Expert issues warning to air fryer users ahead of Christmas Day

The finance expert is back to warn the public about the use of air fryers ahead of Christmas, as they may not be as cost-effective for the meals you're preparing.

Air fryers are gaining popularity as an easier and more energy-efficient way to cook meals. Many people are using them as an alternative to ovens for preparing anything from frozen goods to grand-cuisine meals.

However, the money saving expert - Martin Lewis - is 'somewhat sceptical' of the alternative energy consumption during the festive period.

During an appearance on ITV's This Morning, Lewis expressed his hesitations, saying: 'I heard you on the show mentioning someone was going to cook a Christmas dinner in an air fryer. If that’s being done for energy reasons, I would be somewhat sceptical whether that is a good idea.'

Money experts warns the use of air fryers during the Christmas period / Good Morning Britain

However, he said if the reason is related to taste, he doesn't want to 'get involved.'

'I mean, the benefit of an oven is when you’re cooking a lot for a lot of people, and you can fill all the racks and have it on consistently,' Lewis explained.

The money saving expert went on to declare that air fryers are good for 'small things that cook quickly'. However, he suggested that they might not be the best choice for cooking a large roast dinner for multiple family members.

Lewis continued: 'If you’re gonna have to use your air fryer 15 different times for different items generally on energy usage, you’d be better off to use an oven.'

Lewis suggested a microwave as an alternative, claiming: 'A microwave I believe, from memory, gives you consistent heat whereas an oven is warming up to full temperature and then topping it up so it isn’t running at full power the whole time.'

Regardless, Lewis emphasised that the cost-effectiveness depends on the meal size.

Martin Lewis said there's a 'very useful equation' to calculate whether you should use an air fryer / Grace Cary / Getty

Air fryers are beneficial and cost-effective when using them for small meals: 'If you’re doing a jacket potato for 10 minutes it’s going to be far cheaper [in the microwave] than doing a single jacket potato in an oven and keeping it on for an hour and a half.'

'However if you were doing a full roast dinner and you were cooking many of them, that is where it’s probably cheaper than putting five or six jacket potatoes in a microwave because each additional object you put in a microwave, you need to keep it on longer because a microwave just heats the individual object.'

Lewis also shared a 'very useful equation' to determine the most cost-effective cooking method. You need to identify the wattage of an item and then work out how many kilowatts (or fraction of a kilowatt) it's using and then 'multiply that by 34p per hour of use.'

He explained: 'If you had a 1000W microwave and you put it on for 10 minutes, one KWH for a sixth of an hour, a sixth of 34p is about 6p, shall we say?

“So it’s 6p turning the microwave on for that amount of time.'

So, you may want to run through some quick maths before you decide to rely on your air fryer or microwave to prepare your Christmas dinner.