Cooking times
Air Fryer vs Oven: How Many Minutes Each Food Saves
Published by the RecipeAirFryer editorial team · How we source times · Updated
An air fryer saves an average of 14 minutes per cook across 20 common foods, once the preheat is counted on both sides. Most of that is the preheat: 3 minutes for the air fryer against 12 for the oven. Used five times a week, the difference adds up to about 51 hours a year.
Key findings
- The preheat alone accounts for 9 minutes of saving on every cook.
- The smallest saving on the list is 11 minutes for shrimp. The largest is 23 minutes for whole chicken.
- For the median recipe, which cooks for 11 minutes, the air fryer saves about 12 minutes.
- The saving is real only if the food fits one basket. Two batches of a long cook can hand the time back.
- Asparagus11 min
- Bacon12 min
- Steak12 min
- Chicken Tenders12 min
- Sausages13 min
- Sweet Potato Fries13 min
- Chicken Breast14 min
- Crispy Chicken Wings15 min
- Crispy Roast Potatoes15 min
- Whole Chicken23 min
Every second food from the full table.
Start to finish for 20 foods
| Food | Air fryer cook | Air fryer with preheat | Oven with preheat | Minutes saved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shrimp | 7 min | 10 min | 21 min | 11 min |
| Asparagus | 8 min | 11 min | 22 min | 11 min |
| Broccoli | 9 min | 12 min | 23 min | 11 min |
| Bacon | 10 min | 13 min | 25 min | 12 min |
| Salmon | 10 min | 13 min | 25 min | 12 min |
| Steak | 11 min | 14 min | 26 min | 12 min |
| Burgers | 11 min | 14 min | 26 min | 12 min |
| Chicken Tenders | 11 min | 14 min | 26 min | 12 min |
| Pork Chops | 12 min | 15 min | 27 min | 12 min |
| Sausages | 14 min | 17 min | 30 min | 13 min |
| Brussels Sprouts | 14 min | 17 min | 30 min | 13 min |
| Sweet Potato Fries | 16 min | 19 min | 32 min | 13 min |
| French Fries | 18 min | 21 min | 35 min | 14 min |
| Chicken Breast | 20 min | 23 min | 37 min | 14 min |
| Chicken Thighs | 24 min | 27 min | 42 min | 15 min |
| Crispy Chicken Wings | 24 min | 27 min | 42 min | 15 min |
| Meatloaf | 24 min | 27 min | 42 min | 15 min |
| Crispy Roast Potatoes | 25 min | 28 min | 43 min | 15 min |
| Baked Potato | 40 min | 43 min | 62 min | 19 min |
| Whole Chicken | 55 min | 58 min | 81 min | 23 min |
A year of saved time
| Cooks per week | Minutes saved per week | Hours saved per year |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 35 | 31 |
| 5 | 59 | 51 |
| 7 | 82 | 71 |
The oven time here is an estimate from the conversion rule, not a tested oven recipe for each food. Some foods, such as a baked potato, take much longer in a real oven than the rule suggests, so the saving for those is understated.
How these figures were worked out
Air fryer minutes are the cook time on each recipe plus a 3-minute preheat. Oven minutes are the air fryer cook time divided by 0.8, plus a 12-minute preheat.
The 80% rule is the site's standard oven-to-air-fryer conversion. It is a rule of thumb, so the oven column is an estimate, not a measurement.
Yearly figures use the median cook time of the 304 recipes on the site.
You may quote these figures with a link to this page. If you spot an error, tell us through the contact page and we will correct it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an air fryer faster than an oven?
Yes, mostly because of the preheat. Across 20 common foods it saves an average of 14 minutes per cook, of which 9 minutes is the shorter preheat.
How much time does an air fryer save in a year?
About 51 hours at five cooks a week, or 71 hours if you use it daily, compared with an oven.
How do you convert oven time to air fryer time?
Take about 20% off the oven time and lower the temperature by about 20°C / 25°F, then check a few minutes early.