Oven to air fryer conversion calculator
Type in your recipe’s oven temperature and time, choose a temperature rule, and read off the air-fryer setting — including when to start checking.
Start checking at ~18 min.
How we convert this
A starting point — air fryers run hot and every model differs. Check doneness by sight, and for meat use a thermometer and the USDA safe internal temperature.
Turn any oven recipe into an air-fryer recipe
Almost every printed recipe is written for a conventional oven, but an air fryer is really a compact, high-powered convection oven — a fan blasts hot air around the food, so it cooks faster and browns harder. To borrow an oven recipe you adjust two dials: the temperature comesdown, and the time comes down with it.
The temperature: −25°F or −20%
Publishers split into two camps. The first, and most common, subtracts a flat 25°F — a 400°F recipe becomes 375°F, a 350°F recipe becomes 325°F. The second lowers the temperature proportionally by about 20% (multiply by 0.90 and round to the nearest 5°). In the middle of the dial the two barely differ, but they pull apart at the edges: at 300°F the fixed rule gives 275°F while the proportional rule gives 270°F; at 450°F it’s 425°F versus 405°F. This calculator lets you flip between them because there is no single “correct” number — an air-fryer conversion is a well-established rule of thumb, not a law of physics.
The time: about −20%, then check early
Cook time drops by roughly a fifth: multiply by 0.80. Twenty oven minutes become sixteen; forty-five become thirty-six. On top of that, the tool shows a “start checking at” time near 70% of the original. That earlier number matters more than the target time, because a basket of wings or a tray of vegetables can go from perfect to scorched in the last two minutes when the heat is this concentrated.
A worked example
Take a tray-bake that says bake at 400°F for 25 minutes. Subtract 25°F → 375°F. Multiply 25 × 0.80 → 20 minutes. Multiply 25 × 0.70 → start checking at ~18 minutes. So you air-fry at 375°F for about 20 minutes and open the basket at 18 to look. That exact conversion is pre-loaded in the tool above, so the page is useful the second it opens; change the numbers to match your own recipe.
Oven to air fryer conversion questions
What is the oven to air fryer conversion?
Lower the temperature by about 25°F (or −20% proportionally) and cut the cook time by about 20%. So a dish baked at 400°F for 25 minutes air-fries at roughly 375°F for 20 minutes — and because air fryers run fast, you start checking at around 70% of the original time.
Which is more accurate — the −25°F rule or −20%?
Neither is “official.” The −25°F fixed offset is the most widely published; the −20% proportional rule tracks a percentage instead. They agree in the middle of the dial and separate at the extremes (at 300°F: 275°F vs 270°F; at 450°F: 425°F vs 405°F). The calculator shows both so you can compare — the real test is always doneness.
Do I need to preheat the air fryer first?
Most models don’t require it, but a 2–3 minute preheat helps things crisp and sear (fries, wings, chops). If a recipe’s time assumes a preheated basket, add those minutes back. Preheating doesn’t change the temperature conversion, only the timing slightly.
Why does the tool tell me to check early?
Air fryers concentrate heat in a small chamber and every model differs, so food can finish sooner than the math predicts. The “start checking at” time (about 70% of the original) is a nudge to open the basket before anything overshoots — it’s cheaper to add two minutes than to burn dinner.
Does this work in both directions?
Yes. The converter is two-way — edit the oven panel to convert to the air fryer, or edit the air fryer panel to work back to an oven setting. There’s a dedicated air fryer to oven page too.
How do I convert an oven temperature to Celsius for my air fryer?
Switch the unit toggle to °C. The tool converts after applying the rule and rounds to the nearest 5° so it matches a real dial — see the Celsius conversion page for a metric-first version.