WE are lovin’ chips for the oven, as sales rise 22 per cent in two years – thanks in large part to the popularity of air fryers.
But which ones will go crispy and a lovely golden brown?
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Mum-of-two Natasha Harding is an expert.
The 49-year-old, who has FOUR air fryers in her kitchen, said: “I’ve always hated oven chips and found them limp and tasteless.
“But in an air fryer they are crispy and full of flavour.
“And I’ve perfected my technique so that they’re served in ten minutes.”
Here, she puts seven varieties of chips to the air fryer test and marks them out of five.
- Nutrition details per 100g serving.
McCain Crispy French Fries, 900g, £3.19, Morrisons
250cal, 8.2g fat, 0.5g sugar, 0.52g salt
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THE big-name brand cooked nicely and the chips were very flavoursome.
But they had the longest list of ingredients, including turmeric and paprika extract, as well as modified starch.
They are more than double the price of some of the supermarket own brands.
And I’m not sure they are worth the extra money considering there are so many cheaper options that taste very similar.
Rating: 3/5
Thin Cut French Fries, 1.2kg, £1.80, Morrisons
178cal, 3.7g fat, 0.4g sugar, 0.05g salt
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I HAD high expectations for this bumper bag of fries from my local Morrisons.
The price is great and they have a high potato content of 97 per cent.
Unfortunately, the taste just didn’t do it for me.
They were insipid with a rubbery consistency, so I ended up adding much more ketchup than usual.
Younger kids may prefer these if they like their food on the bland side.
Rating: 3/5
Essential French Fries, 900g, £1.75, Waitrose
212cal, 7.0g fat, 0.5g sugar, 0.44g salt
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I WAS pretty disappointed with the Waitrose offering as the Essential range is usually great.
They needed an extra two minutes in the air fryer, bringing their cooking time to 12 minutes.
That’s despite the fact the individual chips were smaller in length than the others.
Once ready, they were like undercooked spuds – still a bit soggy on the inside.
Rating: 2/5
Harvest Basket French Fries, 1kg, £1.35, Lidl
184cal, 3.9g fat, 0.5g sugar, 0.19g salt
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A BARGAIN price and super quick to cook, they were ready to tuck in to in just eight minutes.
These fries were thinner than the others and particularly crunchy, which my son loved.
They’re not oily, which might be down to the slightly lower fat content.
They taste good and I can imagine snacking on them.
Rating: 4/5
Four Seasons French Fries, 1kg, £1.35, Aldi
238cal, 6.9g fat, 0.5g sugar, 0.71g salt
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A BIGGER bag than the best-known brand, and at less than half the cost, you are getting a lot of fries for your cash.
These would keep my chip-loving family going for, oh, at least two days.
They are perfectly crunchy and tasted divine.
Definitely the most similar to McCain.
My hands-down winner.
Rating: 5/5
French Fries, 1.5kg, £2.03, Sainsbury’s
215cal, 5.8g fat, 0.5g sugar, 0.13g salt
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YOU could easily feed a larger family with this big bag.
The fries cooked nicely, but they did look a bit wrinkled once they were done.
These contain far fewer ingredients than some of the other options, only listing potato, sunflower oil and dextrose.
I added some extra salt to pep them up a little bit, which did the job.
I would buy them again.
Rating: 4/5
Super Crispy French Fries 900g, £2.50, Tesco
194cal, 6.1g fat, 0.3g sugar, 0.55g salt
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THE potato content of these is pretty low at just 84 per cent.
There are a lot of additional extras, such as raising agents, thickener and potato starch.
However, the end result is a plate of super crunchy fries that are delicious with ketchup.
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They will go down a treat for an easy weekday dinner.
Rating: 4/5
NATASHA’S FRYER TIPS
- No need to add oil.
- Don’t put too many in the air fryer basket at once as they won’t cook evenly. Just cover the bottom of the basket with a layer of chips.
- Always warm the air fryer up as it ensures the chips cook evenly.
- Cook the chips for four minutes, then give the basket a good shake, which stops them from sticking and helps them cook evenly.
- Pop back on for another four minutes, shake again.
- A final two minutes and they should be ready to serve
