Air fryers – are they really magic ovens?
The pros and cons of air fryers
As the cost-of-living crisis starts to bite we ask if it’s worth ditching the conventional oven in favour of an air fryer which uses less energy than both a conventional oven and a microwave oven?
For those yet to experience an air fryer, think of it as a mini oven that can tackle almost anything you’d put in a conventional oven or deep-fat fryer, so they’re not just for chips: you can bake, roast, reheat and even dehydrate ingredients.
Using minimal fat or oil an air fryer can cook everything from fish and chips to jacket potatoes, cakes to whole roast dinners but in half the time compared to a conventional oven and that’s where it gets interesting.
Energy efficient
The small size of an air fryer (they range in capacity from 1.5 litres to 7.3 litres) compared to a standard oven’s 60 litres means that food is cooked far faster. And as energy costs continue to spiral, using an appliance that cooks faster, primarily due to the fact that you’re heating a smaller space, means less electricity is required, which in turn should save money.
So, if you want to minimise electricity bills by cooking with an appliance that is energy efficient and more environmentally friendly than a conventional oven then it could be a good cooking appliance to have. However, there is a downside.
The downside
Most air fryers cook from between 500g to 1.5 kilos of food at a time so it can be challenging to air-fry meals for a large number of people. It is of course possible, but you may have to cook in batches, ie, cook a roast chicken and potatoes first then follow with the vegetables.
Air-frying also gets to a high temperature very quickly, which means food can burn more easily.
How healthy is air-fried food?
In comparison to deep-fat frying, air frying is a healthier alternative – using convection cooking rather than oil means there’s less fat in the finished food, which in turn means fewer calories.
Are air fryers worth it?
If you want something that will make life simpler, an air fryer certainly ticks that box. Frying and baking conventionally can be messy, smelly and possibly dangerous. An air-fryer is certainly cleaner. more efficient and convenient compared to a conventional oven.
Using an air fryer to bake, roast and fry will speed up the process, and can potentially cut calories and save money as you won’t have to use a larger oven for smaller portions and side dishes. But you will have to factor in the cost of buying an air fryer in the first place and whether it suits your style and quantity of cooking.
Here are a few energy saving cooking appliances currently in our Silversurfers Shop:
The energy saving is based on cooking a whole chicken.
Pressure King Pro cooks super-fast with pressurised steam and so could help save money on your energy bills! In fact, cooking a whole 1kg chicken could use up to 6x less electricity in your Pressure King Pro compared to the average oven (approx. 2100W).
Pressure cooking a whole 1kg chicken could use up to 6x less electricity in your CleverChef Pro compared to the average oven (approx. 2100W).
Power XL Vortex Air Fryer (2.8L)
Cooking with Power XL Vortex (1,350W) for an hour uses about 35% less energy than the average oven (2,100W).
Power XL Vortex Air Fryer (4.7L)
Cooking with Power XL Vortex (1,500W) for an hour uses about 30% less energy than the average oven (2,100W).
CleverChef 14 in 1 Multifunction Cooker
Cooking with CleverChef (860W) for an hour uses about 62% less energy than the average oven (2,100W).
Melina - Assistant Editor
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