One Man on a Mission
And that mission is - to create, or find, the perfect chip! In fact, not so much a mission, more of an obsession.
I've had the Tefal Actifry over a month now and have tinkered about trying various methods of cooking chips in it, some successful, others not so.
What makes the perfect chip? Well they have to be tasty, goes without saying. But also natural - I like to know where my ingredients are coming from. For example, I have heard that McDonalds fries, tasty though they are, never go off - you can leave them for months without rotting, due to some sort of preservative on them. Whether or not that is true, (urban myths spring to mind) it kind of puts me off somewhat.
I also think they need to be crispy, but not burnt, and definitely not soggy. The quality you get from various establishments in Bicester varies quite considerably. Sometimes I get fries from them that are gorgeous and fresh - other times, well, I could suspect that they may have been left over from the previous night.
I could make very good chips in my old fryer, but as you will recall, I ditched it because it was a) costing a fortune, b) stank out the house, c) was dangerous and d) unhealthy - not that the last one bothers me particularly but you've got to think about the others in the family I guess!
So I have tried following instructions to the letter, deviating off tangent, trying different oils. Some early attempts didn't go too well - my crinkle cut ones seemed to suffer from a little burning on the sticky out bits, so I've switched to straight. I also had a few issues with flavour - the chips really don't seem to soak up that much fat. I tried boiling first in salt water to add flavour but that just made them soggy.
Yesterday, I had my best success yet - we have fish and chips here on Monday nights as Claire hates fish, and she is not here on Mondays, fortunately the boys do so I cook for the three of us. As we often have roast beef on Sundays, I thought this was the ideal opportunity for a bit of old fashioned austerity, waste not want not, so I saved the dripping from the beef - always delicious in making roast potatoes, and popped it into a cup in the fridge ready for the next day. The other tip I picked up from the internet was that it is essential that the chips are totally dry - and just drying them on a tea towel or kitchen roll isn't enough. They recommended putting the chips in without oil for the first 5 minutes to dry them completely. Which worked a treat - they were bone dry. Unsurprising really, the way the Actifry works is not unlike a giant hand dryer, but very hot. Then I popped in my beef dripping, and away it went. Way too much beef dripping as it turned out, as there was loads left in the pan at the end, you really don't need a lot.
Another tip I picked up was I stopped it for a couple of minutes mid cook and let it rest - kind of the equivalent of the old "double cook" method which all good chip makers swear by. I also sprinkled a little sea salt on at this point.
And the finished result came up pretty good - here's a photo of them on my plate, with the accompanying cod fillets in batter.
The fact that the kids gobbled them all up is justification in itself - if they don't like it, they don't eat it. So looks like we are getting there. I am thinking of trying a few different types of oil to add a bit more flavour e.g. garlic or chilli infused olive oil might make some tasty offerings.
However, where I have really had the benefit of the Actifry hasn't been for chips at all. The way the thing rotates and the arm jumbles food around is absolutely perfect for other types of foods e.g. stir frying. To give an example - if you've got some chicken cubes in a wok or a frying pan, you are having to constantly turn them over while cooking - it's quite a labour intensive task. Now sometimes I like to fry myself up a little chicken and mushrooms and stick them in a pitta bread to make like a mini kebab almost - but it has to be attended to. Now the other day, I decided to try it out in the Actifry. So I cut up the chicken, added a bit of seasoning, small amount of sunflower oil and popped it into the machine. Sat and watched it jumbling around - in a way it almost like watching a washing machine, and as it cooked, the chicken tumbled around and each side of each piece went from pink to white and finally a golden brown. I lobbed in the mushrooms for the last five minutes and what came out was perfection - perfectly evenly cooked, and delicious. And with no laborious turning over every piece by hand.
So I am experimenting now with other foods. The possibilities are endless. Yesterday I put some bacon in it - now this stuck together at first as you would expect, but once it got going I stopped it and separated it out, then it was fine. In the end I had some lovely "dead dead crispy" bacon, straight into a roll, it was almost like being at Nash's.
I think Sausages might be another thing to try. For tonight I have got some chicken drumsticks, going to try them out. I think it is definitely going to be better for dry frying things - not sure sauces would work, but you can always do them separately.
Happy eating, blogger fans.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
Jason xx
I've had the Tefal Actifry over a month now and have tinkered about trying various methods of cooking chips in it, some successful, others not so.
What makes the perfect chip? Well they have to be tasty, goes without saying. But also natural - I like to know where my ingredients are coming from. For example, I have heard that McDonalds fries, tasty though they are, never go off - you can leave them for months without rotting, due to some sort of preservative on them. Whether or not that is true, (urban myths spring to mind) it kind of puts me off somewhat.
I also think they need to be crispy, but not burnt, and definitely not soggy. The quality you get from various establishments in Bicester varies quite considerably. Sometimes I get fries from them that are gorgeous and fresh - other times, well, I could suspect that they may have been left over from the previous night.
I could make very good chips in my old fryer, but as you will recall, I ditched it because it was a) costing a fortune, b) stank out the house, c) was dangerous and d) unhealthy - not that the last one bothers me particularly but you've got to think about the others in the family I guess!
So I have tried following instructions to the letter, deviating off tangent, trying different oils. Some early attempts didn't go too well - my crinkle cut ones seemed to suffer from a little burning on the sticky out bits, so I've switched to straight. I also had a few issues with flavour - the chips really don't seem to soak up that much fat. I tried boiling first in salt water to add flavour but that just made them soggy.
Yesterday, I had my best success yet - we have fish and chips here on Monday nights as Claire hates fish, and she is not here on Mondays, fortunately the boys do so I cook for the three of us. As we often have roast beef on Sundays, I thought this was the ideal opportunity for a bit of old fashioned austerity, waste not want not, so I saved the dripping from the beef - always delicious in making roast potatoes, and popped it into a cup in the fridge ready for the next day. The other tip I picked up from the internet was that it is essential that the chips are totally dry - and just drying them on a tea towel or kitchen roll isn't enough. They recommended putting the chips in without oil for the first 5 minutes to dry them completely. Which worked a treat - they were bone dry. Unsurprising really, the way the Actifry works is not unlike a giant hand dryer, but very hot. Then I popped in my beef dripping, and away it went. Way too much beef dripping as it turned out, as there was loads left in the pan at the end, you really don't need a lot.
Another tip I picked up was I stopped it for a couple of minutes mid cook and let it rest - kind of the equivalent of the old "double cook" method which all good chip makers swear by. I also sprinkled a little sea salt on at this point.
And the finished result came up pretty good - here's a photo of them on my plate, with the accompanying cod fillets in batter.
 |
| Bicester Blogger enjoys a fish supper |
The fact that the kids gobbled them all up is justification in itself - if they don't like it, they don't eat it. So looks like we are getting there. I am thinking of trying a few different types of oil to add a bit more flavour e.g. garlic or chilli infused olive oil might make some tasty offerings.
However, where I have really had the benefit of the Actifry hasn't been for chips at all. The way the thing rotates and the arm jumbles food around is absolutely perfect for other types of foods e.g. stir frying. To give an example - if you've got some chicken cubes in a wok or a frying pan, you are having to constantly turn them over while cooking - it's quite a labour intensive task. Now sometimes I like to fry myself up a little chicken and mushrooms and stick them in a pitta bread to make like a mini kebab almost - but it has to be attended to. Now the other day, I decided to try it out in the Actifry. So I cut up the chicken, added a bit of seasoning, small amount of sunflower oil and popped it into the machine. Sat and watched it jumbling around - in a way it almost like watching a washing machine, and as it cooked, the chicken tumbled around and each side of each piece went from pink to white and finally a golden brown. I lobbed in the mushrooms for the last five minutes and what came out was perfection - perfectly evenly cooked, and delicious. And with no laborious turning over every piece by hand.
So I am experimenting now with other foods. The possibilities are endless. Yesterday I put some bacon in it - now this stuck together at first as you would expect, but once it got going I stopped it and separated it out, then it was fine. In the end I had some lovely "dead dead crispy" bacon, straight into a roll, it was almost like being at Nash's.
I think Sausages might be another thing to try. For tonight I have got some chicken drumsticks, going to try them out. I think it is definitely going to be better for dry frying things - not sure sauces would work, but you can always do them separately.
Happy eating, blogger fans.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
Jason xx
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