Air fryers come in a range of sizes and kinds but the basic premise is the same: it’s an electrically-powered fan oven. Because the cavity is smaller than a conventional oven, it generally warms up faster and the element – the heater – uses less power consumption than a traditional oven.

They’re marketed as a money and time saver – but is that true? Some examples we’ve tried:

• Beef (fillet, sirloin, rib-eye, etc). We generally cook them in a pan – and it’s typically 6 minutes per side. It’s about 6 minutes in total using the ‘frier so, yes, half the time.
• Frozen oven chips. These are partially cooked before being frozen and, in the oven, they need about 20 minutes. 15 or less in the air frier – a definite saving.
• Chicken pieces. 20 minutes or so in the oven but significantly less in the air frier – and they come out beautifully moist.

It’s worth remembering that we need to warm an oven up before using it. Putting food in a cold oven means you’re not entirely sure when it actually ‘starts cooking’ – and food can start to dry out before it starts cooking. This pre-heat cycle takes about 10 minutes for our oven and we suspect that’s the same for most other ovens. A gas-fired oven (for the rare ones out there still) will take longer to warm up – although the energy cost of doing so will be about half that of an electric fan oven.

On balance, the air fryer takes less time to get the food to the plate – but the real saving is in the energy consumption: they don’t really need much pre-heating (and when they do, it’s generally only a few minutes to come up to temperature). A fan oven consumes around 3000W while a family-sized air fryer uses more like 1700W so they use about half the energy AND use it for less time. A definite saving!

There are other benefits that the manufacturers don’t mention so much: when it comes to cleaning, an air fryer basket is smaller and fits in the sink so it’s far easier to clean – and there’s no getting on your knees to deal with the inside of an oven! True, there are meals you simply can’t make in the smaller air fryer – but for day to day use, that mid-week meal or when time is short, the air fryer is a huge benefit and saves on the kitchen energy bill. Add one to your Christmas list!