The rising popularity of air fryers has led many to abandon the use of traditional ovens. Not only are they a healthier alternative, as they use less oil, but they are also more cost effective. As they have a much lower-wattage than ovens, thus consume less electricity.
However, money-saving expert Martin Lewis, has a different opinion.
On his podcast, he discusses that microwaves and air fryers are not always a cheap alternative, particularly in the case of items that have a longer cooking time.
While he agrees that “air fryers are good for small things that cook quickly,” he adds that, “if you’re gonna have to use your air fryer 15 different times for different items, generally, on energy usage, you’d be better off to use an oven. So it’s an interesting thought.”
He explains that “a microwave gives you consistent heat whereas an oven is warming up to full temperature and then topping it up so it isn’t running at full power the whole time,” he said.
“But if you’re doing a jacket potato for 10 minutes it’s going to be far cheaper [in the microwave] than doing a single jacket potato in an oven and keeping it on for an hour and a half.”
“However, if you were doing a full roast dinner and you were cooking many of them, that is where it’s probably cheaper than putting five or six jacket potatoes in a microwave.”
His advice is backed by research from Which?, a UK consumer research group that studied the cheapest cooking methods.
According to the research, majority of the foods cooked in air fryers and other smaller appliances amounted to a cheaper electricity bill. However, in the case of larger meals and items with a longer cooking time, an oven was the best cost saving option, as also suggested by Mr. Lewis.
Emily Seymour, energy editor at Which?, said: “There has been a surge of interest in air fryers and smaller cooking appliances in recent months, and our research shows that the hype could be justified in some cases, as we’ve found these products cost less to cook certain foods than conventional ovens.”
“The cost savings will soon be lost if you have to cook more than one batch though, so it’s still better to use your oven if you’re cooking large quantities.”
So how does one figure out when to use which appliance?
According to Lewis, applying some simple math could solve the problem.
The equation involves finding the wattage of an item and then calculating how many kilowatts, or what fraction of a kilowatt it’s using, before multiplying that by 34p per hour of use.
But it soon gets tricky.
An oven is about 2,000W, while a 1,000W microwave used for 10 minutes would cost approximately 6p.
Thus if someone is cooking something small and simple, it is probably cheaper in the microwave or air fryer.
However, it cautioned that if someone has a more powerful air fryer, they might end up using as much energy as an oven.
For example, the 2,000W air fryer costs 34p per, which is 13p more than an oven.
Cooking the same food twice in an 800W air fryer could cost over 26p, which is more expensive than cooking in an oven.
Despite the logical breakdown, some people still find the calculations overwhelming.
One person jokes: “This looks like I’m gonna spend half an hour prior to cooking doing maths and physics before deciding if I should oven, microwave or air fry my food.”
Some are more comfortable with air fryers, regardless of its downsides.
“I’m not listening to him on this. I’m air-frying everything. I’ll even air fry a cup of tea,” another jokes.
While air fryers offer convenience and efficiency, the best choice ultimately depends on what you’re cooking and how much energy your appliance consumes.
