.