Air Fryer Vs Toaster Oven: Which Is Healthier
From a laymans point of view, both of these kitchen appliances are closely similar as far as health is concerned. Some may argue that a toaster would be the healthier option as it allows you to cook foods without the addition of oil. However, for foods cooked by an air fryer, its advisable to spritz the surface with oil for better crispiness.
Can You Use A Pressure Cooker For Canning
Large pressure canners can often be used for cooking giant batches, but smaller and electric pressure cookers dont meet the standards for safe canning. Regardless of a manufacturers advertising, Utah State University researchers have found pressure canner size and type matter. The National Center for Home Food Preservation only recommends pressure canning in stovetop pressure canners that hold at least four upright quart-size jars on a rack, can be vented before pressurizing, and have a way to monitor the pressure throughout the canning process.
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Why You Should Trust Us
As a senior staff writer at Wirecutter, Ive researched, tested, and reviewed toasters, toaster ovens, pod-shaped air fryers, and deep fryers, among other kitchen gear and gadgets, since 2016. In that time, Im pretty sure Ive eaten more fish sticks and french fries than the Gortons Fisherman and Ronald McDonald combined.
In researching this guide, we spoke to Chichi Uguru, creator of the Air Fryer Yum blog . We also interviewed Cathy Yoder, host and creator of many popular air fryer YouTube videos and author of the cookbook 150+ Yummy Air Fryer Recipes .
Additionally, we used an AI-powered analysis tool to scan 6,500-plus customer reviews of 12 air fryer toaster ovens to identify what made some models better or worse than others. We also took informal polls on and Instagram to find out more about what people like to cook in their pod-shaped air fryers and air fryer toaster ovens.
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Benefits Of An Air Fryer
Whether youre comparing air fryers and ovens, toaster ovens, deep fryers or another cooking option, air fryers bring a lot to the table.
- Versatility. From roasted chicken to toasted nuts to fresh baked cookies, air fryers can cook an impressively wide range of sides, entrees, snacks and desserts.
- Size. With high-efficiency design, air fryers are major space-savers. Many models are smaller than comparable toaster ovens.
- Speed. You can cook many dishes in an air fryer in a half-hour or lessoften much less. Chicken breasts, for example, can go from the freezer to your dinner plate in around 20 minutes.
- Simplicity.Using an air fryer is as easy as loading up your ingredients, tapping a button or two and letting your countertop cooker do the rest.
- Fat reduction. Air fryers keep the fried foods you love as crispy and tender as your heart desireswith a heart-friendly fat reduction of up to 90%.
What Is An Air Fryer
Essentially, an air fryer is a smaller, more portable convection oven. Instead of being shaped like a toaster oven, many air fryers are tall, sort of resembling a coffeemaker. It has a removable bucket with a handle, and inside that bucket fits a removable basket. This basket is where the food goes. The bucket slides into the device, you turn it on, and it starts to cook. The fan is situated overhead, above a heating element.
Now, because it’s smaller and the fan is closer to the food, an air fryer is able to focus a high amount of heat onto a relatively small cooking area. Which means that an item of food in that cooking area will cook more quickly than it would in a convection oven.
However, because it is smaller, it will only accommodate a fraction of the amount of food that a convection oven will fit. An air fryer will really only cook about two servings at a timeif that.
This means that if you are trying to feed more than one or two people, you’ll have to cook in batches, so that ultimately it may take longer to serve a meal than it would using a convection oven.
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Budget Pick: Cosori Pro Air Fryer
*At the time of publishing, the price was $85.
The Cosori Pro Air Fryer was the best pod-shaped model we tested for under $100. Although the Cosoris 3.7-quart capacity is slightly larger than that of the Philips Premium Airfryer HD9741/96, it doesnt cook as evenly, but considering its relatively low price, we think its results were good enough. The Cosoris many preprogrammed settings werent as accurate as those of the Philips, eitherwe preferred using the manual controls for selecting the time and temperature instead. Like the Philips, the Cosori has a square-shaped basket that fits more food than the round baskets in other models. The Cosori also comes with a recipe booklet, which is helpful if youre new to cooking with convection technology.
Like the Philips, the Cosori has a removable basket to hold your food while it cooks. We prefer this design to the removable trays of a lot of newer models, because trays tend to fall out when you flip the bucket upside down to transfer food to a platethis was the case with the Ninja AF101 Air Fryer we testedand when the tray comes flying out, it could potentially cause burns. We also like that the Cosori has a plastic guard that covers the baskets release button , which prevents you from inadvertently pressing it while shaking your food. Without the guard, its easier to accidentally press the button, which would release the bucket and send it crashing onto the floor.
Come With Measured Expectations For Next Level Additions
Match knowing exactly what you need with how much space you have to select the right microwave. So break out the tape measure to tally the height, width, and depth before any install. Choose a microwave that fits your space or one with extra generous interior dimensions if you can accommodate it. Need a microwave and a range hood but only have space for one? Just be sure to allow for 30-36 inches between the cooktop and the bottom of the microwave. And if you want to do more than simply replace a microwave, perhaps reimagine your kitchen with a built-in microwave oven and oven combo. Whatever you choose, the right preplanning will put you on course for a successful install guided by our assembly instructions and documents.
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Should You Buy An Air Fryer Toaster Oven
All air fryer toaster ovens are basically convection ovens with fans that operate at a high speed to circulate hot air for browning and crisping.
They also have some big advantages over dedicated air fryers. The air fry basket tends to be shallower but wider, letting you cook more food at once. Its also easy to monitor cooking through the window and to pull out the basket to stir and flip over food.
However, few of these multifunction countertop ovens are the best at air frying. These are for people who prioritize toasting and versatility over air frying. To get good results, you may have to extend cooking times and be vigilant about tossing, flipping over, and rearranging.
Theyre also generally harder to clean. While most air fryers have easy to clean nonstick air fry baskets, the stainless steel baskets and aluminum drip pans seen here can take some soaking and scrubbing to get spotless.
When you cook something in a batterlike shrimp or onion ringsor toss in a little oil like homemade French fries, you get messy drips on the heating elements that will need to be cleaned off. Some newer models are finally starting to include nonstick interiors, which is a big plus.
Since youll be using either the oven rack or the air fry basket, be sure you have space to store the one youre not using, as well as the baking dish and any other accessories.
Is An Air Fryer A Convection Oven
The answer is no. For air fryers, heat is supplied from the top. Meanwhile, for a convection oven, heat is provided both from the top and from the bottom.
Cooking with top-down heat helps food to thicken and cook faster. However, the food will be cooked more evenly if the heat is distributed both top and bottom. Air fryers will cook faster than a convection oven without requiring you to heat a large appliance the size of your oven.
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Should You Buy An Air Fryer Or Toaster Oven
It depends! If speed is important and you want to enjoy crispy foods without having to deep fry, youll probably want to buy an air fryer. If youre looking for a mini oven that can heat things up without warming your whole house, a toaster oven is a great investment. If you love kitchen gadgets and have the storage space, you might want both.
There are some instances in which the two appliances can be used interchangeably, and at the end of the day, the choice will depend on what youre cooking . If youre new to using an air fryer, its a good idea to check on your food sooner than you would with a traditional oven. When using an air fryer, the food item will most likely be ready in about a third of the time, Roszkowski said. If your food is getting too much color too quickly, you can reduce the temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit for the last few minutes.
Size is also an important consideration, specifically countertop space and how many people youre cooking for. I always say go bigger in size if possible, Goldstein said. Roszkowski recommends getting at least a 6-quart air fryer so that you can make reasonable-sized batches without overcrowding the basket. If counter space is at a premium, I would recommend selecting a toaster oven that has a built-in air fryer option, she said. Ultimately, an air fryer is mimicking the action of a powerful convection oven, so any toaster oven that has a fan setting will help emulate the same crisping action of an air fryer.
Does The Food Actually Taste Fried
Dont buy the hype. While air-fried food is very crispy outside and moist and tender inside it would never be mistaken for the real deal .
Traditional deep-frying as described by Harold McGee in Keys to Good Cooking immerses foods completely in hot oil. It forms a brown, flavorful crust over whole pieces while the insides heat through.
Air fried food tastes fantastic but it doesnt taste like it was immersed in hot oil.
This is why air fryer is a silly name. Its enticing and magical sounding but it sets the wrong expectation. Convection crisping or convection baking are more accurate descriptions of the cooking process.
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Should You Use An Air Fryer Or Convection Oven
I may be biased, but I try to use my air fryer whenever I can! Air fryers cook much faster and dont require long preheat times like a large traditional oven. Thanks to the perforated air fryer basket, any excess oil drains out from your food, making it a healthy cooking method.
On the other hand, convection ovens are more spacious than most small air fryers. You can cook more food at once without worrying about how many layers you put in, unlike an air fryer. Some critics also say that air fryers are louder than convection ovens. I personally dont mind the noise that my air fryer makes, but to each their own!
So, deciding between an air fryer or convection oven really just depends on what youre cooking.
Toaster Ovens Can Toast & Bake While Air Fryers Can’t
Toaster ovens are the ultimate kitchen appliance. Not only can they toast bread and bake cookies, but they can also do so much more. For example, you can use a toaster oven to reheat leftovers, cook a frozen pizza, or even make a grilled cheese sandwich.
And if that’s not enough, you can also use a toaster oven to broil meats and vegetables. In short, a toaster oven is a versatile tool that every home cook should have in their kitchen. By contrast, air fryers are one-trick ponies.
Sure, they can be used to make crispy fried foods, but that’s about it. So if you’re looking for an appliance that can do it all, choose a toaster oven. Even better: a convection toaster oven, to circulate hot air coming from the heating elements.
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Ease Of Cleaning And Maintenance
If like me, you do not take pleasure in spending a lot of time cleaning, then I really think you should go with an Air Fryer. The fact you will not need any oil to prepare your meals makes the non-stick drip pan of the appliance really easy to wipe clean.
Both the exterior and interior surfaces are also made of easy to clean materials. To top it off, thanks to their small size, they are also very quick to clean.
That said, toaster ovens are easy to clean as well. Its just that when you compare their cleaning process to the air fryers, the air fryer takes the lead. The most strenuous part of cleaning a toaster oven is using sponge ad detergents to get rid of all the oil, while at the same time trying to ensure that you do not come into contact with the heating elements.
With that in mind, regardless of the appliance you are cleaning, if it has been a long time since your last cleaning session and there has been a build-up of stains, then I advise you to scrub gently using your sponge to ensure that you do not scratch the walls and ruin the paint.
What Is A Convection Oven
A countertop convection oven is built like a standard toaster oven: rectangular in shape with a front door that opens on a hinge at the bottom. How it differs from an ordinary toaster oven is that a convection oven is equipped with a fan, which blows hot air around.
The motion of the air inside the oven is called a convection effect and it results in faster cooking by transferring higher temperatures to the surface of the food as compared with an ordinary oven. So it both accelerates cooking as well as enhances the browning and crisping of the surface of your food.
Like a toaster oven, a convection oven has an interior rack that will fit a sheet pan . Because it’s wide, it allows for the food to be spread out on the rack rather than stacked in layers.
This is crucial, since stacking or layering food impedes the flow of hot air. Arranging the food in a single layer allows for even cooking all around.
The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney
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How Does A Pressure Cooker Work
A pressure cooker traps ultrahigh heat within the pot so that foods steam and boil quickly. The more pressure, the higher the heat and the shorter the cooking time. The lid is sealed tightly until the pressure releases, making the cooker safe and efficient. It can be used to cook many foods, but people often choose it to sharply cut back long cooking times, such as for beans, meats, and potatoes.
Philips Premium Airfryer Xxl Hd9650
What Its Best For: Frozen fries, meat, fish, whole chicken, and chicken drumsticks
If youre planning on buying an air fryer, this is a great option: The Philips Premium Airfryer XXL outperformed the competition in all of our Lab tests. If kitchen space is limited and youre only feeding one or two people, there are smaller models available, too. This air fryer has multiple cooking functions, so in addition to air frying, it can bake, grill, roast, toast, dehydrate, and reheat food. It also has presets for popular air-fried recipes, including frozen fries, meat, fish, whole chicken, and chicken drumsticks. Its user-friendly to boot.
In testing, Philips impressed in nearly every test we threw its way: rotisserie chicken, french frieseven cornbread. The drawer-like cooking basket on the Philips Airfryer XXL can hold 7 quarts, which is big enough for a 4-pound whole chicken or two bags of frozen fries. It made the fluffiest french fries out of all the models we tested and perfect roast chicken with crispy skin and juicy meat in just 45 minutes.
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Our Pick: Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
*At the time of publishing, the price was $320.
The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro is the best air fryer toaster oven weve tested . Some air fryer toaster ovens perform better as an air fryer or as a toaster oven, but the Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro is the perfect marriage of those two appliances. Its convection fan is strong enough to crisp up food quickly, but since you can reduce its speed or turn it off, you can really fine-tune the settings for what youre cooking. It was also remarkably good at maintaining a set temperature, and toasted almost as evenly as our runner-up pick, the Cuisinart Chefs Convection Toaster Oven TOB-260N1. It produced crispy fries with creamy interiors and fish sticks that were crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. It also made a beautifully golden-brown roasted chicken and evenly baked cookies.
This oven also has a phase cook feature, which allows you to program two cooking cycles back to back . Lets say youre baking a pumpkin pie. Using the phase-cook mode, you could, for instance, bake the pie at 425 °F for 15 minutes, then program the oven to automatically reduce the temperature to 350 °F for the remaining 30 to 40 minutes.
