Air fryer conversion: oven to air fryer temperature and time

How to convert oven instructions to an air fryer

1. Find the oven setting. Read the temperature and time in the recipe or on the packet. If the packet already gives air fryer instructions, follow those: the Food Standards Agency points to the food packet and the instructions for your appliance, because air fryers need different times and temperatures.
2. Check which oven it means. Recipes and packets often give a fan setting about 20 °C lower than the conventional one. Choose the oven the number is for.
3. Convert. Enter the temperature and time above and press Convert, or read the setting off the chart below.
4. Give the food room. Spread it out with space around each piece. The Food Standards Agency says some appliances need space around the food so it cooks properly, such as chicken legs in an air fryer, and Iowa State University Extension notes that an overloaded rack cooks unevenly.
5. Check early. Start checking a few minutes before the converted time and add a few minutes at a time if the food needs longer. For meat, poultry and fish, check the inside with a food thermometer.

How oven to air fryer conversion works

An air fryer cooks by moving hot air around the food in a small space, so it usually needs a lower setting and less time than a conventional oven. Official guidance points you to your appliance rather than to a formula: the Food Standards Agency says that, depending on the cooking method and the appliance, foods need different times and temperatures, and Iowa State University Extension advises following your air fryer’s manual because cook times and temperatures vary from one air fryer to another. The 25 °F and 20% starting point is the one most of the converters and guides we read use.

Temperature: about 25 °F (15 °C) lower

Take 25 °F off a conventional oven setting: 350 °F becomes 325 °F and 400 °F becomes 375 °F. In Celsius that is about 14 °C, which the converter rounds to the nearest 5 degrees: 180 °C becomes 165 °C and 200 °C becomes 185 °C. Some guides take off 15 to 20 °C for the same step.

Time: about 20% shorter

Multiply the oven time by 0.8: 30 minutes becomes 24, 45 minutes becomes 36 and an hour becomes 48 minutes. Check a few minutes before that, then add a few minutes at a time if the food needs longer.

Fan oven and convection oven settings

A fan or convection oven already moves hot air around, which is why recipes and packets often give a fan setting about 20 °C below the conventional one: 180 °C fan and 200 °C conventional mean the same heat. The converter adds those 20 °C back before it takes 25 °F off, so either number on a packet gives the same air fryer setting, about 185 °C. Some converters take 20 °C off the fan setting itself, which gives 160 °C. Whichever you use, check the food a few minutes early. If the converted setting is above your air fryer’s highest setting, use the highest one and check the food until it is done.

Air fryer to oven conversion

To go the other way, add 25 °F (about 15 °C) and divide the time by 0.8: 375 °F for 24 minutes in the air fryer becomes 400 °F for 30 minutes in a conventional oven. For a fan oven, set it about 20 °C lower than that. Choose Air fryer to oven in the converter and it does the sums for you.

Where the numbers come from

Read on November 2, 2026.

• Food Standards Agency: cooking your food (70 °C for 2 minutes in the middle, visual checks, and other appliances such as air fryers)
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: food handling and internal temperatures (the internal temperature table)
• Iowa State University Extension and Outreach: air fryer adventures, part 1 (how an air fryer cooks; times and temperatures vary by model)
• Iowa State University Extension and Outreach: air fryer adventures, part 2 (an overloaded rack cooks unevenly)

The 25 °F and 20% starting point and the 20 °C fan offset come from the oven to air fryer converters and guides we read; most of them use these figures.