The air fryer – the UK’s most wanted appliance for autumn revealed

Find out how to get the best deal 

With the cost of everyday essentials going up, consumers are focusing their attention on energy-saving devices. Lindsey Davis, editor in chief of the ecommerce division of Future Home Interest, including www.realhomes.com and www.idealhome.co.uk, reveals the UK’s most wanted appliance for autumn 2022 is the air fryer, and advises on the right time to make the purchase and how to snap up the best deals. 

Lindsey says, “Search for best air fryers is already up 500% in September versus last November. Search in September in the UK is 148,000 per month, while it was only 26,600 last November. The month-on-month increase for searches of best air fryers between August and September 2022 reflects a 100% growth. We can safely say they will be the UK’s most wanted appliance for the season. Searches for just ‘air fryer’ without ‘best’ have already reached over 1.3M this month.” 

She adds, “We are seeing search increases for specific air fryer brands and products too, with particular interest in the Ninja Foodi range which goes beyond air fryers and includes a selection of efficient grills and multicookers. For example, the AF400UK model claims to save up to 65% on the energy bill, it costs up to 65% less than an oven, less than 8 pence for 15 minutes, with the UK’s largest-capacity dual-zone air fryer. Savvy shoppers will be keen to know that the best multicookers (which do just what they say on the tin offering multiple cooking options) have air fry as a function as well as slow cook and pressure cook, reducing the time it takes to make meals even further. Some even claim to be able to roast a chicken in about 40 minutes.” 

When is the best time to purchase 

Lindsey advises, “We expect air fryers to sell out fast and over 50% of John Lewis’s options are already out of stock. If buyers have a particular model in mind they need to get in quickly. There are actually loads of deals at the moment, so I wouldn’t delay if you know you definitely want one before the energy price cap rise in October. Also, we know from previous years that many Black Friday deals land early and we see a big rise in shopping on the Thursday night, by which point some of the prices available are the lowest they will be.” 

The sudden popularity of air fryers 

Air fryers will be cheaper to run than conventional ovens and can prepare healthier versions of favourite fried treats. They use about half the energy per hour and also cook things much faster. As an estimate, taking the energy cap into account, the average air fryer costs 4-5p for every 5 minutes.* With fears around bills this year, they will be perfect for cooking quick family meals, especially for those who tend to give the kids dinner earlier and dislike the idea of putting the cooker on twice. 

How to snap up the best deals 

The best in stock options have been collated by Real Homes and Ideal Home and their tech aggregates retailers and serve the lowest price. If people have a particular product in mind from the reviews page, they can bookmark the articles to watch the price as it is updated live on the widgets.  

Lindsey concludes, “With this wealth of information available, it is usually the case of whether buyers want to gamble on missing out, or risk paying a few pounds more in the days before to make sure they get the product they want. We are planning to run many pages on air fryers and air fryer deals for the period of Black Friday too. This might be better suited to buyers who are not completely sold on a particular air fryer and will be swayed by a really good offer. We are currently testing small air fryers for those with smaller kitchens and smaller budgets. We have already tested a few under £100 and shoppers can see these in our buying guides and reviews.”  

*https://www.idealhome.co.uk/house-manual/money-matters/how-much-does-it-cost-to-run-an-air-fryer