I had a bit of free time this evening and as an experiment, I tried using the “air fry” feature of my new toaster oven for the first time. A few days earlier, I purchased a bag of frozen french fries from the supermarket. The instructions on it stated that for a conventional oven, I should bake it in a preheated oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes. I knew my air frying would take less time but I didn’t know how much less exactly.
I began by laying out a single layer of french fries on the air frying basket. It’s essentially just a wire tray that goes on a drip tray. I was careful not to put down too many fries because I didn’t want to make too many and also, it would cook better if it was just a single layer. I then brushed a layer of vegetable oil over the fries, enough to cover the fries.
It was then time to put the fries into the oven. I used the same temperature as suggested above and turned on the oven. The fan in the oven started spinning and it was relatively quiet. I set the timer for 10 minutes, as just a first guess. The plan was to basically monitor the fries continuously as I had no idea how long it would take to fully air fry these fries. Within the first three minutes or so, I began hearing the oil start heating up, with a few pops here and there. I could see the oil bubbling and the fries starting to get brown. Just before the ten minute mark, they got golden brown very quickly and I had to move fast to turn the oven off and get remove the fries.
The basket was quite hot, I was amazed at how potent and fast the oven got up to temperature. The fries looked a tad overcooked. I was concerned. It had been less than ten minutes since I put the fries in the oven. I wondered if I had burned the outside of the fries and insides were still frozen cold. I had to try them. I emptied the fries out of the basket and onto some paper towels on a plate. Since I didn’t use a lot of oil, the fries weren’t too greasy. I cautiously picked up a fry to sample one. It was still a bit hot to the touch. I took my first bite and I was pleasantly surprised. The fry was crispy on the outside and warm on in the side. These fries were fully cooked. Amazing.
Overall, they were pretty tasty, not soggy at all. Oven baked fries can be sometimes a bit soggy and mushy on the inside but these weren’t. If I had to do it over again, I’d take them out earlier because they were a bit too browned. I’m very impressed how at quick they cooked. In a regular oven, I’d have to wait at least ten minutes for the oven to preheat and then another 20-25 minutes for the fries to cook after that. In this case, I had fries ready to eat in less than ten minutes.
I’m going to try chicken wings next!