Martin Lewis' warning to anyone using an air fryer over oven - especially pensioners

Martin Lewis has shared his 'rule of thumb' for when to use an air fryer over an oven, which could be particularly helpful for pensioners who are struggling without their £300 Winter Fuel Payment

Finance guru Martin Lewis has issued a crucial warning for anyone relying on air fryers as a cheaper alternative to traditional ovens, which is notably pertinent for state pensioners who may be coping without their £300 Winter Fuel Payment during the cold season. The popular kitchen gadget has seen a surge in use by those seeking cost-effective means of preparing meals.

However, speaking on his BBC and Spotify 'The Martin Lewis Podcast', Lewis has explained that opting for an air fryer or microwave over an oven isn't always the most economical choice. He provided listeners with his "simple rule of thumb".

Martin Lewis advised: "Let me give you my simple rule of thumb.

"First of all, find the wattage of the appliance you're using. If you've got a heated gilet, it might be 50 watts. When I talk about 'heating the home' it is a lot cheaper to have a heated gilet or something that just heats you rather than heating the whole room."

"Then remember 1,000 watts is a Kilowatt. And you pay roughly 34p per Kw per hour.", reports the Express.

"So if you had a heated gilet on for an hour, it's around a 20th of 34p which is around 1.7p per hour.

"Now an oven is typically 1-2000w so you're paying around 34p or 68p an hour.

"An oven isn't always using all the wattage as it's heating up and then topping up.

"A microwave is also 1000W so per minute it's the same cost as an oven, but things done in the microwave when you're cooking a one-off, a one off jacket potato for example, is far more efficient because it's 10 minutes in the microwave, it might be an hour and a half in the oven.

"So if you've got a turkey in there that may well be effective if you're cooking lots of stuff in there and it's on for a couple of hours. That may well be effective if you're cooking lots of stuff.

"But if you've got something small and simple in there, it's probably cheaper and that's where the microwave and also the air fryers tend to come into their own because they're better at cooking single objects."

He also mentioned a technique recommended by a caller for cooking poultry more efficiently, known as 'spatchcocking' or 'butterflying', which involves breaking the bird's bones and flattening it out to cook faster, thus saving energy and money whether using an oven or an air fryer.