Air Fryer Comparisons

Quick Answer: Air Fryer, Oven, Microwave or Deep Fryer?

Use the air fryer for anything you want crisp in small to medium quantities — chips, chicken, roast veg, frozen food and reheated leftovers. It’s usually faster than the oven and, for a typical UK meal, costs around a third as much to run. Use the oven for large batches and big joints, the microwave for soups, rice and sauces, and a deep fryer only if you regularly cook wet-battered food.

How the Appliances Compare

Running costs are based on our worked example at the October–December 2026 Ofgem price cap. See the full maths in Air Fryer vs Oven: Real UK Running Costs.

Air Fryer vs Oven

An air fryer heats a much smaller space with a powerful fan, so it preheats in minutes and usually cooks faster. That’s why a typical meal costs roughly a third as much — often a 25–30p saving each time. The oven still makes sense when you’re cooking for a crowd, roasting a large joint or filling several trays at once, because you’d otherwise be cooking in batches. To cook an oven recipe in the air fryer, use the Oven to Air Fryer Converter.

Air Fryer vs Microwave

For reheating, it depends on the food. The air fryer brings back crispness to pizza, chips, fried chicken and pastry; the microwave makes those soggy but is far quicker for soups, stews, rice and anything with a lot of liquid. Many kitchens use both. Read Air Fryer vs Microwave: Which Should You Actually Use? and use the Leftover Reheat Guide for air fryer reheating times.

Air Fryer vs Deep Fryer

An air fryer uses a fraction of the oil, is far easier to clean and removes the risk of a pan of hot oil. A deep fryer still produces the best results with wet batters (like battered fish) and is faster for large quantities. For most households, the air fryer covers nearly everything they used to deep fry. See Air Fryer vs Deep Fryer: What Each Is Actually Better At, and the Oil Usage Calculator to compare oil use for your favourite foods.

Which Type of Air Fryer?

Once you’ve decided an air fryer is right for you, the main choices are size, basket vs oven-style, and single vs dual-zone. Our Best Air Fryers buying guide covers each in detail with a size guide and budget table. In short:

• 1–2 people: a 2–4L single basket.
• 3–4 people: 5–7L, or a dual-zone model to cook a main and a side together.
• 5+ people or batch cooking: 8L+ dual-zone or an oven-style air fryer with racks.

We compare by size, type and features rather than ranking brands. Ninja, Cosori, Tower, Philips, Salter and supermarket own brands are all widely sold in the UK — decide what size and type you need first, then compare models at your budget.

Where a Deep Fryer Still Wins

Wet batter — the kind used for battered fish, tempura, or onion rings dipped in a loose batter — genuinely doesn’t work in an air fryer. The batter needs to set instantly in hot oil; in an air fryer it drips before it can hold its shape. If you want proper fish-and-chip-shop battered fish, that’s still a deep fryer or pan job. Deep fryers are also faster for genuinely large batches, since the entire batch cooks in the same few minutes rather than needing single-layer batches.

Where Air Fryers Beat Deep Fryers

• Cleanup: no oil to strain, cool, store or dispose of. A wipe-down versus dealing with litres of hot oil isn’t a close comparison.
• Safety: no vat of oil at 180°C that can spit, splash or catch fire. Genuinely safer around kids and pets.
• Smell: deep frying leaves a lingering oil smell through the house that air frying mostly avoids.
• Versatility: an air fryer reheats, roasts, and bakes as well as “frying” — a deep fryer really only deep fries.

Air Fryer vs Deep Fryer: Taste and Texture

For most breaded and coated foods — chicken, fish fingers, frozen items — the difference is smaller than people expect, especially once you’re used to air-fried texture. For genuinely wet-battered food, deep frying still has a real edge that no amount of air fryer technique closes.

Air Fryer vs Microwave: Reheating Leftovers

This is where the air fryer’s advantage is most obvious day-to-day. Roast dinners, fried food, anything breaded or with a crust — a few minutes in the air fryer restores the original texture in a way a microwave simply can’t. Our leftover reheat guide covers exact times by food type.

Where the Microwave Still Makes Sense

• Liquids and soups — no air fryer handles these at all.
• Rice and grains — the added moisture actually helps here rather than hurting.
• Genuine speed needs — 30 seconds to melt chocolate or soften butter isn’t worth preheating anything for.
• Very small portions — heating a single small item in an air fryer basket is often not worth the preheat time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an air fryer cheaper to run than an oven?

Yes, for most meals. At current UK prices our worked example puts a typical air fryer meal at about 15p against around 45p in a conventional oven.

Can an air fryer replace an oven?

For many smaller households it can handle most everyday cooking. You’ll still want an oven for large roasts, big batch bakes and cooking for a crowd.

Is an air fryer healthier than a deep fryer?

It uses far less oil, so air-fried versions of fried foods are generally much lower in fat. Our air fryer vs deep fryer comparison looks at where each one wins.

Is an air fryer better than a microwave for reheating?

For crispy foods, yes. For soups, rice and saucy dishes the microwave is quicker and works just as well.