With energy bills showing no sign of coming down, lots of people are switching to cheaper ways to cook. So this might explain why air fryer sales were up 3000% at the end of last year. But is using an air fryer really cheaper than more traditional cooking – like an electric or gas oven?
We’ve taken a healthy new year recipe – Asian salmon and vegetables – and worked out how much it would cost to cook in an air fryer, microwave, slow cooker and oven to see if you could be saving.
The recipe
For this recipe, we’re using broccoli, peppers and mushrooms, but you can use whatever veg you prefer. No matter which method you choose, we’d recommend mixing all the wet ingredients in a bowl first and then coating the salmon and veg with the mixture:
You will need…
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp clear honey
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
A little sesame oil
Tenderstem broccoli
A handful of mushrooms
2 x salmon fillets
1 pepper cut finely
1 small piece of ginger, cut into matchsticks
Air fryer
Put in the air fryer basket in one layer and cook at 180C for 8-10 mins. Larger salmon fillets may take a little longer. The good thing about an air fryer is that you can check on your food without worrying too much about heat escaping.
Estimated cost: About 7p including warm up time.
Microwave
Put everything in a microwave safe bowl and cover. Then run the microwave on maximum power for about 5 minutes initially. You can then check on the salmon and get an idea of how much longer it’s going to take – which will probably be from 3 to 5 more minutes.
Estimated cost: About 9p.
Oven
Heat your oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Wrap your ingredients in a foil parcel and place in the oven for 15-20 mins. Let your foil parcel stand for a few minutes before unwrapping.
Estimated cost: About 30p including warm up.
Slow cooker
Put all ingredients straight into the slow cooker. Add a little water or fish stock to stop your ingredients from drying out. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 hours.
Estimated cost: About 10p.
How are we working out costs?
For slow cookers, air fryers and ovens, we’re using figures from Hometree - who calculated the price per hour to run each device at an average temperature. Microwave costs came from heatable.co.uk.
These figures are only a rough guide, since appliances can vary with power consumption and varying energy charges.
Which is the cheapest way to cook?
So, for this recipe, the air fryer works out best at 7p, with the oven costing over three times more for this recipe. So, does this mean you only need an air fryer from now on? Well no. It’s worth bearing in mind that ovens come in all shapes and sizes. Pick a smaller, more energy efficient oven, and the cost difference won’t be so stark. We also just picked a simple and quick meal. When Which? used different appliances to roast a chicken, the savings tended to be smaller.
All kitchen appliances (large and small) tend to have strengths and weaknesses. Slow cookers are extremely effective for stews and curries. Microwaves are your friend for leftovers and ready meals. While air fryers are amazingly versatile, they’re also brilliant at heating up frozen food much faster. But if you’re cooking a big Sunday roast with all the trimmings? It’s hard to beat an oven – both for capacity and for effectively using the residual heat to cook dish after dish and then keep everything warm until you’re ready to serve.
Get cooking!
Looking for a new oven? We can help you pick with our Cooker buying guide. Or if you’re tempted by these incredibly handy air fryers, slow cookers and more - why not chat to a friendly expert on ShopLive?