We’ve had our new induction range for several days now. So far, so good. The biggest problem right now is that I have no sauce pans that are compatible, and I expect it to be more than a week before my order of a couple of new pans is delivered.

So last night I tried out the “air fry” mode of the convection oven. When we were at the supermarket, I bought a large russet potato that weighed about a pound. Following the instructions, I washed it and cut it into fries, then soaked them in water for 90 minutes or so. I found conflicting recipes. One said to soak them in ice water. Another advised soaking in hot water. I happened to read the ice water recipe first, so that’s the one I followed.

I thawed a pack of chicken thighs while the potatoes were soaking. The chicken went on the grill outside. Then I dried the fries, mushed them around in a tablespoon or so of oil, added salt and pepper, and spread them in the large air fryer tray that came with the range. It was large enough to handle the full pound of potatoes, no need to cook in batches. And, according to the instructions, no need to preheat the oven. So I chose the air fry mode, set the temperature to 450 degrees, and in went the potatoes.

Somewhere around 25 minutes later, the chicken thighs were done, and the potatoes were ready.

Well, these were not crispy, crunchy fries. I’m not sure if cooking them differently would add a bit of crispiness on the outside. Further experimenting is in order, perhaps with even less oil, or a bit more time. But these were nicely browned on the outside, and were soft inside and potentially addictive.

Now I’m looking forward to further experiments in air frying. Suggestions?

The photo shows the fries on a glass plate. No worries, they weren’t cooked like that. I moved them from the air fryer tray while bringing the chicken in from the grill.