Air Fryer Vs OTG Oven – Which is Better and Why?

By Consumer Advise Team
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Consuming home-cooked food is one of the healthiest and less-expensive choices people can have. However, the traditional way of cooking requires a lot of time and effort, and that’s why many people avoid doing it. Thanks to technology, so many kitchen appliances like the air fryer and OTG are available currently that have reduced our time, energy, and cost.

Using an air fryer, you can cook food quickly without messing up your kitchen; on the other hand, you can have versatility when you use OTG to prepare delicious dishes.

However, choosing a particular device for your kitchen can feel overwhelming as many options. Here we will compare air fryer vs OTG and find out their pros and cons to choosing the best one. So, let’s get into the details.

How can an air fryer help you?

An Air Fryer is a type of convection oven that can be perfectly placed on the countertop of your kitchen. It can cook almost everything with a simple circulation of hot air that you use an oven for cooking. The best air fryer requires a minimal amount of oil to cook the food, concerning your health. If you have an air fryer in your kitchen, you can easily enjoy crispy fries, chicken wings, and sauté vegetables sitting at your home in the absence of a deep fryer. 

fried pakoda in air fryer

Benefits you can get from an air fryer

  • An air fryer cooks the food using a small amount of oil without compromising the taste of the food, which is beneficial to your health. 
  • It helps you cook your food much more quickly than the actual time the food takes. This means you will have your supper a little earlier than regular.
  • Air fryers are versatile in nature. You can try anything from fried chicken to spaghetti through this healthier option.
  • You can place an air fryer without any doubt of losing a lot of countertop space. As air fryers are small, they do not require much space.
  • Cleaning up the place after cooking is such an unpleasant task to do. Air fryers are blessings to this situation as they do not spill oils, allowing you to wipe away and clean the countertop quickly. 
  • Once you use an air fryer, you will feel no other better oven to use with this much ease. 
  • Air fryers do not spread microwave radiation. You will also get protected from harmful effects, encouraging the non-splattering of oil.

The limitations

  • Air fryers are fantastic if you see the long-term benefits, but they are pretty expensive.
  • They have a bit smaller in size. Thus, if you have a large family, this will be problematic. 
  • As an air fryer cooks the food at a high temperature, your food might get burnt sometimes if you do not give attention to it.
Read More: Pros and Cons of Air Fryers

When should you use an air fryer instead of OTG?

If you are someone who cannot get rid of fritters, fries, or lavish snacks after a hundred times of attempts, you should look into a healthier choice. Besides having a lot of advantages of the air fryer, counting calories is also vital to remain healthy. Unlike OTG ovens, air fryers need a minimal amount of oil for cooking faster. This is when you should start thinking about getting an air fryer. Although air fryers are a bit expensive, they will be helpful in the long go. Using less amount of oil, air fryers allow you to have delicious food. 

Our Recommendation for an air fryer

Philips Digital Air Fryer HD9252/90 comes with a touch panel with 7 preset cooking menus. It has a large capacity of 4.1 liters and consumes 1400 watts of power. This air fryer is very helpful because of automated frying, baking, grilling, roasting, and reheating.

PHILIPS Digital Air Fryer HD9252/90 with Touch Panel, uses up to 90% less fat, 7...
  • Philips Airfryer HD9252/90 (Large, 4.1 L) lets you cook great tasting food with up to 90% less fat*
  • Patented Rapid Air technology with unique starfish design pan ensures evenly fried results without flipping the food
  • Fry. Bake. Grill. Roast. And even reheat!
  • Touch screen with 7 presets and Keep Warm Function. Try new recipes at the touch of a button.
  • Auto-shut off function when the basket is removed

How can an OTG oven help you?

An Oven Toaster Griller (OTG) is a type of oven that is able to reheat, defrost, bake, and grill your foods. Heating elements are used in an OTG to cook the food evenly. The best OTG ovens allow you to use an oven with much lesser settings. Moreover, they have an in-built thermostat that enables the stove to control temperature while ensuring the proper cooking of the meal.

baking in OTG

Advantages of OTG ovens

  • Versatility is another plus point of an OTG oven. You can use an OTG oven for especially baking, toasting, and grilling. Enjoy all kinds of food like cookies, cupcakes, pizza, tandoor, barbecue, toasted bread, and so on.
  • If you want to preserve a meal in the refrigerator and want to have it later, you can use an OTG only to reheat it when needed.
  • OTGs are more pocket-friendly than digital air fryers. Therefore, anyone can afford them.
  • OTG ovens are lightweight (3-6 KG) which makes them portable. Despite the lightweight feature, they come in different capacities.
  • If you are not that accustomed to the usage of ovens, OTG ovens will be the best for you as they are straightforward to use. 
  • Most of the good quality OTG ovens have rotisseries that allow the user to rotate the food for uniform grilling and roasting. Therefore, if you are a foodie and want to try new dishes like whole grilled chicken, paneer tikka, tandoori vegetables, and so on, OTG ovens would not let you down.

Disadvantages of OTGs

  • OTG ovens occupy a significant space on the countertop. If you have a small kitchen, accommodating an OTG can be difficult.
  • They require a manual cleaning process, which will be a challenging task for the user with a lot of effort.
  • You will not have auto cooking facilities with an OTG oven like an air fryer.

When should you use an OTG instead of an Air fryer?

Oven Toaster Grillers are experts in baking, grilling, and roasting. An OTG oven will also help you bake some delicious cakes, cookies, muffins, or pizzas for your family members. Thus, an Oven Toaster Griller will not disappoint you. OTG ovens with multifunctional cooking functions are more versatile than air fryers with limited cooking options.

Our recommendation for OTG oven

Philips HD6975/00 Digital Oven Toaster Griller comes with a large capacity of 25 liters, suitable for small to large families with 4-5 maximum family members. Having 10 preset cooking menus- toast, bagel, pizza, bake, broil, cookies, roast, grill, tikka, preheat, this OTG is pretty helpful for daily cooking.

Philips HD6975/00 Digital Oven Toaster Grill, 25 Litre OTG, 1500 Watt with Opti Temp...
  • CAPACITY: 25 litres. POWER: 1500 watts; Operating Voltage: 220 - 240 volts. Frequency: 50/60 Hz
  • OPTI TEMP TECHNOLOGY: Uniform cooking on all sides and even-browning in bread & cakes with No dark spots, perfect output
  • ONE TOUCH 10 PRESENT MENU with Pre-programmed time, temperature & heating element selection for these 10 preset modes to give expert results
  • 10 PRESENT MODES: Toast (7 browning levels), Bagel (7 browning levels), Pizza, Bake, Broil, Cookies, Roast, Grill, Tikka, Preheat
  • PRE-HEAT MODE: Prepares the oven for perfect baking & cooking output and 90 MINUTES AUTO CUT- OFF
Air Fryer Vs OTG

Air Fryer Vs OTG Comparison

Point Of DifferenceAir FryerOTG
Heating mechanismYou need to be well aware that air fryers heat up faster with the capacity of reaching higher temperatures.Often OTG ovens have heating elements that help them to spread the heat. The food absorbs this heat directly.
SizeAir fryers are comparatively small in a matter of size. Therefore, they are not suitable for larger meals.Oven toaster grillers are quite larger in size which allows you to make a larger meal in one go.
Cooking processAir fryers use a much lesser quantity of oil while cooking, considering the consumer’s health. Additionally, they ensure the heat is spread equally.Most OTG ovens do not reduce fat or oil while cooking. But there are plenty of tasty foods you can try in an OTG rather than an Air fryer.
Cooking timeAs OTG ovens come in a larger size, they require a more detailed manual cleaning process.OTGs necessitate a bit extra time for cooking.
Hot Air CirculationThe smaller size of an air fryer allows it to circulate hot air extremely evenly to cook the food in it.OTG ovens generally do not have a fan to distribute the hot air. There are a few models of OTG ovens that have a cooling fan, but the placement is on the backside.
MaintenanceBoth the appliances have the facility of easy cleaning. But Air fryers have non-stick pans, which makes it even easier.As OTG ovens come in larger size, they require a more detailed manual cleaning process.
PriceDigital air fryers are costlier than analog air fryers and OTG.
Price Range: ₹5000 to ₹34000
OTG ovens are comparatively cheaper than air fryers.
Price Range: ₹2500 to ₹10000
You May Also Like: Air Fryer vs Microwave Oven

Alternatives to air fryer and OTG oven

Convection microwave oven

Convection microwave ovens combine convection microwave technology and a supplementary heating component. This feature allows you to reheat an already-made meal or roast and bake. Convection microwave ovens can cook similar foods as in an OTG or an air fryer. But notably, if you have a large family, you can choose the best microwave convection oven as it comes in a larger size, allowing you to make a variety of larger meals for your family. 

Deep Fryer

Deep fryers are usually used for deep frying. In a deep fryer, the food is prepared following a few consecutive phases. In the first step, the deep fryer heats the oil before you put the food inside it. The final step is to notice the texture and browning condition as per your necessity. However, unlike air fryers, OTG ovens make the food oily. But still, it is the best alternative for frying.

Built-in oven

According to the name, a built-in oven is an integrated oven below your countertop or fitted on the wall. A good-quality built-in oven can be placed in any area of your kitchen and covered with wooden cupboards. As built-in ovens are advanced ovens, they are easy to use. You do not need to bend multiple times to check the baking condition of the cake or cookies.

Also Read: OTG vs Microwave Oven

So, which is better – air fryer or OTG?

From the comparison of air fryer vs OTG, we hope you have now got a clear idea about their differences. Although both air fryers and OTGs have some distinct features, there are quite a lot of similarities and dissimilarities between them. Please do not get confused about your need while choosing an oven. If your pocket is full enough to invest in an air fryer, you should surely go for it, as it is a healthier option among ovens. However, if you love baking and grilling cake, cookies, barbecue, or tandoor, an OTG oven is your way to go.

Last update on 2024-07-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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