An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that cooks, grills, and bakes low-calorie food with little oil and fat.
85% of consumers buy an air fryer because of its low calorie, no fat, and no oil cooking features (Source).
Every air fryer model offers a different power consumption depending on its brand, model, size, and energy efficiency.
So, how would you know the best wattage for your air fryer that doesn’t add significant figures to your electricity bills?
In this article, we’ve written an ultimate guide on the best wattage for an air fryer, air buying tips, important information, and other essential things you might need to know about air fryers.
The best wattage for an air fryer will be based on its size ∝ wattage.
For a small and compact air fryer, 1,000 – 2,000 watts is fine and will be considered an energy-efficient air fryer.
For a large-size air fryer, 2,800 – 4,200 watts will be good.
What Is An Air Fryer, And How Does It Work?
An air fryer is a machine or kitchen appliance used for cooking, grilling, baking, and warming food with little to no oil.
Since this machine doesn’t require oil or a minimal amount of oil.
The food prepared in the air fryer consists of 70%-80% less fat than deep-fried or conventional stove-cooked food.
How Does An Air Fryer Work?
The air fryer works on the principle of convection, in which the heat is transferred through air particles.
There’s a heating element responsible for creating higher temperatures under the air blower.
This system generates the hot blowing air that circulates all over the food section and gives you brown, crispy, and crunchy cooked food without oil and fats.
Related Reading: Airfryer vs. Deep Fryer – Read The Comparison Here.
Air Fryer Uses
There’s no wonder an air fryer is an efficient machine that offers a variety of practical uses.
Some of them are mentioned below:
- Best for cooking low-fat and calorie fried food, e.g., nuggets, french fries, roast, chicken wings, and cheese sticks.
- You can use it for baking pastries and other pre-cooked battered food.
- Although it’s an alternative to the stove and deep fryer, you can also use it to warm the food.
- Best for cooking low-fat meat without oil.
- The air fryer is best if you have less time for cooking, as it cooks the food faster than a conventional stove.
Difference Between Air Fryers & Deep Fryers
There are a lot of differences between the air fryer and the deep fryer.
Read the below comparison section:
| Air Fryer | Deep Fryer |
| The air fryer uses air as a medium to cook the food. | The deep fryer uses oil as a medium to cook the food. |
| The air fryer merely consists of external fat due to the absence of oil. | Due to the oil, the food is riched with the oil, fat, and calories |
| An air fryer is best if you’re looking for low cholesterol and low-fat food. It’s best for the health | A deep fryer has nothing to do with your health and offers the best taste while compromising your health. |
| The air fryer takes about 20-30 minutes to cook the food. Larger units can take more time due to the large surface area. | A deep fryer can cook the food within 2-3 minutes, about 10x faster than an air fryer. |
| The temperature range of the air fryer is continuously adjustable. | The deep fryers have a specific 170°230°- celsius cooking temperature. |
Benefits Of An Air Fryer
Low fat: Since the air fryer doesn’t require oil for cooking, it offers less fat and cholesterol than regular deep frying and stove cooking.
Best for diet and cholesterol patients: Because of the no oil cooking, air-fried food is best for people who are on a diet and are cholesterol patients.
Easy to use: Just put the food in the fryer’s basket, turn on the time, and that’s it.
Easy to clean: Air fryers can be cleaned with a regular wet dry cloth. It doesn’t consist of oil grease, making it easy to clean.
Money saver: Cooking oil is one of the most expensive cooking edible essentials, and the air fryer doesn’t require cooking oil, which eventually saves you money in the long run.
Portable: They are easy to carry. You can put them in your attaché, tote bag, or car. Especially if you got a single-person air fryer, it’d be best for traveling.
Related Reading: What Is An Airfryer Cover – Find Out Here.
Air Fryer Wattage Specification
Wattage Of The Air Fryer – Ranges
Most minor to regular compact air fryers draw about 1,000-1,700 power.
More power ∝ better cooking and can cook a large amount of food efficiently but consume a lot of electricity.
The power can fluctuate from the fan speed as well. High speed of the fan = high electric consumption.
On the other hand, large, full-scale, or industrial-size air fryers draw more power.
They are designed to work on a bigger scale and cook more food in less time.
Therefore, their wattage consumption varies between 2,500 watts to 5,000 watts.
Price ranges – Air Fryer Costs
Smaller air fryers
An average small-size air fryer would cost you about 60$ – $120.
Larger air fryers
An average large-size air fryer would cost you about 200$ – $450.
Things you Should Never Do with your Air Fryer.
Exceeding or Decreasing from the Manufacturer’s Given Voltage Range
Not just an air fryer, any electrical machine can be damaged or short-circuit if you give it the voltage that doesn’t range in the manufacturer’s manual guide.
Ensure that your outlet’s voltage goes between the air fryer’s manual.
Exceeding the voltage can short circuit the machine due to high heat, and low voltage can cause a malfunction in the machine.
Never use Sharp Pointed Objects in the Basket of the Air Fryer.
Kenwood, Amazon Basics, COSORI, Philips air fryers, and many other non-stick air fryers have a non-stick coat on the basket.
That coating can easily be removed if scratched with any sharp, pointed object.
Therefore, never rub the basket of your fryer with a sharp and pointed object.
Never Touch the Interior of the Air Fryer when in Use or Freshly Shutdown.
The internal components of the air fryer get super hot when it’s being used or recently shut off.
Therefore, never touch the internal parts like the basket’s interior, heating element, or basket holder.
Otherwise, you’ll end up with 1st-degree burns on your fingers.
Operate Air Fryer in a Well-ventilated Area
The air fryer needs to have proper ventilation when being used.
The air fryers have an exhaust system that helps release the pressure from the heat and air inside the basket.
If the outside ventilation isn’t good, the air will not escape from the fryer, causing an imbalance of pressure in the fryer that could be dangerous for the machine.
Water Contact with the Air Fryer is a Complete Disaster
You should never put the main body of the air fryer in the water and never let the water contact your air fryer.
Water contact is a complete disaster for electronic appliances like air fryers which can cause the machine to short circuit or permanently dead.
If you still need to use the water for cleaning purposes, use a clean wet dry cloth.
But never directly spray the water on the machine; why take the risk on your expensive air fryer machine?
Related Reading: Airfryer Cooking Times vs. Oven – Find The Difference Here.
Higher Wattage Air Fryers – Pros and Cons
Pros
- It offers a better cooking experience.
- It’s able to cook more food in a shorter time, i.e., reduced cooking time
- High-wattage air fryers usually offer more deep frying.
Cons
- They consume much more power than low-wattage air fryers.
- Low Wattage Air Fryer – Pros and Cons
- Best Airfryer According To Customer Reviews
Lower Wattage Air Fryers – Pros and Cons
Pros
- Consumes less power.
- Low-wattage air fryers are usually small and compact.
- They don’t require any specific plug and cabling.
Cons
- The slow and time-consuming cooking process
- Doesn’t offer good cooking as the high-wattage one.
What Size of Air Fryer is Best For You?
Air fryers range from small to large scale, and every size of the air fryer is targeted at different customers.
Some use high-speed fans to offer better cooking, and some provide higher temperatures for a faster cooking experience.
If your primary usage is to save the electricity bill and portability, go with small air fryers.
However, such small machines are only good if you’re single and unsuitable for large families.
If you have a large family and need to cook more food (4+ servings), go with large machines, but they consume more energy and time than small capacity air fryers.
Overall, we recommend having a small air fryer.
They are compact, take less time for cooking, and are energy efficient unless you have a vast family (10+ members).
Best Airfryer According To Customer Reviews
The word of mouth of other customers reflects how good the air fryer is in real life and shows if the machine offers customer satisfaction or not.
In fact, according to Qualtrics, 93% of people read reviews before buying any product.
And their thoughts about the product influence 54% of customers’ buying decisions.
And it should be because reviews of the customers are based on the facts and the real built quality of the product.
You can say customer reviews are 100% unbiased. That is trustable.
Below we’ve mentioned some of the top-ranking air fryers based on the customer’s reviews:
- COSORI Air Fryer (Source)
- Chefman Multifunctional Digital Air Fryer (Source)
- Ultra Air Fryer (Source)
- GoWISE USA Air Fryer (Source)
Find more on Amazon.com.
Tips for Choosing Air Fryer Wattage
Here are some of the tips that you can consider when choosing the wattage of your air fryer:
Difference Between Power and Temperature
The power and temperature are two different units and different physical quantities.
However, both are proportional to each other.
In simple language, the wattage is the machine’s power consumption, and the temperature is the appliance’s heat.
The wattage is the product of the ampere (current) and voltage (pressure of the current).
It reflects the electricity consumption of the electricity, which is measured in watts.
The temperature is a physical quantity that shows the degree of hotness or coldness of the substance or environment in the presence of air or substance.
Preheat the Air Fryer or Not?
This has nothing to do with the air fryer hardware or quality.
It all depends on your food, cooking, and what type of baking or grilling you’re doing.
According to most expert chefs, preheating the convection ovens prevents the food from staying undercooked.
It’s because when you start cooking the food from room temperature.
The fryer slowly cooks the food, causing the exterior to cook thoroughly, but the inside of the food remains uncooked.
Ultimately, it depends on your recipe and how you want to cook the food.
How Wattage Works With Temperature
While the wattage and temperature are both different physical quantities, both amounts are proportional to each other in the air fryer.
The wattage of an air fryer powers the temperature of the air fryer’s heating element.
It means if the wattage is higher, the temperature of the air fryer’s heating element will also be higher.
The air fryer produces heat, and heat is a form of energy.
And in an air fryer, the electrical energy is converted into heat energy.
Therefore, higher wattage = more temperature an air fryer can produce.
However, this scenario was applicable in an ideal system with no energy loss.
The wattage ∝ temperature doesn’t apply if the air fryer isn’t energy efficient in real life.
So make sure to buy the machine with the highest energy conversion efficiency.
Pay Attention To What Kind Of Control The Air Fryer Has
Timer: The timer knob is the countdown of how long the air fryer will cook the food inside the basket.
E.g., If you set the knob for 15 minutes, the air fryer will turn off the cooking process inside the basket after 15 minutes.
Temperature: The temperature knob is the temperature of the heating element.
You might want to simmer or warm the food in specific scenarios.
For those situations, you can decrease the temperature of the air fryer’s heating element through the temperature knob.
How to Clean The Basket of a Fryer?
The cleaning process of your air fryer is a bit complicated.
Since the main food basket is round, closed, and curved, it isn’t easy to clean.
Below we’ve mentioned the most popular and safe way of cleaning the air fryer used by chefs and experts:
Pick a large size tub: Make sure the tub is big enough that you can sink the basket.
Add to the basket in the tub.
Add water to the tub till the basket gets dipped in the water.
Add liquid soap to the water: You can use any regular kitchen cleaning liquid soap as you like.
5 Use scrub for proper cleaning: Use a sponge scrub and scrub the basket’s interior after 10 minutes of keeping the basket in soap water.
So you can remove all the grease and remains of food quickly. Repeat this step 3 times for better results.
What Kind of Oil Can You Use in your Air Fryer?
Never use palm oil, margarine, or any other kind of non-stick cooking spray.
They contain an ingredient, “soy lecithin,”
Which creates a chemical reaction with the non-stick layer of your air fryer’s food basket when contacted with hot air, causing permanent damage to the non-stick coating of the food basket.
All other cooking oils are good to go, e.g., canola oil, sunflower oil, butter, and corn oil.
Related Reading: Best BPA-Free Airfryers – Get The Updated List Here.
What is the Best Wattage for an Air Fryer-FAQ
Do air fryers use a lot of power?
The working of the air fryers makes them consume a lot of electricity
. The negative electrons in the heating element are the heat source; to heat the electrons, you need a lot of energy (electricity).
That’s why air fryers use a lot of electricity, producing high temperatures from the electricity.
What can I use instead of an air fryer basket?
Air fryers’ baskets aren’t regular plastic baskets that can replace generic PVC plastics.
They are specifically made for that model of air fryers and involve physics or thermal conductivity.
The air fryer baskets are airtight and insulated from the inside.
They usually consist of porcelain and styrofoam to prevent the heat from escaping outside the internal food compartment.
Moreover, the basket’s interior is made from heat-resistant PVC or airplane-grade aluminum.
Therefore, you can’t just put any random home basket as a replacement.
Buy the official company’s genuine spare basket if your old basket gets damaged.
Is a 1200-watt air fryer good?
The 1200 watts air fryer is good to go if your primary concern is electricity bills and budget.
For optimal performance, go with a 1500 watts air fryer.
The small-size air fryers will consume much more time than high-power units.
What is better, an air fryer or air fryer oven
Both machines are the same and work on the principle of convection, in which the air is used as a medium of heat.
The only difference between them is the size.
Convection ovens are full-scale in your kitchen and aren’t supposed to move anywhere you want (not portable).
While air fryers are small and compact machines, you can move them anywhere.
You can even move them in your attaché while traveling.
What can you not cook in an air fryer?
An air fryer is suitable for almost every type of cooking.
However, there are some foods that you should not cook in your air fryer:
Raw Green Foods
Green foods are usually high in water and extra light in density.
Putting in a hot air chamber like an air fryer makes them unbalanced.
The water inside the raw green foods and vegetables can make them shrink, + they will burn due to the absence of water and heat.
Liquid Batter
Liquid batter foods are volatile and create a mess inside the basket while cooking.
Moreover, their watery nature will not stay in the desired place, making them uncooked from the outside and burnt from the inside.
Wheat and Barley
Foods that contain most of the whole barley or wheat-like oats and porridge, come with the least amount of water.
The absence of water will cause them to burn and overcook.
That’s why we boil porridge and oats in water because they don’t have the water you can cook.
What is the average lifespan of an air fryer?
The lifespan of the air fryer is based on the two main components:
Fan
The fan is one of the air fryer’s primary and most utilized mechanical components.
And if you studied physics, you may know that every automated machine has a lifespan, and the same goes for the fan inside the air fryer.
On the daily 3 hours of usage, the lover of the air fryer will last for at least one year.
Heating Element
The heating element is the air fryer’s component responsible for generating the heat in the food basket.
On the daily 3 hours of usage, the heating element will last for about 1.5 years.
Other parts
Other parts in the air fryer, like the power supply controlling knob, will last for a lifetime unless external damage is applied.
Can you use an air fryer with a generator?
Your air fryer needs to function correctly if the generator offers enough voltage.
You can use your air fryer on a generator if the generator’s voltage ranges between the voltage given in the back of your air fryer.
However, if the voltage is higher or lower than the recommended voltage of the air fryer manual, it might damage the machine.
The voltage will always be in AC format.
Related Reading: Best Waffle Iron With Removable Plates – Check Them Out Here.
Summing Up
No wonder an air fryer is the best choice when you want your favorite foods cooked in no or less oil.
Many different air fryers in the market today have different wattages and power ratings, different sizes, unique features, and the amount of electricity they consume.
So before choosing the best air fryer for yourself, keep these essential points in mind and enjoy the health benefits with your entire family.
