Lower the oven temperature by about 25 °F and cut the time by about 20%, then check a few minutes early. It is a starting point, not a law: thick food and a full basket need longer.
The rule of thumb
| Oven recipe | Air fryer starting point |
|---|---|
| 450 °F, 25 min | 425 °F, about 20 min |
| 425 °F, 20 min | 400 °F, about 16 min |
| 400 °F, 20 min | 375 °F, about 16 min |
| 375 °F, 30 min | 350 °F, about 24 min |
| 350 °F, 15 min | 325 °F, about 12 min |
Check at about three-quarters of the new time. Shake or turn halfway.
Why it is lower and shorter
Fast-moving air strips heat into the surface sooner than the still air of a regular oven, so food browns earlier. A smaller cavity preheats in minutes. Both shorten the time; the first is why the temperature comes down, so the middle catches up with the outside.
When the rule breaks
A full basket. Crowded food cooks more like an oven, and needs closer to the oven time — see why a single layer matters.
Thick pieces — a whole chicken, a pork roast, a dense cake — where the middle sets the pace. Lower and longer, with a thermometer.
Baked goods in a pan, which brown on top too fast at full air speed. Drop the temperature by 25 to 30 °F and tent with foil — see can I bake a cake in an air fryer.
Frozen food, whose packet often prints its own air fryer time — see can I cook frozen food in an air fryer.
What decides doneness
Not the time — the food. Golden color for fries and breaded food; for meat, an instant-read thermometer: 165 °F for poultry, 160 °F for ground meat, 145 °F with a three-minute rest for whole cuts of pork and beef. See using a probe thermometer.
And presets
A preset is someone’s conversion, already made, for a typical load of that food. Use it as a start, and adjust from what the first batch tells you. See what a program actually is.
Check your own manual before you follow anything here. Temperatures, fill limits and pressure ratings differ from model to model, and the manufacturer’s figures take precedence over anything written on this site. We report what makers publish — an oven’s range in degrees, a cooker’s maximum fill line, whether a part is declared dishwasher-safe — and we never turn those figures into food-safety guidance. Cooking temperatures and holding times for particular foods are set by manufacturers and by your national food safety authority, and this site points you to them rather than restating them.
What readers want to know
What is the rule for converting oven recipes to an air fryer?
About 25 °F lower and about 20% shorter, checked a few minutes before the new time. A recipe for 400 °F and 20 minutes becomes about 375 °F and 16 minutes. It is the common rule of thumb rather than a maker's figure — machines differ, so treat the first batch as a test.
Why does an air fryer need a lower temperature?
Because fast-moving air browns the surface sooner, the same reason convection ovens are set lower. At the oven temperature, the outside of thick food darkens before the middle is done.
Do I still convert if my oven is a convection oven?
Barely. A convection recipe has usually already been lowered by about 25 °F; keep that temperature and cut the time by about 10%. Check with a thermometer for meat — 165 °F for poultry, 160 °F for ground meat, 145 °F plus a rest for whole cuts.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026