Can air fryers really cook chips (fries) from scratch?

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

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I don't have an air fryer, mainly because I've got a halogen cooker which uses the same principle of a heat source and fan in a confined space. I can cook almost anything in it except chips (fries in the US) from scratch. Frozen oven chips which are of course part cooked anyway, are fine.

If you have an air fryer and have successfully cooked chips from scratch (no pre-cooking) please let me know how.
 
Not from scratch, but you can get the same result as roast potatoes cut into ' fries'. It's basically a small oven, the ' fryer' part is misleading.
So fries the same as from a fryer, no.
 
I do them from scratch and they’re very good - not quite as good as deep-fried, but more than acceptable.

I may have posted my method (which is to say, Chef John’s method, from Allrecipes), so I’ll have a look round and see if I have, and if I haven’t, I will.
 
Here’s where I originally did them before, after experimenting with many methods:

Air fryer cooking

One caveat - I note your subject addresses “chips,” and I know that there, many people draw hard lines between what are chips, what are chunky chips, and what are fries.

Here, we don’t do that so much - while we definitely have different varieties, they’re all collectively known as “fries,” so be forewarned, what I linked to above are probably a lot closer to skinnier-than-chips chips, about halfway between a skinny McDonald’s French fry and a generic UK chip.
 
TastyReuben said:
Here’s where I originally did them before, after experimenting with many methods:

Air fryer cooking

One caveat - I note your subject addresses “chips,” and I know that there, many people draw hard lines between what are chips, what are chunky chips, and what are fries.

Here, we don’t do that so much - while we definitely have different varieties, they’re all collectively known as “fries,” so be forewarned, what I linked to above are probably a lot closer to skinnier-than-chips chips, about halfway between a skinny McDonald’s French fry and a generic UK chip.
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Thanks. They need prep using this method - soaking for 10 minutes. Well, OK I suppose - but I'd rather not have to. The chips shown are definitely on the skinny side and what might be called 'French fries' in the UK. I'm seeking an average 'chip shop' size chip:


1715371902875.png
 
It’s a harsh very dry fan heat that’s never going to give you things like thicker raw potato cooked through before the outsides start to crisp dry.
Tbh the only from scratch oven chips I’ve ever thought were any good were baked.
 
As an affirmed anti-airfryer bloke, I have actually tried to make proper British chips in an air fryer.
Total disaster. Burnt on the outside, dry, and raw on the inside. I'll stick with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" routine (I know, boring old school) and fry mine in an abundance of hot oil.
American - style frozen fries seem to work better. Yes, I've tried them and they work...sort of.
 
The intended use of an air fryer is not my intended use. Air fryers are suppose to cut calories by not using oil or using very little oil. I just hate wasting all that oil when frying, thats my issue with deep frying. I've no problem with the calories. I toss mine in a few tbsp of oil befire cooking in the air fryer and it works pretty well.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
The intended use of an air fryer is not my intended use. Air fryers are suppose to cut calories by not using oil or using very little oil. I just hate wasting all that oil when frying, thats my issue with deep frying. I've no problem with the calories. I toss mine in a few tbsp of oil befire cooking in the air fryer and it works pretty well.
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Raw potatoes?
 
msmofet said:
Raw potatoes?
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Yes, I rarely buy frozen. It's not quite as good as deep frying but pretty good. I burned out my traditional air fryer though after the first year, maybe because of that. It was a big round one, a Power XL. I now have the Emeril 9-in-1 and I've had it for several years, still going strong.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
The intended use of an air fryer is not my intended use. Air fryers are suppose to cut calories by not using oil or using very little oil. I just hate wasting all that oil when frying, thats my issue with deep frying. I've no problem with the calories. I toss mine in a few tbsp of oil befire cooking in the air fryer and it works pretty well.
Click to expand...
That’s exactly what I do. The recipe I use (Chef John) says to use two teaspoons of oil for one large russet, but I put in two tablespoons, more or less, and that works very well - I can actually see the oil bubbling when I take them out!
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Yes, I rarely buy frozen. It's not quite as good as deep frying but pretty good. I burned out my traditional air fryer though after the first year, maybe because of that. It was a big round one, a Power XL. I now have the Emeril 9-in-1 and I've had it for several years, still going strong.
Click to expand...
blades said:
I cut the raw potatoes into fries, tumble them lightly in cooking oil and put them in a cold air fryer at 400 F for 17 minutes. I agree that oil fried potatoes taste better.
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I am assuming you both mean skinny fries as shown by TastyReuben above? I'm looking for chubby chip shop chips. As karadekoolaid says they end up raw in the middle (well they do in my halogen oven, which is similar to an air fryer).
 
Morning Glory said:
I am assuming you both mean skinny fries as shown by TastyReuben above? I'm looking for chubby chip shop chips. As karadekoolaid says they end up raw in the middle (well they do in my halogen oven, which is similar to an air fryer).
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If they are raw in the middle then the time and temperature were wrong. I cook quartered red potatoes exactly the same way. The solution to partially cooked potatoes is to reduce the temp and increase the time.
 
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