Like most red-blooded people, I love French fries. I don't like belly fat and dangerously high cholesterol, so I rarely indulge.
That may change thanks to the recent arrival of an air fryerthe little convection oven that could. Suddenly healthy (and) fries they are within my reach.
Not just fries, either. Turns out this criminally underrated cookware (which isn't really a fryer at all) is good for all kinds of food prep. Let's look at different ways to get the most out of this stove – starting with which one to get.
Choose the right size
If you haven't bought an air fryer yet, the first decision you need to make is probably the most important: what size to get. They are often measured in quarts, the smallest being about 2.75; the largest, about 6.
Since I have a family of four, I wanted something big enough to hold at least that many servings of fries. (Because, let's face it, we buy these things for the fries.) In the end, I landed on the 5.3-quart (about 2.6-liter) Secura model, which I scored for $110.
The cooking basket measures 9.25×9.25×4 inches — plenty of room for all of our chopped peppers. After cutting about eight of them, the basket still had plenty of room.
Bottom line: Before you buy, check the measurements of the air fryer itself and make sure you have the counter space to fit it. I'm glad I didn't go with anything smaller, but my Secura makes a pretty chunky addition to the kitchen.
Invest in a deep fryer
Half of the secret to successful fries: a uniform cut. This $29 clipper makes short work of your spikes.
For those fries. Air frying will work best if each piece of potato is the same size — a challenge at best if you cut it by hand. My advice: Buy a cutter.
It's one of the quickest, easiest tools you can add to your kitchen; It took me two minutes to break through the aforementioned eight potatoes, and that was because it was my first time and I was moving slowly.
One more thing about fries…
Many air fryer recipes tell you to peel the potatoes first. Many more say that you should soak them in water first, anywhere between 30 minutes to 3 hours.
Here's what I did: I cut the potatoes, brushed them with a little oil, dropped them in the basket and boiled them. No peeling, no soaking…I didn't even pat them first.
They. They were. Delicious.
Will they be better after soaking and/or drying? Maybe. Is that extra effort necessary? No. Not in my book, anyway. If you've tested the flavors both ways, let me know your preference.
Shake with it
If you're cooking fries or something similar (tat, chicken nuggets, veggies, etc.), you'll want to give the basket a good shake at least once during the cooking process.
This will move everything around and allow the hot air to circulate to every surface of every piece of food – important for even 'frying'. Although many recipes call for shaking halfway through the cooking time, I recommend doing it more often, like every 4-6 minutes.
If you have an air fryer with trays instead of baskets, use oven mitts to remove and turn the food. It may seem like a hassle, but it doesn't take much time and effort and will heat your meal much more evenly and give it a nice crisp.
Do not overload
Remember, your deep fryer is just a small oven. If you were cooking, say, chicken breasts in a regular oven, you wouldn't stack them on top of each other, would you? Same thing here, with the aforementioned exception of fries and veggies, space them out as best you can and don't overload the basket.
Some fryers come with a rack that allows you to add a second layer of food above the basket. Now you can cook, say, four pieces of salmon instead of just two. (Speaking of which, I made just that last night. It didn't dry out like it does in the oven. Yummy.)
Overloading the air fryer will cause your food to heat unevenly, thus compromising the quality of your dish. These small ovens cook food quickly, so don't be afraid to divide your meals into different batches for best results.
Adjust oven recipes
Want to make an old favorite in your deep fryer? Even if Grandma's Best Chicken is written with conventional ovens in mind, it's easy to adapt almost any recipe for use in a deep fryer.
Typically, you will only lower the cooking temperature by about 25 degrees Celsius. If the oven recipe says 350 (176 degrees Fahrenheit), the fryer is set to 325 (160 degrees Fahrenheit). Likewise, you'll need about 20 percent less cooking time, although this can of course vary depending on the type of food, cooking temperature, and so on.
Need help with math? Check it out Air conditioner calculatorwhich will convert standard cooking times and temperatures to Celsius.
Think outside the FRY
“Healthy” donuts, thanks to your air fryer.
Everyday style of a teacherAssuming you can find a spare minute when your fryer isn't cooking fries, there are plenty of other things you can do out there — some of which may surprise you.
CNET covered some of the best food for air frying before, but if you want specific recipes, we have them too. I've rounded up some great recipes below that you'll definitely want to try:
Are you sold on the magic of a deep fryer but don't know which one to buy? Here they are The best air fryers of 2025ranked by CNET's resident expert.