Homemade chips in an air fryer

Manufacturer figures with no state given

This is a published figure for one named machine. The manufacturer does not say whether this is fresh or frozen. So it is kept apart from the figures above, and not used as the answer for any of them.

• Russell Hobbs SatisFry Air Fryer & Grill Multi Cooker 5.5L: 200°C for 25 min

  A single published figure with the instruction to rinse, dry and toss in salt, pepper and oil. Fifteen minutes shorter than another manufacturer's figure for the same food.

Questions people ask about homemade chips

Do I need to soak the potatoes first?

One manufacturer's cooking guide says to: soak hand-cut chips in cold water for at least 30 minutes, then dry them, noting that the drier the chips the better the result. Soaking rinses loose starch off the cut faces so they crisp instead of going gummy. The drying matters as much as the soak.From a manufacturer’s printed instructions: Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK — Inspiration Guide and cooking charts.

Should I parboil chips before air frying?

It is optional, and a cook's refinement rather than a published step. A short parboil softens the inside and roughens the surface, which gives a fluffier chip with more crust. The price is water: parboiled chips must be drained and left to steam dry completely, or they go in wetter than raw ones.A general cooking principle, not a measurement.

How much oil do homemade chips need?

A coating, not a pool. One manual suggests a small amount of oil before cooking to make potatoes extra crispy, and says to toss the chips with the oil in a separate bowl and lift them out, not tip the bowl in, so the excess does not end up in the bottom of the drawer.From a manufacturer’s printed instructions: Tefal Easy Fry Max EY245B40 5L Air Fryer — Instruction Manual. Oil sprayers, and what not to spray

Which potatoes make the best chips?

Floury ones. Varieties sold for chipping, roasting or baking, such as Maris Piper and King Edward, have the dry, starchy flesh that turns fluffy inside and forms a crust. Waxy salad potatoes stay dense and will not crisp in the same way.A general cooking principle, not a measurement.

When should I salt them?

When they come out. Salt draws water to the surface of a raw potato, and a wet surface is exactly what stops a chip crisping. Season them hot, straight from the drawer.A general cooking principle, not a measurement.

What usually goes wrong

Soggy, or leathery. A raw chip has to lose surface water, gelatinise its starch and then dehydrate that surface into a crust, and a crowded basket stops all three by filling the chamber with steam. The manufacturers who publish forty minutes are cooking chips that were not soaked or parboiled; the one who publishes twenty-five assumes they were. That assumption is never stated on the chart and it is most of the difference.

Running the appliance safely

The rules for the machine are the same whatever is in it: plug it straight into a wall socket, leave clear space round it, do not overfill it, do not leave it running unattended, and unplug it at black smoke or an electrical smell. They are set out once, each with its source and what to do if it has already happened, and not repeated on every food. Every rule for running an air fryer safely.

One of them is about this food and not the machine: Aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter on starchy foods such as chips and roast potatoes, rather than a darker brown.

Potato in fast-moving hot air

A potato is mostly water held in a starch matrix. Heat gelatinises the starch and drives water out of the surface layer; when that dehydrated layer is thin, dry and hot enough it becomes crisp. The whole game is getting water away from the surface faster than it arrives from inside, which is why crowding a basket produces soggy chips — the escaping steam has nowhere to go and condenses back onto the food. Sugar content decides browning speed, which is why some potatoes darken far faster than others at the same setting.

More on potato

Where to go from here

The pages that answer the questions this one tends to raise.

• Using a thermometer, and where to put itThe times above are for a piece that is not the one you are holding. A probe measures yours, which is what the safety rule on this page asks for.
• How food actually gets crispyWhy patting it dry, spacing it out and a little oil are all the same instruction — so you can apply it when a page runs out.
• Reheating leftoversA different question governed by a different rule — steaming hot throughout, and only once.
• Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.

If it went wrong

What tends to go wrong with homemade chips, each with the fastest thing to check first.

• Food is not crisping — Almost always moisture that cannot get out, and almost always because there is too much in the basket. One manufacturer says so directly.

Easily confused with

• Frozen chips — A different cooking problem with a different answer.
• Potato wedges — A different cooking problem with a different answer.