Saving with air fryers

Air fryers – your efficient, energy-saving oven replacement

Everyone’s on the look out for money saving tips right now, especially simple suggestion that don’t require a lifestyle overhaul. Energy bills are a particularly hot topic. We all know that cooking habits have a big impact on our energy usage, but it’s not always easy to find an efficient way to have hot healthy meals.

One often-overlooked way to save money is by investing in an air fryer. Not only is an air fryer a healthier alternative to traditional frying methods, but it can be cheaper than using your regular old electric oven.

How do air fryers work?

Air fryers use hot air, rather than hot oil, to cook your food. You can think of it as micro, eco convection oven. When the blasts of air circulate around the fryer basket, crispy exteriors and golden finishes take minutes to achieve.

Because it’s faster, it uses less energy and can work out being cheaper to cook with than a traditional oven. Let’s unpack that a bit more and look at some other ways air fryers can help save you money.

Does using an air fryer use less electricity?

Air fryers have been found to use much less energy than electric ovens, sometimes reducing the costs of cooking a meal by more than half! A lot of this comes down to two factors: preheating and total cook time.

While air fryers do need to be preheated, it takes mere minutes. They are much smaller than conventional ovens and have very different heating apparatus, so reaching the right temperature doesn’t take long.

Once hot, the powerful blasts of air are very effective heating food in the fryer basket. You can work it out from there – shorter cook times mean less energy and smaller bills!

Cost-saving air frying success stories

Take this study from the BBC programme ‘Sliced Bread’. The producer, Simon, used his smart meter to compare energy use and cost for two same-weight chicken legs.

‘“The chicken took about 35 minutes to cook in the oven and the smart meter told me that I used 1.05 kilowatt hours of electricity.” Converted to cash, that’s 21.04p. “The air fryer took 20 minutes to cook the chicken and my smart meter read a usage of 0.43 kilowatt hours of electricity. That’s 8.6p. So, cooking in the oven costs more than double what it costs in an air fryer.”’

Of course, the price will vary between air fryer models, their cooking power and the temperature used.
Air fryers use between 800 and 2,000 watts. Ninja state that using one of their 1,200W air fryers for 20 minutes only uses 23p of electricity. They promote their air fryers with test results showing energy savings of up to 75% – calculations based on recommended cook time for sausages, using air fry function versus conventional ovens.

It’s also worth taking into account the daily standing charge that you’ll pay for always-on electric appliances. Leaving your oven on stand-by will cost you between 40-50p (30-40p for gas). With an air fryer, you only plug it in and use it when you need to. Easy money saving!

Air fryers can cut food waste

When you first take up air frying, you’ll find that you’re much less likely to throw food away at the end of a meal. It’s not just that your food is tastier than ever, but your cooking and buying habits will have started to change for the better.

First, you’ll be less likely to cook more than you need. Overfilling the air fryer draw is death to crispy-finish fries, so batch cooking is more common. Thinking about your portions more and planning quantities around your oven capacity will reduce the chance of unnecessary leftovers.

Secondly, if you do find yourself with leftovers – oh how you’ll relish them! Cooking leftovers in the air fryer is a complete game changer. Chips, pizza slices or even just-turning-stale croissants, all of them get a new lease of life in an air fryer.

All of this means that you won’t be throwing money away on food that doesn’t get eaten. Shopping and eating efficiently will help you to stick to your weekly budget without having to make big changes. And think of all those clean plates – that’s less washing up for you!

Easy clean ups use less hot water

At its worst, conventional oven cooked meals can lead to blackened, greasy trays piled up in the sink, and a difficult full oven clean to follow. Grim! With an air fryer, the low oil usage, non-stick surfaces and protective roasting liners will save you from this nightmare. And giving your device a deep-clean  won’t take you more than 10 minutes!

You’ll be chuffed to learn that all the removable parts of your air fryer are dishwasher safe. As using your dishwasher is often more economical than washing up by hand, you may be able to save money on your hot water and energy bills.

When you think of all the single-tray meals an air fryer can whip up – from fish tacos, to family curries and whole chickens (say hello to rotisserie air fryers) – the savings start to sound extra tasty.

Air fryers mean spending less on takeaways

We mean it! When you have an air fryer, you can make all sorts of delicious recipes at home with minimal effort. You can treat yourself after a long week or create the perfect home bar snacks – all without having to splash your hard-earned cash.

Air frying, as you know, makes it easier to get the balance between indulging and keeping healthy just right. You’ll be able to cook foods using much less oil than other pan or deep fat frying methods. Tender chicken wings , golden fish and chips, hot pizza, special fried rice – the menu is expansive!

Knocking together a weekend treat has never been easier or less expensive. You’re pretty much guaranteed to enjoy a meal more when you don’t feel the sting of extra costs!

All this could add up to significant savings on your energy bill over time. If you’re weighing up getting an air fryer, let this article kick start your product research. For you, an air fryer may well be worth it.