DiningBuzz! - Air Fryer

I've been using a Philips Air Fryer for two weeks now ... only doing simple stuff ie chips and roast potatos etc! Stunned and delighted with the results. So now I'm now going to actually read the instructions and play more.

Anyone else have one?

Any ideas and experience on cooking meats etc?

I saw a gas station/deli/quick stop place that was a small home owned joint, that had a big banner saying no oil fried foods, all air fried. They were making fresh cut potato, handmade corn dogs, and a fried chicken basket all in an air fryer.

I didn't watch long enough to see as I was in a rush, but I was curious.

Thanks. Has to have some oil otherwise it would be horrid. A half tablespoon of oil produces french fries.

I was interested when they first launched, but the $300 price tag put me off - I don't eat friend foods often enough for it to be worth it, plus it is yet another item that needs counter space, which is limited in my kitchen. Glad you are enjoying it tho.

Thanks. Has to have some oil otherwise it would be horrid. A half tablespoon of oil produces french fries.

yes, I read that technicality in looking it up :D

maybe they used Olean (more aptly called 'Ohnoes!', or 'OhiGoes!')

But it takes the top space that the fryer (full of oil) use to take!

But it takes the top space that the fryer (full of oil) use to take!

I've never had a fryer before!

I've never had a fryer before!

Don't start me off!

I went through a period of obsessing about making real fish and chips at home. Culminated in a professional twin fryer because you need to cook the fish at the same time as the chips ...... years spent trying to get a perfect batter. All behind me now! Obsesion over.

But the air fryer IS wonderful at potato and my wife is convinced that it is saving us calories and lowering the wheight ... my suspician is that it will be a bit like a rfice cooker ie an essential one trick appliance.

Lol! Never had an obsession about fish and chips but then again, in one management job I inadvertently became Harry Ramsden qualified!!

I occasionally want a fryer to make some random things - samosas (oven just doesn't do it for me) and, don't laugh, scotch eggs (mainly for Canadians who have never had one!)

Try a scotch egg in the air fryer and let me know if it works!

Emma - never did get round to a scotch egg but have pretty much given it the works - and I now have a second unit in the kitchen as it's a really useful tool that the manufacturers clearly do not understand.

I've used it for so many things from simply warming croissants (they produce a crisp outside just like the ones we have in Paris) to crispy Peking Duck 9 with CRISPY skin!), Char Siu Pork, spicy chilli chicken wings, ribs, spring rolls ..... I could go on.

Basically anyone who has used a true professional kitchen convection ie NOT fan oven but a powerful forced air oven will love these. I've just made some crisps (chips in American) .... and it is really great for anything that needs fierce forced high heat.

CharBroil has a MUCH larger version of this that is made for cooking turkey, it is propane powered, and it comes in at $99 at Big Lots and some places online (plus propane if you need), it can do up to 16 lb turkey, but also chicken, roast, and many other things.

If the small one doesn't cut it for you, may want to check it out!

CharBroil no oil turkey fryer.

Emma - never did get round to a scotch egg but have pretty much given it the works - and I now have a second unit in the kitchen as it's a really useful tool that the manufacturers clearly do not understand.

I've used it for so many things from simply warming croissants (they produce a crisp outside just like the ones we have in Paris) to crispy Peking Duck 9 with CRISPY skin!), Char Siu Pork, spicy chilli chicken wings, ribs, spring rolls ..... I could go on.

Basically anyone who has used a true professional kitchen convection ie NOT fan oven but a powerful forced air oven will love these. I've just made some crisps (chips in American) .... and it is really great for anything that needs fierce forced high heat.

Ohhh, I actually do rather like restaurant convection ovens! Hmmm, going on my santa claus list (along with a kitchen extension for more work surfaces!)

Ohhh, I actually do rather like restaurant convection ovens! Hmmm, going on my santa claus list (along with a kitchen extension for more work surfaces!)

Be careful what you wish for, I needed a $5000 electrical upgrade to feed my kitchen toy obsession now that I do not have a restaurant kitchen to "play" in.

I don't seem to be able to find any of these wonderful devices on this side of the pond. :(

Does the George Forman contraption count?..

I find the grease a chore to clean after..

I don't seem to be able to find any of these wonderful devices on this side of the pond. :(

Downtown Bay has them. If you are uptown you can try Caynes.

I don't seem to be able to find any of these wonderful devices on this side of the pond. :(

Home outfitters carries them too. Not that I've been looking you understand. Oh and they are on amazon.ca (not that it has been added to my wish list there you understand!) Tfal Actifry rather than Phillips, same idea tho.

Does the George Forman contraption count?..

I find the grease a chore to clean after..

Try a Le Creuset cast iron skillet - so much better than a George Forman grill!

These are completely different from "grills" and the other items mentioned:

Philips Air Fryer (http://www.philips.co.uk/c/home-cooking/viva-collection-800-g-timer-temperature-control-hd9220_20/prd/).

In the UK there are a couple of brands but in my view this is the best as it DOESN'T stir. Philips are clueless about what this can be used for and sell it as a dry chip fryer. It makes better chips than I can produce using a 3 stage deep fryer process. I use Maris Piper, par boil/blanche; cool and dry; a table spoon of olive oil then around 30 minutes split 160/180 give a really dry outer and soft inside. The best chips (fries) I've tasted and very healthy. It's basically what you're alwasy been trying to achieve ......

It is currently being is use daily and the combination of having two is useful. It avoids a 30 amp circuit :D and every other day I find something new to use it for. I think what makes the difference is the very fast warm up and the food sits on a wire gauze which means that instead of it stting on normal metal where the underneath caramelises and then burns if it has sugars - the air completely surrounds the food. The heat can be a gentle air bather or a fierce forced air.

Several things I've been struggling to do has been easy in this. For example - very seasonal - chestnuts. 35 minutes at 160 leaves them lovely sweet and soft but unburned. Crispy chinese duck has a crispy skin without the pre skin drying.

I am however a kitchen enthusiast with a mediterranean oven for pizza etc ie beehive, a large lava stone bbq with inustrial level extraction, sous vide, wok burners etc. I wish I had a larger kitchen though .... :(

These are completely different from "grills" and the other items mentioned:

Philips Air Fryer (http://www.philips.co.uk/c/home-cooking/viva-collection-800-g-timer-temperature-control-hd9220_20/prd/).

In the UK there are a couple of brands but in my view this is the best as it DOESN'T stir. Philips are clueless about what this can be used for and sell it as a dry chip fryer. It makes better chips than I can produce using a 3 stage deep fryer process. I use Maris Piper, par boil/blanche; cool and dry; a table spoon of olive oil then around 30 minutes split 160/180 give a really dry outer and soft inside. The best chips (fries) I've tasted and very healthy. It's basically what you're alwasy been trying to achieve ......

It is currently being is use daily and the combination of having two is useful. It avoids a 30 amp circuit :D and every other day I find something new to use it for. I think what makes the difference is the very fast warm up and the food sits on a wire gauze which means that instead of it stting on normal metal where the underneath caramelises and then burns if it has sugars - the air completely surrounds the food. The heat can be a gentle air bather or a fierce forced air.

Several things I've been struggling to do has been easy in this. For example - very seasonal - chestnuts. 35 minutes at 160 leaves them lovely sweet and soft but unburned. Crispy chinese duck has a crispy skin without the pre skin drying.

I am however a kitchen enthusiast with a mediterranean oven for pizza etc ie beehive, a large lava stone bbq with inustrial level extraction, sous vide, wok burners etc. I wish I had a larger kitchen though .... :(


It isn't completely different than the one I mentioned:
http://www.charbroil.com/ProductInfo/54-95-1936/The-Big-Easy-Infrared-Turkey-Fryer.aspx

It is a oil-less fryer, it is NOT a grill. It can do much larger quantity than the phillips, but maybe not quite as versatile. I ran across this at the store (thanksgiving time) and read some reviews, many people like it and use it for other things as well.

It isn't completely different than the one I mentioned:
http://www.charbroil.com/ProductInfo/54-95-1936/The-Big-Easy-Infrared-Turkey-Fryer.aspx

It is a oil-less fryer, it is NOT a grill. It can do much larger quantity than the phillips, but maybe not quite as versatile. I ran across this at the store (thanksgiving time) and read some reviews, many people like it and use it for other things as well.

I think the problem is this rather odd idea of cooking a turkey by deep frying it - completely unknown in the UK!

I think the problem is this rather odd idea of cooking a turkey by deep frying it - completely unknown in the UK!

Don't knock it until you tasted it. It was the best crispy skin with juicy meat (basted/brined). Almost like the Chinese crispy skin chicken done properly.

My extended family totaled 34 people so we fry up three 7-9kg birds every Thanksgiving(Canadian version) about 35-40 minutes each on the patio.

The traditional way is immerse the bird into hot frying oil. This new contraption will do it using high heat without the oil. It is propane powered so it needs to be used outside.

Thanks to this thread I've looked into the airfryer and we've decided that it would fit well with our style of cooking (baked aubergines at a drop of a hat, crispy panko without oil, quick and healthy but tasty snacks for the toddler...)

What I can't find anywhere is information about how the new (and significantly more expensive) HD9225 model differs from/improves upon the older HD9220 models.

I'd love to know before making the plunge. Can anyone help with this?

(edit to add: just found out from the company - the newer version includes the baking tray, with the older mode you need to buy it separately)

Glad you got your answer! Also - I'm speculating but there was a problem with the older model - it involved pulling the basket out of the unit. I saw it on youtube. It isn't a problem with my two and it may be that they improved it.

Tell us how you get on. EXPERIMENT!

dumplings/potstickers cooked in my air fryer are AMAZING! Way better than oil fried or steamed. I love steamed dumplings, but the texture gets old after eating one. I can make a meal of a couple dumplings now.

Crispy, but in no way oily, and so moist inside!

dumplings/potstickers cooked in my air fryer are AMAZING! Way better than oil fried or steamed. I love steamed dumplings, but the texture gets old after eating one. I can make a meal of a couple dumplings now.

Crispy, but in no way oily, and so moist inside!

That's one thing I appreciate about the air fryers, is that the non stick surface doesn't require any additional oil to cook..

but then again, some non stick surfaces has been found to be carcinogens.. but those fryers have probably already been taken off the market..

That's one thing I appreciate about the air fryers, is that the non stick surface doesn't require any additional oil to cook..

but then again, some non stick surfaces has been found to be carcinogens.. but those fryers have probably already been taken off the market..

I'll try again! :)

The item that Steph3n posted a link to is a charbroiler. This is a completely different type of appliance.

The Philips Airdryer doesn't have a non-stick bake surface although you can buy a non stick bowl for it..

It isn't a gas or infrared grill like the Turkey Fryer. The Philips sits in the kitchen not in the yard. A turkey would NOT fit in it. I don't see how the turkey fryer is designed for chips/fries whereas the Philips was primarily intended for that.

To be frank the turkey broiler seems more like a standard grill and it only makes sense to call it oil less in the US because of the tradition of deep frying turkey. To say in the UK you don't need to cook in a way we don't cook anyway makes no sense. We don't deep fry turkeys so the whole premise of the appliance makes no sense in the UK market.

To me it seems like a standard grill/oven/broiler - more a rotisserie in principle than a Philips Airfryer. In Florida I can see why cooking for long periods is not attractive but in the UK I'd be spit roasting if a chicken or if very big turkey - convection oven roasting turkey slowly in foil then open and suspect I'd end up with something fairly similar. Slow cooking turkey in the UK primarily for Christmas is a tradition.

There isn't really much interest in the UK with cooking turkey quickly or thermo grilling it.

The charbroiler is nothing like the Philips Airfryer.

I'll try again! :)

The item that Steph3n posted a link to is a charbroiler. This is a completely different type of appliance.

The Philips Airdryer doesn't have a non-stick bake surface although you can buy a non stick bowl for it..

It isn't a gas or infrared grill like the Turkey Fryer. The Philips sits in the kitchen not in the yard. A turkey would NOT fit in it. I don't see how the turkey fryer is designed for chips/fries whereas the Philips was primarily intended for that.

To be frank the turkey broiler seems more like a standard grill and it only makes sense to call it oil less in the US because of the tradition of deep frying turkey. To say in the UK you don't need to cook in a way we don't cook anyway makes no sense. We don't deep fry turkeys so the whole premise of the appliance makes no sense in the UK market.

To me it seems like a standard grill/oven/broiler - more a rotisserie in principle than a Philips Airfryer. In Florida I can see why cooking for long periods is not attractive but in the UK I'd be spit roasting if a chicken or if very big turkey - convection oven roasting turkey slowly in foil then open and suspect I'd end up with something fairly similar. Slow cooking turkey in the UK primarily for Christmas is a tradition.

There isn't really much interest in the UK with cooking turkey quickly or thermo grilling it.

The charbroiler is nothing like the Philips Airfryer.

I am not talking about the turkey cooker, :D I can't see doing dumplings in such. I was just posting the charbroil one as something to do larger possibly, as the kitchen one is a bit small for cooking for a group of 4 :)

I have purchased an air fryer after your posts :)

I am not talking about the turkey cooker, :D I can't see doing dumplings in such. I was just posting the charbroil one as something to do larger possibly, as the kitchen one is a bit small for cooking for a group of 4 :)

I have purchased an air fryer after your posts :)

Got it!

Report back! We need experiments!

Got it!

Report back! We need experiments!

I tried sweet potato fries (chips) with just some sea salt.....ughhh no good. Just like eating sweet potato jerky. Maybe I cut too thin (I like them thin and crispy), but I think they actually needed a bit of oil brushed on them. I didn't read the book, just winged it :)

I ended up putting them in a soup to rehydrate. :D

I tried sweet potato fries (chips) with just some sea salt.....ughhh no good. Just like eating sweet potato jerky. Maybe I cut too thin (I like them thin and crispy), but I think they actually needed a bit of oil brushed on them. I didn't read the book, just winged it :)

I ended up putting them in a soup to rehydrate. :D

Must have a little coating of oil ....

Must have a little coating of oil ....
And Philips also suggested soaking in water to remove excess starch.

I found the older model at Argos for £99.99 and reserved it yesterday from the Camden branch, which is just as well as they had none left today. Also, by buying one more item to get the total over £100 I got a £10 voucher to use by January, with Christmas around the corner I can easily use it and this effectively brought the price down to £89.99. I bought the oven pan directly from Philips for £17.99. This means the new 'improved' version is available for £107.98 instead of the £159 most places advertise. Will report back with a review once I've had a chance to play.

I'll try again! :)

The item that Steph3n posted a link to is a charbroiler. This is a completely different type of appliance.

The Philips Airdryer doesn't have a non-stick bake surface although you can buy a non stick bowl for it..

It isn't a gas or infrared grill like the Turkey Fryer. The Philips sits in the kitchen not in the yard. A turkey would NOT fit in it. I don't see how the turkey fryer is designed for chips/fries whereas the Philips was primarily intended for that.

To be frank the turkey broiler seems more like a standard grill and it only makes sense to call it oil less in the US because of the tradition of deep frying turkey. To say in the UK you don't need to cook in a way we don't cook anyway makes no sense. We don't deep fry turkeys so the whole premise of the appliance makes no sense in the UK market.

To me it seems like a standard grill/oven/broiler - more a rotisserie in principle than a Philips Airfryer. In Florida I can see why cooking for long periods is not attractive but in the UK I'd be spit roasting if a chicken or if very big turkey - convection oven roasting turkey slowly in foil then open and suspect I'd end up with something fairly similar. Slow cooking turkey in the UK primarily for Christmas is a tradition.

There isn't really much interest in the UK with cooking turkey quickly or thermo grilling it.

The charbroiler is nothing like the Philips Airfryer.

I am not talking about the turkey cooker, :D I can't see doing dumplings in such. I was just posting the charbroil one as something to do larger possibly, as the kitchen one is a bit small for cooking for a group of 4 :)

I have purchased an air fryer after your posts :)

I personally don't know the difference between each appliance.. each is the same to me..:D

I turn it on, chuck the food in.. hopefully its cooked.. eat it.. and clean the appliance.:)

I personally don't know the difference between each appliance.. each is the same to me..:D

I turn it on, chuck the food in.. hopefully its cooked.. eat it.. and clean the appliance.:)

I'm taking my vote back! :D

And Philips also suggested soaking in water to remove excess starch.

I found the older model at Argos for £99.99 and reserved it yesterday from the Camden branch, which is just as well as they had none left today. Also, by buying one more item to get the total over £100 I got a £10 voucher to use by January, with Christmas around the corner I can easily use it and this effectively brought the price down to £89.99. I bought the oven pan directly from Philips for £17.99. This means the new 'improved' version is available for £107.98 instead of the £159 most places advertise. Will report back with a review once I've had a chance to play.

I'm envious as I bought two at £119 each and felt smug until I saw the Argos offer. Haven't got the pan - anything that needs a pan will go into a mini oven instead. Although ...... to be frank I'm doing some sticky chilli chicken wings today and the Philips would have been better if I'd got a pan .......

When doing chips I really suggest you completely ignore the instructions.

Basically just make sure you use Maris Piper. Charlottes have better flavour but don't really crisp ie floury v waxy. Peel and cut to your chosen shape. I seem to be always cutting larger potatos into quarters length ways and then cutting across to small small wedgey chips. This also makes shaking whilst cooking less traumatic for the chips! Boil for 2-3 minutes or so. Let them dry and cool. Move them around to let as much surface water evaporate off until dry and cool. Patience is a chippy virtue. Research has shown it's surface water that sucks in oil and makes fatty chips.

Pre heat the oven for a couple of minutes. Hand coat with oil - I always use good olive oil. I cook the chips at 160 for around 30 minutes - sometimes increasing the heat in the last 10 minutes or so if they look like they need it. Regularly shake sometimes shake them back into the bowl you oiled them in to pick up any remaining oil. The oven does reduce oil but that isn't my main motive. It's cooking crisp chips with the flavour of olive oil which even using a deep fryer and pomace you can't get the temperature without ruining the oil. Pretty much the same thing for "roast potatos". I find that these produce the chips I've been trying to produce with my deep fat fryer using the New Zealand method (ie what Blumenthal ended up claiming as hs method) .......

If you cut the chips even smaller you can of course increase the temperature and decrease the time. Increasing size produces a better roast potato than using the conventional oven because they aren't saturated. With small chips ie shaped like saute, you can throw in a couple of cubed frankfurters in for the last minute or two (I always keep some in the fridge as they have a long date) and produce a nice snack grostl (lots of pepper and some salt) over which you can put a nice fried egg for oozing purposes.

I only found out about the Argos deal because all the sub £130 offers for this unit were unavailable or exhausted. Going to Argos was a bit of a desperate act. I shared it here as airfryers at this price are getting harder and harder to find.

When doing chips I really suggest you completely ignore the instructions.
I'm also very interested in getting crispy chips from olive oil (a motivator for me when considering this purchase) I'll try your method tonight.
I did go by the Philips instructions yesterday, the result was satisfactory but I could see that there was vast potential for improvement. No complaints from my toddler who wolfed them down.

Also made yesterday:
Home made gyoza in frozen gyoza wrappers - OK, not as good as gyoza made with oil and steam... obviously, but they do make very interesting crispy snacks especially with a contrasting moist succulent filling. Again, lots of potential.

Garlic mushrooms and strips of red pepper - Lovely! Quick and easy and perfect.

Sliced fresh pineapple - Delicious! I preferred this at 200C to cooking at 180C. Takes about 6 minutes (+3 minutes warm up time) and the pineapple caramelises beautifully. I'm really looking forward to making a fresh salsa type dish/relish with these.

Sliced fresh apple - again, yum! Not quite as spectacular as the pineapple but definitely the best (and quickest) baked/grilled apple I've ever had. Nice caramelisation but the fruit doesn't turn to mush. Looking forward to making these in the baking tray once it arrives as some of the caramel ends up on the grill.

Recommended accessories for this unit are some decent tongs and a good pastry brush for adding some minimal oil to things like chips and gyoza skins.

This contraption and a rice cooker seem to be the perfect gadgets for those who take their packed lunches seriously.

Zoji + Philips!

I see you are a "fruity" person.

Entirely my own invention of a sick mind who couldn't decide. Today, I made a pseudo Apple Strudel/Balclava ie a layer of baclava (walnuts and pistachios chopped) seperated with filo and topped by a strudel mix (apple sultanas brioche crumbs and sugar and cinamom) all wrapped in filo but without the sweet baclava goo. Perfect. For those who fancy both baclava and strudel but can't decide which. Obviously with seriously thick cream and a dusting of icing sugar.

The fridge is full of it.

I made cornbread in mine last night, perfect :D

btw why not just use a disposable mini foil pan? That is what I do. You can bend it to shape and more, works perfectly. Even can use aluminum foil and make a pan for it.

I made cornbread in mine last night, perfect :D

btw why not just use a disposable mini foil pan? That is what I do. You can bend it to shape and more, works perfectly. Even can use aluminum foil and make a pan for it.

Good idea. Or a cheap non-stick round cake tin.

I'm taking my vote back! :D

:D

Call me chef nowadays.. of microwave finger pushing..:D

These wedding gift appliances have been collecting dust over the years.. we must have got 3 or 4 of these appliances, hardly every used.:)

:D

Call me chef nowadays.. of microwave finger pushing..:D

These wedding gift appliances have been collecting dust over the years.. we must have got 3 or 4 of these appliances, hardly every used.:)

I am sure your microwave can turn out better food than applebee's or chili's. MAybe even soem Kobe beef.

Downtown Bay has them. If you are uptown you can try Caynes.

Home outfitters carries them too. Not that I've been looking you understand. Oh and they are on amazon.ca (not that it has been added to my wish list there you understand!) Tfal Actifry rather than Phillips, same idea tho.

Thanks guys! ^ Will go check out The Bay.

Thanks guys! ^ Will go check out The Bay.

Just FYI in Canada we get the T-fal. The Philips is 220V and not imported into Canada.

Can you cook fried battered fish and chicken in these things ?

So do your own fish and chips ?

Can you cook fried battered fish and chicken in these things ?

So do your own fish and chips ?

Hi,

Errr .... it isn't a deep fat fryer! Whole idea of it. So obviously you cannot take raw fish immerse it in batter and "deep fry".

But it is good at frozen / fresh pre-battered items. For example I used it for a bought sweet and sour chicken and it was great. And as said previously in the thread it is perfect for chips.

Hi,

Errr .... it isn't a deep fat fryer! Whole idea of it. So obviously you cannot take raw fish immerse it in batter and "deep fry".

But it is good at frozen / fresh pre-battered items. For example I used it for a bought sweet and sour chicken and it was great. And as said previously in the thread it is perfect for chips.

You can also go dry panko breaded items as long as they are sticking really well, I've done some others now with a light breading by putting it on wax paper and in the deep freezer for 15 minutes before battering to make it cold, then quickly put on and back in freezer (in a ziploc bag with wax paper lining) for 1 hour after battering.

Then the batter stays on, hit it in the air fryer and it doesn't have time to melt away before keeping enough to stay. It works quite well. Obviously you can't do a tempura batter or anything, but for a light and crispy bread/cracker batter it works out well.

Well I can finally say I'm the happy owner of a T-fal Actifry. :) ^

Inspired by this thread I've been looking at the Actifry for some time but it's expensive! Finally found it at The Bay (a Canadian department store) for $199 instead of the usual $299.

I am surprised at how well the unit works. Sure it takes longer than a traditional deep fryer, but with a bit of planning that's easily overcome. It's remarkably easy to use and the results are above expectation. It really is (almost) all the taste with (almost) no oil.

So thanks to all of you, my fellow FT'ers! Another thread has yielded treasure. :)

Not sure I could get on with the actifry in the way I do with the Philips airfryer.
Have never regretted our decision to purchase it and we use it nearly daily.

So long as you select small eggplants, after a 5 minute warm up time (the time spent rinsing and piercing the aubergines) the eggplants just take 20 minutes to cook and char. One just slides the flesh into a food processor with the other ingredients and that's baba ganoush within 30 minutes.
This is something we eat regularly now which we didn't before.

The other food this device has added to our diet is polenta, or rather, amazingly crispy and succulent polenta chips. Perhaps the most sinful seeming healthfood I've ever eaten.
No fat, low GI, and possibly the best and most satisfying alternative to chips I've ever come across.
You just make your polenta the usual way, pour it into a receptacle to cool, then turn it out, slice and stick it in the airfryer at the highest setting for 12-15 minutes. Not necessary to brush it with oil as it will crisp up anyway.
You can add cheese to the polenta in the pan to make it taste more decadent, I like to add a chopped clove of garlic to a single spoon of olive oil and let it go golden before adding the boiling water, salt and polenta for a rich taste.
To make these into an even more nutritious snack for my toddler (who adores these polenta chips) I add a couple of tablespoons of okara to the corn polenta. Okara is what you get left with when making tofu and soy milk. It's very good for you.

Funilly enough .... as the thread starter all that time ago ... I cannot emphasise how underated this Philips Airfryer is both by users and the manufacturer.

Having really perfected deep fat fried chips (french fries .....) ... after bags of research and experiements, I use to use an industrial Lincat professional double fryer to really get perfect chips and now the Airfryer makes far superior fries than possible with the deep fat route. Altthough with my method they aren't particularly healthy. In fact they are either chips or roast potaots or sort of rosti depending on the shape I use.

My approach is to use small maris piper potatos cut them length ways then width ways to make small quarters. This shape aids shaking. I boil them for a few minutes then let them evaoprate and cool. I drench them in virgin olive oil (taday I'm using chilli oil) and then they airfry at around 180 for around half an hour. I shake them bake into a bowl tand add more oil if dryp and cook until they are crisp outside and dry and fluffy inside but better than the if you were using the Heston torture method ..... and they taste of olive oil rather than sunflower.

The Philips means that once cooked you hold them on low heat until your rib-eye steak has reached 110 degrees for it's little rest. This means that both fries and steak are always perfect.

I genuinely have not tasted fries as good as those from my Philips anywhere I have ever eaten. Dry, caramelside ouside, fluffy inside with olive oil flavour, and you cannot deep fry with olive oil.

And then theres shock-warming croissants ... bagels .... and cooking sausages from scratch etc. I use it every day ... and have two side by side as they are both used so much. I use it for so many things it was never intended for.

One of my favourite kitchen tools. Sorryabout the typos bu the steaks are on the lava .....

you cannot deep fry with olive oil.

Why not uk1?

We only use Olive Oil to deep fry the likes of chips and doughnuts...no problems. It is expensive but the wife won't allow any other oil to be used.

Glad this thread got a bump. The Air Fryer has arrived in my part of the world and I've been looking for some information on them. Might just have to buy one.

Why not uk1?

We only use Olive Oil to deep fry the likes of chips and doughnuts...no problems. It is expensive but the wife won't allow any other oil to be used.

Glad this thread got a bump. The Air Fryer has arrived in my part of the world and I've been looking for some information on them. Might just have to buy one.

NO PROBLEM THAT YOU CAN VISUALLY DETECT

Olive oil (EVOO), while healthy for you when tossed in a salad or drizzle on cooked food is a very poor choice of oil for deep-frying or stir-frying due to the low flash point or smoke point of around 375F.

Deep frying is at a temperature very close to 375F and proper stir-frying is quite a bit higher.
When the oil smokes, byproducts are produced into the food it is cooked in and will cause more harm than the good of trying to cook with olive oil.

Make sure your air temperature setting is within the safe range.

Make sure your air temperature setting is within the safe range.

If 'close to 375F' is something you wish to avoid this is pretty easy with the air fryer. 375F is 190C. Highest temperature setting on the Airfryer is 200C and it cools significantly every time you open the door (something you do constantly to shake chips/fries when making them).

Here's a link to a photo I took of a portion of fat free crispy, crunchy (but light & fluffy on the inside) polenta batons with some of that baba ghanoush.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84333542@N07/7723125020/

Made some more batons yesterday and added a chopped jalapeño to the polenta. For an accompanying salsa I grated a few large tomatoes, added a little salt and left the pulp to drain in a sieve whilst I roasted some garlic and some of those long thin slightly hot Turkish peppers (took ten minutes) in the Airfryer I had warmed up for the corn 'chips'. Peeled the peppers and garlic, chopped them and added to the drained tomato along with a little olive oil (optional).

This week I'm going to make an enormous batch of polenta, pour it into baking trays to cool and set then slice the lot into batons/chips and pop them into bags for the freezer. If you have an Airfryer and haven't given polenta a shot, I'd really urge you to give it a try.

Why not uk1?

We only use Olive Oil to deep fry the likes of chips and doughnuts...no problems. It is expensive but the wife won't allow any other oil to be used.

Glad this thread got a bump. The Air Fryer has arrived in my part of the world and I've been looking for some information on them. Might just have to buy one.

Unless you are using pomace .... a highly questionable biproduct of the olive oil industry then it would be impossible to reach the high enough temperature to adequately crisp the chips without reaching the smoke point of olive oil. Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a smoke point of190 degrees C whereas sunflower oil smokes at 230 degrees c plus. The better the olive oil, the lower the flash point.

So you are either using a very questionable oil or are having nice flavoured but soggy chips.

This may be of interest to some rather boring people like me who research these things ..... and may explain why the Airfryer unexpectedly does such a good job.

I became obsessed some years ago about producing the perfect, but healthy chip. To be honest there are I believe a lot of myths that generalise that all fried food is unhealthy but this isn't true. Food fried properly can be nearly as healthy as other foods - certainly not as bad as the press they always get. At the same time I also became obsessed with batter for the fish .... but that was a two year journey of discovery and dissapointments and eurekas ..... and the topic for a completely different thread ...... I simply wanted to produce perfect fish and chips at home that were better than we could buy at the best places ... but also reasonably healthy.

But back to the chips! What I really wanted was a really gorgeous crisp chip with the flavour of olive oil, but with no saturated fat inside. So far as this chip journey was concerned I experimented with every method I could find and there seemed to me to be a bit of an issue with reconciling the taste of the chip with how healthy it was. Because the taste relied on it seemed two factors ie the caramelisation of the sugars on the surface causing the crispness and the amount of fat saturated into the core of the chip adding flavour to the middle. As it happens, if you can find a way of making a chip crisp on the outside but not saturated with fat on the inside you have a relatively healthy but lovely chip albeit without maxing out on the internal fat taste. Hence my journey of discovery .....

To cut a very long story short I worked quite hard at this even installing an industrial twin fryer in the kitchen but not really making the progress I'd hoped. I eventually came across a chap completing a PHD in New Zealand who was interested in the fat saturation of chips ie how healthy or unhealthy they were compared to how they had been prepared. In simple terms he bought a portion of chips from as many places as he could in Wellington and analysed the fat content. He then correlated this against how they had been prepared.

The conclusion he reached was unexpected. He (and I.....) had thought that what made the chip saturated was by frying them in a lower temperature oil so that they absorbed the fat. Instinctively I'd presumed the higher the frying temperature the lower the fat drawn into the chip causing saturation because the high temperature seals the chip before it absorbs. These ideas are I believe the commonly held ideas by most people interested in the topic but it seems we are all wrong.

Evidently what causes the chip to be saturated is the amount of water on the surface when you cook it. It is the surface water that draws the fat in it seems. So for example if you blanche the chip, let it cool and completely dry, then flash fry you will end up with a chip with crispness with a fluffy but relatively low flavour but low fat saturated core. But you cannot use olive oil for flavour because of the low smoke point. So even with this method the flavour will come from relatively neutral tasting oils like sunflower or other vegetable oils. The Blumenthal method adds flavour and saturation by adding a low temperature cooking time to the initial blanching followed by the chips now with surface oil being re-fried at a higher tempreature. The final fry will pull in fats into the core because you have oil on the surface of the chip to draw more oil in.

The air fryer used optimally means that you boil or steam the potatos first, then let them cool and dry but then use olive oil to coat the chips. This seems to cause crispness and caramelised olive oil flavour to the surface but leaves the core fluffy and fat free. The lower smoke point of olive oil seems to work in your favour here because they crisp more easily and therefore the flavour and crunch seem even better. As you cannot successfully deep fry chips with olive oil because of the low smoke point, the AirFryer seems (unexpectedly) to me to be the best method I have found to cook a perfectly flavoured and healthy olive oil flavoured chip.

This may be of interest to some rather boring people like me who research these things ..... and may explain why the Airfryer unexpectedly does such a good job.

I became obsessed some years ago about producing the perfect, but healthy chip. To be honest there are I believe a lot of myths that generalise that all fried food is unhealthy but this isn't true. Food fried properly can be nearly as healthy as other foods - certainly not as bad as the press they always get. At the same time I also became obsessed with batter for the fish .... but that was a two year journey of discovery and dissapointments and eurekas ..... and the topic for a completely different thread ...... I simply wanted to produce perfect fish and chips at home that were better than we could buy at the best places ... but also reasonably healthy.

But back to the chips! What I really wanted was a really gorgeous crisp chip with the flavour of olive oil, but with no saturated fat inside. So far as this chip journey was concerned I experimented with every method I could find and there seemed to me to be a bit of an issue with reconciling the taste of the chip with how healthy it was. Because the taste relied on it seemed two factors ie the caramelisation of the sugars on the surface causing the crispness and the amount of fat saturated into the core of the chip adding flavour to the middle. As it happens, if you can find a way of making a chip crisp on the outside but not saturated with fat on the inside you have a relatively healthy but lovely chip albeit without maxing out on the internal fat taste. Hence my journey of discovery .....

To cut a very long story short I worked quite hard at this even installing an industrial twin fryer in the kitchen but not really making the progress I'd hoped. I eventually came across a chap completing a PHD in New Zealand who was interested in the fat saturation of chips ie how healthy or unhealthy they were compared to how they had been prepared. In simple terms he bought a portion of chips from as many places as he could in Wellington and analysed the fat content. He then correlated this against how they had been prepared.

The conclusion he reached was unexpected. He (and I.....) had thought that what made the chip saturated was by frying them in a lower temperature oil so that they absorbed the fat. Instinctively I'd presumed the higher the frying temperature the lower the fat drawn into the chip causing saturation because the high temperature seals the chip before it absorbs. These ideas are I believe the commonly held ideas by most people interested in the topic but it seems we are all wrong.

Evidently what causes the chip to be saturated is the amount of water on the surface when you cook it. It is the surface water that draws the fat in it seems. So for example if you blanche the chip, let it cool and completely dry, then flash fry you will end up with a chip with crispness with a fluffy but relatively low flavour but low fat saturated core. But you cannot use olive oil for flavour because of the low smoke point. So even with this method the flavour will come from relatively neutral tasting oils like sunflower or other vegetable oils. The Blumenthal method adds flavour and saturation by adding a low temperature cooking time to the initial blanching followed by the chips now with surface oil being re-fried at a higher tempreature. The final fry will pull in fats into the core because you have oil on the surface of the chip to draw more oil in.

The air fryer used optimally means that you boil or steam the potatos first, then let them cool and dry but then use olive oil to coat the chips. This seems to cause crispness and caramelised olive oil flavour to the surface but leaves the core fluffy and fat free. The lower smoke point of olive oil seems to work in your favour here because they crisp more easily and therefore the flavour and crunch seem even better. As you cannot successfully deep fry chips with olive oil because of the low smoke point, the AirFryer seems (unexpectedly) to me to be the best method I have found to cook a perfectly flavoured and healthy olive oil flavoured chip.

Are you Mr. Heston Blumenthal posting under an alias?

Are you Mr. Heston Blumenthal posting under an alias?

No ... just plain Dr Chips. :p

Is the Air Fryer available for purchase in the US?

Is the Air Fryer available for purchase in the US?

I am in Canada and we have a T-Fal (110V) version of the UK Philips (220V) air Fryer.

I have seen it in stores in NYC and SF Bay and LA county areas.

Unless you are using pomace .... a highly questionable biproduct of the olive oil industry then it would be impossible to reach the high enough temperature to adequately crisp the chips without reaching the smoke point of olive oil. Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a smoke point of190 degrees C whereas sunflower oil smokes at 230 degrees c plus. The better the olive oil, the lower the flash point.

So you are either using a very questionable oil or are having nice flavoured but soggy chips.

Meant to say I do chip shop fish in batter fried in Olive Oil and it always turns out crispy without the oil reaching smoking point.
Never had a problem with the chips going crispy either although that might be down to the excellent quality of potatoes that are available here.
The Olive Oil used is first cold pressed Extra Virgin from Mendoza.

I am in Canada and we have a T-Fal (110V) version of the UK Philips (220V) air Fryer.

I have seen it in stores in NYC and SF Bay and LA county areas.

They are completely different.

Meant to say I do chip shop fish in batter fried in Olive Oil and it always turns out crispy without the oil reaching smoking point.
Never had a problem with the chips going crispy either although that might be down to the excellent quality of potatoes that are available here.
The Olive Oil used is first cold pressed Extra Virgin from Mendoza.

Congrats ..... You've perfected crisping both fish and chips in olive oil without the oil going up in smoke!

It's nothing to do with your spuds. The issue with smoke point and unrefined extra virgin oil is that the olive sediment suspended in the oil has to smoke at relatively low temperatures - it doesn't really have much option ... so I'm both impressed ...... and perplexed.

I'm both impressed ...... and perplexed.

I've never noticed the oil smoking apart from when using it in a frying pan for eggs.
Never been a problem when making chips or fried fish. Maybe the olive oil from Mendoza has special qualities? :D

I'm sure the variety of potato does have something to do with the crisping factor.....I've noticed wet potatoes do tend to produce limp chips. Most potatoes here are dry and fluffy.

Sorry - I meant the spuds doesn't influence smoke point - but they most certainly effect crispness, fluffyness and flavour. Generally floury pots are better for chips and waxy tend not to crisp and fluff so well.