Air Fryers – Are they worth the hype?
Air Fryers seem to be all the rage at the moment. Most people who have them seem to rave about them but we were somewhat on the fence. The general selling points seem to be
- Faster
- Easier
- Cheaper
- Healthier
- Tastier
- Crispier
So, how do they actually stack up?
Well, in the name of gadgetry goodliness, we got one for Christmas and can now tell you what we think! You know we love a good gadget and can’t resist analysing them for all they are worth. Here’s our thoughts so far.
Which Air Fryer
Before I start just a quick note on the Air Fryer that we have. I did a little bit of research before Christmas and then went off the idea – because Anna got grumpy about the idea of having an Air Fryer for Christmas!! We then bumped into a friend in Curry’s (Yes Mel, it’s all your fault!). Curry’s had a promotion on a Ninja Foodie AF300 and Mel was going on about it and saying how good they were. She already had an Air Fryer but was thinking of getting an upgrade. After a quick cup of coffee we were sold with the idea. We returned to Curry’s and bought it.
So, that’s the model we have. It has two drawers and does all the usual things that an Air Fryer does without missing any of the bells or whistles. I won’t review it here and tell you all of it’s features as there are plenty of places that have already done that. Suffice it to say, we’ve used it a fair bit now and it is easy to set up and get to grips with and does seem to cook food well. We have no complaints so far. But, is it better than a conventional oven and how much will we continue to use it? Read on to find out.
Versatility – What can you cook in it?
Versatility
Air Fryer: 2/5Conventional Oven: 5/5
This was the question we had to ask ourselves initially and part of the reason why we were reluctant to get one. Obviously, you can cook a huge range of foods in an Air Fryer. Apparently, you can even bake cakes in the one we’ve got. However, their main use seems to be for things you would fry or roast. Most people rave about the chips or fries they get from an air fryer.
We don’t necessarily cook a lot of foods like this. You can’t for instance cook a nice saucy curry in an air fryer, nor could you do pasta in a ragu sauce. Similarly, things like lasagne or cottage pie would be difficult in an air fryer. We also have quite a few meal boxes from the likes of Gousto and Hello Fresh. We weren’t really sure how many of these we’d be able to cook in the air fryer.
Overall, it is fairly versatile, but nowhere near as versatile as a conventional oven with a hob. I’d only give the air fryer 2/5 for versatility whereas a conventional oven and hob gets 5/5.
Speed
Speed
Air Fryer: 5/5Conventional Oven: 4/5
Next on my list of criteria is speed. Is an Air Fryer faster than a conventional oven? The answer here is a definite ‘yes’. However, I don’t think it’s a huge amount faster. In general, you save 3-5 minutes of cooking time on things such as fries, fillets of meat and such like. Much of this is due to the fact that the air fryer heats up a lot quicker than a conventional oven.
The amount of space the air fryer needs to heat is tiny compared to an oven so it takes no time at all to reach temperature and start cooking your food. Preparation and cleaning up afterwards is easy too. So, it’s not going to make a huge difference to your cooking times but it does just beat the conventional oven.
Easier
Ease of Use
Air Fryer: 4/5Conventional Oven: 4/5
There really isn’t much difference here. Food still needs to be prepped in just the same way the only difference is whether you put it on a baking tray for the oven or into one of the drawers of the air fryer. You do however have to make sure you jiggle the food around every 5 minutes or so in the air fryer so that everything gets cooked evenly. We do generally turn things in the oven as well, but usually only once halfway through cooking. I’d say there was little difference in ease of use between the two, let’s give them both 4/5.
Cheaper
Opearating Cost
Air Fryer: 4/5Conventional Oven: 3/5
I think (from our limited tests) the air fryer is cheaper. We haven’t analysed electricity usage fully but the air fryer seems to use around 1.4Kw while it ‘son and the oven around 1.8kw. That said, we didn’t see if either of them start using less once they are up to full temperature. Presumably they do. I think the conventional oven probably drops its consumption by a greater amount once it is at full temperature and has better insulation to retain that heat. The fact that the air fryer is likely to be on for slightly less time and consumes less power means that it is consuming power for a shorter period of time should be cheaper to use.
This does come with a caveat though. It’s obviously only cheaper if you can cook everything in your meal in the air fryer. If for instance you’re having pizza and chips then it’s best to do it all in the conventional oven. The pizza is too large for the air fryer so you have the oven on, if you then decided to do the chips in the air fryer you’d be using twice as much electricity.
So, I’ll give the Air Fryer 4/5 and the Oven 3/5 for costs, but the air fryer only wins if it’s being used instead of rather than as well as the oven.
Healthier
Healthiness
Air Fryer: 4/5Conventional Oven: 4/5
Once again, this isn’t a straightforward answer. If you usually fry food and will just be swapping your usual frying techniques for an air fryer then it will be healthier. You’ll use less oil and fat from the food drips down below the crisping plate. This means that it is healthier than frying foods and also often healthier than roasting foods in a conventional oven.
However, if owning an air fryer means that you’re likely to eat less healthy foods than you otherwise would then maybe it won’t end up being healthier. Vegetables cooked in an air fryer aren’t going to be healthier than steamed veg. Lots of this will come down to how you use it too. It’s perfectly possible to cook healthily with either an air fryer or a conventional oven but by the same token if you cover processed foods with oil and salt and cook them then they’ll be unhealthy whatever cooking method you use!
I think therefore that they should probably score similarly. I know our air fryer is new so we’ve been experimenting with it, but it probably has encouraged us to eat more in the way of fries and ‘air fryable’ foods than usual. So, overall I’ll give them both 4/5.
Tastier
Tastiness
Air Fryer: 5/5Conventional Oven: 4/5
I know people go on about how crispy fries done in an air fryer are, or how well meat cooks but we haven’t really noticed a massive difference. There’s nothing wrong with the food that comes out of it, but then again there was never anything wrong with the food we cooked in a conventional oven. Things do crisp up nicely though so I will give the air fryer an extra point!
I’ve just realised that the next point in my original list was ‘crsipier’ – well, I’ve just covered that in the tastier section above, so no points for either here as the air fryer has just been given an extra point for crispiness already!
Overall
Toting those scores up and it’s a dead heat – who’d have thought it, 24 points each. No, I didn’t plan that at all, it’s just how it came out. That does kind of make sense though. Overall an air fryer and a conventional oven both cook delicious food. The Air Fryer can be quicker, cheaper and healthier for certain foods but the conventional oven with a hob is much more versatile. The conventional oven can be just as healthy and can do everything that the air fryer does and more. However, the air fryer does excel at certain foods and has the advantage for these.
If you could only have one then the conventional oven with a hob is definitely the way to go. If you have the money and space for an air fryer as well then you won’t regret it. Talking of space, they do take up quite a bit of room on the countertop.
We have plenty of gadgets in our kitchens. Some get used lots initially and then end up resigned to the back of a cupboard never to be seen again. Some get used every day so take up valuable real estate on the countertops. In our house, this includes the microwave, the soda stream machine and the coffee machine. Others get used from time to time, for us these are the food processor and Hotel Chocolate Velvetiser. We do have some things such as the electric whisk that also get used from time to time but are small enough and used infrequently enough that they can live inside a cupboard.
The air fryer is far too large to be put away in a cupboard so has to live on the countertop where it takes up quite a bit of space. Only time will tell if we continue using it enough to keep it there. I think we will.
