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    What is an air fryer? A simple guide to compare air fryer vs oven vs deep fryer


    If you love to cook at home, you’ve probably found yourself on the search for the best products to make your life easier and tips for creating healthy – yet super tasty – meals. Some firm family favourites are often fried or roasted, but did you know there was a simple way to make these recipes healthier?

    We’ve all heard of ovens, deep-fryers, and air fryers but what are the main differences between them?  We’re here to lift the lid on these products, and to clarify the crucial factors in the debate about using an air fryer vs deep fryer and where the difference between air fryer and oven lies when it comes to preparing food.

    The basics: Your guide to the difference between air fryer and deep fryer and ovens


    First of all, how different are these three devices in terms of their functionality? We’ve created a go-to guide to compare these three common kitchen appliances. Let’s start with the basics:  

    What is a conventional deep fryer?  
    A deep fryer allows you to submerge food in oil to create delicious fried treats from homemade chips and fried chicken wings to fresh, homemade doughnuts. The oil is usually heated electrically or with immersion heaters to high temperatures, typically between 175°C and 190°C.


    What is an oven?  
    In an oven, food is prepared through heating spirals on several levels using with different settings. The settings include locally concentrated (top and/or bottom heat) or can be evenly distributed by a fan in the circulation mode. Many will have a grill function integrated.

     

    What is an air fryer?
    That’s the basics of ovens and deep fryers – but you probably already knew that, right? But what does an air fryer do?

     

    • An air fryer works by circulating superheated air at high speed.  
    • Despite the name, it doesn’t only ‘fry’ food, it has the capability to fry, roast and more.
    • You can prepare different kinds of food, even from frozen, easily – just like in the oven.
    • Due to the compact size of the air fryer, the preparation is even quicker than other methods.

     

    A high-performance appliance such as one of the Philips Air fryers fulfils more than just one hot air fryer function: Thanks to its innovative hot air technology, you can fry, grill, roast as well as bake with this appliance.

    Your guide to the difference between air fryer and deep fryer and ovens

    Comparing the capacity, performance, and consumption


    Using a deep fryer  

     

    • Capacity: The frying container of common electric fryers has a capacity between 800g-2kg. In some cases, they can hold up to 3kg.  
    • Performance: The performance of fryers ranges between 1400-2100 watts. More rarely up they can reach to 3000 watts.  
    • Consumption: As a rule of thumb, a fryer with a wattage of 2000 requires about 2kwH per hour.  

    Using an oven

     

    • Capacity: Ovens have the largest capacity, with 54 litres for the standard model, which can vary up to 76 litres for larger volumes.  
    • Performance: For ovens, it is important to pay attention to the energy efficiency class of the appliance, because a baking process always consumes a lot of energy.
    • Consumption: At a high-temperature setting, such as 200°C degrees, an oven will consume approximately 1,500 to 2,000 watts per hour†.  

    Using an air fryer

     

    • Capacity: Air fryers typically have a smaller capacity, between 1.5 and 2 litres. The four models of the Philips Airfryer, serve all needs: from the super compact essential collection with 800g capacity to the XXL Airfryer with 1400g, which is also suitable for 4-5-person households.  
    • Performance: One of the advantages of the air fryer is the even heat distribution in the frying basket, meaning your food is cooked particularly evenly and efficiently. Also, when looking at hot air fryers vs. fryers, the former is gentler to the environment: less oil, less fat disposal.
    • Consumption: Regular air fryers usually have between 1400-2100 watts of power.

    What you need

    Preparation time: Air fryer vs deep fryer vs oven


    When it comes to the time it takes for your kitchen appliance to get the job done, it’s simple.

     

    • Using a conventional fryer: In general, this only takes a few minutes. Sadly, this often means you sacrifice other things. What you save in time when using the traditional fryer, you gain in odour and oil disposal.  
    • Using an oven: This will take longer than using a conventional fryer, but has a longer preparation time overall, when compared to an air fryer.  
    • Using an air fryer: Frying in a hot air fryer – just like when using the oven – simply needs a bit longer. However, a hot air fryer needs no pre-heating, and will create less mess and smells that a conventional fryer.

    The short preparation time of a high-quality appliance such as the Philips Airfryer and its special air circulation system is exactly what keeps food crispy on the outside and tender on the inside – no more drying out, as sometimes happens in a traditional oven.  

    What can you cook in an air fryer?


    Overall, using an air fryer is a great option – and a much healthier choice for whipping up your favourite fried foods than a conventional fryer! Now that you know how an air fryer works and have compared the performance and pros and cons of using an air fryer vs deep fryer vs oven it’s time to get cooking. Why not try out a few of our favourite recipes in your air fryer such as:

     

    There you go: simple! In this guide we’ve provided you with answers to questions like ‘what is an air fryer’ and helped you understand the difference between an air fryer and oven and deep fryer. Now you can be sure to make an informed choice when cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

    † The EU Energy Label of 2015 specifies the labelling of appliances. They range from A +++ (0.4 kwH for an electric oven and 0.8 kwH for a gas oven) to the highest energy class D.   

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