There’s no doubt that french fries are one of the most delicious culinary creations of all time. However, while you may want to enjoy them all the time, doing so can profoundly impact your health.
Air fryers offer an easy alternative to standard “fried” fries, letting you enjoy those crispy yet puffy spuds as often as you’d like and in an economical way.
Here’s what you need to know about how to use an air fryer for fries.
How To Use An Air Fryer For Fries
Here are seven ways to use an air fryer for your fries.
Find the Right Temperature
First things first, when it comes to creating the perfect air-fried potatoes, one of the first things you’ll need to consider is the cooking temperature.
While you should always read the specific instructions with your fryer, almost all air fryers recommend adjusting the temperature to 25 degrees lower than what the recipe calls for.
Whether you’re following a standard “frying” recipe or even “oven-fried” french fries is true. Taking the temperature down 25 degrees will help ensure that you end up with that puffy yet crispy texture you’re hoping to achieve.
This is essential because air frying is more stable than standard cooking methods, and the temperature control is much more accurate than in an oven or standard fryer.
Keeping the temperature at the suggested level could easily result in burning the fries, which is the most devastating thing for any potato lover.
Also, make sure you allow five minutes to preheat your air fryer so that a consistent temperature will be present throughout the cooking process.
Make Sure the Fries Are Completely Dry
Another important step you need to make sure to remember is drying off your fries before you prepare them for the frier.
Excess water can be a real problem in an air fryer, particularly if you’re making homemade fries from scratch.
Making homemade fries requires you to soak the potatoes in water to remove as much starch from the fries as possible.
And while every recipe will tell you to dry them off after soaking, this is even more critical when using an air fryer.
Take the extra couple of minutes to make sure that you pat each fry dry before it goes into the fryer so you can avoid dealing with splatters and smoking, which could destroy your fries and ruin your evening.
Spray with Oil
Once your air fryer is preheated, you’ll want to make sure to spray your french fries down with a bit of oil.
Not only will good olive oil give the fries a bit of extra flavor, but it will also help ensure that your fries don’t end up sticking to the basket.
It can be a serious mess and pretty upsetting. However, while this step is essential for making the perfect fries, ensure you don’t overdo it.
Too much oil can result in soggy and mushy spuds that no one will enjoy, especially when you’ve already worked hard to get the perfect results.
Keep Things Sparse
While you might want to eat as many fries as possible in the shortest amount of time, you’ll want to keep the number of fries you place in the air fryer basket at a time on the low side.
When you overcrowd your basket with too many fries, it makes it much more difficult for the air to circulate and move around as it needs to cook the food properly.
This means you could end up with some fries being burnt while others are nearly still raw. If you’re looking for the tastiest and crispiest fries you’ve ever had, make sure you fry them in small batches.
Shake, Shake, Shake
While air fryers can certainly produce some of the most delicious fries imaginable, they will require you to be constantly present and watchful.
Air fryers are known for compressing small foods like french fries and even chips into flat little pancakes or potato balls that no one will want to try.
The best thing you can do to avoid this is to remove the basket and shake the fries around every five or six minutes as they’re cooking.
Not only will this help ensure that your fries don’t stick together, but it is also a necessary step for creating the right airflow around every fry.
Having great circulation can make the difference between a great batch of fries and something that looks like it got squished at the bottom of your to-go bag.
Check Things Ahead of Time
This is one step that all fry lovers will be thrilled to hear. Because air fryers cook more evenly and efficiently than traditional fryers, there will be a dramatic impact on the required cooking time.
You’ll want to check your fries five minutes earlier than the recipe suggests.
In other words, if you’re making frozen fries and the instructions on the bag suggest removing the fries from the oil after 15 minutes, you should check your air fryer after ten minutes.
That way, you can be sure that you have the most perfectly delectable french fries every time you pull up the basket.
Golden brown is the color you want to look for, so make sure that if they’re still looking a little on the pale side, you keep them in the fryer — no matter how tempted you might be to pull them out and start eating them!
Enjoy Some Salt and Seasonings
While air fryers can produce some of the most perfectly fried french fries, they won’t be doing much in terms of flavor.
So it’s incredibly important to remember to enthusiastically season your fries with salt and any other range of spices you might enjoy.
If you’re looking for something with a little kick, why not add some smoked paprika to the mix?
Or on the other hand, if you prefer your fries more on the Italian side, you should think about adding a few dashes of garlic powder and oregano.
The beauty of having one of these amazing air fryers at home is that you can sit down and explore all the fry flavorings you’ve ever dreamed of.
Having perfectly cooked fries can be one of the most exciting and delicious culinary experiences possible, but enjoying these crispy little bites of perfection can seriously damage your health over time.
However, a great air fryer will eliminate the need for standard oil frying, giving you perfectly puffed and crisped fries every time.
By following these steps and remembering these tips, you can enjoy restaurant-worthy fries in the comfort of your own home.
Whenever the cravings strike, with the help of an air fryer, you can depend on day in and day out for the most amazing-tasting food you’ve ever produced in your kitchen.
Wow yourself and your guests with the most delicious french fries ever by starting today.
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