Although air fryers are extremely popular, can they match the performance of a standard convection oven?
You probably have one acquaintance who can’t stop gushing about how their air fryer has changed how they cook. You might be wondering what precisely an air fryer is and how it differs from the oven you already have in your home as you nod along as they discuss their wonderfully crispy tofu or how quickly it can cook a sweet potato. Is it really necessary to purchase new kitchen equipment that would occupy valuable counter space?
Convection vs. Traditional Oven
Let’s start with ovens 101 and discuss the many types of domestic ovens. A mechanism known as “natural convection,” which happens when cooler air falls and hot air rises to create a flow of hot air that cooks the food, is what most ovens rely on to function. Due to the uneven distribution of this heat throughout the oven, food that is closest to the bottom heating elements will cook more quickly.
Convection ovens, as opposed to regular ovens, include a fan that helps the hot air flow more effectively, cooking the food more quickly and uniformly. Also, the fan makes it possible for better temperature control and heat distribution, both of which are highly beneficial for baking.
An air fryer is what?
Little convection ovens are essentially what air fryers are, with a few important exceptions. The air fryer heats up and cooks food more quickly than a full-sized oven even though they both employ fans to circulate hot air. Moreover, drip trays are frequently included with air fryers to catch any extra oil or moisture, minimizing the amount of fat and calories you consume. The temperature and cooking time can be changed to fit the particular recipe, and the majority of air fryers have pre-programmed cooking settings for various food varieties.
Comparative Testing
We prepared a few typical food items in the air fryer and convection oven in order to determine which oven is most effective for cooking particular foods. Below is what we discovered.
1. French fries, first
We prepared two bags of Trader Joe’s frozen French fries—one in an air fryer and the other on a rimmed baking sheet—in a convection oven. I had to cook the fries in two batches because the entire bag wouldn’t fit in my air fryer. Yet, making two batches of fries in the air fryer took the same amount of time as making them in the convection oven. The French fries cooked more quickly and were unquestionably crispier in the air fryer than they were in the oven, but if I had to prepare an entire bag, I’d use the oven to avoid having to make two batches.
USE: Both the convection oven and the air fryer. I would use the convection oven if producing a full bag and the air fryer if making a half bag.
2. Salmon
Salmon is a staple protein in our home since I can quickly thaw and cook it because we always have it frozen in individual servings. I prepared two 5-ounce fish fillets using my go-to Miso Maple-Glazed Salmon recipe in both my convection oven and air fryer. The outcome was obvious. The salmon’s top and edges were crispy in the air fryer, almost as if I had seared it first in a cast-iron pan before putting it in the oven.
3. Broccoli, fried in the air fryer.
I also wanted to compare how well cooking vegetables would crisp up fried items and cook protein. We love roasted broccoli that is simply prepared with olive oil, salt, and pepper, so I experimented with both the air fryer and the convection oven using this technique. Although the outcomes were extremely comparable, the air fryer could only cook approximately a third as much broccoli as my full-size oven did in the same amount of time. If you adore vegetables as much as I do, stick to roasting a large sheet pan of broccoli in your convection oven so you may have a satisfying 1-cup meal of vegetables for dinner and lunch the following day.
4. Tofu CONVECTION OVEN: USE.
In all types of ovens, I wanted to try making crispy tofu as a last step. Although my 2-year-old twins aren’t huge meat eaters, they like baked tofu. This looked like a cost-effective method to evaluate if it tasted as nice as store-bought since I typically buy it rather than preparing it. I experimented with baked tofu using this recipe in both a convection oven and an air fryer. The outcome? When compared to when I used my convection oven, the tofu cooked in the air fryer in half the time with somewhat crispier results.
USE: Both the convection oven and the air fryer (depending on the amount you want to make). I would have favored the convection oven so I could prepare a single large batch, but the air fryer’s tofu had the ideal amount of crispiness.
Convection oven vs. an air fryer
There are a few things to take into account even if there is no absolute rule about when you should use an air fryer instead of a conventional convection oven.
How much food are you cooking in total, first? Use a full-sized convection oven instead if you’re preparing for a large number of people because the air fryer might not have enough room for everything. You shouldn’t overload the device because the frying basket size is still constrained, even with the latest XL air fryer versions. The air fryer cooks food in batches, but you then have to keep the first batch warm while cooking the second, which frequently defeats the point of the air fryer (not having to turn on your regular oven).
But, the smaller size of the air fryer warms up quickly and cooks the food a lot faster, saving you valuable minutes if you only need to prepare a smaller batch, such as enough for one or two people.
How much heat can your kitchen withstand, finally? The last thing you want to do on a hot summer day when your kitchen may already feel like a sauna or the air conditioner is working overtime is turn on the oven. As air fryers produce less heat than conventional ovens and operate more quickly, they have a considerably smaller and less significant effect on the temperature in your kitchen.