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The only issue is that people may get misled into buying an oven sized air fryer which defeats the whole point since their advantage is that they are a much sma

The only issue is that people may get misled into buying an oven sized air fryer which defeats the whole point since their advantage is that they are a much smaller oven. If they were called 'tiny oven' people probably catch on a bit better. I have an air fryer which is literally a double walled cooking pot with a fan forced heater bolted on top. It's amazingly fast to cook and trivial to clean since it is small and fits in the sink but i fear many people hearing how good 'air fryers' are might do something dumb and buy an full size fan forced oven that's badged as an 'air fryer' which defeats the whole point.

AmVess 4y ago
The whole point of them is that they cook quickly, and without oil. Small units are good for 1-2 people, but it won't prepare enough for a family of more than 3, thus the existence of larger units.
- AnotherGoodName 4y ago
  I think there's a point where you need to accept that you should use a fan forced oven. Air Fryers are literally a small fan forced oven in terms of tech. The fast heating is due to the size. A fan forced oven is the same tech but slower due to being larger. Nothing more. So if you are buying a large air fryer that's essentially a fan forced oven i have to ask "why not use the oven?".
  - sgc 4y ago
    I don't know that is true. I have always presumed the air circulation in the air fryer is far higher than that in my convection oven, since when they are both preheated, the cooking times are certainly much lower in the air fryer. Not only that, but some ovens have a specific air fryer mode now, indicating it is not just a typical convection oven. Should every oven maker add an air fryer mode to their convection oven, as some have started doing? Of course!
    - AnotherGoodName 4y ago
      The tech is pretty hard to argue against. I mean you can literally look at what it contains and it's a heating element and a fan. Nothing more. You can Google this for yourself if you don't believe me but you'll find a lot of people patiently explaining this exact same point. There may be a case that there's better circulation in most air fryers vs most fan forced ovens. In fact that's true in my case as my large oven and my air fryer have fans the same size (so more relative circulation in the smaller air fryer). But they are the same tech. The difference in relative fan size probably has some effect but it's not a rule, it's really just a case of how big the fan in the device is and you may have air fryers with smaller or larger relative fan sizes and ovens with smaller or larger relative fan sizes. If you're wondering why ovens now have 'air fryer' mode that's because marketing. I suspect it spins the fan a little faster.
      - nightski 4y ago
        I don't know, I have heard that a lot of the newer ovens with an air fryer mode don't work very well at all. I wonder what is different.
      - dragonwriter 4y ago
        > If you’re wondering why ovens now have ‘air fryer’ mode that’s because marketing. I suspect it spins the fan a little faster. From what I can tell (and the detail provided on this is sketchy) differences include some or all of (varying between models): 1. Different fan position vs. ovens without air fry mode, 2. Faster fan speed in air fry mode, 3. Using “true” or “European” convection (heating unit behind the fan) in air fry mode, rather than “American” convection (bottom heating unit plus forced circulation fan), which may or may not be used in “convection” mode in a convection oven with an air fry setting. I haven’t looked, but I wouldn’t be surprised if more peak output from the heating element was part of air fry settings, especially the ones where that is specifically marketed as, or has an additional mode for, “no preheat” air frying.
      - sgc 4y ago
        My usb fan and the blower on my central furnace are the same - both just move air. And yet my furnace with much more fire and a much bigger fan is not a convection oven, or an air fryer. The amount of air blowing around my air fryer is likely at least 10x the amount in my convection oven per interior volume (ACH or whatever they use for ovens), and 20x what my convection toaster oven moves. And the results are nothing alike. The differences are so stark, I can only see someone who has not used a good air fryer claim they are basically the same. But of course, up the fan speed and the element size in relation to the interior volume, and make sure you place everything to get optimal air circulation and turbulence (my air fryer has several aero-vanes in its base to create turbulence in the air cyclone, and push it up through the bottom of the food), and you can make an oven that does what an air fryer does.
  - AmVess 4y ago
    Oven is still a LOT slower than a large air fryer.
    - lief79 4y ago
      Our new oven has an air fryer setting. Haven't messed with it yet, but this is encouraging me to.
dragonwriter 4y ago
> If they were called 'tiny oven' people probably catch on a bit better. Tiny countertop (often convection) ovens (including, but not limited to, ones marketed as "toaster ovens") are very common, but a lot of them are under powered for their size compared to those markets as "air fryers", as well as having other design differences. And they existed long before air fryers, which needed to differentiate themselves from them. > The only issue is that people may get misled into buying an oven sized air fryer which defeats the whole point since their advantage is that they are a much smaller oven. Actually, I think it’s probably going to be pretty common for people to have multiple convection ovens / air fryers and use them for different purposes. The “whole point” of an air fryer is not the size: the convection oven + cooking basket setup has fairly great utility at all sizes. Yes, an oven with a powerful heating element relative to size is going to have the added advantage of coming up to speed faster, which has some additional utility. Yes, the particular design of the cooking pot + top fan you describe (or the InstantPot models with air-fryer lids that interchangeable with the pressure cooker lids) have some unique utility (“pressure cook & crisp” for certain recipes). But ones the size of a typical microwave (or combined with a microwave, as some are now) or a typical full-size range oven also have unique uses that smaller ones lack.
darkerside 4y ago
Technically accurate doesn't mean good marketing, and in fact oftentimes quite the opposite

AmVess 4y ago

The whole point of them is that they cook quickly, and without oil. Small units are good for 1-2 people, but it won't prepare enough for a family of more than 3, thus the existence of larger units.

AnotherGoodName 4y ago
I think there's a point where you need to accept that you should use a fan forced oven. Air Fryers are literally a small fan forced oven in terms of tech. The fast heating is due to the size. A fan forced oven is the same tech but slower due to being larger. Nothing more. So if you are buying a large air fryer that's essentially a fan forced oven i have to ask "why not use the oven?".
- sgc 4y ago
  I don't know that is true. I have always presumed the air circulation in the air fryer is far higher than that in my convection oven, since when they are both preheated, the cooking times are certainly much lower in the air fryer. Not only that, but some ovens have a specific air fryer mode now, indicating it is not just a typical convection oven. Should every oven maker add an air fryer mode to their convection oven, as some have started doing? Of course!
  - AnotherGoodName 4y ago
    The tech is pretty hard to argue against. I mean you can literally look at what it contains and it's a heating element and a fan. Nothing more. You can Google this for yourself if you don't believe me but you'll find a lot of people patiently explaining this exact same point. There may be a case that there's better circulation in most air fryers vs most fan forced ovens. In fact that's true in my case as my large oven and my air fryer have fans the same size (so more relative circulation in the smaller air fryer). But they are the same tech. The difference in relative fan size probably has some effect but it's not a rule, it's really just a case of how big the fan in the device is and you may have air fryers with smaller or larger relative fan sizes and ovens with smaller or larger relative fan sizes. If you're wondering why ovens now have 'air fryer' mode that's because marketing. I suspect it spins the fan a little faster.
    - nightski 4y ago
      I don't know, I have heard that a lot of the newer ovens with an air fryer mode don't work very well at all. I wonder what is different.
    - dragonwriter 4y ago
      > If you’re wondering why ovens now have ‘air fryer’ mode that’s because marketing. I suspect it spins the fan a little faster. From what I can tell (and the detail provided on this is sketchy) differences include some or all of (varying between models): 1. Different fan position vs. ovens without air fry mode, 2. Faster fan speed in air fry mode, 3. Using “true” or “European” convection (heating unit behind the fan) in air fry mode, rather than “American” convection (bottom heating unit plus forced circulation fan), which may or may not be used in “convection” mode in a convection oven with an air fry setting. I haven’t looked, but I wouldn’t be surprised if more peak output from the heating element was part of air fry settings, especially the ones where that is specifically marketed as, or has an additional mode for, “no preheat” air frying.
    - sgc 4y ago
      My usb fan and the blower on my central furnace are the same - both just move air. And yet my furnace with much more fire and a much bigger fan is not a convection oven, or an air fryer. The amount of air blowing around my air fryer is likely at least 10x the amount in my convection oven per interior volume (ACH or whatever they use for ovens), and 20x what my convection toaster oven moves. And the results are nothing alike. The differences are so stark, I can only see someone who has not used a good air fryer claim they are basically the same. But of course, up the fan speed and the element size in relation to the interior volume, and make sure you place everything to get optimal air circulation and turbulence (my air fryer has several aero-vanes in its base to create turbulence in the air cyclone, and push it up through the bottom of the food), and you can make an oven that does what an air fryer does.
- AmVess 4y ago
  Oven is still a LOT slower than a large air fryer.
  - lief79 4y ago
    Our new oven has an air fryer setting. Haven't messed with it yet, but this is encouraging me to.

dragonwriter 4y ago

> If they were called 'tiny oven' people probably catch on a bit better. Tiny countertop (often convection) ovens (including, but not limited to, ones marketed as "toaster ovens") are very common, but a lot of them are under powered for their size compared to those markets as "air fryers", as well as having other design differences. And they existed long before air fryers, which needed to differentiate themselves from them. > The only issue is that people may get misled into buying an oven sized air fryer which defeats the whole point since their advantage is that they are a much smaller oven. Actually, I think it’s probably going to be pretty common for people to have multiple convection ovens / air fryers and use them for different purposes. The “whole point” of an air fryer is not the size: the convection oven + cooking basket setup has fairly great utility at all sizes. Yes, an oven with a powerful heating element relative to size is going to have the added advantage of coming up to speed faster, which has some additional utility. Yes, the particular design of the cooking pot + top fan you describe (or the InstantPot models with air-fryer lids that interchangeable with the pressure cooker lids) have some unique utility (“pressure cook & crisp” for certain recipes). But ones the size of a typical microwave (or combined with a microwave, as some are now) or a typical full-size range oven also have unique uses that smaller ones lack.

darkerside 4y ago

Technically accurate doesn't mean good marketing, and in fact oftentimes quite the opposite