To ask a basic question about air fryers

[yourmn]

Thinking of buying into the hype.

If you out a basket of chips in, do they cook evenly? I know in the overnight they need to be on a single layer, but they would be on top of each other in those little trays, so how does that work?

Do you get half cooked half soggy chips or so you have to keep mixing them around or do they magically cook without any intervention?

You just shake them halfway through and they cook evenly..I set the timer for half the cooking time, shake and then put back in for the rest of the time.

You need to shake the basket frequently. I go for every 5 minutes roughly. Takes about 20 minutes to cook them.

Much more evenly than an oven IME.

It still needs to be a single layer. Those pictures with a whole basket of chips are marketing and not realistic.

Never had soggy chips. Like PPs have said you give them a good shake every now and again.

If they're not a single layer you just shake them. Easier to do than turning them over on an oven tray!

Shake shake shake
shake shake shake
shake your chippies
shake your chippies

Yep a good shake every now and then does the trick

Agree just shake them a couple of times. They come out so much better than when done in the oven!

I've got a gourmia one - one shake mid cook takes about 15-20 mins max

You can't overfill the basket, as pp said, the pics on the boxes are not realistic at all, but when you get the volume right, the chips are way better than in the oven.

So would the same apply presumably then if doing chicken nuggets / fish fingers

I've just replaced my air fryer with an actifry and it's so much better. No shaking halfway through as it turns them itself!

We have an an actifry- it has a paddle and stirs them for you. It is great for chips (best I’ve had apart from chippy/deep fried), nuggets and all that sort of thing but it is restrictive due to the shape (I can remove the paddle but it is still a ring meaning no chickens etc!)

Anything of that nature I give a shake to. Come out great.

Turn them over half way

Actifry has different settings for things that might break down easily. So it cooks for a bit before it starts turning to make sure breakdown isn’t as bad.

We’ve got a tower 10 in one , it’s got trays not baskets, we love it! Can do a whole chicken and kebabs too. P

I have a Ninja Dual Zone 9.5L and really pleased with it.

Yes you still need to do nuggets etc in a single layer.

They won't do a full beige meal for a family of 4. But if you have a large one, you can do chips or roasted veg or something as a side dish for everyone, or you can do chicken strips to go with mash, veg, couscous, wraps etc. Or you can do a single adult portion of chips and nuggets or 2-3 child portions.

Chips can be shaken but fish fingers get turned over. Doing both I use a food safe plastic spoon to turn them.