Conquering the air fryer has been a bit of a challenge for me. I tried homemade potato chips several times and wasn't happy. Until now. This is an way to make homemade chips in the air fryer that does take several steps but they are easy and don't take too long.
Mainer's love potatoes and being from what we call "The County" I grew up eating a lot of potatoes. Many times what was supposed to be mashed potatoes ended up with a slight burned flavor. My mother wasn't much of a cook and frequently would let the water boil out of the pan and only when we smelled burning starch did she think they were done. Tip: once the potatoes have come to a boil you can turn them down to simmer and they will cook just fine.
Back to homemade potato chips in the air fryer.
Besides an air fryer you will have to have a mandoline. A mandoline will allow you to slice the potatoes really thin which is necessary to make them cook properly. Trying to slice them with a knife I couldn't get them consistently thin enough. Just becareful of your fingers when using a mandoline!
Choose a potato that is smaller as the chips will cook better in layers if they aren't so big which won't allow air to flow. Any variety will work but russets are my favorite.
Here's the steps:
1. You can either peel the potatoes or leave the skins on.
2. Slice the potatoes on the mandoline.
3. Put the slices in a bowl and rinse with cold water. Refill the bowl and let the slices sit in the cold water for 10 minutes.
4. Drain the slices in a strainer and transfer to a cookie sheet lined with paper towels.
5. Pat the slices with paper towels and dry well. Spray with canola oil or some other spray oil.
6. Layer slices in the bottom of the air fryer basket. Don't layer them too deep as air won't be able to circulate.
7. Set your air fryer. Mine has a chips setting which is 20 minutes at 400 degrees. I adjust the time for 15 minutes. Every 5 minutes remove the basket and shake the chips. Make sure they are evenly spread out to ensure even cooking.
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and seasonings. Mine is Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and sour cream. JD like's Apple Rum Sauce for dipping. Try different things like classic salt and pepper, parmesan cheese and salt (pop corn seasonings work great), seasoned salt and more!
