Isn’t an air fryer just a convection oven anyway?
December 3, 2022 5:20 PM Subscribe
I’m in the market for a new countertop oven/toaster, and have my eye on the well-liked Breville Smart Oven line. The Smart Oven Pro convection oven (on sale elsewhere) is substantially less expensive than the Smart Oven Air, which has a dedicated “air fry” setting that seems to run at a higher temperature and/or faster air circulation. Is this one function worth the additional cost?
I’ve previously owned a dedicated air fryer (one of the egg-shaped ones) mostly used to roast veggies and heat frozen fried foods, and liked it well enough, except that it was incredibly noisy and took up too much valuable counter space. Will the results be pretty much the same with the regular convection oven, or is that extra boost in heat and forced air worth it?
I’ve previously owned a dedicated air fryer (one of the egg-shaped ones) mostly used to roast veggies and heat frozen fried foods, and liked it well enough, except that it was incredibly noisy and took up too much valuable counter space. Will the results be pretty much the same with the regular convection oven, or is that extra boost in heat and forced air worth it?
Best answer: We traded our Breville Smart Oven Pro for the Smart Oven Air a few months ago, and really like the air fryer feature. It's especially good for frozen fries, but it also works well for other frozen food items like that. My wife made donuts with it one time, and they were pretty darn good fresh out of the oven (though thet didn't hold over well). The air fry setting runs the fan at a much higher speed than the normal convection setting.
It was worth thetrade-up for us to be able to have air-fryer functionality without yet another separate device fighting for space in the kitchen.
posted by briank at 5:36 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
It was worth thetrade-up for us to be able to have air-fryer functionality without yet another separate device fighting for space in the kitchen.
posted by briank at 5:36 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: What a coincidence -- I just got my Christmas present early, and it's the Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. (It was on a Black Friday sale.) I've had all of two days' use of it, and I'm really pleased. It is not nearly as hot as I was afraid it would be, and although it makes noise, it is only as much as the microwave, or even less. I have used the air fryer function only once, for cubed tempeh, and I was surprised at how quickly the food was done. It was much less than the suggested cooking time on the internet.
I had wanted this because the oven in my apartment turns out to be well behind in its temperature, so it's unpredictable, plus it takes quite a while to preheat. This is much quicker, and I think it will save energy costs compared to the oven because air fryers are supposed to do so in general. But then, as I say, I've just gotten it and I don't know what I will dislike about it. Plus, since I don't eat meat, I won't know if it handles the risks of cooking fat as well as it might.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:57 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
I had wanted this because the oven in my apartment turns out to be well behind in its temperature, so it's unpredictable, plus it takes quite a while to preheat. This is much quicker, and I think it will save energy costs compared to the oven because air fryers are supposed to do so in general. But then, as I say, I've just gotten it and I don't know what I will dislike about it. Plus, since I don't eat meat, I won't know if it handles the risks of cooking fat as well as it might.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:57 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
More than half the 10 one star reviews of the Smart Oven Air complain about an irritating high pitched noise on standby, and one of those reviews said they switched to the Smart Oven Pro, which didn’t make the noise.
I’d say the SOA will probably annoy any member of the family who can hear a computer monitor flyback transformer, including dogs and cats, and that the SOP probably won’t.
posted by jamjam at 6:11 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I’d say the SOA will probably annoy any member of the family who can hear a computer monitor flyback transformer, including dogs and cats, and that the SOP probably won’t.
posted by jamjam at 6:11 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I had an air fryer and gave it away. My oven does the same thing and I didn't have the cabinet space for it. I just got fed up of having to do small portions every time I can cook it all at once in the oven. I don't find an air fryer that much faster once my oven is up to heat, the results are the same, at least for the stuff I like to cook, and hell if I'm using the oven for one thing I'll throw the rest of the dinner in and do it all in the oven and I just throw the silpat sheets in the dishwasher when I'm done. I find the clean up easier. But I get some people like them so if it's something you used a lot and liked using then don't let me put you off.
posted by wwax at 6:11 PM on December 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by wwax at 6:11 PM on December 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
I don't know about that specific model but we recently acquired an inexpensive basket style air fryer and it's been a revelation. Sure, it's just a convection oven, but in the same way that a stand mixer is just another whisk. You can get results far more consistently and quickly with the air fryer.
posted by lemur at 7:01 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by lemur at 7:01 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have the Ninja air fryer, which is a basket style model, and I literally use it daily. It makes excellent chicken, fish, crispy roasted veggies, frozen food, whatever. It takes so much less time to preheat and cook, I have gotten way too impatient to use a regular oven for stuff.
posted by ananci at 7:08 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ananci at 7:08 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Wikipedia's intro paragraph on air fryers:
An air fryer is a small countertop convection oven designed to simulate deep frying without submerging the food in oil.[1][2] A fan circulates hot air[1] at high speed, producing a crisp layer via browning reactions such as the Maillard reaction. Some product reviewers find that regular convection ovens or convection toaster ovens produce better results,[3][4][1] or say that air frying is essentially the same as convection baking.[5]posted by aniola at 8:25 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Smart Oven Air:
cons, compared to air fryer:
- oil can drip onto the healing element below
- larger volume of air needs longer to heat up
- airflow is from one side to the other, instead of a circular airflow
pros:
- greater capacity
- can see food through glass window
- more versatile overall: baking cookies and cakes and bread, 13" pizza
- has dehydrator function
- has dough proofing function
In conclusion, Smart Oven Air is more versatile, but Air Fryers are arguably better at their one task - to apply hot air to small portions.
posted by dum spiro spero at 9:15 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
cons, compared to air fryer:
- oil can drip onto the healing element below
- larger volume of air needs longer to heat up
- airflow is from one side to the other, instead of a circular airflow
pros:
- greater capacity
- can see food through glass window
- more versatile overall: baking cookies and cakes and bread, 13" pizza
- has dehydrator function
- has dough proofing function
In conclusion, Smart Oven Air is more versatile, but Air Fryers are arguably better at their one task - to apply hot air to small portions.
posted by dum spiro spero at 9:15 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
As a counterpoint our non-Breville convection toaster oven has an “air fry” setting that doesn’t even approach being an air fryer. It’s otherwise a fine toaster oven and we use the hell out of it, but we’ve tried multiple air fryer recipes and been disappointed every time. I would hope the Breville is better than that.
posted by fedward at 9:53 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by fedward at 9:53 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I always recommend this if you have some extra $
Air frying! Steam cooking! Convection oven@ Acurate sous vide! $500, replaces a regular oven for all but the largest of things.
posted by lalochezia at 10:00 AM on December 4, 2022 [4 favorites]
Air frying! Steam cooking! Convection oven@ Acurate sous vide! $500, replaces a regular oven for all but the largest of things.
posted by lalochezia at 10:00 AM on December 4, 2022 [4 favorites]
Best answer: A bit late on responding, hopefully a response is still useful. I split my time between two places; in one we have the exact model you are asking about, in the other, a smaller, older, regular Breville toaster oven with no convection mode at all.
Day to day toasting: no major difference. The one feature I miss from the smart oven air is the magnets that pull the grill out in the middle position. But this isn't worth the cost...
Size: the smart oven air is ... not small. It's the physically largest toaster oven I've ever owned. Definitely measure your available counter space. This does have an upside:
Use as an oven: My regular one has oven features but I barely use them at all. The smart oven air is an incredibly capable oven substitute: it's big enough that many things you want to bake fit in with no problem, it is more energy efficient than our normal oven, it has more features/control + better lighting, and it doesn't generate as much heat in the summer. It gets a lot of use for its oven features, more so than any other toaster oven I've owned. It's possible this doesn't differentiate the two models you're looking at though. Warmup time is long but still faster than a (rental-standard) full size oven.
Air frying / convection: It has two convection modes, regular convection and "super convection". The latter is noticeably more powerful than the regular convection mode (or full size oven convection modes I've used). The air fryer setting uses super convection but is doing something more (not sure if it's just even more fan speed, or something else). I've had good success at various standard air fryer things in this mode, though it is a much bigger internal space than dedicated air fryers (which I've never tried). Super convection is useful in other modes too.
Cleanup: you usually have to clean the tray and the base after air frying, which I think is comparable to dedicated air fryers. Oil getting on the heating elements hasn't been a problem. (At least, any more so than any toaster oven has the problem of stuff dripping on the elements if you put anything besides dry toast in it.)
High pitched sounds: this thread is the first I've heard about this, maybe we are too old to hear it, but this just hasn't been an issue.
posted by advil at 9:08 AM on December 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Day to day toasting: no major difference. The one feature I miss from the smart oven air is the magnets that pull the grill out in the middle position. But this isn't worth the cost...
Size: the smart oven air is ... not small. It's the physically largest toaster oven I've ever owned. Definitely measure your available counter space. This does have an upside:
Use as an oven: My regular one has oven features but I barely use them at all. The smart oven air is an incredibly capable oven substitute: it's big enough that many things you want to bake fit in with no problem, it is more energy efficient than our normal oven, it has more features/control + better lighting, and it doesn't generate as much heat in the summer. It gets a lot of use for its oven features, more so than any other toaster oven I've owned. It's possible this doesn't differentiate the two models you're looking at though. Warmup time is long but still faster than a (rental-standard) full size oven.
Air frying / convection: It has two convection modes, regular convection and "super convection". The latter is noticeably more powerful than the regular convection mode (or full size oven convection modes I've used). The air fryer setting uses super convection but is doing something more (not sure if it's just even more fan speed, or something else). I've had good success at various standard air fryer things in this mode, though it is a much bigger internal space than dedicated air fryers (which I've never tried). Super convection is useful in other modes too.
Cleanup: you usually have to clean the tray and the base after air frying, which I think is comparable to dedicated air fryers. Oil getting on the heating elements hasn't been a problem. (At least, any more so than any toaster oven has the problem of stuff dripping on the elements if you put anything besides dry toast in it.)
High pitched sounds: this thread is the first I've heard about this, maybe we are too old to hear it, but this just hasn't been an issue.
posted by advil at 9:08 AM on December 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:29 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]