As Ideal Home's Kitchen Appliances Editor, it's in my job description to stay on top of the latest cooking trends. The halogen oven is one product that's creating a buzz right now, especially thanks to the claim that they can save you money.
As it's the time of year for hunkering down, saving for Christmas, cooking at home and being diligent about your energy bills, I can see the allure of a halogen oven and all its promises, namely that one is cheaper to run than one of the best air fryers.
I hate to be the one to burst anyone's bubble, but I'm here to tell you that swapping your air fryer for a halogen oven is not your best bet. After our resident product tester and expert home economist Helen McCue tried one out, we straightened out all the misconceptions about a halogen oven vs an air fryer.
To compound our disillusions about these products, I was also disappointed by one during testing myself. In light of that, this is our dedicated deep dive into the disadvantages of a halogen oven.
The disadvantages of a halogen oven
The two halogen ovens that we've tried are the (unsurprisingly now discontinued) JML Halowave Oven and the Fritaire Halogen Air Fryer (£219.99 at Amazon). We wouldn't recommend either of them. Here's why.
Slow heat up times
If you're swapping your oven for a countertop cooking device, you need it to be faster than your built-in for it to be worthwhile, including the time it takes to heat.
Generally, air fryers are magic at heating up fast. The one I'm testing right now, the COSORI Twin Fry (£209.99 at Amazon) is a dupe for the super fast-to-heat Ninja FlexDrawer (which is our top-rated air fryer ever) and is so quick to get to temperature that it doesn't even have a preheat setting.
The same absolutely cannot be said for the halogen ovens we've tried. The JML Halowave had a recommended 5-10 minute heat up time (that's a lot of extra energy if you're hoping to cut down on bills), while the Fritaire, which uses a halogen heat element rather than a fan (as with a classic air fryer!) couldn't be saved by a preheat either, as the cooking results we had were seriously lacklustre.
For getting to the actual job of cooking quickly, a halogen oven will have you at a disadvantage.
Slow cooking times
In theory, you can save money with a halogen oven because they have faster cooking times. Therefore, your appliance needs to be switched on less, and you can pick up some spare pennies.
In practice, the halogen ovens we've tried have not proved to have quicker cooking times than similar air fryers and have in fact, taken far longer than we'd expected. In one test, our reviewer even Helen found that a simple meal (scampi and chips) actually took double the time in a halogen oven compared to an air fryer.
We've done our research on the cost to run an air fryer and we're certain that they are the most cost efficient option here. The bottom line is: if you're really worried about saving on bills, the best thing you can do is buy a small model with a low wattage.
Less crispy cooking results
In our experience, halogen ovens are lacking on the crisp front. If you want an appliance that can help you to improve the experience of at home fries, or chicken, or any number of savoury treats, you'll be disappointed by the results in a halogen oven.
One look at the fries that we tried out in the Fritaire halogen oven will tell you the whole story. Colourless, lacking texture and generally looking pretty sad, they're not the potato we were looking forward to. And if it's not crispy, we definitely don't want it.
Dated designs and controls
Ideal Home is filled with beautiful houses and rooms, which is why I feel guilty about the sometimes monstrous images of kitchen appliances I have to publish on the site for product reviews. That's certainly true with halogen ovens, which often feature clear bowls, large light-bulb-looking heat elements and white (or in the case of the Fritaire, orange) plastic bowls.
I've written at length about how air fryers in the most part aren't the prettiest, but there is a marked improvement when it comes to choosing the right one for you over a halogen oven. The best dual-zone air fryers provide ample space for families, especially if you have picky family members who need another type of food cooked at the same time. There's even an improvement in colour choices too, including Ninja's white air fryer.
Ninja's bestselling air fryer is now available in a more stylish colourway. Much better looking than a halogen oven, that's for sure.
In short, we think a halogen oven isn't all it's cracked up to be. In this case, we think it's definitely best to play it safe with a trusty air fryer.
