Well yeah but it heats up a lot faster using a lot less energy
And it moves way more air than a normal oven, thus removing water vapor faster. This water vapor that partly steams the food, resulting in moisture saturated air that in turn prevents more moisture from escaping, is the main difference between a frying pan and an oven. A deep fryer replaces the water with oil, an air fryer just extracts the water quicker. Both prevent the food from cooking in water or steam, resulting in a crispy texture.
You mean like a... Convection oven?!?!
I'm not here to convert you, but this is just as dismissive as OP. Yes it's a convection oven. We also have a full size convection oven. It does not cook things as dramatically faster as an air fryer does. It's not the same experience at all.
I say this as someone who literally said, "so it's just a small convection oven" until we got one. We have used it literally every day since getting it ~2 years ago.
It's not just any of these things:
- Toaster oven
- Small convection oven
- Small oven
There is so much air moving around in an air fryer that parchment paper without food holding it down gets immediately sucked against the circulating fan filter (which we learned the hard way) and lighter bits of food (like cooked bacon that you might toss in for a quick reheat) will swirl around inside the cook basket.
It may not be for everyone, but it absolutely does cook food faster than in a regular oven, sometimes by an astonishing amount. We have a short but significant list of things that we also think are noticeably better from an air fryer, and nothing I can think of that we've tried comes out worse.
Most people don't even know how to use their microwave properly. You really think they know how to use their convection oven properly? It's not WHAT it does, it's that an air fryer is usually simple and has shit like "turn dial here to cook a chicken".
People like it because they don't know what they're doing and it does it for them.
This is the big thing. So many times we want to heat up some left-overs and that would turn soggy in a microwave, but heating up the oven to reheat a few square inches of food is a vast waste of energy.
These take up a lot of space, though. I think one of those double ovens, where one is only tall enough for one tray, would be ideal. Convection, of course, but I haven't seen a built-in without a convection mode in years.
And convects much more powerfully and efficiently since it's shaped like a cylinder instead of a cube and the fan strength to volume ratio is way better.
It doesn't take half an hour to pre heat, it doesn't heat up the whole house, and I'm not sending my power bill through the roof every time I want to make a meal for one person lol
My oven heats up in like 3-5 mins
Lucky you! I've never in my life used an oven that took less than 15 minutes to pre heat at the bare minimum
I thought that was the case with my gas oven, until I had a timer running one day and realized it was actually more like 10 minutes to get to 450.
Just tested my air frier and it's takes about 2 minutes, but obviously, it's way more energy efficient. Plus easier clean up. I can just throw a bunch of fries and chicken strips in there and it's good to go. Whereas with an oven I'd probably need to buy a special rack or something so all the oils don't stick to the bottom of the fries. Plus heating up all that empty space!
It's a small convection oven. Most ovens are not convection ovens, they're fan ovens or gas ovens. The biggest downside to both of them is that what you're mostly heating up is empty space.
I can practically fill my air fryer with enough food for one person. Clearly more efficient.
Also because of the small size it heats up basically instantly, none of this preheating the oven for 45 minutes before you can cook anything.
They also use air that moves a lot faster than a convection oven, which makes a huge difference.
And they're also rounded instead of a square so the air moves more efficiently, which also makes a huge difference.
Most ovens are not convection ovens, they're fan oven
As far as I understand the nomenclature, fan ovens are convection ovens.
following because I also dk the difference here
The difference is between normal ovens with top and bottom heating elements and a fan that moves the air around on one hand and a real convection oven that has a heating element in front of the fan on the other.
Your air fryer likely runs on 120v if you are in the US and your oven runs on 240v. This changes the efficiency equation.
240v lets you pump more amps through smaller gauge wire, but since it's an air fryer only needs to maintain a certain temperature, 120v is fine, and will not use any additional power over 240v. The amount of total watt hours used is what determines efficiency.
Where 240v is nice is with electric water kettles, where the higher voltage increases your wattage ceiling, letting you dump the energy into the water faster, and thus boiling it faster. A 120v electric kettle would use the same amount of total watt hours to boil the water, but because it's heating it with a lower wattage output, it just takes longer.
Technology Connections did a good video on the subject.
It's a concentrated convection oven. It's not magic, but I definitely like mine. Great for side dishes like roasted veggies. Also uses wayyyyy less power and time than a full oven when you're only baking something small enough to fit in an air fryer
I bought mine because it was cheap and didn't really think i use it all too much. I hardly ever used my oven ever since. It's nothing special per se, but it uses less energy and everything goes way faster, because you don't have to heat up a really big box for a piece of bread.
I thought they were dumb for the longest time, but I only have a conventional oven. Some stuff you want a convection oven for. It's definitely a WAY cheaper alternative than buying a new oven that has both features, that's for sure. Definitely need to adjust to the difference for temperature and time though, I've made that mistake before
Also compared to a full size convection oven, the airflow is much faster and more concentrated in an air fryer, giving not just faster cooking times but a crispier skin effect
It's a nice little convection oven. Especially great for one or two people.
I can't fit one person in, let alone two. What's your secret?
you need the one with shelves rather than the "fryer basket"
Good cutting technique.
I recently acquired my first 'air fryer'.
Yes, it's an oversized, convection toaster oven, with a lot of fancy programs built in that I probably don't need.
Having had a (gas) convection oven in the past, it's just not the same. It heats up faster, and seems to do a better job of circulating air. Supposedly I had a pretty nice convection oven, too.
I can make really tasty falafel in my 'air fryer' that uses a tiny fraction of the oil that is used for deep frying; I wasn't able to make decent falafel in my convection oven. Does a great job with frozen fries and tater tots too. I need to try roasting brussels sprouts in it, maybe some asparagus.
So far, it's an easy 9/10. The only downside is the footprint.
If you do brussel sprouts I’d suggest doing them whole. I e done it a few times and halved them, and once the air fryer gets going you get a nice little storm of loose leaves burning before the rest of the sprouts are cooked.
Air friers are good in a modern kitchen, which is where you find them. Ideally, we would like to have a large restaurant kitchen with all the tools and the workstations, but if we can't we accept compromises, the air fried being one of them. It's good where it is meant to be, a tool in a regular kitchen
I sometimes do a small roast in mine and it works great. Takes maybe 1/2 the time because of not having to wait for it to heat up and it cooks a bit faster overall as well.
I roast my veggies in mine and it's great. Less time, gas, and overall heat than my gas one. Don't cook fish in it, though.
Oven with a fan. Checkmate fanboys.
One might call it a convection oven.
If one doesn't realize you can trick Americans into buying anything that implies frying.
Everything is better fried tho.
Keep in mind we were settled by Scot’s and Germans. We like our frying
Fan-forced oven gang
Even worse - it is a counter appliance and therefore the path of degeneracy.
I got a larger air fryer that has now replaced my small convection oven, microwave, and toaster. If anything, it's reduced my counter appliances.
That's what we have. We found it when our previous microwave finally shit the bed and we got really lucky with the timing and everything; it was on sale and we had the money. It's awesome! Especially in a very small apartment with barely any counter or cabinet space.
I'm going to have to try replacing my microwave with my air fryer. We mostly use the microwave for reheating food, so I'm worried the fryer will dry things out too much. Any tips?
The other thing we use it for is popcorn, but we eat that almost exclusively in another room, so I could totally just move the microwave there (or get a dedicated air popper).
Mine folds up and is also my toaster oven
Link? My wife wants a bigger one, and I don't want to use that much space on such a thing. Costco has this one, but it doesn't fold up.
Are you maybe talking about the Ninja Foodi?
It is a bit more complicated than that. The WAY it moves the air is different than in a convection oven, so it "fries" a bit better.
This guy does a great breakdown of how it isn't "just a convection oven"
Just a heads up, the ?si=... part of the youtube url is a tracker linked to you and your youtube history. Youtube will recommend people who click your link other things you watch. The ? and everything afterward can be safely removed and the link will still work.
Same is true for Amazon and other POS websites. Always try slimming your links before sharing with others.
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this, interesting recipe too, I will try it. The cross section of the air fryer was cool.
When you're paying to heat 5000% more air than you need to, it doesn't matter what the device that saves you money is called.
You're also trying to move 5000% more air than you need to in a square instead of a cylinder, so you're not going to get nearly as much crisp either.
Toaster oven with a fan.
Oversized fan. A lot of toaster ovens already were able to do convection cooking, just need to move more air and provide a basket to call it an air fryer.
As a side note, I highly recommend a good toaster oven to everyone. It heats up so much faster than the normal oven, and when reheating things, it doesn't ruin the texture like a microwave. And I don't have to store separate toaster and air fryer.
And a better shape. Putting a fan in a box is like trying to stir a pot of water in a square pot. The convention toaster oven form factor is dumb.
Yeah it is a small oven, but you use it like a microwave.
Throw it in, put on a timer, and in a couple of minutes your thing will be ready.
And it’ll taste so much better than when you put it in a microwave. Microwave makes things soggy. ovens make things crispy.
Right? Why is a small, fast oven a disappointment?
Mine also comes as an air grill and making hamburgers from frozen patties takes roughly 15 minutes, bonus it doesn't make a mess on my stovetop and most of the fat drips at the bottom.
I could say the second part of your sentence about a lot of things
I like to bang your mom because she doesn't make a mess on my stovetop and most of the fat drips at the bottom.
Huh. Neat.
There are two kinds of reactions to trying out an air fryer:
"Wow, this is so much better than a normal oven" and
"Wow, this is so much worse than a normal fryer"
I am very much of the latter opinion
Mine is
“Wow, this can prepare so many different things in an easy and lazy way, i dont care if its not as tasty, beats not having food because i was to tired”
Deep fat fryers are fairly easy to use though. Also quite quick. They don't need cleaning with every use (maybe every 5 or 6 uses). What they aren't good for is having a clean kitchen. Creates steam, oil splatter, and they smell when in use. Can be a complete bitch to clean too, especially depending on the design. Even the easy to clean ones eat soap as the waste and dirt is oil saturated.
Eh, to me the thing is trying to do is cook food in a way that's similar to deep frying, but with a tiny fraction of the oil. I think they do that reasonably well. It's not for everything, but they really are good for a number of things - way better for reheating leftover fried food than either a microwave or regular oven. I like the way vegetables come out, too.
The only time I used an air fryer was when my appliances got destroyed during height of covid. I ordered new ones right away and had to change my order after 5 months because none of them had arrived or had a possible date. I borrowed an air fryer to get me by. I ate a lot of pizza rolls.
If only there wasn't a repository of human knowledge that could have cleared everything up before this meme was made:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convection_oven#Air_fryer
And BTW, it's closer to an impingement oven
You mean the Wikipedia article that is literally about convection ovens and has a subheader for air fryers and literally a line where people agree that some convection ovens are better at producing crispier food than air fryers? That smoking barrel of an article?
Man it almost looks like the OOP wrote both.
The drawer-style air fryers are kinda dumb but the ones with the rotating basket on the inside really do cook french fries way better than you could in a regular oven spread out on a sheet pan and without having to heat up a bunch of oil in a pan to get similar texture.
Came here to say this. It feels like they're so attached to the "fryer" narrative that they designed it so they can say "look, it even has a fryer basket" but that basket is dumb. When I had one it had shelves which meant I could make more stuff at a time and what I made came out better because it wasn't all piled on top of itself. Also the rotisserie with the skewer made whole chickens pretty quickly and the rotating basket made the bangin'est oven fries.
French fries should be fried not baked.
They are fried. The store-bought kind are essentially just being reheated from frozen whether it's in an oven or in an air fryer.
Air fryers are basically just small convection ovens. If you have an oven then an air fryer does nothing you can't already do. That said, it does cook some things slightly faster due to the confined space. I've found mine will cook a chicken in just over an hour saving maybe 20 or 30 minutes on a regular oven. I guess it also saves energy / money but whether it ever pays for itself is another question.
Also heats up considerably faster than a normal oven. It's so good for reheating most stuff.
Generally it will cook a lot of things better than consumer ovens because consumer ovens are fucking garbage.
But yeah, it's just a small convection oven that heats faster and more evenly. I love mine. I mostly only use the oven for things that require a solid tray or don't do well with the fan in close proximity (mostly certain frozen foods). And baking.
I have a convection hob that plugs in and it's way better than the electric elements built into the stove for most stuff.
I'm not going to cook a whole turkey any time soon. Bigger ovens like this are a product of post war consumerism.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/354_Appliances_53.jpg?fit=335,335
I've had multiple airfryers, not against them per se. There are some things they cook better IMO. Cocktail sausages come out well. Whole chickens too. Anything you can fit the relatively small dimensions and either lays flat on the bottom or can withstand agitation/stirring AND has good heat dispersion / circulation. Small portions work better. Generally they're easy to clean although steel baskets and plastic fixtures on tend to be very flimsy and they don't last more than a year or two of regular use. I even had an airfryer which had this stirring mechanism in it which supposedly negated the need to turn stuff over but often it just caused some foods to disintegrate into starchy crumbs.
As for consumer ovens, can't say I've had any major issues ever with them, be they electric or gas. They're less efficient and slower to warm which is their downside. Once they're up and cooking I think they work fine and are obviously more versatile.
Pick the best tool for the job at hand basically. I think also, that something like an instant pot (or similar) is a better and more versatile device to buy before an airfryer.
Air fryer is just pure convenience. I could cook the chicken in the oven and probably have it come out okay. But, I could cook it in the air fryer, have nice and crunchy skin and save a pan.
Yes but I have an air fryer setting on my oven. It was much more expensive and does nothing exciting!
It is a small fan forced oven. Good for heating up frozen snacks but usually too small to cope with large families and probably not worth bothering if you have a good oven. Since I have a completely shit oven that cooks unevenly, never the right temp, takes ages to heat and heats the whole house up in summer just to make some chicken nuggets for the kids I think they are awesome. If I actually gave a shit about cooking I probably wouldn't bother. If was single I would probably still rate the toaster oven as the most versatile benchtop appliance (though the biggest fire risk) followed by sandwich press but if you have to heat up manufactured rendered chicken waste shaped like dinosaurs for kids they are surprisingly practical.
Good for heating up frozen snacks but usually too small to cope with large families
What would you recommend for cooking your whole large family?
A family barbeque
Toaster oven Master race
I'm here for toaster oven supremacy. I like seeing the thing i'm heating
Of course there is the toaster oven / toast-r-oven divide. Perhaps we can put our differences aside in order to fight off the heathens.
Clean countertops master race
Gotta get that undermount 💪
I've already seen ovens that now have an 'air fryer' mode in place of 'convection'
My newer oven has that. They suggest using a special pan of some kind for air frying. I think it also does convection baking.
Don't ask me what the difference is.
The special pan allows air flow at the bottom. A normal pan being solid won't. And for people like me, air flow on 5/6 surfaces is freaking good enough.
Faster moving air, which means faster heat exchange
Yeah, but on an oven it is so much slower and doesn't cook as well. All because it is about 4 times the space that needs to warm up.
It's an adult easy bake oven.
And I won't be ashamed of that.
Yeah, why should baking be difficult though?
Anon is clearly smooth brained and in capable of telling the time or doing basic arithmetic
Big oof
Air fryers have changed the game. My life is different now. I'm a changed man. I fry my food with the air. I will never go back.
air fryer seems like if your oven was smaller and then you had to wash it after every use. and also sometimes it’s made out of plastic (nonstick material)
Why are you washing your air fryer after every use? Just put down aluminum foil or parchment paper, same as you do in the oven.
made out of plastic (nonstick material)
So is it plastic or PFAS?
It's PFAS all the way down, literally.
Mine is a toaster oven/air fryer combo and it's amazing. I don't even touch my normal oven anymore.
I don't like things on the counter so I'll continue to use my oven. After 1.5 years, I just figured out that it has a pizza setting that actually works. No more soggy Totino's for this chick!
It actually flips up, so it takes up minimal counter space when you're not using it
Would you share the model name please? I'm looking for something like that.
Ninja Foodi SP101
I got the cosori toaster oven. Quality is pretty good for the price. Customer service is great.
Ninja
It's an Adult Easy Bake Oven
I've found that air fryers often make far better results than conventional ovens. Conventional ovens tend to cook things unevenly, will more easily burn some parts of the food, take more time to cook and dry things out.
You'll never get homemade chicken wings as crunchy and juicy as you can get them in an air fryer in a conventional oven.
I disagree with your last sentence. Not saying air fryers aren't amazing for wings, but you definitely can get juicy, uber-crunchy wings out of a conventional oven with a little bit of prep. A dry brine and a little baking soda will make some insanely juicy wings with a glassy skin in the oven. I prefer to fry mine personally, but that isn't always convenient.
dry brine and a little baking soda
smoker nerd checking in - this is the way, the light and the truth. I can get wings with skin so crisp it shatters when you hit it with a fork with some baking soda in the rub, on smoke at 225 for a bit and then finished on a ripping hot grill or in a 500f oven
For the longest time in my life I didn’t realize that a conventional oven is different from a convection oven. Some regular size ovens have a convection mode even though they are also conventional.
I assume that’s why when someone finally came up with a decent word substitute for “convection” – that is air fryer – it sold well.
It's because it's trying to move more air in a cube. Air fryers don't have to move as much air meaning it will all be moved more evenly, and you don't have sharp corners creating turbulence. Convection ovens are a great idea, putting them in a conventional oven that was never designed for the concept isn't. Air fryers are what convection ovens should be.
It is waaay faster and easier to use than an oven.
It's small and powerful convection oven. I'd still prefer a microwave + oven
Why not a microwave + oven + air fryer?
An air fryer is fantastic for things you'd normally cook in an oven, but it gets them way more crispy without all the oil. You can even "deep fry" by spritzing some oil on top.
If your oven has a convection feature, you can just use that, but it's also way bigger (read: more energy to cook small portions).
Ok I hear you and offer the far superior, microwave + convection toaster oven (air fryer toaster oven ok just don't get a bad one)
Toaster oven beats the issue of huge amount of wasted energy and heat and convection is basically 80% of the way to air fryer and also will make general baking faster and more even. So you can use them in place of the oven for lots of things.
Cheap air fryer toaster ovens are often crap though and more just garbage air fryer that opens differently. Don't buy those.
I've never really found much use for a microwave, but I do too much pastry to be without an oven. And my cakes wouldn't fit in an air fryer.
Stupid name for a nifty product
I just use a small toaster oven for small portions or if i need to hwat something up. I got it for free and i dont have to shell out for another "new" appliance that's actually just a rebrand
Just buy this, it does everything you need if you are feeding 4 or less.
Instant Pot Duo Crisp 11-in-1 Air Fryer and Electric Pressure Cooker Combo with Multicooker Lids that Fries, Steams, Slow Cooks, Dehydrates,Free App With Over 800 Recipes, Black/Stainless Steel, 8QT https://a.co/d/8vKgQks
I got a duo crisp. I was leery because I was mainly into pressure cooking, but once I got all steel inserts (no teflon) I've unlocked a lot of utility with it. Cool thing for baking in cold months: put an inch of water in, set it to a 35c sous vide, and put your proofing bowl on top with a cover. The heat with an air gap is enough to keep yeast happy even in the dead of winter.
Between that, warming up leftovers, and baking things quickly, I'm happy with it.
Storing the lid can be a pain, but now I keep it on a hook and I'm smitten.
Agree with going for a combo unit, but I went with one that combines a microwave, air fryer, convection oven, and broiler. So far I’ve only used it as a microwave and air fryer, but it’s got a good footprint and works well in both of those capacities. It also has programming to cook in multiple steps (eg defrost then broil).
I have the instant pot vortex plus and love it. Same brand. They make great air fryers
I had one of the older style air fryers around 12 years ago. Those were much smaller and not oven like. I think they were ideal for making small portions and especially good for re-heating food the next day.
These newer ones do seem a bit like a smaller, more efficient oven. Again, I reckon it would be useful for a lot of smaller stuff I use the main oven for, but we just don't have the space in the kitchen for one.
„It makes way better fries then the regular oven” Well, have you also shaken the oven fries every 15 seconds?
I don't shake air fryer fries at all and they're still better, but I live in the US where convection ovens are very uncommon in households. That's why air fryers are so popular here.
I have one and the air fryer is still way better.
Yeah, I figure it's for all those poor fuckers renting and living in somebody's kitchen, but to add further insult to injury, most of the kitchen appliances have been removed to make room for a "private bathroom" (i.e. a toilet and a shower) leaving you with at most a small fridge and a microwave.
Mine does both and rotisserie chicken.
they are literally just small ovens. They're toaster ovens with a fan. Or maybe no fan at all, who knows. I don't have on, on account of the whole oven situation.
