4 Similarities and 6 Differences Between Nuwave Oven and Air Fryer

People today aren’t only worried about what they eat and how they cook their food. After all, there’s no point in buying healthy food only to cook it with unhealthy cooking methods. This has increased the popularity of the Nuwave oven and the air fryer. These two appliances use little to no oil when cooking making them ideal if you care about your health.

With that said, the Nuwave oven and air fryer have distinct differences according to the best 10 Nuwave air fryer models. Because of this, you need to understand the differences before buying one. The air fryer cooks food by circulating hot air around it through convection. In contrast, the Nuwave oven simultaneously heats food using infrared, convection, and conduction.

But there are a lot more differences between the air fryer and the Nuwave oven. If you’re stuck on which one to choose, look no further. Here’s an in-depth look guide on everything you need to know about the Nuwave oven and air fryer.

What Is a NuWave Oven and How Does It Work? 

The Nuwave Oven was launched in 2002. This appliance cooks food using three heat transfer methods, infrared, conduction, and convection. In this appliance, infrared technology is the primary heating method. This technology emits infrared rays to cook the interior and brown the exterior. 

Nuwave ovens also use the convection heat transfer method. What this means is to circulate hot air around the food using a fan for cooking it. And to ensure free air circulation, there’s a silent motor and a specially-built fan. Heat is also transferred through conduction. This heat transfer method occurs when your dish comes into contact with a hot surface. This means your food gets heated once you preheat your Nuwave oven to make the inside hot.

NuWave Oven Pros and Cons

Using the Nuwave oven does come with its pros and cons. Here’s a look at them to help you know whether this cooking appliance is the right fit:

Pros

• The cooking quality of the Nuwave oven is high thanks to the three heating processes. This helps ensure that your dish is cooked thoroughly well in its interior and exterior. 
• This cooking appliance provides you with many cooking options. You can use it for baking, steaming, searing, broiling, grilling, roasting, or barbecuing. 
• The Nuwave oven is faster than standard ovens. On average, cooking times range between 5 and 20 minutes. This means the Nuwave oven saves you time and effort because there’s no need for preheating. When in a rush to prepare a meal for your family, it comes in handy as you can even prepare frozen food quickly.
• Thanks to the triple cooking feature, you can cook a broad type of dishes.

Cons

• Its plastic build quality isn’t that strong.
• You’ll see scratches, cracks, and other technical problems after a few months.
• You always have to clean the Nuwave oven after each use. This can be inconvenient when planning to cook a lot of food. 
• The cooking times are somewhat incorrect. In fact, you’ll often need to cook your dish for a longer period than written in the instructions manual.

What Is an Air Fryer and How Does It Work? 

An air fryer is a cooking appliance developed by Philips Electronics Company. Using these cooking appliances, you can easily fry your dishes. This makes it a kitchen appliance to buy if you love meals such as fried meat or potato chips. The air fryer cooks food by circulating extremely hot air around. It does this until the meal becomes crunchy and crispy without drying your food.

The Maillard effect is a chemical reaction that happens after the flow of super hot air. This reaction lowers the number of amino acids and sugar in an extremely hot environment. As a result, this greatly alters the colors and flavors of your dish.

You need little or no oil altogether when using the air fryer. This kitchen appliance should be your go-to choice if you’re health-conscious. This means you’ll no longer have to fry your food by dipping it in hot oil to get that tasty and crunchy outside. As a result, you can enjoy the best of both worlds, superbly tasting food, and good health. 

Air Fryer Pros and Cons 

Like with any other item, the air fryer isn’t perfect as it also has its pros and cons, and here’s a look at them:

Pros

• The air fryer is very easy to use. All you need to do is to place your food inside the basket and set the cooking temperature. After that, this kitchen appliance will automatically handle everything else.
• This cooking appliance takes about 5 to 25 minutes to cook food. This makes it both energy efficient and ideal when in a rush.
• You can get different air fryer models from different brands. This is possible thanks to the competition, which helps you get better deals.
• The air fryer is useful when air frying, baking, stir-frying, broiling, and baking. You can also use it to grill, steam, and reheat your food.
• You don’t need oil or butter when using the air fryer. The best part is this appliance can do without oil and not compromise the quality of your dish.
• Cleaning the best air fryer models is a breeze.

Cons

• You’ll need to break the bank to buy a big and feature-rich air fryer, and they can take up a lot of space in your kitchen.
• The air fryer’s construction consists mostly of plastic and metal. This isn’t sturdy, especially if you get the cheaper brands.
•  This appliance’s single cooking process restricts the kinds of dishes you can prepare. 

4 Similarities Between NuWave Oven and Air Fryer

The Nuwave and air fryer have a couple of similarities, and here’s an overview of some of them:

Less oil, healthier 

The main similarity between the two cooking appliances are they promote healthy cooking. This is because you need very little oil when using either of these ovens. This makes them the ideal alternative if you no longer want to deep fry your foods. The air fryer does this by only needing you to use very little oil but it’ll make your food feel crunchy and crispy.

The Nuwave oven also needs less oil when cooking. A unique attribute is that it can also extract and collect oils and fats from your meals. So with either of these kitchen appliances, you’ll have less oil in your diet. This will enable you to lead a healthier life. This is because it lowers the risk of getting lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure.

Easy to use

Time is a precious resource, especially in today’s frantic lifestyle. Knowing this, you want a cooking appliance that can ease your hassles in the kitchen. And here comes the Nuwave oven and air fryer. These two appliances aren’t complicated to operate, so they save you time when cooking. All you need to do is place your food inside the basket and set the time and temperature you want.

Besides cooking, you can also reheat food with the Nuwave oven or air fryer, which is also easy. This makes these cooking appliances very practical additions to your kitchen. This can help you save money that would have otherwise been spent buying a microwave.

Easy to clean 

Cleaning up after your meal can be challenging. But with the air fryer and Nuwave oven, you need not have such a concern on your mind altogether. After all, these appliances don’t need too much energy to clean up as they come with removable parts. You can also use your dishwasher when cleaning these appliances. But before doing so, make sure to remove the power head before you start.

When cleaning these appliances, all you need is some soapy water non-scratch sponge. You can clean the outside and inside of these appliances without breaking a sweat.

Warranty

The air fryer and Nuwave oven have a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty. This covers the electrical components and cooking systems integrated into these appliances. You qualify for a component replaced with a new, fully functional part or product. This means you need not worry if there’s any defect and your appliance isn’t working as expected.

However, you must follow all the Nuwave oven and air fryer guidelines for the warranty to be valid. If you don’t, it’ll be deemed void, and you will have to dig into your pocket to replace the damaged components.

Differences Between NuWave Oven and Air Fryer 

The air fryer and Nuwave oven have a couple of distinct differences between them, and here’s a look at each of them:

Heating Speed 

It’s no doubt that both the Nuwave oven and air fryer provide you with fast cooking speeds. With that said, there’s a slight difference in the time it takes to prepare a meal. You should go for the air fryer instead of the Nuwave oven if a fast cooking speed is what you want.

The higher temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit make their air fryer faster. In contrast, the Nuwave oven’s cooking temperature is 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This explains why it takes much longer to cook food.

Size and Capacity

Another difference between the air fryer and the Nuwave oven is their size and capacity. Generally speaking, the Nuwave oven is bigger compared to the air fryer. If you don’t want to be restricted on what to cook, as you can prepare even a whole turkey or chicken, get the Nuwave oven. In contrast, air fryers are smaller in size, and you’ll need to cook in batches when preparing a meal for many people. But with these years’ development, there already have some big air fryers on the market such as the 10 QT air fryer, which can fit a whole chicken.

Versatility

The Nuwave oven is the undisputed champion when it comes to versatility. This is so despite air fryers doing much more besides deep frying your chicken. With the Nuwave oven, you can practically prepare any meal. For instance, you can grill burgers, do dehydration, make dried fruits or beef jerky, or even bake. You don’t enjoy this wider menu when using an air fryer. Knowing this, you should get the Nuwave oven if you want to prepare a wide variety of foods and joints of meat.

Efficacy

Air fryers and Nuwave ovens have similar, almost identical efficacy. This is because they run at the same fan speeds, heating capacities, and temperatures. With that said, Nuwave ovens have better efficiency compared to air fryers. This is primarily because of their bigger capacity. This is more than ideal when cooking different dishes or preparing a large meal.

Maintenance

The components of an air fryer and a Nuwave oven can be cleaned using a dishwasher. Nonetheless, it’s much easier to clean and maintain an air fryer because of its smaller size. The air fryer also comes with fewer components than the Nuwave oven. Thanks to this, cleaning it is less tedious. With this in mind, you should get the air fryer if you don’t want much cleaning work.

Price

You must always consider your budget before any item. This also comes into consideration when looking to buy these cooking appliances. The Nuwave oven doesn’t come cheap, and its lowest price is $140. But this only includes the actual oven without the brand’s kits, such as baking kits. If you choose to get these additions, the price will rise further.

On the other hand, the air fryer varies in price, and you can get one for as cheap as $70, and high-end models cost up to $300. Therefore, the air fryer is the perfect pick when you’re on a budget.

Conclusion

The air fryer and Nuwave oven use little to no oil, and this has revolutionized cooking. Because of this, they’re the ideal choice if you’re a health-conscious individual. If you’re conflicted about which of these two kitchen appliances is the best choice, worry not. This has outlined all you need to know. With these insights, you can decide which of these two appliances is the best pick.

Let me know which type you will choose, and leave a comment below!