Questions on Air Fryers

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

They seem to be all the rage lately, but how efficient are they?

Power consumption seems rather high in the 1,000-1,500 watt range or higher in some cases. But what about cook/operational times? If you can cook roast or a chicken faster, maybe they cost less overall to operate?

I don't cook much in the nuke box because of wattage. I can cook it or even warm it for less cost using the gas stove.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

They seem to be all the rage lately, but how efficient are they?

Power consumption seems rather high in the 1,000-1,500 watt range or higher in some cases. But what about cook/operational times? If you can cook roast or a chicken faster, maybe they cost less overall to operate?

I don't cook much in the nuke box because of wattage. I can cook it or even warm it for less cost using the gas stove.

I've got one, a Cosori. It works very well for the things it works well with, and while the draw is high, it cooks about twice as fast as a traditional oven/toaster oven. Be mindful that while you can cook a lot in them, I find that there's a limited subset of things that cook well in them. Breaded/fried stuff tends to come out great, unless it's too dry, then it tends to just dry out more and become a cracker.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

So, french fry kind of stuff and you can make them crispy?

 

[Greenman]

Aren't air fryers convection ovens with a new name?

 

[sdifox]

It's a small convection oven.

 

[nakedfrog]

Cooking fries or tater tots in my air fryer is marginally faster than in the regular oven at best, but the end result is much better.
If you want to cook a roast or chicken faster, you want a pressure cooker / "Instant Pot".

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Guess I stay with the gas oven. Point is to reduce overall utility consumption. If these gadgets won't cook a chicken (for example) faster and by using significantly less energy, there is no point.

 

[sdifox]

Guess I stay with the gas oven. Point is to reduce overall utility consumption. If these gadgets won't cook a chicken (for example) faster and by using significantly less energy, there is no point.

Just get some mesh tray/basket for cooking fries since better airflow is the secret to crispy fries.

 

[mindless1]

Guess I stay with the gas oven. Point is to reduce overall utility consumption. If these gadgets won't cook a chicken (for example) faster and by using significantly less energy, there is no point.

Bake times in recipes typically assume a 10 minute oven warm up to reach the temperature per cook time. There is a lot of inefficiency in that, considering a toaster oven aka air fryer gets hot much faster.

For longer cook times a toaster oven or air fryer becomes less efficient, "typically" because of little to no insulation to hold heat in.

The greatest efficiency with less negative effect on food being crunchy is likely to be starting it in the microwave, then finishing up in the toaster oven. That's also the fastest, let toaster/air-fryer preheat including the pan, while the microwave is running a "few" minutes. Average power consumption in a full sized oven is almost always going to be higher for the first 20+ minutes due to having to heat that large space and metal sinking heat.

I'm talking about electric ovens though, there is a good chance your gas oven is cheaper to operate than either. It's not so much less energy then, but rather less expensive energy.

If it's not something that needs a crunchy texture, there's also savings to be had by cooking multiple meals at a time, freeze leftovers in meal portions that can be reheated in the microwave in ~ 4 minutes, or less if gotten out to thaw ahead of time.

I suppose there's also the option of being a cooking hypermiler. Put food in cold oven, turn oven on, get up to some temp just below where alot of cookware and oils/fats go bad (under ~420f), then shut oven off 10 minutes ahead of time, let residual heat continue to cook the food, then use a thermometer to ensure it got up to a safe temp in the middle.... keeping in mind that if you open the door too soon, you lose a lot of the residual heat. I do, do this, but nothing extreme, more like turn oven off 4 minutes ahead of time.

 

[RPD]

Bake times in recipes typically assume a 10 minute oven warm up to reach the temperature per cook time. There is a lot of inefficiency in that, considering a toaster oven aka air fryer gets hot much faster.

Wait what? I don't put anything in the oven until it reaches the desired set point and then the clock starts.

 

[mindless1]

^ Yes and 10 minutes is a typical amount of time it takes an oven, till it reaches the desired set point. Of course it depends on the quality of oven and what temperature it's set to reach, but it's consuming anywhere from 2KW to maybe 5KW or more while in this full-on, heating up state before you even put the food in.

It takes a lot more power to get the whole oven up to the set temp than to keep it there, unless you keep opening the door before the food is done, but if preheating the oven then putting the food in to follow a recipe, you can't help but open the door and let a lot of heat out when you put the food in, at least once in that cycle, unless you ignore the recipe and make a best guess how long the food should cook from starting out in a cold oven.

 

[RPD]

^ Yes and 10 minutes is a typical amount of time it takes an oven, till it reaches the desired set point. Of course it depends on the quality of oven and what temperature it's set to reach, but it's consuming anywhere from 2KW to maybe 5KW or more while in this full-on, heating up state before you even put the food in.

It takes a lot more power to get the whole oven up to the set temp than to keep it there, unless you keep opening the door before the food is done, but if preheating the oven then putting the food in to follow a recipe, you can't help but open the door and let a lot of heat out when you put the food in, at least once in that cycle, unless you ignore the recipe and make a best guess how long the food should cook from starting out in a cold oven.

Ok...? This doesn't have anything to do with your previous statement that bake times have +10min accounting for warm up? Every instruction I see is, set temp to X, bake/cook at X for Y minutes. It's not X+10.

 

[sdifox]

Ok...? This doesn't have anything to do with your previous statement that bake times have +10min accounting for warm up? Every instruction I see is, set temp to X, bake/cook at X for Y minutes. It's not X+10.

Bake x min at y temp implies you need to get the instrument of choice to said temp first. Doesn't matter if it is a convection oven or a air fryer.

 

[mindless1]

^ Yeah, it's always bake at Y degrees (meaning preheated oven) for X minutes. Never seen a recipe that starts with a cold oven. I wonder if RPD even uses an oven as there are lots of things that would never get done if cook time was from a cold oven. Air fryer or toaster oven maybe, they get to temp much faster.

 

[RPD]

Ok lets start again, I don't think either of you are reading what you typed and what I responded to:

Bake times in recipes typically assume a 10 minute oven warm up to reach the temperature per cook time. There is a lot of inefficiency in that, considering a toaster oven aka air fryer gets hot much faster.

Read this, carefully. This implies if a frozen pizza says cook at 375F for 25min, that per mindless1 quote above, that really the pizza could be cooked at 375F for only 15min. Or that the instructions imply you turn the oven on, set temp to 375F, immediately place pizza in oven and set a 25min timer while oven is still cold.

What I've said and stand by are the instructions, with this pizza example are in fact you turn on the oven, wait for it to get to 375F, put pizza in, set timer for 25min.

Clear now?

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

My new oven has a 'frozen food' setting for things like pizzas. You select that and set a recommended time.

 

[RPD]

My new oven has a 'frozen food' setting for things like pizzas. You select that and set a recommended time.

Cool, but doesn't address what I've stated.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

@Kaido your thoughts?

 

[sdifox]

@Kaido your thoughts?

That dude is into combi oven. He laughs in the general direction of air fryers.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

That dude is into combi oven. He laughs in the general direction of air fryers.

He knows all regarding things like this. He is an Oracle.

 

[Kaido]

They seem to be all the rage lately, but how efficient are they?

Power consumption seems rather high in the 1,000-1,500 watt range or higher in some cases. But what about cook/operational times? If you can cook roast or a chicken faster, maybe they cost less overall to operate?

I don't cook much in the nuke box because of wattage. I can cook it or even warm it for less cost using the gas stove.

The name "air-fryer" is fake news; there is zero frying of any kind involved lol. What they are are is "mini turbo-convection ovens". So typically, you have an in-wall or slide-in oven that preheats. Fancier ovens have a fan & are called convection ovens (not great for baking). The original airfryers basically took an electric rangetop coil, stuck it in the lid, put a high-speed fan behind it, and then put a lifted mesh tray underneath, which does help to make things get crispier. This way:

1. They preheat fast & allow you to do cold-start cooking
2. They circulate the air pretty well
3. They tend to run about 30% faster than traditional convection oven.

The point is primarily for convenience. They are awesome at frozen foods (pizza bagels, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, French fries, tater tots, etc.) & do a good job on reheating leftovers to be more crispy (as opposed to mushy in the microwave). They are a little finicky to master because they can dry stuff out easily, so you have to play with the temperature & timing of different foods, but you can do great hardboiled eggs, baked potatoes, etc. in them! Energy-wise, sure, they can save a bit of money:

Air Fryer vs Wall Oven: Which Is Cheaper to Run? I Did the Math

Here's how much energy (and cash) you can save by swapping one for the other in 2024.

www.cnet.com

There are a million different designs available. It all depends on what you want to do with it, what your budget is, and how much counter space you have available. The toaster-style "appliance" units have a pull-out basket so you can shake things around to get even cooking (which is fun to do!). So you can get like a 2-quart, 4-quart, 6-quart, etc. They typically go from about $50 to $150 for these types of models. Small ones are good for single people & couples, unless you want to do larger stuff like frozen pizzas or something, and for families, they make "countertop oven" units in various sizes.

This is the typical raindrop-style pod airfryer with the pull-out-and-shake basket:



The larger ones are basically just upgraded toaster ovens, available in various sizes:



You can also get dual-tray units if you want to cook things at different temperatures at the same time, like boneless wings & curly fries:



If you want a compact multi-use device, Instant Pot just came out with the Crisp model for $225. It's a marvel of engineering that combines an Instapot electric pressure cooker with a built-in airfryer lid in one compact package. Super cool:




The latest microwaves also come with a built-in airfryer ($150 to $250 for most models). These are nice if you already have room for a microwave & want to upgrade the feature set:





The most advanced model out there is the Anova Precision Oven (thread), which adds some neat features like sous-viding. Downside is the cost ($600 before coupons) & size (like a jumbo microwave). However, imo everyone on the planet should own one of these; it's the future of convenient cooking!



The nice thing about the larger airfryers (the ones that double as toaster ovens) is that you can do things like throw in a whole frozen pizza into them to air-fry directly from the freezer:



I had a love/hate relationship with airfryers for a long time because I had to learn how to adapt to how they cooked. These days, I like the convenience of them. I have ADHD & get low mental energy all the time & don't feel like cooking a lot, so being able to throw stuff in & press a button & have it come out good, hot, and crispy is pretty dang nice!

 

[Kaido]

That dude is into combi oven. He laughs in the general direction of air fryers.

I wish they were easier to explain, as they're a bit like the Instant Pot where you have to sort of develop a relationship with the feature set in order to really understand the convenience & benefits of the machines. Like, I'm always stuck in "big picture" mode:

* The average person spends $500k in a lifetime on food
* At 3 meals a day times 365 day a year, we're on the hook over over 1,000 meals
* I don't have the mental energy to deal with cooking all the time lol

I mean, how do you realistically deal with that? For me, anything that makes it easier to cook at home will save me both effort & money in the long run. The average family of four spends $4.3k on food at home & $3.3k on food away from home annually, as well as wastes $1.5k in food waste each year. So there's an opportunity to recoup upwards of $4,000 a year by cooking at home simply through investing in some modern appliances like the Instapot, APO, vacuum-sealer, etc., all of which will pay for themselves in under a year in the average family household. The funny thing is, it's not bathless sous-viding that's the big draw for me with the APO, it's the reheating feature. This is how I cook now:

* Once a week, I pick out 7 things to make for meal-prepping purposes & then go shopping
* Once a day, after work, I cook up one batch of food & divvy it up to freeze
* Then I just pick out what I want to eat & reheat it (using the APO if I'm home!)

I never really liked leftovers because microwaved leftovers were always kind meh, low-energy, emergency foods. With the APO, I can get 90 to 95% as good as the original meal! For example, I can cook up some hands-free pasta in the Instant Pot & then freeze them into cubes:



Then use steam to reheat directly from frozen in the APO for an extremely high-quality reheated meal:





It took under 5 minutes to prep the Instapot before & after for the meal (30-minutes hands-free automated cooking!). Then all I had to do was dump a frozen brick in a bowl & let it reheat for 20 or 30 minutes in the APO, so a minute to pull it out from the freezer & press the buttons on the machine to do the work for me lol. I do most of my meal-prepping like that now. So like, I really like cookies. So I spend a few minutes whipping up some dough in the Kitchenaid mixer & then freeze it into "pucks":



Chocolate-chip, peanut butter, oatmeal, brownie batter, etc. This one is a PB chocolate-chip cookie puck in a mini skillet with some ice cream & Hershey's sauce on top. That would cost me $6.99 at the local chain restaurant & it was maybe 50 cents at home lol:



I also recently discovered that I could use steam-reheating to both reheat bready items from frozen AND toast them! So I'll take a loaf of good bread & wrap the individual slices with Press 'N Seal wrap & then stick them in a Ziploc bag. Or I'll slice fresh bagels in half & wrap them individually:



It's hard to tell, but these yellow egg bagels are toasted! They last for MONTHS in the freezer, so I can buy a 6-pack from the store & then do a cold-start steam-reheat & toasting job in the APO in under 8 minutes, so I can have a freshly-toasted bagel FROM FROZEN anytime I want, with the push of a button!



More people need to know about this stuff, haha! I have a really simple savings system that I use for kitchen nonsense, which is also fully automated. For culinary toys & ingredients, I do a $10 weekly automated withdrawal into my online piggy bank. Then I use those funds to snag new gadgets & ingredients to try whenever I'm in the mood! It's silly, and it's simple, but it works! Latest purchases from the automated funding system including this really great German mustard: (been really into brats & kraut lately, but haven't been able to find any good mustards to go with them!)



I also picked up these mini spatula-spoons (6" & 9.2") for five bucks off Amazon. I've been working with a lot of canned goods lately (ex. pumpkin) & these make the job of getting everything out of the cans soooooo much easier! Also great for condiments!



From the outside, this all looks a little complex. From the inside:

1. My bank pulls $10 a week out automatically, so I have a pot of $520 a year to play with. You can do more if you want, or if you have a big budget, just buy whatever you want whenever you want, but one of my goals with this system is ongoing motivation & continuous exposure, which means that I can slowly drip new stuff into my life on a regular basis, master how to use the tools, make them part of my kitchen habits, and try new stuff, whether it's Truff Sauce or Mike's Hot Honey or Sodium Citrate powder for magically melting cheese or whatever! Like, one of my hand-tool purchases last month was a potato ricer. I like to do sous-vide French fries at home & wanted to try making some long fries using my APO to sous-vide the mashed potatoes!

2. I push buttons on appliances to cook. My actual hands-on time is usually less than 20 minutes, spread out with the automated cooking time inbetween.

3. I typically only do one recipe a day, as part of my daily "chores", so the time investment is pretty minimal! Pre-selected recipes, pre-purchased ingredients, clean up my kitchen before bed, all I have to do is show up & walk through the steps the next day! Plus, once I lock in a recipe into the IP or APO, it comes out the same every time for a guaranteed win!

Cooking was always such a chore for me, even when I wanted to do it, because I get brain-strain for ADHD lol. I still cook outside of meal-prepping, when I'm in the mood, but that way, I (1) get to enjoy the option for adventure (i.e. do mood-based cooking), but still (2) enjoy wonderful food all the time based on a simple commitment to using my meal-prep system. Extremely lightweight & non-restrictive approach to culinary preparation & enjoyment!

 

[mindless1]

Ok lets start again, I don't think either of you are reading what you typed and what I responded to:

Read this, carefully. This implies if a frozen pizza says cook at 375F for 25min, that per mindless1 quote above, that really the pizza could be cooked at 375F for only 15min. Or that the instructions imply you turn the oven on, set temp to 375F, immediately place pizza in oven and set a 25min timer while oven is still cold.

What I've said and stand by are the instructions, with this pizza example are in fact you turn on the oven, wait for it to get to 375F, put pizza in, set timer for 25min.

Clear now?

You have a reading comprehension problem.

Back to what I already stated, which was that heating a large mass of oven, is less efficient unless there is a longer cook time.

 

[RPD]

You have a reading comprehension problem.

Back to what I already stated, which was that heating a large mass of oven, is less efficient unless there is a longer cook time.

Your post as I quoted it and you typed it is confusing as all fuck in regards to anyone on this planet when it comes to cooking instructions and times. But continue. I can read just fine, you have a communication problem.
If all you cared about was efficiency you’d just use the rating on the side of a given appliance and be done.

 

[mindless1]

Ok lets start again, I don't think either of you are reading what you typed and what I responded to:

Read this, carefully. This implies if a frozen pizza says cook at 375F for 25min, that per mindless1 quote above, that really the pizza could be cooked at 375F for only 15min. Or that the instructions imply you turn the oven on, set temp to 375F, immediately place pizza in oven and set a 25min timer while oven is still cold.

What I've said and stand by are the instructions, with this pizza example are in fact you turn on the oven, wait for it to get to 375F, put pizza in, set timer for 25min.

Clear now?

You misread. Let's look at it again:

Bake times in recipes typically assume a 10 minute oven warm up to reach the temperature per cook time.

Assume, as in not stated so in addition to the stated cook time. "Per cook time" comes after warm up to reach, so this is an additional time once the oven gets up to temp. Nowhere did I state to cook the food for a shorter period than the recipe/instructions, and the meaning above is the only one that would make sense in the context of the thread which was the extra energy used to preheat the oven.

It is baffling that we are having this exchange. At the same time, I don't consider the energy use difference to be enough to think about unless living off-grid. Here power is $0.13/KWH, a drop in the bucket compared to food prices or value of time spent preparing it.