7 tips for using an air fryer

Like most red-blooded humans, I love French fries. I don’t like belly fat and dangerously high cholesterol, so I rarely indulge.

That may change thanks to the recent arrival of a air fryerthe little convection oven that could. Suddenly healthy(ish) fries. I’m in my grip.

It’s not just fries. It turns out that this criminally underrated kitchen utensil (which really isn’t a fryer) is good for all kinds of food preparation. Let’s take a look at the different ways to get the most out of this kitchen counter – starting with which one to get.

Choose the right size

If you have not purchased an air fryer, the first decision to make is undoubtedly the most important: what size to take. They are often measured in quarters, the smallest is around 2.75; the largest, about 6.

Because I have a family of four, I wanted something big enough to accommodate at least that many servings of fries. (Because, let’s face it, I buy these things to fry.) Eventually, I landed on a Secura 5.3-quart model (about 2.6 liters), which I scored for $110.

The kitchen basket measures 9.25 x 9.25 x 4 inches – plenty of room for all our chopped spuds. After cutting about eight of them, the basket still had plenty of room.

Bottom line: Before you buy, check the measurements of the air fryer yourself and make sure you have the control space to accommodate it. I’m glad I didn’t go with something smaller, but my Secura makes a pretty big addition to the kitchen.

Invest in a french fry cutter

About those fries. The air fryer will do its best job if each piece of potato is a uniform size – challenging to the best if you cut it by hand. My advice: Buy a cutter.

It is one of the fastest and easiest tools you can add to your kitchen; it took me all of two minutes to handle through the aforementioned eight potatoes, and that was because it was my first time and I was moving slowly.

One more thing about the fries…

Many air fry potato recipes tell you to peel the potatoes first. Many more say you should soak them in water first, anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Here’s what I did: Cut the potatoes, put them in a small amount of oil, put them in the basket and cook. No peeling, no soaking…didn’t even dry them first.

They. They were Delicious.

Can they be better after drying and/or drying? Maybe Is this extra effort necessary? No. Not in my book, anyway. If you’ve tested it both ways, let me know your preference.

Find out with him

If you’re making fries or something similar (tater tots, chicken nuggets, veggies, etc.), you’ll want to give the basket a good shake at least once during the cooking process.

This will move everything around and allow the hot air to circulate to every surface of every piece of food – important for a uniform “frying”. Although many recipes call for shaking halfway through the cooking time, we recommend doing it more often, like every 4-6 minutes.

If you have an air fryer with trays instead of baskets, use oven mitts to remove and turn your food. It might seem like a hassle, but it doesn’t take much time and effort and it will heat your meal much more evenly and give it a nice crunch.

Do not overload

Remember, your air fryer is just a small oven. If you were cooking, say, chicken breasts in an ordinary oven, you wouldn’t have them on top of each other, right? The same deal here, with the aforementioned exception of fries and veggies, spread the best you can and don’t overload the basket.

Some fryers come with a rack that allows you to add a second layer of food on top of the basket. Now you can cook, say, four pieces of salmon instead of just two. (Speaking of which, I did exactly that last night. It didn’t dry out like in the oven. Yum.)

Overloading the air fryer will cause your food to heat up unevenly, reducing the quality of your food. These tiny ovens cook food quickly, so don’t be afraid to separate your meals into different batches for the best results.

Suitable for oven recipes

Want to make an old favorite in your air fryer? Although Grandma’s Best Chicken was written with conventional ovens in mind, it is easy to adapt almost any recipe to use the fryer.

Typically, you will need a baking temperature of about 25 degrees Fahrenheit. If the oven recipe says 350 (176 degrees Celsius), the fryer is set to 325 (160 Celsius). Similarly, you need about 20 percent less cooking time, although this can certainly vary depending on the type of food, cooking temperature and so on.

Need help with math? Check out the Air fryer calculatorwhich converts standard cooking times and temperatures to Celsius.

Think outside the box

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Assuming you can find a spare minute when your air fryer is not cooking fries, there are many other things you can do here – some of which may surprise you.

CNET has covered some of the best air fryer foods first, but if you want specific recipes, we have those too. Below I have collected some fantastic recipes that you will definitely want to try:

Are you sold on the magic of air frying but don’t know which one to buy? Here they are the best air fryers of 2025rated by CNET’s resident expert.