Many shoppers are making the move to ditch their ovens in favour of another way to cook - all in a bid to save some much needed extra cash.
The continues and now is upon us and is looming, many people are panicking about a potential hike in . According to research conducted by budget-friendly supermarket , 78% of Brits are turning to their trusty air fryers as opposed to the conventional oven in order to on their energy bills.
Air fryers were first introduced in the UK in 2010, but their popularity has grown significantly in recent years. During the pandemic, with more people cooking at home, demand for specialised appliances increased.
On , there’s hundreds of millions of videos offering air fryer recipes, tips and advice. One recipe, posted by Eloise Recipes, featuring crispy honey garlic chicken racked up a staggering 21.3million views.
It received thousands of comments from people keen to try it for themselves. One TikTok user said: “Made this tonight and it was a WIN!!! Thank you!!!!!” While another was enamoured with the recipe, they revealed: “Thanks... It's 11.32pm and I'm air frying some chicken”.
READ MORE:
Making the change to an air fryer for cooking could save people more than £480 a year. On average, Brits claim they save £40 on their electricity bills every month by ditching their oven.
From October 1, the average annual household energy bills are set to shoot up by £149, as the energy price cap jumps from £1,568, to £1,717. With the added stress of yet more sky-high bills dominating people’s thoughts, more than half - at 53% - say they can’t live without their air fryer.
The research was conducted as Iceland and the Food Warehouse joined forces with air fryer experts, Ninja. The partnership has seen Ninja endorse air fryer cooking instructions being printed on selected products, including Pigs in Blankets, Breaded Crispy Shredded Chicken and Sweet Chilli Battered Prawns, which are all available at Iceland and The Food Warehouse.
The cost to cook has now become the main reason to switch from regular oven usage. According to Ninja, its AF300UK would cost 7.9p to air fry at 200C for 20 minutes compared to 12.1p for a conventional oven – and that doesn’t include the extended cooking times needed, or pre-heating costs.
Paul Dhaliwal, chief commercial officer at Iceland Foods, said: “This winter, we’re going to see a huge shift in the way people cook at home. With energy prices set to rise, ovens are being ditched and air fryers are becoming the number one way to cook.
“Ahead of energy prices increasing, we’ve teamed up with Ninja to ensure we have approved air fryer cooking instructions on our most popular air fryer-friendly products.”
According to the research from Iceland, 70% of Brits said cooking in an air fryer suits their lifestyle, and the average homeowner uses their air fryer twice a day for an average of 16 minutes. When it comes to savings, some Brits say they are saving even more than the UK average of £480 a year by making the switch. One in 10 believe they are saving more than £75 a month, or £900 a year.
The Ninja-endorsed cooking instructions are available on packaging from now.
