What would you consider to be the best way to make nice chips at home?

[SecondSpare]

I have a fussy DH who doesn't like chips that have been cooked in an air fryer. He thinks the only way for chips to be nice (or at least edible) is to cook them in the oven. I'd like to ask, what do other chip-enjoyers on MN prefer? If you buy potatoes and peel and cook them yourself, do they taste better than frozen chips?

The problems weren't really with the deep-fat fryers, as they contain the oil and have safety cut-offs, but with their chip-pan predecessors: effectively a saucepan filled with oil and with a basket in it.

People would often set their chips going on the hob and then forget them, get distracted or even fall asleep - then the hot fat would boil over and set fire to a flammable item and the whole kitchen would potentially go up in flames.

It used to be a very major statistic in the overall numbers of house fires; I think smokers falling asleep and dropping their cigarettes and chip-pan fires were by far the two biggest causes of house fires. Electrical deep-fat fryers were an amazingly helpful invention imho: you still get your delicious proper chips but far, far safer all-round.

I have never really liked oven chips, I will eat them but they are meh. We have a deep fat fryer, the one that drains the oil into a separate tank underneath so there are no lingering smells. Hands down deep fried tastes the best. Potatoes, cut, and twice fried. Dh is amazing at this. But for health reasons, they are not something we do all the time.

What we did do was spend an afternoon trying to perfect oven chips in the air fryer. We experimented with timings and oil spraying and lots of tasting

What we do now. We preheat the airfryer for 3 minutes. Add oven chips and spray with vegetable oil. Toss the chips to get everything coated (you can do this in a bowl before putting them in) at the 10 minute mark we pull the drawers and spray oil again, toss and put back in for the remaining time.

Try it for yourself. Take time to figure out your own or your Dh's preference. We tend to use the microwave combi oven in oven mode to cook whatever is going with the chips (chicken kiev, battered fish etc) in there and the chips in the air fryer.

We had deep fried skin on fries from a posh burger place last weekend. The day after we had Aldi’s skin on fries cooked in the air fryer. Hands down the Aldi ones were better.

I buy good quality potatoes, chop into shape and then microwave for 5-8 mins depending on quantity. Then toss in a little oil and cook in the air fryer for c20 minutes, shaking a couple of times. They come out beautiful and crispy in the right places.

@Hatty65
omg
I want some now. Memories of my nan and mum
I'll have to buy some lard now.

Are you familiar with the Royle Family Pearl of Prestatyn episode ?

We craved the old fashioned chip pan ones so much, we went out and bought a chip pan. We have them occasionally as too fattening but so enjoy them. Yes agree many fires caused by chip pans when I was a kid. My Dad lit a chip pan to melt lard and fell asleep luckily us kids smelt the burnt fat before it caught fire.
That's the only other thing is homemade chips stink the house out, but I think its worth it.

@Ted27 😁No, I don't think I remember that episode - might have to look it up now!

DS (20) has now become an expert chip maker. He parboils them lightly before crisping in the chip pan and scatters rosemary and parmesan on them. That's too much fannying for Northern me and I just peel and dump them in.

But they are excellent!

The Pierre koffman frozen chips are excellent. I give them a bit longer than the packet says.

3-4 inches of oil in a wok. Whilst it's heating up peel potatoes and cut into chips. Fry. Adjust the heat. Stir now and again. Use spatula to take a few out to test. Rest on kitchen towel. Test a few more. Scoop out and drain on kitchen towel.

I do have a proper deep fryer. The trick for crispy chips is to toss them in a mix of baking sofa and flour before frying them. I fry them twice.
ive tried blanching them first but the difference is not worth the faff.
i have the tefal oleoclean deep fryer and i use “crisp n dry” oil
kids love it and i also make amazing fish and chips!!
but i only use it in summer on the patio as i dont want my house to smell…

alternatively, M&S skinny fries are good too.

This. I will only eat “proper” chips. Apparently I’m a chip snob. I don’t want or like frozen/oven chips. It’s deep fat fried for me - whether from the chippy or hand cut at home. Not that I have them often.

The only other way I do something is hand cut potato wedges. I peel them (as I don’t like the texture of potato skins) and chop I to wedges. Season with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. Drop them in a pre heated tray with a little olive oil in it, so the oil is hot when the potatoes hit it. They kind of taste like chips and feel like they must be healthier than deep far fried. We have these once a week, whereas the fryer comes out maybe once a month- 6 weeks.

Triple cooked chips as above ( peeled or skin on , chipped, soaked, boiled, drain and cool , first fry to cook , second fry to crisp and colour . I use Maris Pipers and sunflower oil.
Oven chips nicest are Aldi skin on chips
My mum started giving us oven chips years ago when she CBA cooking them and told us all they were "so much nicer when she saw how the hob was cleaner" .They weren't.

I really like slimming world chips. Boil raw potato chips for a couple of minutes, spray in fry light, add salt and then in an oven for about 25 mins. They’re my favourite chips ever,

As usual, first post nails it! Deep-fried in sunflower oil for me. And no, deep-fried chips should not be any more 'greasy' than chips cooked otherwise. I have an old karahi (cast-iron Indian wok) that I bought in Katmandu for a few rupees donkey's years ago. And had to lug it back to the UK; it weighs a ton! 😀 But it will keep me in chips till my dying day!