Potato cubes in an air fryer
Fresh — the short answer
200°C (392°F) for 12–18 min
- For
- 225g in total, about 20mm at the thickest point, At room temperature
- In
- Basket air fryer, single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Part way
- shake the basket at about 6 min
- Check
- Browned on several faces rather than one
- Safety
- Plug an air fryer directly into a wall socket. Do not run one from an extension lead. Full rule below.
Twelve to eighteen minutes at 200°C with half a tablespoon of oil.
Fresh
The quick answer
200°C (392°F) for 12–18 min
Quantity within the published 100-350g band.
- Assuming
- 225g in total, about 20mm at the thickest point, At room temperature
- In
- Basket air fryer
- Loaded
- Single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Result
- Crisp outside, moist inside
Preparation
Cut into cubes and tossed in about half a tablespoon of oil, as the chart specifies.
About 7ml of oil.
How to load the basket
Single layer, pieces not touching. The reference condition. Air reaches every surface, and times are the shortest the food will achieve.
While it cooks
At about 6–9 minutes: Shake the basket
The manufacturer's own instruction, and cubes need it more than most shapes.
How to tell it is done
- Browned on several faces rather than one
- A knife or skewer goes in with no resistance at the thickest point
- The cut faces have browned rather than merely softened
Where these figures came from — fresh
- Applies to
- Specific to this model
- Why this rating
- A published row with a stated quantity band in grams, from the manufacturer's own manual for this model. The band is narrower than the same manufacturer's 4-litre machine, which is consistent with the smaller pot and is why the two are recorded separately rather than merged.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- Published by the manufacturer for this model. It is evidence about this appliance and is not general advice.
- This model is subject to an active fire-risk recall. The figure is recorded because it is evidence about published guidance; the appliance should not be used.
Sources (1)
Tower T17023 2.2 Litre Air Fryer — Safety and Instruction Manual (PDF)
RKW Ltd (Tower Housewares) — Manufacturer manual (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The temperature, time and quantity for potato cubes.
States this directly
Passage read and verified
Retrieved 2026-08-13 from argos-support.co.uk
Retrieved from Argos's manual library for Argos product 745/2194.
Chilled
No time or temperature for this, and not by accident
Potato cubes is sold and cooked chilled, so the question is a real one. AirfryerHQ holds no published figure for it: not one of the manufacturer manuals read for this catalogue gives a chart row for this food in this state.
We are not going to produce one by adjusting the fresh figure above. A time arrived at that way would appear on this page looking exactly like a time somebody measured, and you would have no way to tell the difference.
What we do hold for potato cubes: fresh. Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.
What usually goes wrong
Cubes welded into a block. Cut potato releases starch, and dice have more cut surface per piece than any other potato form here — rinsing and drying them is what stops the batch fusing.
Running the appliance safely
These apply to every food and every air fryer, so they are here once rather than repeated under each state above. They come from Electrical Safety First, from UK product-safety notices and from the manufacturers’ own manuals.
- Plug an air fryer directly into a wall socket. Do not run one from an extension lead.
- An unusual smell, an unusual noise, or scorch marks on the plug mean stop using it and contact the manufacturer.
- Do not overfill. Food touching the heating element is a fire risk, not a cooking problem.
- White smoke from fatty food is usually normal. Black smoke means unplug it immediately.
- Do not leave an air fryer running unattended.
- Leave clear space above and around the appliance, and never cover the air intake or the outlet.
- Aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter on starchy foods such as chips and roast potatoes, rather than a darker brown.
- Buy from a reputable retailer rather than a third-party marketplace seller.
- Clean the drawer, the plate and the element after use. Accumulated grease is what smokes, and then what burns.
- Register the appliance with its manufacturer. It is how a recall reaches you.
- Do not rely on the appliance's own thermal protection. A UK recall was issued because it did not operate.
Each links to its own page, with what it means in practice, what to do if it has already happened, and the source it comes from. Every safety rule AirfryerHQ holds.
Why potato behaves this way
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.
Where to go from here
The pages that answer the questions this one tends to raise.
- 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.
- Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.
Easily confused with
- Roast potatoes — A different cooking problem with a different answer.
- Baby potatoes — A different cooking problem with a different answer.