Are you looking for an air fryer and wondering what are the differences between an air fryer and a convection oven? Then you land at the correct place.
Both the air fryer and convection oven are great kitchen appliances that help you in preparing well-cooked delicious meals right at your home. There are generally no differences between each of them both depend upon the fan to circulate hot air around the food to cook it properly.
There are a few things that distinguish a convection oven from an air fryer such as size, heating style, fan placement, fan speed, and accessories.
In this post, we will talk about an air fryer and a convection oven and the main differences between each of them.
So let’s dive into the topic.
Air Fryer vs Convection Oven: Which one is better?
What is an air fryer?
An air fryer uses hot air to circulate hot air all around the food and makes it crispier from the outside and soft from the inside. It uses little to no oil for cooking and provides you with exactly the same taste and crispiness as you get from the traditional oven.
The heating element and fan are located at the top of the air fryer which spreads heat evenly around the food. Understanding an air fryer is very simple and anyone with little to no technical knowledge can use it and can make healthy and tasty fried food in it.
Adjusting the time, temperature, and functions of the unit is very simple and easy to understand. You can easily make french fries, chicken wings, Brussel sprouts, fish, steak, etc inside an air fryer even if you don’t know how to cook.
In case you wanna know how to clean an air fryer check out this post.
What is a convection oven?
A convection oven uses a fan located at the back of the oven to circulate hot air around the food and make it cook evenly from all sides much faster than the conventional ovens. You can adjust the time, temperature, and functions of the unit according to yourself for a more even and better cooking.
Convection ovens are great for roasting meats, vegetables, cooking pizza, muffins, pastry, pies, toasting bread, etc. There are multiple racks inside a convection oven that you can use to cook different food at once. Just make sure not to stuff the oven or block its fan during the cooking process.
With a convection oven, you can cook food in large quantities for a group of people without any problem. There are many convection ovens available in the market that have the feature to turn off the fan during the cooking process to choose the correct environment for your meal.
Can I use my convection oven as an air fryer?
Yes, you can use your convection oven as an air fryer and can make crispy french fries in it. Air fryers are just small countertop convection ovens that are less expensive than convection ovens.
Which is better an air fryer or convection oven?
It all depends on your need and preferences. If you have to cook only for yourself or a few numbers of people then go for an air fryer but there are also large air fryers available too that can cook a big meal for up to 7-8 people at once.
When it comes to cooking an air fryer cooks food much faster than a convection oven so if you are always in a hurry or don’t have much time because of your work then an air fryer is the best choice for you. The one downside about air fryers is they are noisier during the cooking process than a convection oven and can reach sound levels of 65 decibels (according to Philips).
A convection oven can cook a large amount of food and you can place different food in separate racks which saves you a lot of time and allows you to cook multiple meals at once.
You can also check out air fryer toaster ovens that are a combination of both the air fryer and the toaster oven and can do work of both the appliances.
Share your thoughts below on which one would you choose and why?
