Start with the engineering, not the mode name
Both convection baking and air-fry-style cooking use moving hot air. Product names do not by themselves reveal fan flow, heater power distribution, vent design or how much food can be cooked evenly. The same label can therefore describe different hardware and different results.
Evaluate the complete airflow system
Ask where the fan and heaters are located, whether fan speed changes by mode, how air returns through the cavity and which tray geometry was used to develop the program. A perforated basket may improve exposure to moving air but can also change dripping, cleaning and usable load area. Test at the claimed food load, not only with a thin laboratory portion.
Use food tests with controlled inputs
Define potato cut size, starting mass and temperature, oil addition, tray loading pattern, turn or shake steps, endpoint color and moisture or mass loss. Run the same recipe in every candidate oven. Photographs are useful only when lighting and timing are controlled. Sensory preference should be separated from measurable evenness and cooking time.
Faster browning is not automatically better; the target is a repeatable endpoint without excessive darkening.
Evidence and context
The European Commission explains that fan-forced mode circulates hot air and can help food cook faster and more evenly. EFSA also notes that high-temperature cooking conditions influence acrylamide formation in starchy foods, so an aggressive program still needs recipe control.
- European Commission domestic ovens: https://energy-efficient-products.ec.europa.eu/product-list/domestic-ovens_en
- EFSA acrylamide topic: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/acrylamide