Like most red-blooded people, I really like french fries. I don’t love stomach fats and dangerously excessive ldl cholesterol, so I indulge occasionally.
Which will change because of the latest arrival of an air fryer, the little convection oven that might. Instantly wholesome(ish) french fries are inside my grasp.
Not simply fries, both. It seems this criminally underrated cookware (which actually is not a fryer in any respect) is nice for all types of meals prep. Let’s check out alternative ways to get probably the most from this countertop cooker — beginning with which one to get.
Select the best dimension
If you have not bought an air fryer but, the primary determination to make is arguably crucial: what dimension to get. They’re typically measured in quarts, the smallest being round 2.75; the biggest, about 6.
As a result of I’ve a household of 4, I wished one thing large enough to accommodate at the least that many servings of fries. (As a result of, let’s face it, we purchase this stuff for fries.) Ultimately, I landed on a Secura 5.3-quart mannequin (roughly 2.6 liters), which I scored for $110.
The cooking basket measures 9.25×9.25×4 inches — a lot huge for all our chopped-up spuds. After chopping about eight of them, the basket nonetheless had loads of room.
Backside line: Earlier than shopping for, verify the measurements of the air fryer itself and be sure you have the counter house to accommodate it. I am glad I did not go along with something smaller, however my Secura does make a fairly chunky addition to the kitchen.
Put money into a french fry cutter
Half the key to profitable air-fryer fries: a uniform minimize. This $29 cutter makes quick work of your spuds.
About these fries. The air fryer will do its finest work if each bit of potato is a uniform dimension — difficult at finest for those who’re chopping by hand. My recommendation: Purchase a cutter.
It is one of many quickest, best instruments you may add to your kitchen; it took me all of two minutes to crank via the aforementioned eight potatoes, and that was as a result of it was my first time and I used to be transferring slowly.
Yet another factor about fries…
Many air-fryer french fry recipes inform you to peel the potatoes first. Many extra say you need to soak them in water first, from anyplace between half-hour to three hours.
This is what I did: Reduce the potatoes, coated them in a tiny quantity of oil, dropped ’em within the basket and cooked ’em. No peeling, no soaking… did not even pat them dry first.
They. Had been. Scrumptious.
Would possibly they be higher nonetheless after soaking and/or drying? Perhaps. Is that further effort mandatory? Nope. Not in my ebook, anyway. For those who’ve taste-tested them each methods, inform me your choice.
Get shaky with it
For those who’re cooking fries or one thing related (tater tots, rooster nuggets, veggies, and so on.), you will need to give the basket a very good shake at the least as soon as in the course of the cooking course of.
This can transfer every part round and permit the recent air to flow into to each floor of every piece of meals — vital for uniform “frying.” Though many recipes name for shaking midway via the cooking time, I like to recommend doing it extra typically, like each 4-6 minutes.
If in case you have an air fryer with trays as a substitute of baskets, use oven mitts to take them out and flip your meals over. It’d appear to be a trouble, however it does not take a lot effort and time and can warmth your meal via far more evenly and provides it a pleasant crisp.
Do not overload
Keep in mind, your air fryer is just a bit oven. For those who had been cooking, say, rooster breasts in an everyday oven, you would not stack them on high of one another, would you? Similar deal right here, with the aforementioned exception of fries and veggies, unfold them out as finest you may and do not overload the basket.
Some fryers include a rack that permits you to add a second layer of meals above the basket. Now you may prepare dinner, say, 4 items of salmon as a substitute of simply two. (Talking of which, I made precisely that final night time. It did not get dried out the best way it does within the oven. Yum.)
Overloading the air fryer will make your meals warmth erratically, flattening the standard of your eats. These tiny ovens prepare dinner meals shortly, so do not be afraid to separate your meals into completely different batches for the perfect outcomes.
Adapt oven recipes
Need to make an outdated favourite in your air fryer? Even when Grandma’s Finest Hen was written with standard ovens in thoughts, it is simple to adapt practically each recipe for fryer use.
Sometimes, you will simply decrease the cooking temperature by about 25 levels Fahrenheit. If the oven recipe says 350 (176 levels Celsius), the fryer will get set to 325 (160 Celsius). Equally, you will want about 20 % much less cooking time, although this will definitely range relying on the form of meals, the cooking temperature and so forth.
Need assistance with the mathematics? Try the Air Fryer Calculator, which is able to convert commonplace prepare dinner instances and temperatures to Celsius.
Suppose outdoors the fry
“Wholesome” donuts, courtesy of your air fryer.
On a regular basis Instructor TypeAssuming you will discover a free minute when your air fryer is not cooking french fries, there are many different issues you can also make in there — a few of which can shock you.
CNET has coated a number of the finest air fryer meals earlier than, however if you would like particular recipes, now we have these too. Beneath I’ve rounded up some nice recipes you will undoubtedly need to attempt:
Are you bought on the air fryer magic however do not know which one to purchase? Listed here are the finest air fryers of 2025, ranked by CNET’s resident knowledgeable.
