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CNET
6 days ago
- General
- CNET
How to Make the Crispiest Air Fryer French Fries in 4 Simple Steps
French fries are a staple fast food side dish, but making them at home isn't always as easy as it sounds. Not all preparation methods will leave you with the perfect crispy fries you desire, but we're here to help. No matter the variety you reach for -- curly, crinkle, waffle or wedge -- French fries are best when they're made in an air fryer. You don't need to fuss around with a messy deep fryer or an oven that will dry out the fries, but you do need to follow a few simple rules to make the absolute best air fryer French fries this summer. Making dynamite fries, whether from fresh or frozen, is easy and painless but a few easy practices will give them an impossibly crunchy exterior while leaving the potato inside moist and delicious. Master these air fryer French fry hacks and you'll never have to negotiate a floppy shoestring or soggy tot again. Read on to find out how I make the best crispy, French fries in the air fryer with very little effort. How to make the world's crispiest air fryer fries A few techniques help me get the most out of my air fryer when I'm cooking up frozen goodies like French fries, chicken tenders and tater tots. 1. Preheat for the best crunch You don't need to preheat the air fryer but it will result in crispier fries. Alexandra Jones/CNET The hotter your air fryer is when you add your fries, the more golden brown and crisp they'll become. Not every air fryer has a preheat function but you can run yours for about five minutes at the desired temperature to get the chamber nice and hot before you add the food. 2. Use a light spritz of cooking oil A very light spritz of oil will ensure your air fryer fries don't dry out. Scott Eells/Bloomberg/Getty Images Some people swear by spraying a little of your go-to cooking oil, like canola, olive or avocado, into the basket and over frozen french fries before air frying. The idea is that the extra oil helps the food brown and crisp up. You don't need to go nuts with oil, but a light coating helps seal the potato strings in a divinely crispy crust. An oil mister or spray bottle will help with an even and light coating of oil. Watch this: Best Air Fryers: Cheap vs. Expensive 19:24 3. Avoid overcrowding the basket Try not to crowd your fries in the basket. Alexandra Jones/CNET Air fryers create convection heat by using a fan (the noise you hear when you turn the machine on) to circulate air around the food, cooking it faster and creating that crunchy exterior we want. For convection cooking to work well, your French fries need to have as much surface area exposed as possible. That means loading up batches of fries in a single layer and leaving just a little space between each piece, if possible. The result is tastier fries in a shorter cooking time. 4. Shake for even cooking Shake a few times during cooking for an even browning. David Watsky/CNET Halfway through the cooking time, pull out your air fryer's basket and give it a good shake. This will help your french fries brown more evenly. Try to get the fries back in a single layer before popping the basket back in and finishing the process. What you need for air fryer fries Frozen french fries Cooking oil like olive or canola Salt (optional) Weeknight dinners are simple when you implement the help of your air fryer. Corin Cesaric/CNET How to make air fryer french fries Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees F for about two minutes. Spritz the air fryer basket with oil. Add the frozen fries to the basket, arranging them in a single layer. If you're using oil, spritz the fries with it. Cook the fries for 10 minutes. Pull out the air fryer basket and shake it. Rearrange the French fries in a single layer, then replace the basket and cook for 5-7 minutes more. The exact time will depend on your air fryer, the size and shape of your fries, and your preferred doneness level. Season your fries with salt, if using, and serve immediately. What to serve with air fryer french fries You can make an equally fantastic burger in the air fryer. Pamela Vachon/CNET In my world, a pile of fries served alongside a salad with a zippy vinaigrette needs no other accompaniment (except maybe a glass of wine). If you're looking to round out your meal or feed a crowd, consider serving air fryer french fries with this easy 45-minute roast chicken or this 10-minute salmon recipe (both made in the air fryer, natch). You can even cook up air fryer bacon cheeseburgers, hot dogs, or chicken thighs to accompany your french fries. Add some veggies to the plate by air-frying Brussels sprouts, cauliflower steaks, broccoli florets or shishito peppers. Air fryer fries FAQ How long do fries take in the air fryer? The cook time for air fryer french fries depends on the temperature. At 400 degrees Fahrenheit, fries usually take 15 to 20 minutes to cook. Can I put frozen french fries in the air fryer? Yes, you can air fry frozen french fries straight from the bag. Preheat the basket and avoid overcrowding for best results.
Sky News
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
'We charge diners £225 for our tasting menu - here's why it's worth every penny'
Our Money blog team interviews chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and more. This week, we chat to Isaac McHale, the owner of the two Michelin-starred restaurant Clove Club in London's Shoreditch... My go-to mid-week dinner is... a fried egg on Japanese white rice with furikake, which is the Japanese seasoning mix for sprinkling on a bowl of rice. You can buy this on Amazon or get it from an Asian supermarket for a couple of quid, and buy some Japanese rice while you're at it. I cook the rice and fry an egg gently, then serve the rice with the furikake sprinkled over and a fried egg on top. On the side, I steam some broccoli and stir-fry it with a tiny bit of butter, garlic and a teaspoon of soy sauce. You can always use non-Japanese rice too if you want, and try a few different furikake mixes until you find your favourite. A 50g bag for £4 or £5 will do you eight bowls of rice so it's about 50p a portion - great value for money. My favourite cheap place to eat where I live is... Singburi, the amazing Thai place that raced into the National Top 100 restaurants. I can't remember which critic reviewed it, but all of a sudden it was even more rammed and impossible to get into than before. Industry folk loved it, they'd all go and suggest only ordering from the blackboard. You could get salted fish and rice for £9.50, or poached squid salad for £13. I am sad to say chef Sirichai Kularbwong has closed down his site here, so I'll be travelling to Shoreditch for the new opening instead, which is just round the corner from Bar Valette and The Clove Club. And the one to watch is... Short Road Pizza, which our neighbour Ugo started in lockdown. For now, you can find them at 199 Cambridge Heath Road at the 3 Colts Tavern in Bethnal Green. Amazing pizza, especially with the major pizza hype happening at the moment. Thin base, good crust. I order the Mark Buffalo, with pickled habanero chilli, from the specials' menu. You really don't get much for a wine under a tenner now... but I buy a Chilean pinot noir for £9.75 on GoPuff sometimes and it is great. Rio Rica pinot noir comes in about 15 minutes straight to your door with other groceries. One restaurant in the UK worth blowing out for is... The Ledbury - I am biased after six years working there, but it is the best. The restaurant is 20 years old this year but gets better every time you visit. The impact of the budget means... at Bar Valette, we're taking the very same ingredients you find at The Clove Club (with two Michelin stars) and serving them in a simpler way in a more relaxed setting. We're by no means reducing the quality of what we're working with so that we can provide a cheaper experience. There's a misconception that running restaurants is always very profitable... If more people understood the costs of running a restaurant, and what the impact of new government regulations are having in terms of staff costs and importing produce, they'd be a little more receptive towards our ethos at Bar Valette. I am cooking whole fish, supporting the small boat fishermen who risk their lives every day going out to catch the freshest fish, and I am happy to pay fair prices so they can live a life, and then charge fair prices for them in the restaurant. I also want to make sure my staff are paid well enough and that their salaries reflect the mass inflation we're experiencing everywhere at the moment. The best city in the world to eat in is... Tokyo. You can eat well from high-end restaurants to simple noodles ordered from a vending machine, like at Butagumi (the original old shop location). The last time I was there, it was around £20 for the breaded pork cutlet, rice, soup and salad set meal lunch. And I love great soba restaurants like Ittoan. Sushi counter restaurants often have cheap lunch sets too. Special mention to Mexico City too for delicious tacos and bright sunny happy vibes. Check out El Higualdense for barbacoa goat tacos and pulque, open for breakfast and lunch. I remember vividly watching the 2012 Olympics there at 8am while eating delicious goat tacos and saying no to the fermented pineapple pulque drink. And go to El Turix in upmarket Polanco for Cochinita pibil - a yucatan braised suckling pig, served on panuchos, bean-filled toastadas. Michelin food is not the tastiest food there is... the tastiest food is cooked with care, love and skill, and that could be anywhere, stars or no stars. But a Michelin star is a recognition of a level of skill and quality in the level of cooking. The tastiest things I've eaten in the past 12 months have been from all parts of the world, from tiny neighbourhood places to high-end ones. The pesto pasta at Chez Davia in the French town of Nice was life-changing... and they haven't got a Michelin star or official recognition of any kind. Ganbara in San Sebastian also doesn't boast a Michelin star but is one of the most recognised pintxos bars in the world. At the same time, you can go to The Chairman, Hong Kong, which is near impossible to get a table at, with no Michelin star but it's ranked in The World's 50 Best Restaurants. The whole meal there was amazing. If fine dining is going to have a prosperous future, we need... lower interest rates, wealth inequality, energy prices and the budget deficit and higher GDP and disposable incomes. Easy right? Apart from that, the industry needs to adapt, as it always has, to an ever-changing landscape politically and financially, while keeping its feet on the ground so that it doesn't become so expensive that it is completely out of reach of most people. That doesn't mean being cheap. It's an industry of labour-intensive, high ingredient cost experiences, that bring people loads and loads of joy. But the headwinds facing the industry risk us having to increase prices so much in order to still be viable businesses, and in doing so we price out the vast majority of people who used to be able to come to a fine dining restaurant for a special occasion, and might not be able to in the future. This is caused by... factors way out of our control from tariffs and the reduction in business spending caused by it, from real estate price changes caused by hybrid working and upward only rent reviews, from government policy to Labour trailing doom budgets for six months in the news before they happen. Growth slows as a result of the drip feed of bad news. But people aren't going to stop eating. And people aren't going to stop appreciating delicious food and wines and great service, so there will always be a demand for fine dining and the best places will always remain. We charge £225 for an eight-course tasting menu... that sounds like a lot but it pays for 16 to 18 people working from morning to night, to make fresh bread, fresh butter, chocolates, ice cream and everything else fresh, using the best ingredients we can buy, rare breed meats aged in-house and line-caught fish, to create delicious, amazing food and special memories for our guests every day. It also includes six small bites before the meal, and chocolates and small cakes after. It isn't cheap, but you get a lot of labour and hard work for your money, along with an unforgettable meal. The weirdest request a customer ever made was... a person who wanted Tabasco sauce on each course - we didn't have any in the kitchen but we offered the guest some of our homemade chilli sauce we use for staff meals. She went home and wrote us a one-star review on Google saying the restaurant is awful because we didn't have Tabasco for her to drown her food in. Or the no dairy person asking if she could have the creme brulee after we jumped through hoops to make alterations all through her meal. "Sorry, it has cream in it." "Oh that's ok, I'll have it anyway." Grrrrr.
Fox News
17-06-2025
- General
- Fox News
Money-saving storage hacks keep your berries fresher for longer, expert says
A popular Reddit post has people talking about the best way to preserve berries – and a food expert is weighing in, too. In a thread on r/FoodHacks, a user said that he or she was "a little proud" of a recently discovered berry hack. "I was tired of the raspberries I get from the store going bad so freakin' fast," the user wrote. "Looked up some different ways to keep them fresh and I liked this method." The method involves thoroughly washing the raspberries, drying them with a paper towel and then storing them in an airtight glass container with another paper towel at the bottom. Thanks to the hack, the user was able to preserve the berries for nine days in the fridge – but admitted having to remove three berries that started going bad. "I think it was a success," the user concluded. Other Reddit users responded with their own tips and tricks for keeping berries edible for longer periods of time. "Washing berries with a little vinegar also adds some longevity," one person said. "Blueberries are relatively sturdy and can handle a bit more handling, while strawberries and raspberries are delicate and bruise easily." "I use baking soda for all my produce except onions. I assume the slightly acidic rinse keeps mold spores and bacteria from developing in the fridge," another person chimed in. Other methods didn't necessarily involve baking soda or vinegar. "My hack is to leave them in the original containers unwashed, and place inside an airtight [Ziploc] bag in the fridge," one person wrote. "They keep for at least a week." "I wash them in [122°F] water as soon as I get home and ensure they are dry before putting them into an airtight container," a different Reddit user suggested. "Definitely lasts longer this way." And others were baffled that the berries lasted that long in the first place. "Raspberries do not last 9 days around me," one person wrote. Another said, "I'd finish the berries before I even finished washing them." "Tailoring your storage method to the berry type can extend their life and preserve their taste." Mark Wieser, co-founder of specialty foods company Fischer & Wieser in Fredericksburg, Texas, also shared with Fox News Digital his top steps for storing berries. 1. Wait to wash the berries until right before eating them – and don't wash them under running water. 2. Gently place berries in a bowl of water to soak. This will clean them without harming their delicate structure. 3. Fill a large bowl with cold water, then gently place the berries in a colander and dip them in the water bath. This results in an even wash that protects the berries, he said. 4. Afterward, transfer the berries to a paper towel-lined airtight container and place in the refrigerator. Wieser also noted that different types of berries have different cleaning needs, since some are more delicate than others. "Blueberries are relatively sturdy and can handle a bit more handling, while strawberries and raspberries are delicate and bruise easily," he said. "Store in a shallow container lined with a paper towel and avoid stacking them deep," he added. "Tailoring your storage method to the berry type can extend their life and preserve their taste." He also said berries can be cleaned "effectively with just water, but using vinegar or baking soda can help remove pesticide residues and bacteria more thoroughly." "Plain water, however, is still a safe and acceptable method for washing berries." Commercially produced strawberries in particular are likely to have pesticide residue on them, so he recommends a vinegar bath. "In a bowl, mix four parts water with one part white vinegar, then let the strawberries soak in the bowl for 20 minutes," he said. "Rinse the strawberries thoroughly with fresh cold water to clean off the vinegar." Above all, Wieser said, consumers shouldn't wait too long to enjoy their berries. "Keep them cold, dry and avoid rinsing until right before eating," he said. "A little planning can go a long way in reducing waste."
Sky News
12-06-2025
- Sky News
The award-winning restaurateur who doesn't believe in charging for service
Every Thursday, our Money blog team interviews chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and more. This week, we chat to Richard Johns, chef-owner of The Plough in Wombleton, North Yorkshire. I have never believed in charging for service... We are certainly in the minority on this but do believe it is the customer's right to leave a service tip if they wish. The simplest tip to be a better cook is... to constantly taste your food, seasoning with salt and pepper. The one thing I hate that some customers do is... booking a table and not honouring the booking. This happens less nowadays, but it still rears its head every now and then. The most overrated single food item is… fermented foods. I fully understand its origins, but it seems to be just a restaurant food fashion here in the UK. The most annoying review I ever had was… from a person who had clearly never visited our restaurant, let alone dined with us! It happens sadly. My favourite cheap place to eat where I live is... Mannion's of Helmsley. They offer a cracking full-cooked breakfast, which is done with care and skill. A great Monday morning spot after a busy weekend. I have absolutely no issue with people ordering tap water... We often do the same when eating out. The only rare time sharing is unacceptable might be... when a table of five orders one dessert and five spoons. That can be a bit much. The best city in the world to eat in is... New York. A fantastic eating mecca. Something delicious for any budget, day or night. I've cut costs in my restaurant by... literally turning off/powering down any equipment that is not in use. Other than fridges. Even turning off the kettle at the wall is now the done thing. A few years ago, this would not even have been a thought. My cheap recipe is for creme brulee... This dessert has been an almost permanent staple on our menu for the past 20 years - a very popular choice. The idea here is to obtain a silky-smooth custard, using rich egg yolks only. Whole eggs can be used but the results are very different. If using fresh vanilla pods, reserve the pods for other uses, as they have bags of flavour. For the best results, you will need a gas blow torch. This is a very controlled way of caramelising sugar. The recipe makes six creme brulee... Ingredients: 500g double cream 2 x vanilla pods, seeds scraped (or two tsp of high-quality vanilla extract) 60g caster sugar 235g egg yolk (cartons of liquid egg yolk can be bought easily online) Extra caster sugar for brulee Method: Preheat oven to 90°C. Place all ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan, except the egg yolks. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, cover and leave for 30 minutes for vanilla to infuse. Place pot back on a low heat and whisk in the egg yolks to combine and bring to a very gentle simmer. Do not boil, as you will have scrambled egg custard! Pass the custard through a fine sieve into a jug. Pour the custard into suitable ramekins, almost to the top. Place the ramekins into the oven and bake for approximately twenty minutes. Keep an eye on the custard, giving a ramekin a gentle shake after twenty minutes. You want the custard to have a gentle wobble in the centre. This will look almost undercooked but do not be deterred! Remove the ramekins from the oven and allow to cool. Place in the fridge for at least six hours to set. (Egg carries on cooking in the residual heat, hence removing from oven before fully set.) When ready to serve, remove ramekins from the fridge. Sprinkle a fine, even layer of caster sugar over each custard. Caramelise the sugar using a gas blow torch.
Sky News
05-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Top chef Ryan Honey reveals the cheap place he loves - and the overrated chain he would avoid
Every Thursday, our Money blog team interviews chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and more. This week, we chat to Ryan Honey, head chef at The Duke in Henley-on-Thames. The best chef in the UK is… Mark Birchall at Moor Hall, hands down. The guy has just bagged three Michelin stars, and if that doesn't make him the best in the country right now, I don't know what does. His food is next-level, the kind of stuff that makes chefs jealous. If you're not dreaming of eating at Moor Hall, are you even serious about food? The worst type of behaviour in kitchens is… people who walk in thinking they're Gordon Ramsay before they've even mastered chopping an onion. I once had a guy in an interview tell me he didn't believe in "kitchen hierarchy" and that he'd "rather collaborate than take orders". Safe to say, he didn't make it past the trial shift. A kitchen runs on discipline and respect - if you don't get that, you're in the wrong industry. The one thing you never, ever want to see on a menu again is... snails. I know, I know, the French will come for me, but I just don't get it. They're chewy, they taste like whatever you drown them in, and honestly, I'd rather eat the garlic butter on its own. Some things just don't need to be on a plate - snails are one of them. A tip that non-chefs might not know to make them a better cook or make a certain ingredient better… salt your meat way earlier than you think you should. Like, hours before. Let it sit and soak in. Most home cooks season just before cooking, but if you give salt time to do its thing, the flavour goes deep, and you get a better crust. Also, stop being scared of butter. It makes everything better. The one thing you hate that some customers do is… ordering a steak well done and then complaining it's tough. Mate, you just asked me to cremate a £40 piece of meat - what did you expect? Also, people who rush the kitchen when they can see we're at full tilt. You came for a good meal, not a drive-thru burger - relax, have a drink, and trust us to do our job. One cheap place I love to eat is... The Bird in Hand in Sandhurst. It's one of those old-school, no-nonsense pubs where the food is actually good rather than just being "good for a pub". I always get the satay chicken kebabs with chips and salad -simple, tasty, and always bang on. One way we save money is... cutting waste by only ordering what we need daily, we make sure everything gets used, and negotiating hard with suppliers. Could the government help? Of course - lower VAT for hospitality, better support for small businesses, and maybe a bit of regulation on wholesale food pricing wouldn't go amiss. But until then, we just have to keep adapting. My tip for preventing waste is… use everything. Peel, stems, bones, offcuts - there's always a way to get more out of your ingredients. We dehydrate veg peelings and turn them into powders for seasoning, use bones for stocks, and any decent trimmings go into pies or terrines. Waste isn't just bad for the planet; it's literally throwing money in the bin. My favourite restaurant chain is… Miller & Carter. It's just solid, well-cooked steak. If I'm sharing, it's the côte de boeuf every time. But if we're talking about overrated chains? Nando's. Sorry, but it's just chicken with some decent seasoning - why are we all acting like it's some kind of life-changing experience? One ingredient you should never skimp on is… a proper olive oil. A cheap one is pointless - it's like drinking bad wine. But I'll give rapeseed oil some credit; a good cold-pressed one can be great for cooking at high temps. Still, for dressings, finishing, or dipping bread? Olive oil all the way. You get what you pay for.
