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My quest for the perfect, guilt-free French fry
Oil or no oil, disappointment all round
A decade of air fryer evolution (and a detour via Asian cuisine)
Who’s the Airfryer REALLY for?

Let me take you on an honest culinary journey: how my excitement for oil-free air frying quickly fizzled, and what I actually learned after a decade of crispy trial and error. Spoiler alert: this is the unfiltered opinion of one slightly stubborn home cook, not an official product test from Les Num?riques!

This review in no way reflects the opinion of the Les Num?riques Lab. It is a personal and subjective view from a member of the editorial team.

My quest for the perfect, guilt-free French fry

In 2012, as soon as I moved into my new place, the big question was: “Should I buy a deep fryer?” Determined to avoid the greasy clean-ups and looking for a healthier option, I quickly turned my back on traditional oil bath fryers.

My first choice was the Seb ActiFry. But there were problems: back then, its price was quite high, I could only cook up to about 3.3 pounds of fries (and there are five hungry people in my house!), plus cooking took nearly 40 minutes. Not exactly fast food in my kitchen.

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Determined, I kept searching and settled on the very first Airfryer model from Philips?also described as an oil-free fryer (in hindsight, that’s probably a stretch, as you’ll see from what happened next).

Being a fresh French fry fan, I started my Airfryer journey with a batch of homemade fries. Cooking was easy, but when it came time to dig in… major letdown. The potato sticks were nowhere near fried: nicely colored, sure, but with a texture that screamed cardboard.

Oil or no oil, disappointment all round

Not one to give up at the first disaster, I tried again?this time coating my raw fries with oil in a bowl beforehand. I varied the amount, trying a little, then more. Result? The fries were burnt at the tips and barely cooked inside. That crispy bite you get from classic fries? Nowhere to be found. And to add insult to injury, they took even longer to cook than in a regular deep fryer. My dream of healthier feasts was turning into a crispy fiasco.

Trying to find the real culprit, I bought a bag of frozen French fries from the supermarket. Once cooked, they looked?and tasted?much more like fries should, far better than my homemade cardboard sticks with their charred edges. I put the Airfryer back in the cupboard, feeling a little bitter.

A decade of air fryer evolution (and a detour via Asian cuisine)

Ten years ago, oil-free fryers weren?t that popular. There weren?t many air fryer recipes floating around, so my Airfryer sat in the cupboard for months while I licked my wounds.

In the end, it was my love for Asian food that made me rediscover my Philips Airfryer, thanks to a chat with my mum. She?s a fan of a big Asian supermarket, where she buys giant trays of 50 spring rolls and fries them in her oil fryer.

Still keen on healthier cooking, I decided to give air-fried spring rolls a shot. It worked! While they weren?t as crispy as the classic deep-fried version, they were genuinely tasty. Oven-baking my spring rolls was immediately dropped in favor of the Airfryer: it heated up so much faster, and with a quick shake of the basket, turning the rolls was easier and cooking was more even.

One thing led to another and I soon started using the Airfryer with other prepared foods too, like shrimp tempura, chicken nuggets, potato wedges, or hash browns?all without adding a drop of oil. These ?processed? foods work pretty well with hot air cooking since most are already lightly coated in oil.

After 12 years and a good dose of stubbornness, I had to admit: the Airfryer was much more useful for reheating and crisping up a whole host of foods?just not fresh homemade fries. The funny thing is, by 2024 all the marketing has caught up and manufacturers are now touting the many ways you can use these gadgets, not just for French fries.

Who’s the Airfryer REALLY for?

So, over a decade of use, my Airfryer has become my go-to for reheating certain foods faster than the oven. Better still, food comes out tastier and less dry compared to a classic oven. That oft-oversold promise?that an oil-free fryer produces fries just like a deep fryer?couldn?t be further from the truth in my experience. That?s why I finally invested in a regular deep fryer, perfect for indulging in fresh fries alongside my Sunday roast chicken.

Now, both appliances live side by side in my kitchen, and life is delicious (and crispy) just the way I like it!

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