The only difference between an air fryer oven and a regular oven is that the “air fryer” feature is included in a regular Oven. Your oven’s air fryer function uses convection fans and high-speed air circulation to cook food to a crispy texture and golden brown.
Your favorite ingredients and recipes have a nearly infinite array of new uses if cooked in an air fryer. However, you can also make crispy on the outside, moist and tender inside air-fried creations out of your favorite vegetables, juicy meats, and decadent desserts in an oven.
To determine whether an air fryer is necessary for your kitchen goals, learn how it functions and stacks up against other cooking techniques and appliances.
What Is The Difference Between Convection Oven And Air Fryer?
The size of these two appliances is where the main distinction lies. An air fryer can only handle smaller portions and frequently requires cooking in batches.
You cannot cook as much food at once as in a convection oven when it comes to larger amounts of food. More differences to remember are:
- Both convection ovens and air fryers circulate hot air around your food, but an air fryer does so more quickly because it is a smaller appliance with a smaller cooking area.
- The food in the tray of the air fryer is below the fan located at the top of the appliance. A fan is located in the back of the convection oven.
- Both convection ovens and air fryers require cleaning, but the air fryer requires more frequent cleaning than the oven.
- There are some ingredients such as excessive amounts of olive oil or dry spices that can be used in a convection oven instead of an Air fryer. Olive oil, which has a lower smoke point than many other oils, may burn because it is near the circulating fan in an air fryer.
- The flavor may alter if the food is cooked too close to a fan because dry spices may blow around and fail to adhere to the food making it flavorless.
- Neither a convection oven nor an air fryer is typically good for cooking battered foods.
How Does An Air Fryer Work?
Air fryers circulates hot air around your food in a condensed space using a small fan similar to how a convection oven works. These countertop appliances quickly preheat and are suitable for small kitchens.
The perforated tray or basket that holds your food can be removed without the need for an oven mitt and even speeds up air circulation to cut down on cooking time.
Because the air fryer is smaller, it’s important to avoid overcrowding the basket with food so that air can circulate freely and cook your food evenly, quickly, and in a proper way.
Can I Use Air Fryer Function In My Conventional Oven?
In a regular conventional oven you cannot truly air fry unless it has a dedicated air fry setting.
You can make a few changes to encourage crisping and browning in a standard oven. Use a perforated tray, and distribute the food evenly.
Additionally, smaller pieces have a greater surface area exposed, which can hasten to brown. Depending on your recipe, aim for bite-sized morsels and flip or shake halfway through.
In the end, there are more similarities than differences between convection ovens and air fryers. Because they both use convection to cook food, air fryers and convection ovens are comparable.
In both appliances, convection causes a current to form around the food, baking or cooking it evenly.
There are now a variety of accessories and add-ons for air fryers, including liners, racks, doughnut pans, and more. You probably already have a supply of usable pans if you’re using your convection oven or the setting on your conventional oven, though.
Can I Use My Convection Oven As An Air Fryer?
While hot air is circulated around food in both convection ovens and air fryers according to a similar principle, only a convection oven with an air fry setting will produce authentic air-fried results.
The settings for air fryers are made to operate at a hotter offset than a typical oven. However, you can use a convict roast setting to create a comparable environment in your convection oven to replicate the same results.
What Type of Cookware Can Be Used When Air Frying In A Convection Oven?
It is highly advised to use proper cookware when air frying in your convection oven. The air fryer feature in a convection oven must heat all of the food’s surfaces evenly to achieve the desired crispiness.
Use a perforated tray or basket to allow the hot air to circulate thoroughly over the entire surface of the food to guarantee that you achieve similar levels of crispiness as an air fryer.
In the absence of a perforated tray or basket, use a dark, nonstick, low-sided tray or an oven-safe cooling rack. Always read the recipe directions and keep a close eye on the food as it cooks because temperature and cooking times may need to be adjusted.
What Type Of Foods Can Be Cooked In An Air Fryer?
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that you can air fry everything that you can bake. But the air fryers and convectional oven’s cooking times and temperatures aren’t the same.
Here are a few of the dishes that people frequently prepare in air fryers:
| Frozen Foods | Burritos, hamburgers, and more frozen fried items. |
| Vegetables | Brussels, sprouts, and okra. |
| Desserts | Giant cookies and lava cake and more air fryer approve desserts. |
| Chicken | Lemon pepper chicken and more air fryer chicken recipes. |
Benefits Of Air Frying (To Ease Your Cooking Tasks)
Air fryers are considered the best option for crispy fried foods with a fraction of the fat.
- By air-frying your food, you can achieve a similar flavor and texture without gaining weight or adverse health effects that frequently result from using traditional frying techniques, which are high in calories and fat.
- Compared to the significant amounts required for a traditional fryer, which uses a lot more cooking oil, air fryers only require about a tablespoon of cooking oil. Instead, an air fryer uses hot air to cook and crisp your food.
- Even though it uses much less oil, an air fryer can imitate traditional frying. The air fryer can cook the food so well that it can occasionally be difficult to tell whether something was cooked in an air fryer or a deep fryer.
Is An Air Fryer Worth It?
In comparison to a conventional oven or range, an air fryer cooks food more quickly by circulating hot air around it.
As a result, if you dislike waiting for your oven to heat up and cook, air fryer ranges are worth the extra money.
Conclusion:
- Your oven’s air fryer function uses convection fans and high-speed air circulation to cook food evenly with a crispy texture and golden brown color.
- Compared to an air fryer, which can only handle smaller portions and frequently requires cooking in batches, a convection oven can cook more food at once.
- A smaller convection oven with a catchy name is all that an air fryer is.
- An air fryer cooks food using convection baking, so there isn’t any actual frying going on inside. Thus, convection ovens are essentially what air fryers are.