There is always the dilemma of the primary distinctions between air fryers and convection ovens for consumers who are thinking about getting an air fryer. However, in reality, they are almost identical. An air fryer, despite its name, doesn’t cook in a pool of oil. It functions similarly to a convection oven but has unique cooking capabilities.
Summary
Air Fryer vs Convection Oven
The main difference between an air fryer and a convection oven is that the air fryers are compact and can be easily fit in any cabinet. It circulates heat around the food by rapid-moving fans, and on the other hand the convection oven is extensive and takes time to reach the desired temperature.
Food is cooked in an air fryer in the same manner as cooked in a convection oven. Convection cooking heats your food by combining the use of a fan, an outflow mechanism to manage circulation, and a heating element. The device is about the same size as a coffee machine.
A convection oven prepares food using convective heating, which uses a heat exchanger and a fan to cover your food with heated air, allowing it to cook more rapidly and uniformly. A convection oven resembles a rectangular box from the front.
Comparison Table Between Air Fryer and Convection Oven
| Parameters of comparison | Air Fryer | Convection Oven |
| Size | Air fryers are smaller and occupy a small counter space. | Convection ovens are quite big and occupy a lot of space. |
| Fan placement | Fan is located at the back | Fan is located either at the base or on side walls |
| Heating | Heated air enters from the top and covers the upper surface of food | Heated air enters from all sides and cooks meals from all sides. |
| Cleaning | It is difficult to clean | It is easier to clean due to its large size. |
What is an Air Fryer?
An air fryer is simply a smaller, better mobile convection oven. Like a coffee machine, most air fryers are high rather than being fashioned like a toaster oven. It has a detachable container with a grip, as well as a retractable carrier that fits inside the bucket.
The food is placed in this basket. The bucket is inserted into the gadget, turned on, and the food begins to cook. The fan is located above a heat source in the ceiling.
An air fryer can now deliver a significant amount of heat upon a comparatively tiny cooking area since it is smaller and the blower is nearer to the food.
This means that food cooked in that kitchen area will cook faster than food cooked in a hot oven.
This generates a catch-22 situation because the limited size of the container prohibits you from laying out evenly layers of food, forcing you to stack it instead.
However, layering your food prevents heated air from flowing uniformly around it, undermining the convection effect’s function.
They can not cook that much food in a single container, and you can not turn off the fans, which is a standard feature over most convection ovens for baking. However, because they are shorter, they occupy less counter space.
Cleansing the container and basket can be a nuisance, whereas the convection oven only has a tray that needs to be drained. However, because of the holes we mentioned earlier, the air fryer should give your meal a fry-like texture.
What is a Convection Oven?
The space-saving convection oven is rectangular and has a hinged opening at the bottom of the front door. A convection oven is distinguished from a regular slow cooker by the presence of a fan that circulates hot air.
The convection action refers to the air movement within the oven, which results in speedier cooking by delivering high heat to the food’s top than in a conventional oven. As a result, it both speeds up cooking and improves the browning and crispy texture of your food’s surface.
A convection oven, like a toaster oven, features an inner rack that fits a sheet pan. Since it is so broad, the food can be spread out on the rack instead of heaped in sections.
As piling or layering food obstructs the passage of heated air, this is important. Cooking is more even when the food is arranged in a single layer.
Main Differences Between Air Fryer and Convection Oven
- Air fryers are generally smaller, but there are some extremely small kitchen counter convection ovens and some pretty large air fryers. This indicates they can not prepare as many meals at once, but they save energy, require less time to warm, and cook slightly faster because the food is directly beneath the heating source.
- In an air fryer, the fan is situated at the top, directly below the heat source, but in a convection oven, the fan is positioned in the back. This is why air fryers take a couple of minutes to preheat, unlike a convection oven which takes 10 to 15 minutes to preheat.
- Usually, convection ovens are marketed without any accessories. But on the other hand, the air fryer basket has a porous structure that enables heated air to much more quickly reach the contact area of food within the device effectively than it does in a roasting tray.
- Air fryers are fantastic for fried foods. However, they are not always the most important choir other recipes. Convection ovens include all of these qualities, and newer versions might have an air fry function, though some latest ones have choices for grilling, baking, steaming or roasting.
- While air fryers are small, the foodstuff is closer to the convection fan, which results in a crispier result than deep frying. But since convection ovens have more area, they cannot match the crunchy texture of a deep fryer.
Conclusion
It all falls down to individual decision-making related to ether to have a convection oven or an air fryer. That was not an either/or situation for so many people. Purchasing an air fryer does not need the complete abandonment of your convection oven.
Get an air fryer with a variety of different culinary capabilities. You will discover it is a surprisingly helpful addition to your kitchen, and it shouldn’t be mistaken for a convection oven.