Are air fryers the healthiest way to cook chips?

There's a reason why air fryers are often marketed as 'health fryers': they claim to produce food that tastes deep-fried, but only requires a teaspoonful of oil (or no oil at all) to cook.

This is because air fryers cook by blowing searing hot air around a small cooking zone rather than submerging food in fat. In fact, their method of cooking is identical to that of a fan oven – the difference in results is down to a more compact cooking space and higher intensity of circulated air.

Manufacturers' claims about air fryers are sometimes overblown, but they can be a healthier way to cook chips when compared with other methods.

Read our air fryer reviews to find a Best Buy model that cooks chips quickly, reliably, and with minimal fuss

Air fryers, deep-fat fryers and ovens: what's the difference?

• Deep-fat fryers submerge your food in hot oil, which cooks it. This causes food to absorb a lot of oil which adds to the fat content, though there's a limit to how much oil your chips can absorb before the moisture content in the centre creates a barrier to additional absorption.
• Fan ovens generate heat and then blow it around to cook food. This is called convection cooking. The food can be lightly coated in oil or sat in an oven tray containing oil.
• Air fryers, despite their name, work in exactly the same way as fan ovens. The difference is that they circulate heat in a smaller chamber which cooks your food more quickly and limits the amount it dries out. As with a fan oven, it's possible to use very little oil.

Whatever cooking method you use, any oil that you add to your chips can be absorbed during cooking. The fat content depends entirely on how much oil you add, and, as in the case of deep fat fryers, there's a limit to how much oil can physically be absorbed.

This means that air fryers are roughly equal to ovens as far as adding fat content to your bowl of chips goes because you can get away with using very little. 

But because air frying creates a taste that's closer to deep-fried food, cooks who aren't satisfied with their oven-cooked chips might find air frying a healthier option than a chip pan.

If you're looking to buy an air fryer, read best air fryers for 2022 for our shopping advice

How much oil do you need to use in an air fryer?

There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach here, but you don't actually have to use any oil at all.

You can simply season your chips and set them to air fry. This is the lowest-calorie version of cooking air-fried chips, but might leave them tasting a little less 'done' than you'd like.

That's because oil promotes a process known as the Maillard reaction, a chemical change that browns your food and creates the flavours we love.

For the best-tasting dish, one tablespoon or one spray of cooking oil can help create a fried taste without the calorific excess of deep fat frying.

For example, BBC Good Food's recipe for a plate of fresh chips calls for one tablespoon of vegetable oil or olive oil.

Looking to buy an air fryer? Ninja Foodi vs Tower vs Tefal Actifry: which one should you buy?

Tips for great air-fried chips

We've tested a lot of air fryers, and we've picked up some tips for any home cook:

• If you're using fresh-cut chips, make sure they're not wet when you put them in the air fryer. Drying them on some kitchen roll or a J-Cloth can remove some moisture from the surface, which helps to crisp them up.
• If your air fryer doesn't have a paddle that mixes your chips as they cook, it's best to take them out halfway and give them a good shake.
• You can fill the basket or drawer to capacity, but it's best to half-fill it so the air can circulate better. When we test air fryers, we test them half-full and at capacity, and the first batch is always better.
• If you have time and you're cooking fresh chips, rinse your wedges in water first. This will remove some of the starch in the outer layer and help you to get chips with crisper outsides and fluffier insides.

Don't own an air fryer or can't be bothered with the faff? See our guide to the best oven chips

What makes a great air fryer?

We've established that air fryers can be much healthier than fat-frying while still achieving delicious browning. But how do they do it?

It's all in the circulation of hot air in the cooking zone – a drawer or a basket. We've found that the best air fryers cook with intense heat and manage to reach every chip by buffeting them with scorching air.

Bonuses, like a self-stirring paddle, help. But there are Best Buy air fryers that achieve crisp, even cooking with sheer power alone.

Outside of cooking performance, there are other aspects too: energy consumption is one. Great air fryers can be energy guzzlers and we mark them down slightly for this.

Ease of use is another aspect. Air fryers should be easy to use, one-touch if possible. And they can get dirtier than ovens because debris gets blown around and left scorched in crevices, so we see how easy they are to clean, too.

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Coming soon: new air fryer reviews

We've just finished testing a new batch of cheaper air fryers, including:

• Cosori ‎CAF-L501
• Gourmia GAF798
• Progress EK4549P
• Tefal Easy Fry Grill & Steam FW2018
• Wilko AFM06
• Wilko AFM11A.

Keep an eye on our air fryer reviews for these new releases and find out if these models dethrone our current reigning champions or not.

Looking for an air fryer deal in the Black Friday sales? Keep an eye on our Best Black Friday deals page or see our Black Friday insider's guide for shopping advice.