Everyone I know swears by theirs. “It changed my life,” “I use it every day,” etc.
But I’ve been burned (financially and literally) by “life-changing” kitchen gadgets before. So I’m wondering if an air fryer value for money actually holds up long term — like, does it replace the oven for small meals? Save on electricity? Or does it just end up collecting dust after the hype fades?
Would love honest takes from the frugal side of Reddit.
Real talk — is an air fryer value for money, or just another trendy gadget?
byu/Mika_4893 inFrugal
Posted by Mika_4893
27 Comments
I use mine for cooking small meals, and it has a rotisserie attachment which we love (for roast chickens, ribs, or roastint veggies in the basket). My big oven has not got a convection setting, so if I want convection I need to use my air fryer. It’s an oven style, sits on the counter top. I’d get that instead of the tiny basket style, if I were to get a new one today.
It’ll knock out oven fries in half the time, using the rotating basket, and it’s faster to roast meats too, than a non convection oven.
I use my air fryer more than my oven by a large margin. In terms of things I use to cook in terms of actual usage. Stove >Air Fryer > Oven > Slow Cooker. There is no hype for me, I’ve had it for years, and I had a different one before this. I just switched to the glass bowl version from Ninja because I wanted something that was easier to clean and would not wear out like nonstick eventually does.
Despite that, I would say I got more value than I paid out of my air fryer. I cook for two so most of my meals would be considered “small” oven meals and yes, it absolutely replaces that for me. The only thing I really use my oven for is pizza and extra large amounts of food.
Everyone who talks about it as an alternative to frying is delusional but I hate kitchen gadgets for the most part and I still find my air fryer essential, mostly as a quicker and more efficient replacement for the oven. I use it multiple times a day whereas I rarely feel like it’s worth it to turn the whole oven on. If you like roasting vegetables, making tofu crispy, heating frozen food like fries, or are just generally cooking for one or two, I think it’s great.
I’ve been given two for free and I got rid of both of them, I didn’t find a good use for them and they take up an absurd amount of counter space if you’re not using them regularly. Bright side is, if you think you want to try one my experience is you can find one for cheap.
I think it really depends on how and what you eat. For instance I don’t eat fries at home (or a lot in general tbh) so th ability to rewarm old fries or fried food and make it crispy again is not very important to me.
Not having to turn the oven in in the summer to make dinner is a huge game changer and will probably save you a real amount on energy costs if you have central air
Splurge the $100 and see for yourself. Personally, we use ours daily, and have since we got one 5 years ago. First one was cheap and broke from all the use.
Our stove has an air fry feature, which doesn’t work as well as the stand alone.
I only use the convection oven for long slow bake things now. Raw meat, dough, etc.
The air fryer is used multiple times a week for anything that you want dry on the outside. Or for heating up leftovers that we don’t want soggy.
It basically just heats and blows air at the same time, causing faster heat transfer and dryer/crispier skin. Which can be bad for anything you don’t want to quickly heat on the outside before the inside is done.
We never use an oil fryer anymore. I’ve bought a couple over the years and it’s delicious, but just not worth the oil expense, mess, less healthy greasy food, and the smell that fills the house.
The biggest difference is you typically don’t have to wait for it to preheat. So it saves time and heats up the kitchen a lot less.
My only advice is to get one of the larger ones. You can get tiny ones for cheap but they can only do a single serving.
Well if it just sits under your counter in a cabinet, then no, it’s not worth the money.
I haven’t used mine in a while, but a couple years ago I was using it nearly every day and it paid for itself during that time. If you’re feeding a family of six, it’s not gonna be worth it, they’re just too small. But I was feeding one or two people, so anything from veggies to chicken to tiny little cakes got cooked in there. Cheaper than firing up the oven and stove to make a meal. We’re talking cents per meal, but that’s a few bucks every month, plus less time actually cooking.
I purchased one after being told it was the next greatest thing and it was way overhyped. I gave it away to a friend.
Part of my issues were related to cooking for a family- I probably would have appreciated it more if I was cooking for 1 or 2 people. It was not practical cooking for 2 adults and 2 kids. I can throw a huge sheet pan with much more food in the oven, so for things like salmon, chicken, or roasted veggies it made more sense to cook that way. And then when I was making more “fryer food” like nuggets and fries I’d have to cook them in batches and my nuggets would be cold by the time my fries were done. On a sheet pan you just cook it all at once, even if you throw something in a little later to get it done all at once.
It also took up a ton of storage space, and I didn’t want it cluttering the counters all the time.
I wouldn’t consider it a trendy gadget, I avoided getting it for years because I was worried of that and had minimal counter space. I was gifted one though and it’s a game changer as someone usually cooking for 1 or 2 people.
THOUGH I highly doubt it’s saving me any money, maybe a bit in electricity but not a noticeable amount. It will save time though so if that is something you are interested in I’d say go for it!
alternatively, i got the Ninja toaster/baking combo, it turns over and turns into a toaster oven. super useful for heating frozen food/reheating food
They’re pretty good and you can buy used ones for pennies on the dollar
I was gifted a small Ninja Air Fryer years ago, probably 7,8 years now and I love it. I use it every week. I’m one of those people who have to clean it every time I use it, but I honestly don’t mind.
My air fryer is something I use a lot. It was worth the price, and if it ever dies – I will get another one. It replaces the oven for many things, lower pawer usage and many things cook quicker. It does some things better than my convection oven, even though they are very similar. I think having the element and fan above the food in the air fryer makes a big difference.
I’ve had two and got rid of them both. They hold just a tiny amount of food for a huge appliance – and appliance size is very important to me because I live in a tiny apartment with very little counter space. I got a nice toaster oven that takes up to a 12″ pizza, and it will bake 6 regular muffins or bake all the chicken and fries I want just as crispy as I like them. And it makes toast or bagels, so I really do use it every day.
I love my air fryer for cooking chicken. I typically eat drumsticks and thighs. It takes almost an hour to bake in my oven; 25 minutes to make in the air fryer. Once you learn how to use it, you can make your own chicken wings SO much cheaper than Zaxby’s, and if you have health problems–we are low-sodium–you can find low sodium teriyaki sauce to brush on the wings. They are SO GOOD. I only use the oven for chicken now if I’m making cacciatore.
I am not much of a cook and end up sauteing my steaks and chops, but I have also made Pillsbury biscuits in the air fryer, and I’m sure you can use them for pork chops. I also love waffle fries at Chick-Fil-A but you can get bags of waffle fries at the supermarket and make them in the air fryer. So GOOD.
If you have kids it’s essential. Warm up frozen sausage in the air fryer, cook up 2 scrambled eggs on the stove, find a fruit or veggie in the fridge. Kid meal in 8 mins.
It is more expensive but spend a little bit more and purchase something along the line of the Breville toaster oven air fryer. There are less expensive versions like Cuisinart, but do your homework.
I am not a fried food person so that is of little use as an alternative for me; however, my big oven has convection (aka air fryer to some) and I use that a lot because it is quicker. I currently have a Marie Callendar’s pot pie in mine.
I have used a toaster oven for years and find them indispensable. These new ovens are all in one and cover so many bases. I used mine this morning for toast.
https://preview.redd.it/b1b5a4lxmlbg1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f7cbfd14fe3c0d3e8ff46d67076c3889e7f037f
It’s just the 2 of us and my husband uses it all the time to heat up frozen food. We have an oven which I only seem to use at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Anything you usually cook in an oven will be cheaper to cook in an air fryer, it’s just a small fan oven, so heats up much quicker.
I use my air fryer and my rice cooker (both small versions) a lot more than anything else in my kitchen. It works well for me because I’m only cooking for myself, I’d have to size up to feed more than two people this way.
I make a lot of food for the freezer that I probably wouldn’t make if not for the air fryer. Right now, there are jalapeno poppers, chicken nuggets and stuffed pork chops ready to cook but I wouldn’t turn on the oven for 6 nuggets or 4 poppers. The air fryer makes it really easy to cook a small amount of things I like.
I have an air fryer/toaster oven combo. Which we use fairly regularly. I prefer it over the microwave for re-heating food or making a quick dinner.
If I was in a small apartment with extremely limited counter space it wouldn’t be nearly as useful. However if I was living in an efficiency unit where I didn’t have a stove/oven it’s a very good replacement for a full stove/oven range.
It’s my most used appliance. Truly.
I have an air fryer/convection oven combo thing, looks like a toaster oven, and I use it most days. Totally worth it to me. I live where it’s hot and turning on the oven heats up the whole house and feels miserable, but my little air fryer oven replaces it most of the time.
*Editing to add: I did have one of those plastic things where you put food in a drawer and it was *just an air fryer, and I barely used that.
My $125 rice cooker sits and collects dust (I like stovetop better).
My $40 air fryer gets used almost every day, sometimes 2-3 times a day.
There is no pre heat cycle on air fryers. It also is not vented so it doesn’t fight your AC in the summer. I’m cooking for one, which also helps.
I think most of these gadgets are trends but the air fryer for me did actually live up to the hype and gets heavy use, it’s just so much faster, more straightforward, less dishes, and I don’t need to heat up the whole house to reheat something or in the summer. I cook way more because of it.