It’s no secret that we live in an age of convenience. The dishwasher, the washing machine, and even microwaves have all made our lives a little less easier.
But when it comes to cooking, what do you use? You could enjoy the low-maintenance lifestyle of using a microwave or oven, but there are also other options.
Air fryers and halogen ovens are two newer appliances that may be worth your time to explore!
If you’ve never used them before, this article will introduce you to everything you need to know about each type of appliance and which one might work best for you.
Differences Between an Air Fryer and a Halogen Oven
If you’ve never used an air fryer before, it’s worth checking out. An air fryer is a countertop appliance that cooks food by circulating hot air around it in tiny batches. This makes it great for cooking meat and vegetables, which most often take longer than other foods to cook.
A halogen oven is best for baking and slow-cooking foods like casseroles, curries, and sauces. A halogen oven heats up quickly and can also be used to reheat leftovers or cook frozen pizza. Convenient!
The major difference between the two appliances is their heating methods: Convection heat with an air fryer vs. radiant heat with a halogen oven.
Halogen ovens are typically more expensive than air fryers because they also offer the ability to bake in addition to cooking meats and vegetables. They’re not as versatile as an air fryer, but they do work well at the specific tasks they were designed for (like baking).
What Air Fryers Do
An air fryer is a countertop appliance that cooks food by circulating hot air around it. Air fryers are designed to cook food quickly and without using oil, making them healthier than other cooking methods.
Many people consider the main benefit of an air fryer to be its convenience. You can make delicious fried foods without having to use any additional cooking oils or butter (and this means you’ll save money on your grocery bill, too!).
Beyond health benefits, another perk of an air fryer is that you don’t need to spend time flipping foods over in order to cook all of their sides evenly. With an air fryer, they’ll cook more quickly because they can be cooked from all angles at once.
Additionally, some models come with an adjustable timer which offers greater control over how long your food will cook for. You can set it so that your food will be done just when you want it!
Finally, one thing to keep in mind about air fryers is that they’re not ovens! They’re designed specifically for cooking food on the stovetop and should never be used for baking or roasting.
What Halogen Ovens Do
Halogen ovens are a type of oven that uses a halogen lamp as a heating source. They’re more expensive than traditional ovens, but they also have a lot of benefits.
One of the best things about halogen ovens is how evenly they cook all your food. Traditional ovens use hot air for their heat source, which can make the lowest parts of your food cook more quickly than the top.
Halogen ovens, on the other hand, use infrared as their heat source to evenly distribute heat throughout your entire dish.
Another benefit is that they offer you more versatility when it comes to cooking methods. You can use them as both an oven and a stovetop with two different settings: convection and traditional baking mode.
With convection mode, you can bake at lower temperatures for delicate foods like cakes and pastries without drying them out or scorching them on the outside.
Traditional baking mode lets you cook at higher temperatures for crispy pizza crust or crunchy chicken wings without worrying about burning them because of the even distribution of heat!
The Verdict
It can be difficult to decide which appliance will best suit your needs, but it’s not impossible. Understanding the differences between an air fryer and a halogen oven can help you make the right decision for you.
An air fryer works by circulating hot air around the food in the basket. A halogen oven cooks food using infrared heat, which means that there is no dry heating like with an oven or grill.
Both appliances cook your food quickly and efficiently, with less mess than a stove or grill. They allow you to cook without oil or butter (unless you want to) for healthier meals. And both are easy to clean up after because they don’t have any grills or burners where grease can collect
Conclusion
With an air fryer you don’t need to add any fats or oils and it has a wider range of foods you can cook. Halogen ovens, on the other hand, are good for cooking things like pizza, lasagna, and other foods that need to be baked.
So, which should you get? It all depends on what you are cooking the most. If you are cooking for your family, an air fryer is probably your best bet. But if you are cooking for a dinner party or other event, then a halogen oven is your best choice.