Sure, there are loads of things you can cook in an air fryer. But when it comes to crowd-pleasing dinners, a plate loaded with hot, crisp chips will always be a fan favourite.
If you’re serious about your chips, you might be wondering which type or brand of air fryer you should buy to give you the most golden, crunchy results.
We selflessly cooked up batches of frozen chips in different air fryers to find out – it’s all part of the rigorous testing we conduct in the CHOICE labs to discover which are the best air fryers, and which are the low-fliers.
Air fryers aren’t one-trick ponies made just for hot chips. We also test each air fryer on how well it cooks crumbed chicken, marinated chicken and roast pork, and assess how easy they are to use and clean, and how much they cost to run.
But if you’re here solely because you’re a serious chip champion, we get it. So read on as we delve into how some other air fryers compare on their chip cooking performance.
Plus, our kitchen expert shares some tips to help you achieve chip perfection.
Our expert testers rate each air fryer on how well it cooks store-bought frozen thick-cut chips.
Some air fryers score a hot 100% in the chip test, while other machines score as low as 60%. One even scored a soggy 40%.
We want our chips to be perfectly crisp and browned on the outside with a fluffy centre. Evenly cooked and golden chips are the ideal, while pale, limp, patchy coloured or burnt chips get the thumbs down from our testers.
“When we assess each air fryer on how well it cooks hot chips, we follow the cooking instructions specified for that machine, if any are provided, and use the pre-programmed setting if there is one,” says CHOICE kitchen expert Fiona Mair.
“Once cooked, we assess the chips on how evenly they are cooked and browned, with points deducted for sogginess, burnt areas or undercooked insides. The perfect hot chip should have an even golden colour and crispness.”
We assess the chips on how evenly they are cooked and browned, with deductions for sogginess, burnt areas or undercooked insides.
Which air fryer makes the best chips?
Three air fryers we’ve tested in the CHOICE kitchen labs scored a perfect 100% on chip cooking performance:
“The key to hot chip perfection is how well the air fryer circulates the heat around the food, and the shaking or rotating of the food during cooking,” says Fiona.
Here are her tips to get the perfect air fryer hot chips:
Buy an air fryer with a pre-programmed chip setting and one that either has a rotating basket that will turn the chips for you during cooking, or sounds an alert to remind you to shake the food during cooking.
If you’re using an air fryer with a pull-out basket, shaking the basket is essential, otherwise your chips will be unevenly cooked.
Don’t crowd chips in the basket – give them enough space to crisp nicely.
If your model requires it, make sure your air fryer is preheated correctly.
As a healthier alternative to store-bought frozen chips, you can cut your own potatoes into fries or chunky chips to cook in the air fryer.
Soak them in water for about 10 minutes, then pat dry with paper towel.
Toss in a small amount of olive oil and salt, then cook in your air fryer using the preprogrammed settings or for about 18 minutes at 200°C.
If they’re still a bit pale or soggy, cook for a bit longer until they reach your desired crispiness. You can also try this method with sweet potato, or try making veggie chips with things like zucchini or carrot sticks.
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Pru Engel is the Audience and Engagement editor at CHOICE. Her job is to ensure as many Australians as possible know about the great work we do at CHOICE.
She works closely with our testers and experts to find the gems of information in our data and research that will resonate with Australian consumers and help them make the best decisions, whether they're purchasing an air fryer, looking for a new mattress or trying to find the cheapest car insurance. She also helps to drive meaningful change for consumers by collaborating with our Campaigns team on content covering issues such as grocery pricing, product safety and scams.
Prior to CHOICE, Pru worked as an editor at many of Australia's leading food and lifestyle titles.
Pru has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Find Pru on LinkedIn.
Pru Engel is the Audience and Engagement editor at CHOICE. Her job is to ensure as many Australians as possible know about the great work we do at CHOICE.
She works closely with our testers and experts to find the gems of information in our data and research that will resonate with Australian consumers and help them make the best decisions, whether they're purchasing an air fryer, looking for a new mattress or trying to find the cheapest car insurance. She also helps to drive meaningful change for consumers by collaborating with our Campaigns team on content covering issues such as grocery pricing, product safety and scams.
Prior to CHOICE, Pru worked as an editor at many of Australia's leading food and lifestyle titles.
Pru has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Find Pru on LinkedIn.
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