When we hear from people about air fryers, they’ll often tell us they appreciate this appliance for a quick alternative to firing up the oven. Some will argue that air fryer chips are even far superior.
So we’ve decided to put this theory to the test, to find out which appliance does the superior job. from the article:
We want our chips to be perfectly crisp and browned on the outside with a fluffy centre. Evenly cooked and golden chips are a big plus, while pale, limp, patchy coloured or burnt chips get the thumbs down from our testers.
Here’s a peek at some of the results:
The final answer is a little crinkle cut - but there are definitely ways to optimise and perfect your at home chips. Read the results here:
What’s your opinion on the best chips - do they come from the oven, or the air fryer?
Au contraire the question is incorrect. it should be
‘What’s your opinion on the better chips - do they come from the oven or the air fryer?’.
If you’re serious about your chips the best chips come from a deep fryer
As evidence, of the reputed 2,726 fish and chips shops in Australia has anyone patronised one serving baked chips?
By omitting comparison to deep fried hot chips there is inbuilt bias (or steering if you will). Baked chips might be healthier and Choice could argue ‘best’ includes ‘more healthy’ but missed that opportunity.
Agree! An air fryer is an alternative to deep frying, the method which gives the best results in terms of well cooked, crisp, flavoursome, chips.
For centuries lard was the fat used and lard was what made Macca’s chips so popular. In fact, after complaints about the use of animal fat, a ‘beef flavour’ was added to keep the chips popular.
An air fryer circulates hot air to cook and so does a convection oven. In both, similarly, hot air cook and crisps and there’s very little or no use of fat/oil and therefore healthier than a deep fryer. And that’s were the comparison ends IMO
Some interesting observations in the Choice comparison. I’ve noted the settings used by the Choice cooking guru for the comparison.
Our experiences.
When it comes to ovens all are not equal.
Our current everyday oven runs on LPG. Our previous NG and homes prior conventional electric.
When it comes to chips (fries to others) which frozen store bought works best in our air frier also varies. It’s frustrating that frozen foods do not include air fryer instructions seperate to baking in an oven.
Having followed the oven baked settings for frozen products, the air frier tends to produce a burnt and dried out disaster. Note different brands and styles of frozen potato products and fish have differences in cooking instructions. I try 20C lower and slightly less time checking and turning at least twice. It’s easier to add time or finish on a higher temp than start out too hot.
It’s possible the best results for any product whether oven gas/electric, air fryer, deep fried require some trial and error. Even for frozen store product. Twice cooked has worked great with raw potatoes in our air fryer. Being able to purchase the right variety for chips remains a challenge in our bit of QLD.
Before my Panasonic Flatbed died, I used to use its convection to “air fry” store bought frozen chips. Whilst it was nowhere near as nice as deep fried from the local takeaway, it was much better than the oven. UGH. I don’t have space for an air fryer so no comments on that
Regarding air fryers, a friend was bemoaning their power usage, asserting that they’re Kw guzzlers, and I wondered if that was in fact true. Since they heat a smaller volume than a regular oven they ought to use less power. but overall, compared to what other appliance? That would make an interesting table: how much power do different appliances use? I guess that’s another topic!
They do draw heavy current, typically drawing about 2kW but my oven draws some 3.5 kW. How many kWhs that is (and so the cost) depends on how long the heating element is running.
For many functions where both types of oven can do the job the air fryer is on for less time as it doesn’t take long to heat up. Compared to a small appliances the air fryer uses more power but then those appliances often can’t do what the fryer does either.
Unless you specify the job to be done the comparison doesn’t mean much and nor does any generalisation about which is cheaper.
As far I am concerned there is no such thing as an “Air Fryer”, it is a convection oven, to fry you must cook in some type of fat. Air fried anything that should be deep fried will not match deep fried food for texrure and taste.
Air fryers are great small benchtop ovens that heat up quicker and use less power than big kitchen ovens. As far as “frying” they don’t. Although I own a commercial deep fryer, for normal sized batches I use a wok with a probe thermometer in the oil.
Turn appliances off at the wall when not in use – appliances such as microwaves and induction cooktops may use standby power, which can make a big difference to running costs.
The test of microwaves show annual standby costs of from about $1.30 to $6.00, with only a few over $2.00 . If your operating cost PA is $13.00 I suppose it is fair to say a $6.00 increase is a big difference. But looking at the typical standby cost of about $1.70 PA does the cost in dollars or greenhouse gases actually matter in the broad scheme of things?
There is no prospect of turning my wall oven or induction stove off at the wall.
Then there was this item:
check your appliances to make sure they’re working effectively or if they need maintenance. For example, if the seals on the door of your oven or microwave, or in the lids of a pressure cooker or multi-cooker, are broken or missing, this can lead to loss of heat and longer cooking times, increasing your energy costs.
If we are talking about ovens that heat only using microwaves the state of the door seals is hardly relevant to cooking as they do not cook by retaining heat inside the cabinet.
If your pressure cooker has a broken or missing seal you have a serious safety risk and worrying about the wasted energy is a long way second. Superheated steam gives bad burns.
I am all for advising the reader how to save money and be kinder to the environment but I have to wonder how practical and useful some of these examples are.
Bingo. Plus not all modern appliances electronics tolerate turning the power off/on at every use. Repetitive cycling might shorten their lives. Most have ‘soft switches’ that operate electronics, not hard switches that interrupt power to the power supply.
Which is a better bet, ~$3 pa in electricity or replacing a board in the appliance? OK, an ‘unprotected’ appliance turned off at the wall is not going to get fried by a lightening strike or power surge, but.
It seems to me if you are looking for an Air fryer for chips, then you probably eat chips often. As Frozen chips are pre-fried in oil before flash freezing, as the article noted, they aren’t any healthier than fried chips.
Eating fried chips regularly isn’t just unhealthy, it is extremely unhealthy.
Hence, I thought Choice ought to have emphasised, the healthy alternative, ie, buying potatoes and oven cooking them, as chips or wedges.
I par boil my wedges in my pressure cooker for a couple of minutes. That prep time heats up the oven and tray. A spray of oil, sprinkle of herbs and black pepper, then into the hot oven while I’m preparing the other dinner components. What I take from the article is the value of turning them, which I’ll do next time.
We typically microwave (nuke) our pumpkin and potato (part cook) before coating lightly in oil etc prior to oven baking as wedges or …. We eat sweet potato nearly as often as the round white ones. Not so easy to get a crunchy finish, although sliced super thin they do make great crisps/chips.
I’ve used the air fryer for the same, but only for small batches.
I use an Air Fryer for most of my cooking . Was always disappointed with the results when cooking frozen chips . Tried Coles brand and McCains and Aldis offerings but was always disappointed with the results . Recently whilst shopping at IGA I picked up a bag of Logan Farm frozen straight cut chips . They are excellent . No oil required to be added
and very consistent from batch to batch . Would highly recommend .
This week Aldi has a Special Buy on air fryers: 3L for $50. Does Choice intend to review it? I normally buy only after reading reviews, I was almost moved to buy the KMART (Anko) air fryer reviewed by Choice as I saw it to be the best value for money appliance, but what reeled me in to buy the Aldi appliance is that it comes with a 3yr warranty. Such a warranty I have not seen before on this or similar appliances. Anko like most everyone else has 1 year.
I find that chips are better in airfryer rather than conventional oven, but deep fryer is the better result. Less time is the key with airfryer as well as keeping a close eye on progress. Highest temperature gives better crispier more appetising result
