Air Fryer Conversion Chart — Oven Temperature & Time

Turn any oven recipe into air fryer settings — one printable sheet.

An air fryer is a small, fierce convection oven, so an oven recipe needs two changes: a lower temperature and a shorter time. This chart gives both for every kind of food, worked from the two oven settings recipes use most — 350 °F / 180 °C and 400 °F / 200 °C — in US and metric units side by side. Dense foods lose less time than delicate ones, which is why there is a row per food type rather than one blanket rule. Print it, stick it inside a cupboard door, and stop doing the arithmetic in your head.

The chart

Air Fryer Conversion Chart — Oven Temperature & Time
Food	Temperature change	Oven 350°F / 180°C →	Oven 400°F / 200°C →	Oven 20 min →	Oven 30 min →	Oven 45 min →	Cook to (internal)
Fries & frozen potatoes	−20°F / −10°C	332°F / 170°C	382°F / 190°C	16 min	24 min	36 min	—
Chicken & poultry	−25°F / −15°C	323°F / 165°C	373°F / 185°C	16 min	24 min	36 min	165°F / 74°C
Vegetables	−20°F / −10°C	332°F / 170°C	382°F / 190°C	16 min	24 min	36 min	—
Fish & seafood	−25°F / −15°C	323°F / 165°C	373°F / 185°C	15 min	23 min	34 min	145°F / 63°C
Beef, pork & lamb	−20°F / −10°C	332°F / 170°C	382°F / 190°C	17 min	26 min	38 min	—
Bakes & pastry	−25°F / −15°C	323°F / 165°C	373°F / 185°C	17 min	26 min	38 min	—
Anything else (general)	−25°F / −15°C	323°F / 165°C	373°F / 185°C	16 min	24 min	36 min	—

Drop the oven temperature by the amount in column two, then cook for the shorter time — an air fryer is a small convection oven, so it heats food faster from every side.
Times assume a single layer with space around the food. A crowded basket steams instead of crisping, so cook in batches rather than stretching the time.
Air fryers vary more than ovens do. Check at three-quarters of the converted time the first time you cook something, then trust your own machine.
Cook meat, poultry and fish to the internal temperature in the last column — never to the clock. Times are a guide; temperature is the test.
From frozen, keep the temperature the same and add a few minutes rather than thawing first.
Air fryer dials usually move in steps of 5 °F or 10 °C — set the nearest mark below the figure shown, never above it.
The two oven columns use the conventional recipe pairing (350 °F with 180 °C, 400 °F with 200 °C), which is why the °F and °C results in a cell are not exact conversions of each other. Each is worked from its own starting temperature.
Wide chart: print in landscape if your printer offers it.

🧮 Need a number that isn’t on the chart? Air Fryer Converter does this arithmetic for your exact figures →

Why the temperature drops, and why not by the same amount

An air fryer moves hot air far faster than a conventional oven, so the surface of the food gets more heat per minute at the same dial setting. Dropping the temperature compensates. Delicate things — fish, bakes, anything with a crust that sets early — take the bigger 15 °C drop, because the outside will colour long before the middle is done. Denser foods and sturdy vegetables take the smaller 10 °C drop, since they need the heat to reach the centre and can take the surface browning in the meantime.

Why the times are not simply “two-thirds”

The familiar advice is to cut the time by a fifth or a quarter, which is right on average and wrong per food. Fish loses the most time, at three-quarters of the oven figure, because it is thin and cooks from every side at once. Beef, pork and bakes keep 85% of the time, because heat still has to travel to the middle of something thick and no amount of air movement speeds that up. The chart gives the factor per food rather than one number that is wrong for most of them.

The one rule the chart cannot replace

Times are a plan, not a test. Air fryer models vary more than ovens do — basket size, fan speed and wattage all change the result — so the first time you cook something, check at three-quarters of the converted time. For meat, poultry and fish, cook to the internal temperature in the last column and ignore the clock entirely. A thermometer is the only thing on this page that cannot be wrong.

Don’t fill the basket

Every figure here assumes a single layer with air space around the food. Crowd the basket and the food steams in its own moisture instead of crisping, at which point the temperature and time are both irrelevant. Two batches at the chart’s settings beat one overloaded batch with extra minutes bolted on.

Use this chart

Print it, pin it up, or post it wherever it’s useful — all we ask is a link back so people can find the calculator behind it. Copy either line:

Plain text

Air Fryer Conversion Chart (Printable) — CookToolbox, https://cooktoolbox.com/reference/air-fryer-conversion-chart

HTML

<a href="https://cooktoolbox.com/reference/air-fryer-conversion-chart">Air Fryer Conversion Chart (Printable)</a> by CookToolbox

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to preheat an air fryer before using these settings? +

Give it two or three minutes if your model has a preheat setting, especially for anything you want crisp. The times here assume the basket is already hot — starting cold adds roughly the preheat time to the total, which matters most for short cooks like fish or vegetables.

Can I use this chart from frozen? +

Yes. Keep the temperature exactly as shown and add a few minutes rather than thawing first — air fryers handle frozen food well, which is why frozen fries are the thing they do best. Check at the chart time and give it more if the centre is not hot.

Can I print this chart or put it on my site? +

Yes — printing is what it is for. Use your browser’s print command (or Save as PDF) and the page strips the navigation, ads and colours automatically, leaving just the chart with its source line. You are welcome to print it, stick it on the fridge, or post it anywhere you like as long as you credit it with a link back.

How accurate is this chart? +

Every figure is generated from the same tested references our calculators use (USDA FoodData Central and King Arthur Baking), so the chart and the tool can never disagree. Ovens, ingredients and appliances vary, so treat the numbers as a reliable starting point and adjust to your own kit.

Sources

📖 The Complete Air Fryer Cooking Guide Why these numbers are what they are →