Airfryer, fryer or oven: the energy saving champion is not who you think!
Airfryers have a good reputation for preparing tasty dishes with little fat and in a very short time. Among the praises sung about these oil-free fryers, there is also the supposedly contained electricity consumption.
If The Digitals is able to validate the argument of rapid cooking thanks to our test benches, that of tasty dishes is still under discussion (and far too subjective) for the discerning tastes of the members of the editorial staff. However, there remains one criterion on which we wanted to focus: electricity consumption. Is that of airfryers drastically lower than that of an electric (oil) fryer or even a built-in oven?
Aifryer vs. fryer: consumption on the test bench
To find out, we have selected three products: the Ninja Air Fryer Foodi Flex air fryer, a Tefal fryer and an Electrolux oven. Our exercise serves above all to reveal a consumption trend and is not intended to deliver absolute values.
Ninja Air Fryer Foodi Flex AF500EU
Introductory price €269.99
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Tefal Semi-professional Filtra Pro 4L FR516110
Introductory price €130
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To each of these devices, we initially entrusted 1 kg of fresh fries, meticulously peeled and cut by the author of these lines. For cooking times and temperatures, we followed the recommendations of the appliances. Secondly and to go further in our analysis, we asked them to cook 900 g of frozen fries.
Electrolux EOA9S31CX SteamPro
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Duration and power consumption for 1 kg of fresh fries
Without going through any hassle, we immediately observe that the cooking times are more or less equivalent between an airfryer and an electric fryer. For 1 kg of fresh fries, the Ninja Foodi Fryer Foodi Flex needs 25 minutes of cooking at 200°C, while the Tefal electric fryer requires a first bath of 8 minutes at 160°C, then a second of 6 minutes at 190°C after a 10 minute break (during these 10 minutes, the fryer continues to preheat). It takes a total of 24 minutes and can be done in a pocket handkerchief.
Duration and power consumption for 1 kg of fresh fries.
Our experiment generated a consumption of 0.973 kWh for the airfryer and a second of 0.988 kWh for the electric fryer. This difference is therefore very subtle and plays into the air fryer. As one might expect, the built-in oven is the appliance that takes the longest to cook (and for good reason, there is its preheating): it needs 36 min at 200°C in fan-forced heat (6 min preheating, 25 min cooking and 5 min grill mode to brown the fries). After that, the Electrolux oven generated a consumption of 1,121 kWh.
Duration and power consumption for 900 g of frozen fries
To get to the bottom of things, we wanted to reproduce this test with frozen fries. We stuck to 900 g of frozen fries, and once again, we relied on the cooking programs delivered by the appliances.
Duration and power consumption for 1 kg of frozen fries.
At the end of our tests, the observation is the same. Cooking times and electricity consumption are equivalent or almost. While it took 22 minutes at 18°C to cook frozen fries in the airfryer, the fryer needed 25 minutes of cooking (a first bath at 170°C, a second at 190°C). Their electricity consumption is approximately the same: 0.799 kWH for the oil-free fryer compared to 0.750 kWh for the oil fryer. This time, it's the electric fryer that wins the point, but it's still a matter of pocket squares. The electric oven only requires 26 minutes of cooking (after 6 minutes of preheating) and an electricity consumption of 0.862 kWh, which is a little more than the first two devices.
Verdict: the airfryer consumes as much as a fryer
After this series of tests, the argument of lower power consumption than other devices does not hold up. The manufacturers won't take this from us anymore! Obviously, an airfryer consumes less than an oven: the cavity is smaller (the cooking capacities too) and the airfryer does not require preheating. But compared to an electric fryer, the electricity consumption is approximately the same and the cooking times are equivalent. So, certainly, in the absence of an oil bath, the airfryer is less restrictive than an electric fryer (and we will do without the smell) and ensures much healthier cooking. But there is no doubt that fries are significantly tastier when cooked in an oil bath.
