My Initial Air Fryer Joy - Fries, Hash Browns & Onion Rings

I've been wanting to get an air fryer for the longest time but was undecided if I should get an air fryer oven or a typical drawer-type air fryer.  The difference between the two is obviously the physical size and the capacity/amount of food it can cook at one time.

Getting the right air fryer for your (and your family's) needs is very important so as to ensure it can do the things you want it to do otherwise it's likely to become a white elephant sitting on your kitchen counter top completely useless or underused like some kitchen gadgets can be (we all have some of those).

In the end, I settled for the smallest Philips Airfryer in the market as the key thing I wanted it to do was to make snacks and small portions of food.  The other point that swayed my decision was that I just wanted to see if I'd be happy with the taste of food that comes out of an air fryer (since my neighbour once told me that her husband likes to eat deep-fried chicken but not air-fried chicken...lol).  I also knew that I didn't need an air fryer to do what my current convection oven can.  So, a large capacity air fryer was not needed (for now) until my convection oven konks, then I'll probably consider an air fryer oven.

Once my new toy arrived (I've had it for about 3 months now), I quickly put it to the test to do the very thing I wanted it to do.....and that is to make a snack of fries (everyone's favourite)!  I usually get Simplot Straight Cut Fries but noticed this Ramly's Straight Cut Fries looked rather good visually (and by that I mean each piece is intact and not broken up).

So, in it goes (not too much overlapping) into the air fryer at 200°C for about 12 - 15 minutes.  Check at the halfway mark and give it a good shake/stir.  The heat of the air fryer is quite similar to my convection oven in that it's hotter at some parts (especially the sides than in the centre), so you'll have to toss it around (a few more times) for a more even browning (especially if the fries are overlapping).

The fries came out sufficiently browned and crisp at the edges with the insides lightly soft.  I thought this Ramly Straight Cut Fries was very good quality indeed and is priced significantly lower than Simplot Straight Cut Fries.

But my family prefers shoestring fries (like McD's) to straight cut fries as they're thinner and can crisp up better.  It's rumoured that Simplot's Shoestring Fries is what McD uses for their French Fries, so I just had to get a pack to see if there's any difference.

Just remember to season with salt (my family likes it with black pepper too) as soon as it comes out while the fries are still hot, otherwise the salt won't stick to them.  Ah, my husband proclaimed, just like McD fries....lol.  Not sure if I tasted any significant difference myself (with other brands I've eaten) but the insides were a little softer I think (which I prefer).  P/S: McCain's Curly Fries is purportedly similar to McD's Curly Fries too but I don't have a thing for curly fries, so I won't be testing them out.

Even when I seasoned the fries immediately out of the airfryer, my son thought the seasonings still didn't adhere to the fries that well, so  tthe next time I made them, I experimented with seasoning the fries first (with salt and black pepper but this time added garlic powder) before putting into the airfryer.

I've to say we were absolutely happy with the result as the seasoning adhered to the fries much better giving it a much more savoury bite.  I thought the addition of garlic powder was brilliant...it made the fries so much tastier! ^o^

Besides fries, I also like to eat hash browns and especially love to eat McD's breakfast that comes with a hash brown.  Well, apparently McD uses Simplot Hash Browns too!

So, of course I had to get some to try, right?  Into the air fryer it goes and since a hash brown is quite thick, it'll need a good 15 minutes to cook from frozen state.  I took mine out at 12 minutes and the exterior was crisp.  Leave it in for longer to get it crispier and more browned.

Besides fries and hash browns, another favourite fast food-type snack would be fried onion rings (our favourite is Wendy's).  I was at the supermarket and chanced upon these McCain Onion Rings.

These were breaded onion rings and they turned out pretty good, quite savoury in taste.  We certainly wouldn't mind making these add-ons when we're having a fast food meal.  Of course I can't vouch how far all this is true and if McD actually uses these two brands but I guess Simplot and McCain are decent enough brands for fries, hash browns and onion rings.

But an even greater use I've found with an air fryer is for reheating food.  It works really well with all things fried where you want to get that crispiness back into your leftover food.  I've tried it with many fried stuff like chicken, yong tau foo, carrot cake, vadai, wantan, sui kow, mushrooms, roti canai, pork pattties, fish cake, goreng pisang, fried popiah and all kinds of meat/fish balls among others.  I've got to say it worked exceptionally great with fu chuk, wantan and roti canai (the latter was a bit of a revelation for me).  You can get the fu chuk and wantan back to 100% crispiness...and roti canai never tasted crispier before.  You can't even get that level of crispiness if you eat at the roti canai stall.  I now have no qualms about buying fried food ahead especially roti canai for eating later (and even prefer to do that now)...but do note it works better (as in crispier) with plain roti canai than roti telur (most likely due to the egg content in the dough).

However, it doesn't work with everything.  I tried reheating (and toasting) bread but you just can't get it as crisp as the toaster oven can (it won't be call a toaster if it can't toast bread well, right?).  I guess an air fryer isn't a do-it-all, otherwise there'd be no place for other kitchen equipment to stake a claim in your kitchen...lol.

Besides the air fryer making my snack making a cinch, these paper liners were of great help too.  They eliminate the need to wash the air fryer basket (just a wipe down every now and then will do).  You can, of course, still use aluminium foil or baking paper but that involves a bit more work to line the air fryer basket properly.  I find these ready-to-use paper liners so much easier and convenient.  And yes, I use round paper liners to line a squarish air fryer basket (haha, like a round peg in a square hole)...since they fit in seamlessly and properly.

Only drawback is that they're thin and lightweight...and tend to fly up in the air fryer, so weigh it down with something (like a wire rack) if your food is not heavy enough.  Since they're so thin and cheap (less than RM10 for 100 pcs), I'd use 2 or 3 liners at one time.  I do wish the paper liners were thicker (I can't find any) so that they won't lift up but I guess if they're thick, we may not get the desired result since hot air need to circulate all around the food drawer to cook and crisp up the food.

The liners even came with a guide on the temperature and timing to use for different foods but it's not needed really.  The magic number (for me) is 200°C and 12 - 15 minutes for most (frozen) food...so I don't bother remembering all the different temperatures and timing.  I keep the temperature knob at 200°C always and use a timing of between 12 - 15 minutes.  I just play it by ear on the cooking time by checking the air fryer basket periodically.

If there's one downside to the Philips Airfryer I bought is that it's an analogue version, so setting the cooking time can be a little tricky.  You just can't be precise with the turning of a knob.  Not only that but the cooking time (as in the knob) continues to run down even when the basket is pulled out (unlike a digital air fryer where the timing will stop as soon as the basket is pulled out).  So your timing may be a bit off (if you pull out the drawer numerous times) but that can be fixed easily with the use of a separate kitchen timer.  But, if given the choice, I'd prefer a digital one (for my next purchase) for ease of use.  I didn't get a digital one for my first purchase as this was an experimental one + the price difference was also quite significant (almost twice as much).

The one thing that discouraged me to get an air fryer initially was the thought of cleaning it.  I've heard that the top of the air fryer can get really oily and dirty (from all the oil splattering) and needs cleaning regularly. So, imagine my surprise when this was not the case as I've cleaned it (wiped it down) only once since I got it. Even then, it wasn't dirty and there was hardly any oil stains.  Maybe it's because I haven't used it to cook meat from their raw state where a measure of fats, seasoning and water content would be intermixed leading to splattering?

Do note that whatever I cooked in the airfryer I can do just as well in a convection oven (like I did previously before I got the air fryer).  It just takes a little longer (twice as long actually as the fries need about 30 minutes) but you can also make bigger quantities than a small airfryer can accommodate (as you can see, I still have plenty of room for more but it's better to exercise portion control).  So, the size of the air fryer of your choice really depends on how much food you want to cook or how many people you need to cook for.

Making small portions of snacks is so easy and fast (with minimal washing to boot), there may be a tendency to reach out to your fridge or freezer more often than you should.  So, a word of caution to those who are on a diet....don't get an air fryer (or exercise utmost restraint if you have one)! ;D  Of course, these snacks aren't all that healthy to eat but try telling that to my family...so I do try to limit their indulgence (to once a week or less)...and having a small air fryer do help with portion control...lol.  Happy snacking days (or, should I say, nights) ahead! ;P