In comparison to using an oven or microwave oven, using an air fryer for cooking may not always be less expensive, according to savings expert Martin Lewis.
Recently, air fryers have gained enormous popularity because they promise to be a more economical option while also providing a quick and efficient method of food preparation.
Nevertheless, according to Money Saving Expert, this isn’t always the case, and using an air fryer instead of another type of cooking method could result in you paying more.
Manchester Evening News reports that Martin issued the advice on the latest episode of his podcast, saying: “The fact that an oven will use about 2000W presents a problem for the equation for heating equipment.
“I think the best explanation is a microwave because it provides consistent heat, as opposed to an oven that must first heat to temperature before adding more food, which prevents it from operating at full power the entire time.”
He continued: “However, cooking a jacket potato in the microwave for 10 minutes will be significantly less expensive than baking a single jacket potato for an hour and a half. However, if you were making a full roast dinner and cooking a lot of them, that is when it would probably be less expensive than cooking five or six jacket potatoes in the microwave because each additional item you add to the microwave requires you to keep it on longer because it only heats the individual object.
“The general formula is to determine the wattage of an item, calculate how many kilowatts or what percentage of a kilowatt it is consuming, and then multiply that number by 34p per hour of use.” The same advice can be used with halogen and air fryers.
Martin continued: “A sixth of 34p, or roughly 6p, would be consumed if a 1000W microwave was left on for 10 minutes, or one KWH for a sixth of an hour. Therefore, turning on the microwave for that long is at 6 p.m. It is, therefore, a very helpful equation.”
This is yet another action taken by Which?’s consumer experts. revealed the cheapest cooking appliance for popular meals. The air fryer was discovered to be the quickest and least expensive option for the majority of the foods that were tested.
Emily Seymour, Which? Energy Editor, said: “The popularity of air fryers and other small cooking appliances has increased recently, and our research suggests that the hype may, in some cases, be justified. After all, we discovered that these products cook some foods more affordably than conventional ovens.”
However the energy expert agreed with Martin’s point on larger meals, stating: “But if you need to cook more than one batch, the cost savings will quickly disappear, so it’s still preferable to use your oven when you’re cooking in bulk.”
