Air Fryer French Fries

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: Prep: 10 minutes
• total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 medium russet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch strips

• 2 tablespoons canola oil

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• Chopped fresh parsley, optional

Directions

1. Preheat the air fryer to 350°.

2. Soak 3/8-inch fries for 30 minutes. Drain; place potatoes on towels and pat dry.

3. Combine potatoes, oil, salt and pepper in a second large bowl; toss to coat. In batches, place potatoes in a single layer on greased tray in air-fryer basket. Cook until crisp and just beginning to brown, for 13 minutes, stirring and turning every 5-7 minutes. We're not looking for much browning here, as they're not all that brown when cooked in oil. More golden colord. Imagine how they look at your favorite burger joint. Cooking too long makes the outide more tough and leathery. If desired, sprinkle with parsley.

Notes

To reheat frozen French fries, follow the cooking directions above.

3/8-inch fries in the air fryer at 375F and also at 400F, were sort of mushy in the middle. 350F for 13 minutes left the inside sort of firm and the overall fry was somewhat rigid. More like what you get at a fast food burger joint.

1/2 inch fries rubbed all over in canola oil, cooked in the oven, on a wire rack, at 350F, took about an 1 hour and 20 minutes. But outside was leathery and the inside was mushy. Trying 375F. Wire rack isn't producing results. It would probably require a lot more heat, but the oil won't allow that.

1/2-inch fries rubbed in canola oil, in a single layer in a foil lined steel pan cooked at 400F in the oven, 15 minutes, flipping 1 turn and cooking another 15 minutes were getting close to fast food quality. Possible 425F to 450F for ten inutes per side will improve them even more. But that's right at the smoke point of high temperatre oils.

McDonalds blanch theirs' for three minutes at 300F, then they are frozen, then fried from frozen at 365F for another 3 minutes.

A good option may be to buy blanched/frozen fries from https://www.chefstore.com/.