I'll let you in on a little secret: air fryers are just tiny ovens. They use a heating element and an in-built fan to circulate hot air around your food as it cooks, resulting in a faster cooking time and crispier finish. And while it's incredibly well-documented that I love air fryers (I've been reviewing them for 5+ years), that's in no small part down to the fact that I was working with a crusty gas range that was installed in my house before I was born. So when I renovated my kitchen earlier this year and got the chance to buy an oven of my own, it only felt right that I opted for a modern option — complete with an air fryer setting.
Releasing an oven with an air fryer setting feels like a big of a strange move. It's like releasing a new coffee maker and saying "our latest espresso machine has a fancy new espresso setting!" Really, this reflects the fact that we've started to think of air frying as something entirely separate to regular old oven cooking. It's faster, more convenient, and easier to clean.
The oven I chose is the Hotpoint SI4S854CBL, although it's only available in Europe. The GE 30 in. Single Smart Convection Wall Oven is the closest alternative I could find in the U.S. This oven's air fryer setting combines a powerful convection fan and a special new air fryer tray, which looks remarkably similar to the trays you'll find in a toaster oven. Here's what I liked, and what I didn't.
3 reasons to switch to an air fry oven
1. Unbeatable capacity
Check it out, this air fryer's the size of an oven! Seriously though, unless you're willing to give up some serious counter space, you won't be able to cook a feast in your average air fryer. They have an average capacity of around 5 quarts, making them perfect for cooking your sides while you work on the centerpiece.
I cooked a quintessentially British meal of fish and chips in my new Hotpoint oven and I was pretty happy with how it came out. If I was being picky, I think the fries would've browned better in my air fryer. Given how pale they looked when they were done cooking, I was worried they'd be a little limp. It's all in the taste-test though, and I can report that you can still get that crispy air fryer finish in an air fryer oven. The tray works a charm, and I didn't have to flip the fish or chips during cooking because the convection fan was able to cook them from all angles.
2. Tailored settings
Sometimes I miss being able to simply twist a dial to turn on my old range, but the pre-sets on this oven are pretty cool. You can opt for traditional settings if you want (as well as a steam setting), but there's also a My Menu mode, which offers tailored suggestions for cooking everything from lasagne to a roast chicken.
I've never loved these settings on air fryers, because there is no one way to cook, for example, chicken. But with my smart oven I'm able to enter the weight of the thing I'm cooking, and it will tailor my settings accordingly.
3. Smart timings
Delay start might be my favorite part of opting for a smart oven. I can choose the cooking duration, temperature, and intended finish time, and then leave the oven (with my food waiting inside it, of course) to start and stop cooking automatically, leaving my meal perfectly cooked and waiting for me.
One of the reasons my air fryer used to get so much use is its auto-shutoff settings. Knowing I can throw in some food to cook for a set amount of time is super convenient, but my smart oven takes it to the next level and allows me to schedule a start time in advance, too. So now I don't even need to be in the house to turn the oven on, I just need to make sure my food's ready and waiting for when my oven starts cooking.
To test this setting, I steam-cooked a big tray of tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic ready to be blitzed into a soup when I got home from work. I tend to cook this recipe for an hour and a half, which would usually mean a late dinner if I'm getting in from work at 7 p.m., but instead I merely strolled in the door to a slightly-cooled tray of tasty veg and whacked it in a blender.
How does it compare to an air fryer?
Since switching to a smart oven, I'm using my air fryer a lot less. My new oven cooks evenly and quickly, can start itself and stop cooking automatically, and even offers tailored cooking settings (including steam cooking) to make sure every dish is cooked to perfection. I really do recommend it, but would I advise you replace your air fryer altogether? Well, although I could certainly use the counter space, I'm not getting rid of it just yet. My air fryer may be enjoying some well-earned downtime, but it still comes in handy. There's always something to be said for how speedy and convenient this method of cooking is. Plus, although my oven's air fryer basket is dishwasher-safe, the air fryer basket is still easier to clean.
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