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 due to the latest arrival of an air fryer, the little convection oven that would. Out of the blue healthy(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 sweet 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 fitting dimension
If you have not bought an air fryer but, the primary resolution to make is arguably a very powerful: 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 a minimum of that many servings of fries. (As a result of, let’s face it, we purchase these items 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 — loads large for all our chopped-up spuds. After reducing 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 to have the counter house to accommodate it. I am glad I did not go together 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 brief work of your spuds.
About these fries. The air fryer will do its finest work if every bit of potato is a uniform dimension — difficult at finest when you’re reducing by hand. My recommendation: Purchase a cutter.
It is one of many quickest, best instruments you possibly can add to your kitchen; it took me all of two minutes to crank by means of the aforementioned eight potatoes, and that was as a result of it was my first time and I used to be shifting slowly.
Yet one more factor about fries…
Many air-fryer french fry recipes let you know to peel the potatoes first. Many extra say it’s best to soak them in water first, from anyplace between half-hour to three hours.
Here is what I did: Minimize 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.
May they be higher nonetheless after soaking and/or drying? Perhaps. Is that further effort essential? Nope. Not in my e book, anyway. If you happen to’ve taste-tested them each methods, inform me your desire.
Get shaky with it
If you happen to’re cooking fries or one thing related (tater tots, hen nuggets, veggies, and so forth.), you will need to give the basket a very good shake a minimum of as soon as throughout the cooking course of.
It will transfer all the pieces round and permit the recent air to flow into to each floor of every piece of meals — necessary for uniform “frying.” Though many recipes name for shaking midway by means of the cooking time, I like to recommend doing it extra typically, like each 4-6 minutes.
When you’ve got an air fryer with trays as an alternative of baskets, use oven mitts to take them out and flip your meals over. It’d look like a problem, but it surely would not take a lot effort and time and can warmth your meal by means of way more evenly and provides it a pleasant crisp.
Do not overload
Keep in mind, your air fryer is just a bit oven. If you happen to had been cooking, say, hen breasts in an everyday oven, you would not stack them on high of one another, would you? Identical deal right here, with the aforementioned exception of fries and veggies, unfold them out as finest you possibly can and do not overload the basket.
Some fryers include a rack that allows you to add a second layer of meals above the basket. Now you possibly can cook dinner, say, 4 items of salmon as an alternative of simply two. (Talking of which, I made precisely that final night time. It did not get dried out the way in which it does within the oven. Yum.)
Overloading the air fryer will make your meals warmth erratically, pulling down the standard of your eats. These tiny ovens cook dinner meals shortly, so do not be afraid to separate your meals into completely different batches for the perfect outcomes.
Adapt oven recipes
Wish to make an previous favourite in your air fryer? Even when Grandma’s Greatest Hen was written with typical ovens in thoughts, it is easy to adapt practically each recipe for fryer use.
Usually, 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 p.c much less cooking time, although this could actually differ relying on the type of meals, the cooking temperature and so forth.
Need assistance with the mathematics? Take a look at the Air Fryer Calculator, which is able to convert commonplace cook dinner occasions and temperatures to Celsius.
Suppose outdoors the fry
“Wholesome” donuts, courtesy of your air fryer.
Everyday Teacher StyleAssuming you will discover a free minute when your air fryer is not cooking french fries, there are many different issues you may make in there — a few of which can shock you.
CNET has coated a few of the best air fryer foods earlier than, however in order for you particular recipes, now we have these too. Under I’ve rounded up some nice recipes you will positively need to strive:
Are you offered on the air fryer magic however do not know which one to purchase? Listed below are the best air fryers of 2025, ranked by CNET’s resident skilled.
