Many people have either an air fryer basket or an air fryer toaster oven and wonder how they can adapt recipes created for the basket to work in the oven. This blog post will provide you with a step-by-step breakdown of cooking in the basket vs the air fryer toaster oven.
As a collector of air fryers...Really, I couldn’t stop myself from buying shiny new models. I found myself wondering what the difference was between the air fryer basket and the air fryer oven. The apparent difference is that one is larger than the other (the ovens typically provide more cooking space). Another difference was that baskets provided a nice little handle that allowed me to shake my food. But what about the actual food? Did they produce different results?
I took some time to note how three of my popular recipes performed in each machine. I chose to make and take note of the following recipes:
Things you should know beforehand:
All air fryer brands are not created the same, so the two I used could have different results from the ones you may have at home. However, your cook times shouldn’t be much different than mine.
For the basket, I used the Cosori 5.8qt and for the oven, I used the Instant Omni Plus Air Fryer Toaster Oven.
For the first round of the air fryer basket vs air fryer toaster oven, let's start with frozen French fries...
Air Fryer French Fries
These air fryer French fries are the reason I bought an air fryer in the first place. I used frozen French fries for this side-by-side comparison. I typically air fry French fries anywhere from 8-12 minutes, depending on the type of fries and how thickly cut they are.
Amount: .75 lbs of frozen shoestring French fries.
Preheat: Both the basket and the oven were preheated at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes. Then, each was cooked at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until it reached the desired crispiness.
- Basket: The basket took 8 minutes to cook until it reached the desired crispiness.
- Oven: The oven took 13 minutes to cook until the desired crispness was achieved.
- Winner: The basket, by a little...as it cooked a few minutes faster.
Air Fryer Apple Chips
These Air Fryer Apple Chips are another quick favorite snack for my girls and me. It’s just one way I can make them get that apple a day to keep the doctor away. I used 1 Gala apple for this recipe.
Amount: 1 large Gala apple sliced into 2.5mm slices.
Preheat: None. I start apple chips from a cold basket. My air fryer oven does an automatic preheat time, so I adjusted the oven cook time to accommodate that.
- Basket: Cooked for 16 minutes to reach desired crispiness.
- Oven: Cooked for 17 minutes to reach the desired crispiness.
Winner: The oven, by a little. My husband said the ones in the oven tasted crispier. I thought they were the same. I’d say it’s a tie and with only a one-minute difference, I’d prefer to do these in the oven since there is more space.
Air Fryer Chicken Wings
These Air Fryer Chicken Wings are one of my all-time favorite things to make in the air fryer. So easy, crispy, and delicious. I cooked these wings without added seasonings to show the comparison.
Amount: 1.83 lbs of chicken wings placed in each device.
Preheat: I preheated each machine to 400°F for 5 minutes before adding the wings.
- Basket: Took 27 minutes to get the desired color and crispiness on these wings.
- Oven: It took 38 minutes to achieve the desired color and crispiness on these wings. Please note that the wings in the photo above, on the right, show the oven wings pulled at 27 minutes. They were much lighter than the wings in the basket, so I added them back in until they were a deeper brown.
Winner: The basket. The wings were done much faster. However, once I increased the time on the oven wings, I could not tell a difference.
Conclusions:
- Whether it’s the air fryer basket or the air fryer oven, both will cook faster than a conventional oven. An air fryer basket and oven typically take 5 minutes to preheat.
- The air fryer basket tends to cook foods a little faster than the air fryer oven, and the cooking time will vary between machines and types of food being cooked.
- The air fryer oven can hold more food. Although not pictured here, we use our air fryer oven to make pizza in the air fryer. We’re only able to fit one small-sized pizza in the air fryer basket. With the oven, we can fit two pan-sized pizzas side by side.
- When converting recipes created for an air fryer basket to an air fryer oven, plan to cook the recipes for a slightly longer time. As each air fryer is different, keep a close eye on the food. You can watch the food in the oven as it cooks, so you don't overcook it.
I hope you found this side by side comparison helpful. If you’re looking for more helpful articles about air frying, check out these articles:
Diane says
This is the best, very well detailed description for basket vs. oven i have found! Thank you for making your point so clear and simple. I have an air fryer oven with a rotisserie and I love it. Thanks to you I have a better understanding how to adapt basket recipes for my oven.
Tanya says
Thank you Diane! Glad you found it helpful.
Veronica says
How do you keep grease from mucking up the toaster oven air fryer? I’ve been avoiding using it to its full capacity because I am afraid of drippings.
V says
@Veronica, mine came with an air fry tray, another baking tray & a rack. When I use the air fry feature I line the baking rack with tinfoil & put it underneath the air fry rack to catch drippings then just toss the foil when done.
Jeremy says
Thank you for the article! But I will say my results seemed to be opposite. I have the toaster oven type and I always have to lower the temp by 25 degrees or so and cut the time down sightly when using air fryer recipes! I wonder why the difference. Either way thanks for a great post!
Suzy says
Thanks for the useful tips.
Rita says
Which airfryer has the biggest basket?
Mark says
Thanks for your review, just bought a instant pot Vortex pro model, has a tumbling basket havent made frys yet but wings look great @ 25 min per their recipe.
Thanks again
Pat says
That is very helpful. One of the things I didn’t do is preheat which I think is a great idea. Thanks
Joy Boda says
This air fryer comparison was totally helpful. I have a Phillips basket and wish I had purchased an oven because of the difficulty loading and removing food from the basket. I am a family of one so amount being cooked isn't usually a problem. I also wish I had purchased one with digital settings as at 85 my vision isn't as good as it once was and setting the time with a black on black fryer is very difficult. BUT I don't want to go back to no air fryer ever again. I use mine every day!
Nancy says
Hi Tanya, LOVE your site! Gonna' make some tsao's chicken this week.
Your comparison caught my eye, especially when you described yourself as an air fryer collector. Me too! 3 years ago I HAD to try an air fryer and got a very basic Power AF. I experimented and really made good use of it. I took it camping this past spring and it did very good with ribs, wings, burgers, everything.
But I wanted more! We camp in a windy area and it's not great grilling many days. So, the hunt was on - and with a sale and a 30% off coupon, I got the ninja that grills. And it went camping...great for all of the above mentioned meats, bacon, fish, etc. Also used it to bake in, corn bread, focaccia, brownies, a box cake mix...pizza (my dough and frozen single mini pizza's. So was pretty happy with it, but it is heavy (20lbs), takes up a lot of space (had to get small wire shelving to hold it) and it heats up the small space. Used it outside on really hot days. But an air fryer is a definite asset when glamping at a full service campground. And while we had no problem with the capacity, the interior height is low. Not good for big pieces of bone in chicken, never mind a whole one (I spatch cocked it).
So I found this post very interesting. I have a hankering for one of the af ovens...but not sure if I should spend the money on another AF. So thank you for the information, it gives me more to think about!
Keep up the good work, I'm so happy I found your site.
Nancy
Rachel says
Which would you rather clean by hand if you had to? (No dishwasher here)
Tanya says
Hi Rachel, yes, I clean my air fryer basket by hand. The air fryer oven parts I stick in the dishwasher from time to time.
Helen says
I love your site, but HATE your title. Maybe my age, but
"My Forking Life" suggests a different, unsavory term.
However, I've shared your post, and will continue to read and learn from it, even though I have to cringe each time I see the title. Most importantly, I love my air-fry oven, and your site helps me get the most out of it.
Tanya says
Thanks for sharing Helen. I love my site title and don't plan on changing it ever. I'll never please everyone, such is life.
John says
@Tanya,
Definitely keep the name. I love it. I am 72 years old and have no problem with forking food.
John
Tanya says
Thank you John 🙂
Donnie says
@Helen, That's the pitfalls of "diversity."
Robert Roberts says
What I do with French fries is use fresh potato’s, cut them into about 3/8” fries. I micro wave for about 2 minutes per potato, then coat with oil and any other flavoring you might like (plain, blackened spices, popcorn cheddar cheese sprinkles, or anything else you might like) then transfer them into my Cuisinart, preheated to 450 degrees air fry oven and brown up for about 5 to 7 minutes. Comes out moist and soft inside and crispy outside.
John says
@Robert Roberts,
Is your Cuisinart a basket or oven air fryer?
Thanks
John
Peter says
H Tanya, Thanks for all your good work.
Until recently I had used my Kmart 3 in 1 AF oven and loved it until the door broke. So I bought an 8ltr basket/drawer AF online. On the day Kmart surprised me with a new warranty replacement(Surprised because there was always a shortage of this model) my 8ltr basket/drawer AF arrived.
So cutting a long story short I am tending to use the basket/drawer model over the oven AF due to convenience and slightly better cooking times/results. I have done most of my regular dishes Pork chops, Nachos, Spring rolls and Panko crumbed chicken Tenderloins.
In summary both are fantastic and so little to differentiate either one would be good. Just so pleased to have both!
Cheers
Pete Down Under
Jim Frazer says
@Tanya, I love my oven with 3 racks. The racks do not stick if you preheat them. Steak cooks better in oven rather than Basket because it doesn't have to be turned or flipped. Also you can cook a whole meal instead of cooking one thing at a time. So it cooks faster than a basket. With a 9 inch pizza stone it cooks much better than a basket as well. There really is no comparison since the 2 or 3 minute longer cooking is the only draw back to the oven. I feel cleaning is easier as well. I can take the door off mine for cleaning.
Tanya says
Love it! Which brand do you have?
Linda says
@Tanya, Ihave the Ultrean which is fabulous! EASY, EASY CLEAN!! I cook real chicken fried steak fingers. Fish fillets come out perfect every time. Did Gortons Fish Fillets and they were perfect as well. Add in some Ore Ida hand cut fries on the bottom tray and you have fish and chips. Cannot say enough good things about this particular Fryer - it's the 12 qt one on Amazon for about $100. best buy I've ever made.
james says
@Jim Frazer, hi Jim. Do you have to rotate the shelves if you are cooking, say, chicken on two shelves? Other reviews I have seen say the basket is pretty much useless. Would you agree? I often cook whole meals, but I use 3 airfryers to do it. That works well for foods with different cooking times. How do you adjust for that with one machine? thanks
John says
@Jim Frazer,
Hi Jim
Have you air fried more than 1 level at a time? How did it work out for you?
I am using a Curtis Stone for air frying. It has rotisserie that I really like to use.
Thanks
John
Britt says
Thank you!!! I’ve been considering switching over to an oven but I think my basket is just fine for now. I like the faster cook times.