Can You Use A Convection Oven As An Air Fryer?

Have you ever wondered about the uncanny similarity between the taste and texture of food cooked in an air fryer and that from a convection oven?

The answer lies in their shared cooking method—the convection method.

So, assuming that a convection oven can be used as an air fryer is natural.

But what is the reality? let’s see if you can use a convection oven as an air fryer.

Yes, you can use a convection oven as an air fryer to make your favorite air-fried food. However, you will need a mesh basket to achieve the desired results. You can get special baskets that adjust over a standard oven pan, leaving room underneath for air to circulate through the food as it cooks.

How To Use An Oven For Air Frying

Convection can be used as an air fryer, below is how you can do so.

Use Convection Setting

Ovens come with knobs and buttons to enter settings for cooking different recipes. Among these settings, there is often a button labeled “convection.”

For those who don’t know, “convection” is just another name for air frying.

So, if you don’t want to replace your convection oven with an air fryer, choose the convection setting to air fry large quantities of food in your oven.

However, if this mode is absent in your oven, you can still use it for air frying by following the below tips from our experts. You can also see our detailed comparison post on the difference between an air fryer and oven.

Prepare Food Before Cooking

Preparing food before cooking it in a convection oven is necessary to get the desired browning and crispy exterior.

Here is how you can prepare your food.

Vegetables

If you are air-frying veggies, cut them into small, palatable sizes because the smaller ones crisp better.

Choose any shape, such as spears, cubes, or medallions, to maximize the surface area of your veggies.

After cutting, coat your veggies with a tiny amount of oil to allow better crisping as well as prevent them from over-drying.*

Meat Or Fish

To prepare meat or fish, pat the surface dry with a paper towel before applying a thin layer of oil.

Always opt for dry coating instead of wet batter.

| NOTE: Convection ovens come with a moisture exhaust system, which can sometimes eliminate extra moisture from the food.

Use Proper Utensils In The Oven

Using proper utensils in an oven makes a lot of difference in the taste and texture of the food.

Air fryers use perforated baskets to ensure proper airflow around the food.

To achieve the same results, create the same environment in your oven and use oven-safe cookware, such as a perforated basket, tray, or cooling rack.

Try to use dark-colored low-rim ovenware as they tend to direct and absorb more heat than high-sided reflective pans, resulting in even browning.

Prepare Your Oven

Before air frying in your convection oven, you must prepare it for the task at hand.

Place the rack in the middle of the oven before starting preheating.

This is where the food air fries most evenly.

When cooking in a mesh basket, food drippings and crumbs may soil the oven's floor.

To avoid this mess, use parchment paper or put aluminum foil beneath the oven rack on the crumbs tray to catch the mess, making post-frying cleanup easier.

Don’t Overstuff The Basket

Arrange the food in the basket evenly, leaving plenty of space between each piece.

Adequate space between food items such as chicken wings allows the air to reach all the sides, cavities, and corners of the food.

Whereas overstuffing the oven basket or pan with ingredients restricts the airflow, resulting in an undercooked, soggy, and non-crispy texture.

Modify The Cook Settings To Suit The Oven

An air fryer’s smaller space, faster airflow, and intense heat results in speedier cooking compared to an oven.

In contrast, an oven takes more time and a higher temperature to cook the same recipe due to its spacious cooking chamber.

A rule of thumb for using an air fryer recipe in an oven is to increase the temperature by 25F.

Additionally, you must also increase the cooking time by roughly 20% when using your convection oven.  

Alternatively, you can opt for the settings mentioned in your recipe and monitor the cooking progress at regular intervals to avoid over-browning.

Flip Or Shake The Food

Flipping or shaking ensures that all sides and corners of your food are exposed to hot air.

• Shaking: Use oven mittens to hold the racks from both sides and give a good shake to your food at regular intervals during cooking.
• Flipping: If you cannot shake the food, as in the case of steaks, fish, rotisserie chicken, or similar items, use tongs and spatulas to flip the sides of the food.

Precaution: Don't leave the oven door open for too long when shaking or flipping food, as it can cause heat loss from its chamber.

You may also like to check what reddit community is talking about it:

If I have a built-in Convection Oven, is an Air Fryer worth it?
byu/Kalenden inCooking

Benefits Of Using A Convection Oven For Air Frying

Below are some recognizable benefits of using a convection oven as an air fryer.

Multi-Functional Convenience

If you have limited counter space and cannot accommodate another appliance, you can use your convection oven for air frying.

A convection oven, as a stand-alone gadget, can lend a helping hand to many of your cooking rituals, including air frying.

Crispier Food

Convection ovens provide a more uniform, crispy texture to your food without overcooking it.

The circulating air within rotates consistently, touching food from all sides and cooking it from the inside while keeping it moist and tender.

The convection setting also prevents the moisture from lingering inside the food, thereby imparting a crispier texture.

Additionally, the sugar inside your food caramelizes with the help of a drier atmosphere inside the oven, imparting a delicious taste.

Roomy Cooking Space

An air fryer is an ideal go-to cooking appliance for a small family preparing limited amounts of low-calorie meals and appetizers.

However, for catering to large gatherings with a bounty of chicken wings, pizza, bakery cookies, or hamburgers, an oven is the ultimate choice.

Its spacious interior is ideal for bulk cooking, allowing you to forego the need to cook in batches.

Drawbacks Of Using Your Oven As An Air Fryer

While using your convection oven as an air fryer offers several benefits, it also has its own drawbacks.

Convection oven is much bigger and bulky compared to the size of an air fryer.

Cooking in a full-size oven is time-consuming. An oven takes more time to preheat and cook than an air fryer does.

Even when air frying smaller quantities of food, you are required to fire up a big-sized oven and use it at lower than its maximum capacity, which is inefficient.

A big-size range requires more electricity to perform the same function and cook the same quantity of food as an air fryer does.

KitchenHanker.Com Cooking Results

Here is what we found when we tested both kitchen appliances.

Note: We rate each factor from 1 to 5. 1 for poor and 5 for good.

Crispiness at Same Time and Temperature

Recipe	Appliances	Touch	Visual	Mouthfeel
Chicken Bits	Air Fryer Convection Oven	3 4	2 4	2 3
Roasted Vegetables	Air Fryer Convection Oven	3 3	5 4	4 3
Potatoes Wedge	Air Fryer Convection Oven	4 5	4 4	4 4

Cooked Until Done

Recipe		Touch	Visual	Mouthfeel
Chicken Bits	Air Fryer Convection Oven	5 4	3 4	4 3
Roasted Vegetables	Air Fryer Convection Oven	3 3	5 4	4 3
Potatoes Wedge	Air Fryer Convection Oven	4 5	4 4	4 4

FAQs

What temperature do you air fry in a convection oven?

Depending on the meal you cook, the cooking temperature in a convection oven for air frying can vary between 300 – 400° F.  However, if you are using a dedicated air fryer recipe, you might need to increase the temperature by at least 25F as an oven’s larger space requires a higher cooking temperature.

Can we make air fryer recipes in a convection oven?

Convection ovens come with an air frying setting so people can air fry without an air fryer. Make use of a perforated pan and adjust the cooking temperature to at least 25° less than you would use in an air fryer to enjoy air fryer recipes in ovens.

Does an air fryer cook faster than a convection oven?

No, the air fryer doesn’t cook food faster than the convection oven. In our testing, both appliances took the same time to cook chicken bites and potato wedges.

Does an air fryer cook food crispier than a convection oven?

Chicken bites and potato wedges cooked in the air fryer and convection oven had the same level of crispiness. So, as per our test, both units are the winner.

Final Thoughts

We do realize it often comes down to personal preference and accessibility when choosing between air fryers and convection ovens.

However, if your kitchen counter already houses a convection oven, using it for air frying could save you some square footage and a few hundred dollars.

So, convection ovens merit consideration if you want to enjoy air-fried food without buying an air fryer.