Martin Lewis' verdict on air fryers versus ovens: 'I'd be somewhat sceptical'

Martin Lewis has issued his verdict on people using air fryers instead of ovens. The money saving expert has reportedly received a number of queries from people who've bought popular air fryers such as Ninja and Tower models.

Rather than using conventional ovens, these kitchen gadgets are often promoted as being more cost-effective when it comes to cooking. Some people even consider roasting their Sunday dinners in them, reports BristolLive.

However Martin expressed somewhat scepticism about the energy savings you'd make with air fryers during an appearance on ITV's This morning programme.

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Martin said: "I heard you on the show mentioning someone was gonna cook dinner in an air fryer. Is that right? If that's being done for energy reasons, I would be somewhat sceptical whether that is a good idea."

Martin then added: "If it's being done for taste, I don't want to get involved. I mean, the benefit of an oven is when you're cooking a lot for a lot of people, and you can fill all the racks and have it on consistently.

"Air fryers are good for small things that cook quickly. If you're gonna have to use your air fryer 15 different times for different items generally on energy usage, you'd be better off to use an oven. So it's an interesting thought."

Martin then examined the financial implications of meal prep, stating: "If you're doing a jacket potato for 10 minutes it's going to be far cheaper [in the microwave] than doing a single jacket potato in an oven and keeping it on for an hour and a half. However if you were doing a full roast dinner and you were cooking many of them, that is where it's probably cheaper than putting five or six jacket potatoes in a microwave because each additional object you put in a microwave, you need to keep it on longer because a microwave just heats the individual object.", reports Leicestershire Live.

He suggested a basic formula for consumers to consider, which involves identifying the wattage of an appliance, before working out "work out how many kilowatts or what fraction of a kilowatt it's using, then multiply that by 34p per hour of use."

According to Martin, this same method should be employed when comparing the cost efficiency of air fryers and halogen cookers. He elaborated: "If you had a 1000W microwave and you put it on for 10 minutes, one KWH for a sixth of an hour, a sixth of 34p is about 6p, shall we say? So it's 6p turning the microwave on for that amount of time. So yes it's a very useful equation."

For those already planning big meals, energy specialist Llewellyn Kinch from MakeMyHouseGreen.com has some advice, stating: "If you cook a turkey in the oven for several hours, it'll use up lots of electricity."

"The savvy way is to use a slow cooker, which costs a fraction to run compared to a traditional oven. Crispy skin lovers can always finish the turkey in the oven for a short period of time."

"For side dishes, opt for energy-efficient cooking methods, such as the microwave or convection oven. Roast potatoes come out well in energy-efficient air fryers. A final tip is to always match saucepan sizes to hot plates or burners, and keep lids on pots to reduce cooking time and energy waste."