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Where did the recent air fryer trend come from anyway?
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this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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No, it's not an oven. It's a convection oven, which has existed for decades but never caught on until they were rebranded as air fryers.
It's not just a convection oven, it's a particularly small convection oven. Due to the size, the air blows faster and the heat requires less energy. It's absolutely brilliant for certain applications and it should be recognized as such.
I will never reheat fries in anything else.
Air fryer hotdogs are incredible.
Those too, I threw some precooked brats in the other day for lunch.... Better lunch than I deserved in ten minutes.
Yes! People have little patience to know the difference and the effects when they already know it's just an oven.
What? All ovens I've used in my life have been convection ovens.
And I've never used a convection oven. What a world.
Fascinating. What country? The only non-convection oven I've ever seen in Germany was the fire fueled oven my grandma had, and I'm pretty sure that thing was pre-war.
Canada. It's a standard gas oven with a broiler inside. They're for sale, but I've always lived in old houses.
I see. Gas ovens are quite rare here, overwhelming majority is electric.
I looked it up: In 2014 7% of households in Germany used gas stoves, and 4% used gas ovens. So probably even less today.
Same here, in the US. Natural gas dominates where I live, and I’ve only seen it for electric ovens.
It’s also still a “new” feature, in the context of major appliances lasting decades. My new oven is convection but I don’t remember it being a reasonable choice 18 years ago when I last did, it maybe that’s just natural gas
And even today, this was a “premium” feature. Most low to midrange appliances do not seem to have it
Right, 20 years ago I bought a gas oven. They were the "new big thing" the. But I'm not really a "new big thing" kinda guy.
Generally (in the US) the term convection oven is used to refer to an oven that forces hot air around with a fan, instead of an oven with the radiant heating elements.
Someone else commented that all ovens are convection and the correct term is "fan forced"... which might be technically correct, but that's just not how the terminology is commonly used at least in the US. Some newer ovens have options clearly labeled "convection" that turn on a fan, sometimes in addition to the radiant heating elements.
The main reason I think people like convection ovens or air fryers is because the air circulation crisps the outside without overcooking the inside and without all the fatty oils required in a traditional deep fryer.
Not having a convection fan is pretty much a US-only thing.
Most ovens in the past 15 years have convection. People didn't notice the button on the oven until air friers became a big thing.
Thanks for the context! I only know that if you are following a recipe from the US, you have to be careful because it will assume no convection (unless it explicitly tells you) while if you follow a recipe from somewhere else, it's the other way around.
Wait. People don't have convection ovens in the US? I think every home over here has been equipped with one since the 1990s or something.
Yeah they’re not very common in the US unless the kitchen was renovated for a “home chef” type. The average oven you go and just “pick off the shelf” in the US doesn’t have convection. I don’t know anyone with a convection oven, I’ve only seen home cooks/chefs on YouTube with them.
Convection has been standard for ovens for over 10 years. My 13 year old KitchAid oven from a big box store has convection. It wasn't even promoted until air friers became popular.
Also all microwaves with bake feature are convection ovens. Again it was normal, but now they put big "like air frier" stickers on them to let people know.
I’ll take your word for that, I don’t know anyone who has bought an oven in the last decade. 😅 Every home/apartment I’ve lived in has had basic appliances and every home I’ve visited even with older mid-range hasn’t. I’ve also never seen a microwave with “bake” function in person. But I might live in a different circle than you as well.
I bought my oven 20 years ago. Convection ovens were for sale but at a premium and I thought it was a gimmick and didn't want to buy in. I've never used one either and I may have the same experience as you, old houses and poor friends? Lol.
I also haven’t seen many of those combo ovens, most people just use commodity microwaves
That's pretty weird, wonder why that is. I bet it's the opposite in Europe.
No wonder Air Fryers were lauded as magical then
What's really strange to me is that every oven and every toaster oven I've ever owned has a connection setting. So people are buying these huge space-consuming appliances to do something that they can already do with what they have in their house.
The convection is much stronger than on a regular oven, as someone who has a full sized convection oven, toaster oven with convection, and air fryer.
Also you would have to use a mesh or rack with a cookie sheet on a lower shelf to expose the bottom of the food to the moving air in your oven without drips sticking.
If you've tried both, you would see what I mean.
Can confirm. Had an oven that could 'do' convection. Didn't seem to make a difference.
Then I got an actual air fryer. Made a massive difference.
Not every oven has a convection setting. I'd go so far as to say most rentals don't. Every (electric) oven does have a broil setting. But for some reason you seem to think buying a toaster oven (a small broiler) is fine but an air fryer (a small convection oven) is strange? And an air fryer is "huge"? Are you confused about what an air fryer is? It's like once square foot of countertop space at most.
Believe me, I thought the exact same thing until we were gifted one, so i get the skepticism! The convection bake setting on my oven is just not even comparable to a $75 air fryer.
As another commenter posted, air fryers use a much more intense airflow. It's nuts just how much faster and crisper things like chicken thighs and frozen snacks come out compared to the oven.
I didn't know that. Thanks for the education.
I'd argue it's better than a convection oven. I think it's the placement of the fan and the higher air flow rate that differentiates the two.
My parents and SO's parents have name-brand convection ovens but they're no where as good as a dedicated air fryer. We've tried the same recipe (potato roasties) across them all and they achieve vastly different results.
Absolutely. I just bought a new range that does convection oven, and it's not as good as a countertop air fryer.
This. It's something to do with the fan placement or just the smaller volume of air in the air fryer. I've tried to use a convection oven and it both took way longer and the results were nowhere near as good.
Actually closer to a sub category called impingement ovens.
Wikipedia:
Another form of a convection oven is called an impingement oven. This type of oven is often used to cook pizzas and lightly toast bread in restaurants, but it can also be used for other foods. Impingement ovens have a high flow rate of hot air from both above and below the food. The air flow is directed onto food that usually passes through the oven on a conveyor belt.
I did not know about them. Thanks for the new information.
A convection oven is a normal oven. "Convection" means it radiates heat and it flows through the oven by convection currents - hot air rises and cold air falls. As opposed to a microwave oven. You probably mean a fan-forced oven - they have been standard in the US since the early 1970s.
In spite of what the words "convection" and "oven" mean on their own, a "convection oven" refers to an oven with a fan to circulate the air. An air fryer is a small convection oven.
https://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-is-a-convection-oven/